$16 Dallas Bar-Ba-Que

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You
Part 4

Big Al’s Smokehouse
3125 Inwood Rd
Dallas, TX 75235
(214) 350-2649
http://www.bigalsbbq.com/

Earlier this week my oldest cousin needed a lift to Dallas for a flight, so naturally I offered my services because I am just that awesome of a cousin. Yep, that must be it…. Not the free dinner and roasted green chilies he offered to me.

So I figured while up in Dallas maybe I could grab so grub. I Google mapped the surrounding area and stumbled upon a BBQ joint called Big Al’s Smokehouse and decided itd be a good place to try out. Not only was it very close to Lovefield Airport, but they have been around for 30 years, so they must be doing something right.

The drive to Dallas really wasn’t that bad, till we got right outside the airport and thanks to a traffic accident, the flow of traffic…. Well it was a crawl. But we eventually made it to Lovefield, dropped his ass off, and then I was FREE! Free to eat some BBQ that is. So I popped on by Big Al’s and scanned their menu.

After glazing over their menu, which is a nice selection of items…. Quite a few meats and plenty of sides to choose from. I did notice that their prices were fairly high, must be ego or Dallas prices, cause I haven’t paid this much for BBQ ever. But I was hungry and wanted to try the place out, so I picked their 2 Meat Plate. For the meats I chose brisket (obviously) and some of their pulled pork (love pulled pork). The brisket they cut in front of you behind a clear panel, and the pulled pork they scooped out of pan in a steam table. The sides, even fries, seem to be self serve… at least at night they are. They had plenty to choose from, but I went with their cole slaw and creamed sweet corn. Its actually funny that they had creamed corn, as I was discussing with my manager earlier in the week, that not many places serve it.. and low & behold I find one that does. For a drink I stuck with a sweet tea, and of course grab some of their BBQ sauce and a jumbo roll. Once all and said, this meal cost me an even $16, the most Ive ever for paid for some BBQ… besides a fund raiser. So the question is… “was it worth it?”

Well the brisket had a decent smoke ring, nice overall texture though I did have a couple of dry and chewy pieces. The flavor was fairly neutral with a hint of smoke, but I didn’t taste any seasoning. The rest of the pieces were juicy and tender. So over all I didn’t really find the brisket to be anything overly special. The pulled pork was pretty good. It was juicy, granted it was sitting in juice and contained in a steam table, but it still had a nice consistency and flavor. It would’ve been good as a sandwich topped with some cole slaw. Speaking of cole slaw, I really like their slaw. It was a thick cut mixture, fresh and crunchy veggies, with a nicely sweet sauce. The creamed corn was by far my favorite dish I got. It was well prepared, great texture, excellent flavor. It definitely wasn’t canned, it was too fresh and flavorful for that. If you like creamed corn as much as me, you’ll enjoy this. The sadest part of the meal was the BBQ sauce, kinda reminded me of watered down ketchup… ya… no bueno.
Oh and I cant forget the self-serve, FREE soft-serve ice-cream they offered. That was a nice touch.

The restaurant itself was very nice and roomy…. Plenty of seating, a couple of Tvs, and the employees were nice. But man was it dead, it was just me and one other guy who was reading the newpaper… while a few people came in throughout to get food to-go.

So back to the question I asked earlier, was it worth $16? Honestly I don’t think it was. Ive gotten BBQ else where that was comparable and nearly half the price. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the meal overall, cause I did…. Id just rather not have to pay soooo much for it. Im considering going again to try their ribs and chicken, but I might try to take a friend and each of us get a 1 meat plate and share… cover more. Or if for some reason I take my cousin back up to that airport, or anyone else, Ill probably stop by and pick up a pulled pork sandwich and a side.

Turtle Food

TURTLE FOOD
p1

Making home made pizzas is one of my favorite meals to do. Not only is it fairly easy, it is fun and tastes great. Ithink everyone should make their own pizza every once in a while. It can be a fun thing to do with friends and family. I try to make it at least once a month. Last month our family had a Pizza Party, where we all bring a pizza or two to chow down on, hang out and watch some good ole football. Most people buy a pizza from Papa Rollos, Papa Johns, Rosatis and etc. I decided to make a couple of mine.

Before making the pizzas I have to make the dough from scratch. I use a fairly basic recipe that my Chef handed down to me. It works great and tastes great, but I’ve been trying to make it even better- Sweeter and with a little hint of garlic. So ive been experimenting with different sweeteners- sugar, honey, agave syrup, etc. On the two batches of dough I made for the party I used honey in one and agave syrup in the other. Now the first dough came out just perfect, great consistency and puffed properly. The second one, well… didn’t work out too well. IT baffled me, I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. It bothered me so much I had to text one of my culinary buddies and try to figure it out. After chatting we came to the conclusion that I was an idiot and forgot to add a full 2 cups of flour. So I had to start over and make it over again.

Once I got past the dough stage I had to figure out what exactly I wanted to put on them. I had already bought plenty of different fresh veggies, meats and cheeses. The sauce I used on them was a basic tomato sauce with garlic and pepper. One pizza I decided to top it with Roasted Green Chili, Jalapenos, Orange Bell Peppers and Jalapeno Bacon. The second pizza was topped with Pineapple and Canadian Bacon. For cheese I topped them both with Mozzarella and Fresh Parmesan.

Both pizzas were a hit, everyone liked them… Especially the green chili one, it turned out to be rather spicy (Least thats what I hear, I actually never managed to get a slice of this one). What I do know is that I still want a more flavorful crust, one with more zing. I also need to remember to add the correct amount of flour.... ;)

But I do beleive the Ninja Turtles would be proud and asking for more.

Golden Delicious

Krispy Chicken
2307 Franklin Ave
Waco Texas 76710
(254) 757-1230




So today was a lovely day outside and I had it off from work, so I decided to smoke a couple racks of ribs. Got up early and started them around 8-8:30, and smoke them low and slow. While smoking them I decide to read a new BBQ I got about various BBQ joints rather than focus on recipes. Well a few hours in, I was getting hungry and didn’t want to cook anything or drive too far to pick something up.
Well I remember seeing an interesting fried chicken joint over on Franklin just a couple blocks away. Actually I’ve known its been there for a couple years now, I just haven’t bothered to go over them. Well today is the day I finally decided to try it out.
So I prep my smoker to allow me to leave for a few minutes to hop on down a few blocks and pick up a quick bite. As I pull in I have 3 cars follow me in an 2 leaving, so they definitely have steady business… as this is how I’ve always seen it there… decently busy. They have a fairly decent menu, much like most fried chicken places, but they also have catfish and some other odds and ends. I decide to the #1, which is 3 pieces of chicken (I got 2 huge thighs and 1 drumstick) and 3 rolls, I also had them throw in a side of their cole slaw. This all came out to be around $5.50, which is not a bad price not at all.
I get home with my food, grab a vanilla coke, check on my ribs… then pop down to eat my lunch. From first looks, the skin is nice and golden, not greasy and seems crispy. The rolls looks nice and fresh. The cole slaw is creamy and fresh. First I try the slaw, the veggies are fresh and crunchy, the sauce is creamy and sweet (with a flavor at the end that is still baffling me), and its one of the best cole slaws I’ve ever had. Next I tried the roll, its your basic dinner roll, but it was nice and fresh…. not all dried out like some places serve. Last but not least I tried the chicken. The first piece I tried was the drumstick. The skin is nice and flavor full, not greasy at all, with a slight crunch to it. The meat is extremely juicy (not at all dry) and nearly perfectly cooked and had a nice fresh chicken flavor. This goes for the thighs as well. The chicken was just extremely well cooked and needed no seasoning to give it flavor. This is some of the best deep fried chicken Ive ever had, and I mean ever. Most places serve overcooked and dry chicken, or chicken that’s overly bland or overly seasoned.
I will definitely be going back for more chicken and slaw, as well as to try their chicken tenders, potato salad and even catfish. So if you are ever in the downtown are, I highly recommend for you to give them a try one day for lunch. Yum!

Oh and yes, the ribs came out perfectly later on that evening.