Great Bend- 4 Legs Up BBQ

Hometown food. Nationally known.

4-Legs up BBQ and Steakhouse, located at 2212 Main Street in Great Bend, Kansas is one of my favorite BBQ restaurants outside of the Kansas City area. If the award ribbons and trophies that decorate this pace are any indication, owner Kelly Wertz knows a thing or two about cooking great BBQ.  In fact, Kelly is no stranger to the world of competition BBQ. His cooking has garnered him quite a reputation as a champion.

Yum.

This past December, on a trip to Hays, Kansas, I was delighted to see that Kelly had brought his BBQ trailer to town and was set up to sell portable food vendor style. This was quite possibly the best food you buy in Hays on that  particular day! I had a rib combo, including pulled pork and cheesy potatoes. When asked if I wanted any sauce, I told Kelly, “No, because it was probably going to be so good that I didn’t need any.” Later, I realized the mistake I had made, because even his BBQ sauce is award winning. 

How can you go wrong?

Needless to say, the ribs and pulled pork were tasty, even when served up sauce free. And, I could probably eat about a gallon of the potatoes! I completed my meal with a Kansas State University Wildcat’s mint. Not only does Kelly know a thing or two about BBQ, but it seems he knows about great schools also!

 If you live in central Kansas, you owe it to yourself to make the trip to Great Bend to eat at 4 legs up BBQ, and who knows, if you’re lucky, you might find them in Hays, as well! 

We talked with the Kansas Pork Association about giveaways for 2011 and came up with a really neat idea. We're going to go pretty light on the giveaways until summer and grilling season. We've decided to go whole-hog (please forgive the pun) come summer with a really snazzy grill giveaway!

So, this weeks giveaway includes a recipe booklet that we know you'll love. The recipes inside are tasty, versatile and simple to prepare. They include family favorites like pulled pork, ribs, pork chops, brats and Italian sausage. All recipes have 5 ingredients or less. Answer the question below, before Friday at 10 am to win.

What is your favorite lean cut of pork?

Until next time, swine and dine!

Chris 

Olathe- Oklahoma Joe's

Oklahoma Joe's Olathe Location.

It seems that in every corner of the world a certain restaurant exists that hardly needs introduction to the public anymore, but still deserves to be propped up from time to time because of its excellence in such a field. One of those places is “Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue” in Kansas City, KS. If you ask the locals about this place, you’re sure to hear the words “best barbecue around” uttered. The popularity of this place goes much deeper than basic urban legend too. Oklahoma Joes has been named Kansas City's best barbecue restaurant by Zagat in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and the overall third best place to eat in all of Kansas City. If that’s not enough proof for you, then consider that it came in at #13 on a list of restaurants from around the world put together by Anthony Bourdain of Travel Channel called “13 Places to Eat Before you Die”.

Luckily for BBQ lovers, Oklahoma Joe’s now has two locations in the Kansas City area. The original location, in Kansas City, KS, is literally inside a real, live working gas station on the northeast corner of 47^th and Mission Rd. The second, newer location is in Olathe on the southwest corner of 119^th and Strangline Rd., near I-35.

I’ve been to both locations several times and am quite familiar with the food. With no reason to continue putting off doing it, I thought it was high time I wrote about this place for the Kansas Pork Association. On my latest trip I decided to go to the Olathe location because the lines tend to be a bit shorter there (something to keep in mind if you’re deciding which one to go to).

If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I had the “½ slab meal”, which consisted of a ½ slab of ribs and one side dish. It was all excellent to say the least. The ribs were lean and moist, and simply fell of the bones. They were in no way tough or dry, and required no sauce, even though I did put a little of the sauce on them because it is so good at this place! From my past experiences I can say wholeheartedly that when it comes to pork barbecue, you cannot go wrong with this place. The pulled pork, the pork sausage, the ham, and of course the ribs are all as good as you will find as far as I’m concerned. The fries, beans, onion rings, slaw, and other sides are absolutely amazing as well.

The Original Oklahoma Joe's. Compliments of Facebook.

If you want to eat at one of the best barbecue places Kansas City has to offer and have a unique atmosphere in which to dine, then you can’t go wrong eating at OK Joe’s. If you get to choose between the locations, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter which one you went to. If you have the option, go the original one at least once, for the experience if nothing else. This is not a “fine dining” experience with linens and candles on the table. It's loud and a bit crowded at times at the KCK location, but that’s the way good, fast barbecue ought to be I think. If the new one is simply more convenient for you, go to it, because the food is just as good, and like I said above, the line to order tends to be shorter and the place is not as crowded.  

Spices at the Kansas City Barbecue Store. 

An added benefit to going to the Olathe location is, as you can see in the first picture in this post, it sits next door to the “Kansas City Barbecue Store”. They fittingly share an interior door that is a gateway from one BBQ paradise to another. The Kansas City Barbecue Store is a true one-stop shop for those interested in smoking and barbecuing meat. There are more sauces and dry rubs than you can count, as well as smokers, wood pellets, cookbooks, and kitchen tools galore. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in. Whether you’re an avid meat smoker or just a person looking for a new bottle of BBQ sauce to put in the fridge it will be like a trip to Oklahoma Joe's, you won’t be disappointed. 

This smorgasbord of kitchen fun could be yours.

 

This week's giveaway, made possible by the Kansas Pork Association, is from a quaint little store in St. Marys, KS named Florence Adams.  If you ever find yourself in the St. Marys area, we strongly suggest that you drop by and take a look around. It has clothes, kitchen accessories and an assortment of interesting gifts. The giveaway includes: (1)16 oz. Stainless Steel Gravy and Sauce Server; (1) 5 Qt. Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (1) 3 Qt. Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl (3)Flowersack Teatowels and (1) set of Casabella Gourmet silicone pot and pan grips. 

Answer the question below for a chance to win. We will randomly choose one person from the comments below on 11 a.m. Monday, January 10.

Question: What is your favorite pork slowcooker dish or meal?

Leroy- Luther's Smokehouse

We’re all used to eating pork in the various, common ways we find it in restaurants. There are the “usual suspects”, such as barbeque, Mexican foods, bacon, sausage, ham, etc. I’ve found though, you don’t really find pork in a “to go” form like I did on a recent trip through southeast Kansas. While on this trip, I was lucky enough to buy a bag of, and subsequently eat, some authentic pork jerky! The jerky is called “Midnight Special”, and it’s one of the many types of jerky made at Luther’s Smokehouse in LeRoy, KS. 

Midnight or not, these are good.

 

Luther’s Smokehouse, a former locker plant and now a jerky plant, is owned and operated by Martin Luther, a past professional meat cutter, and his wife Shirlee. The smokehouse, which also serves as a restaurant and grocery store, is the only place to buy food in LeRoy, population 550. Needless to say, the store is very important to the region! I’ve been familiar with Luther’s Smokehouse for many years. I frequently stopped there during my college years to get his famous beef jerky. I never dreamed during that time that he would someday pull off making a delicious pork jerky!

Having never eaten pork jerky, or even seen it before, I thought I’d better try the stuff as soon as I saw it on the shelf. It turned out to be an excellent decision, as I found it to be really good! It's a “pan jerky”, meaning it is ground and formed into the desired jerky shape and size before it is cooked on a flat surface. It is described on the package as “cured and dried smoked pork shoulder”, so I wasn’t surprised that it had a smoky, salty taste like ham. It was a flavor that I found to pair very nicely with the dry jerky texture. 

Release your inner cowboy.

 

While I haven’t gotten a chance to try it, I know Mr. Luther has put another twist on the pork jerky theme with a product he calls “Cowboy Pocket Food”. It's pork jerky that is ground up with sweetened cranberries to make a pemmican-like snack.

Both types of pork jerky from Luther’s cost $7.00 for an 8 ounce package. If you can’t make it to the smokehouse, a lot of gas stations in southeast Kansas now carry a limited selection of Luther’s jerky too. If those options don’t work for you, a person can always order from the store online; Luther’s ships worldwide.

However, if possible, find a way to make your purchase in person. The reason being that Martin Luther takes pride not only in his meat preparation abilities, but in a good joke too. The store, inside and out, reflects his sense of humor much more than this article can, so schedule a trip to LeRoy, KS to try some pork jerky at one of the true treasures of rural Kansas.

In the spirit of jerky, the folks at the Kansas Pork Association thought that you may want to try your hand at some of your own homemade jerky fixin’s. We don’t expect it to be quite as good as Luther’s but if practice makes perfect. Here is your chance. 

MMmmmmm....

The giveaway includes: (1) A NESCO Dehydrator & Jerky Maker. This brand of lean mean dehydrating machine touts itself as the world’s fastest and most even-drying dehydrator on the market. (2) A Bandiola pork spice pack. Bandiola prides itself on enhancing the simple pleasures of family, friends and food with a complete line of spices. To learn more about Bandiola, visit them here.

As always, a big thank you goes to our sponsors at the Kansas Pork Association for supporting us and providing these gifts to you all.

Answer the question below for a chance to win. We will randomly choose one person from the comments below on December 10 (yes, that's tomorrow) at 2 pm CST.  

Question: What cut of the hog do baby back ribs come from?

Good luck,

Mike

Manhattan- The Chef

 

The Chef from the road

Everyone once in a while, I run into a restaurant that specializes in breakfast.  More often then not, these places are known for being pretty good. In my opinion, The Chef, in Manhattan, Kansas is one of the very best! This quaint little place is tucked into a downtown building, in a side street, near the mall. If you are in the area, The Chef is worth finding!  During a recent visit with fellow blogger Mike, we were pleased to have great service, with a pleasant wait staff that quickly got us our orders. 

Meaty Beast

I ordered the breakfast burrito. I must warn you: do not order this meaty beast unless you come hungry, because it is huge! The delicious pork filled treat is big enough for two, but good enough that you won’t want to share! Mike ordered a pork chorizo burrito which also looked and smelled fantastic.  

Inside the Meaty Beast

I can’t say enough good things about this place, but I can say it ranks in my top 10 of all Kansas restaurants.

While we love breakfast, dinner is where this week’s giveaway fits the best. Answer the question below for a chance to win. We will randomly choose one person from the comments below on Saturday November 20 (yes, that's tomorrow) at 9 pm CST.  

Holiday=Easy

The giveaway includes: (1) A Hamilton Beach Set & Forget QT Programmable Slow Cooker. This slow cooker offers a traditional slow cooker setting, a time program setting and a thermometer probe setting. The thermometer probe is a pretty neat plus for busy folks like us that like to make pork loin roasts. To use the probe you simply set it to a desired meat temperature, place the probe within the meat and allow it to cook. When the specified internal temperature of the meat is reached, the slow cooker automatically shifts to the “keep warm” setting, preventing overcooking. To see pork cooking times and temperatures see this Pork Basics chart.  (2) 2 oxo SoftWorks Silicone Oven Mitts.

Again, we thank the Kansas Pork Association for supporting us and providing these gifts to you guys.  

Question: Dr. Seuss’s "Green Eggs and Ham" recently celebrated a special anniversary. How many years ago did Dr. Seuss introduce us to "Green Eggs and Ham?"

Manhattan- Cox Brothers BBQ

Grain Storage? I think not.

On a recent business trip to Manhattan, KS, a grain storage bin caught my eye. Not because grain storage bins are unusual in Kansas, but because this one happened to be in a busy part of town and connected to a restaurant. This architecture is very similar what is commonly used by the franchise barbeque chain Bandana’s Bar-B-Q  located in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. 

BBQ'in in Style.

To my surprise, the new place was not another Bandana’s chain, but a new locally owned Cox Brothers BBQ  which has re-opened after being absent from the Manhattan, Kansas restaurant scene for a few years. Cox Brothers features several styles of barbeque. You are sure to find one you like. With this in mind, you owe it to yourself to try this place when you are in Manhattan!

Cox Brothers Ribs are Rib-A-Licious.

I had the opportunity to eat here twice while in town. During my first visit, I thoroughly enjoyed the Big Memphis sandwich, featuring delicious pulled pork along with two other meats on a toasted bun. This was a good sandwich at a good price. I will certainly recommend this one! During my second visit, I tried the ribs, which were served up in traditional Kansas City BBQ style with bread, and pickles.  Cox Brothers offers four sauces and a variety of rubs for purchase along with a selection of shirts and caps. 

Speaking of caps, this place is a cap collectors dream. Hundreds of caps from countless locations decorate the ceiling. The friendly wait staff indicated that the owners, Bud and Bob Cox thought this would be a fun and unique decorating idea. They will gladly display your cap, should you choose to donate it to the collection.  

On another note, who wants some free stuff? Yeah, that’s right free. Below you will see this week’s giveaways provided by the Kansas Pork Association. Answer the question below for a chance to win. We will randomly choose one person from the comments below by 7:00 pm today.  Please make sure to provide your email so we can contact you for shipping reasons.

Free stuff= Good stuff

The giveaway is includes: (1) A Taylor Gourmet Wireless Thermometer. This is the perfect little gadget for the person on the go. Whether you’re chasing a few kids around the house or just really focusing on that NFL game, you can be sure to benefit from it. The thermometer includes a remote pager that notifies you with light, sound and vibration up to 200 ft. away from your kitchen. (2) A Architec EcoSmart Cutting Board. Use this cutting board to prep a great recipe like stir-fried pork.

Question: When roasting a large cuts of pork, like a pork roast, at what temperature should you remove the cut from the oven or grill to ensure that the meat is not overcooked?

- Until next time, Swine and dine!

Chris

Wichita- 2 Brothers BBQ

On a recent trip to Wichita, I decided to branch out and try some "non-Kansas City pork barbecue" to see how it compared with what I’m used to. I did a short search online and decided to try a place I read about called 2 Brothers BBQ. 2 Brothers BBQ actually has 4 locations in the area, with 3 of them being in Wichita, and the 4^th one being in El Dorado. It is owned and run by brothers Mark and Matt Ryan and their parents Tom and Carole Ryan. The location I tried was their “West” location at Central and Tyler out in west Wichita.

I thought the place was a bit out of the ordinary when I walked in and saw smoked meats on a salad bar. I began to wonder if I was in the right place until I turned and saw the regular menu on the wall and felt a wave of relief! I went on to learn that the salad bar, known as the “Smokin Salad Bar”, offers smoked meats as salad toppings, which suddenly made the idea of eating salad sound a lot better!  

However, I had gone there to eat pork, and lots of it, so I looked at the menu and opted for the “2 meat dinner”. I chose pork ribs and pulled pork as my meats, and baked beans and potato wedges as my sides. Choosing ribs as one of the 2 meats added $0.99 to the total cost, but it was a decision I figured would be worth it. It turned out I was right. The ribs were delicious! They were tender and meaty, and served without sauce so you could choose which of the 3 sauces on the table you wanted to use. 

Amazing BBQ...probably close to you.

The pulled pork was very good as well. It might have been a bit salty for my taste, but that was more than made up for by how tender the meat was, and how little fat there was in it. The meat had a good hickory smoke flavor, and it paired really well with their “sweet and zesty” barbecue sauce. Had the ribs and pulled pork not been enough meat for me, I wouldn’t have needed to worry, as the baked beans have a lot of tasty smoked pork in them too; a pleasant surprise to say the least!

Being located in the Wichita suburbs for the most part, and offering smoked meats on a salad bar, 2 Brothers BBQ is certainly different from the classic Kansas City barbecue joints I’m used to, but it’s certainly worth your time if you’re in the area and craving some high-quality barbecued pork. With 4 locations to serve you, hopefully you’ll be able to find one and give it a try before long! 

-Mike

P.S. We caught up with a few of the Kansas Pork Association folks over dinner not long ago. We talked them into sponsoring some giveaways to add a bit more fun to the blog. Today will be our first giveaway. We want to challenge you guys a bit, so the first person to answer this question gets the giveaway. 

This week's giveaway is a barbecue set. It has an apron with pockets for the fork, spatula, and tongs that come with in the carrying case. 

Just in time for more football.

Question: What's the origin of the word barbecue?

Stockton - Shirley May’s Deli

When I first moved to western Kansas, I used to like to stop in at a little friendly mom and pop corner gas station in Stockton, Kansas. It was a nice change from the normal franchise convenience store atmosphere.   Like a lot of small town businesses, I stopped by one day, only to sadly discover that it was closed. Unfortunately, the building sat empty for quite a while.

This year, the old corner gas station was given new life as the  home of Shirley May’s Deli. The deli itself is not new, but the location is. Shirley May’s has long been associated with the grocery store up the street. The deli was originally located in the back corner of the store. The new location is certainly an improvement. There is ample parking and you no longer have to wait in the grocery check out line, just for a sandwich. 

Welcome to Shirley May's

 

My first impression was about how clean the place is. It may have once been an old gas station, but I think you could eat off the floors now. (Not that you would want to, but you could.)  My next impression was about the great selection. I counted nearly thirty varieties of cheese. The meat selection was any pork lovers dream.  Nearly thirty deli meat choices included sliced roasted pork, smoked ham, honey ham, black forest ham and maple ham. I didn’t even know there was maple ham! 

Shirley May's = Amazing ham and cheese selection.

The price of a sandwich was $4.99, which just barely beats one of those yellow franchise foot longs. The food however, beats a franchise deli foot long to no end. I had a roasted pork sandwich with colby-jack cheese on fresh potato bread. My wife had a black forest ham sandwich. Both sandwiches looked and tasted absolutely delicious. 

In addition to sandwiches, you can get a soft drink or cappuccino while you shop a selection of bbq rubs, spices and equipment. They also have a refrigerated case with salads so big they could be a complete meal on their own. Upon leaving the deli, I noticed a bbq smoker next to the front door.  How can you go wrong with a place like that?!

Until Next time, Swine and Dine!

- Chris