According to the the Huffington Post and the New York Post, DiFara’s, the legendary Brooklyn pizza shop, has plans to open outposts in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Texas and Arizona. Am I excited? Hell yes. But also concerned that it won’t be the same thing.

The 42 year old  Dominick Demarco, Jr. has plans to expand on the pizza legend built by his father. But here’s the thing – in the Brooklyn shop, Dom Senior makes all the pizzas himself, and has for decades until recent years when his health hasn’t been so hot. Sure, the Grande cheese and the other ingredients matter, but Dom Senior is what makes DiFara’s so good. Can Dom Jr. teach all the minute steps in the pizza making process to someone else? We’ll see about that.

Also according the the NY Post story, the Baker’s Pride deck ovens used in Brooklyn will be replaced with Wood Stone gas and wood ovens in the new locations. The domed Wood Stones don’t cook the top of the pizzas in the same way as deck ovens. I don’t know what Junior is thinking, but he’s already changing what works.

The NY Post story claims that Dom Junior wants to alter the local water to chemically replicate New York City tap water. The myth that NY pizza or bagels can’t be produced outsite of New York is bullshit, and I proved it during my own bagel baking experiments. See also the fact that Joe’s Pizza in Santa Monica is just like the Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village.  Joe didn’t foist the NYC tap water lie – Joe himself moved to L.A. and taught his staff how to make the dough correctly.  The fact that Dom Junior is already pitching the water myth sounds like he’s setting up an excuse for failing to produce pizza like his old man’s.

So bring it, Junior. I can’t wait to try the pizza, and I’ll be the first one to say I was wrong if you pull this one off.

Here’s a terrific HD video made at the recent Que’n For Kids BBQ Contest by Deep End Diner Eddie Lin:

The Bacon Explosion from Ed Lin on Vimeo.

I never thought that bacon can actually “lighten” a dish as calorically dense as the bacon explosion, but it does. In case you don’t know about the Bacon Explosion, it’s a mat of woven bacon wrapped around the sausage encasing a core of crispy, cooked bacon. It was an internet phenomenon a couple years back and I’m finally getting around to making one and blogging about it.

Listen – if you’ve ever seen an uncooked Jimmy Dean chub, it’s a fat cylinder the diameter of a soup can. If I were to cook this chub as is, sliced it into rounds, and served it, it would be a dense, 3 inch disc of meat, fat and gristle. The way to lighten this dense disc, ironically, is to press out the sausage into a thin layer first, wrap it around a core of crisp, coarsely chopped bacon, and reform it into a log. The bacon in the center actually breaks up the dense texture of what would be a solid slug of sausage and makes it much more pleasant to eat.

Now that we’re clear on the definition of “light,” do these jeans make my ass look “fat?”

It’s time again for my hometown BBQ contest – the 2010 Que N For Kids BBQ Festival in Costa Mesa on June 12, 2010. My team, Four Q BBQ, won the People’s Choice championship here two years ago, and we’re looking to take back the title with our very special People’s Choice menu.

This is the fourth edition of the best organized contest in Southern California. Why best? The public gets to sample the contestants’ barbecue and vote for their favorite in the People’s Choice contest. For competitors, the organizers lavish us with all the cook-friendly amenities we could ask for.

All proceeds go to Kristie’s Foundation, which supports families of terminally ill children. The $10 gate fee, and funds from selling the People’s Choice sample tickets go toward a very worthy cause.

This year, there’s a rib eating contest. I’m not sure how that works, but if you’re interested, check out the details on the event website. It’s a very family friendly event with lots of activities that the kids will enjoy – a butterfly release, a car show, and a carnival atmosphere with many vendors taking part.

For the foodies, I suggest getting there by 11am so you don’t miss out on the meat. Teams start turning in BBQ for the official judging at noon, and shortly thereafter, we sample our leftovers to the public. The last meat category is at 2pm. So while the event runs through 6pm, the best time to eat is from noon through 2pm. Once the meat’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Enter the Orange County Farigrounds on the northwest corner, off of Arlington Drive.

View Orange County Fairgrounds: Que N For Kids location in a larger map

Ever wanted to become a certified judge at a barbecue contest and taste some of the best que in the world? There are several opportunities in California this year, and the next class is in Sacramento. Sign up here.

Kansas City Barbecue Society Members $ 65.00 (members please bring your KCBS card for identification)
Non-KCBS Members $ 100 includes one year membership to the KCBS

Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 3:00pm
Location: Saint Ignatius Church 3235 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA 95825-2014
Contact: Scott Gomes
scottgomesbbq AT sbcglobal DOT net
(530)559-5274