We took our talents down south this past weekend and came away with a little bit of hardware, in addition to helping to support a great cause. We placed 3rd out of 36 teams in judges’ vote and finished in the top 5 of the people’s choice vote at The Ohio Eggfest in Columbus.

When we committed to The Ohio Eggfest back in May, shortly after taking Best Pork at Grill on the Hill Eggfest in Gaylord, Mich., we were told to expect 500-600 attendees and that we would get one large Big Green Egg to cook on. In reality, 1,500 people showed up and the event organizers were nice enough to give us a second large Egg at the last minute.

In preparation, we decided that we would need to serve a small portion, but it would need to be a very flavorful and memorable bite. I love to impart creativity into what I cook, so after a lot of thought and some trial and error, we settled on a kabob-like bite that showcased pork belly in three different ways — a dish that we called Belly of the Beast.

1. Pork Belly Burnt Ends — These have exploded in popularity over the past year or two as kind of a poor man’s burnt end, but when done well they result in a pillowy burst of pork flavor.
   
   Ours were cubed and rubbed with our Down With the Swine pork rub, which is essentially a sweet/heat combo rub. They were smoked at 275 over pecan and post oak for about 2 hours, then tossed in our Up North Sauce, which is a tomato-based sauce with flavors of cherry and maple. We also added butter and a drizzle of maple syrup before foiling and putting back in the Egg for an hour and a half. After that, we removed the foil for the last half hour to let them caramelize.
   
2. House Cured Cherry Wood Smoked Bacon — I love making my own bacon. It’s infinitely better than anything you can buy at the grocery store and far less expensive per pound as well.
   
   I put maple sugar in my bacon cure because it imparts some maple flavor into the meat without having to add maple syrup during the smoking process. Then, I rub with my Lawless Beef Rub, which is a coffee and black pepper based rub, and smoke to 150, then slice and fry up.
   
3. Bourbon Bacon Jam with Smoked Figs — This was a late addition to the dish. I diced up and fried some of my bacon, cooked some onions in that bacon fat until soft, then added brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, chipotle powder, and a splash of bourbon, then let that all reduce down and thicken.

All of that was served on a toothpick and topped with a house-made pickle. I’ve learned that people love pickles, and that was confirmed on Saturday. Several people told me that the pickle made the dish. I knew it needed something vinegary to complete it and had played around with a few ideas such as pickled jalapeno, pickled serrano, and pickled red onion, but none of them really wowed me. The pickle did.

The other item we served was grilled angel food cake with coffee cream drizzle and smoked pecans. We did the angel food cake in cupcake form so they would be small one or two bite size and then put them directly on the cast iron grill grates to get some crispy grill marks. We took our house roasted coffee and combined it with powdered sugar to create a simple coffee flavored glaze, then drizzled that over top. We also smoked some pecans with Kosher salt and maple syrup, ground them up, and sprinkled them on top.

While a few people were confused by what it actually was (some said it looked like a scallop), it got rave reviews from all who tried it. Angel food cake is great as-is, but tossing it on the grill kicks the flavor up to another level.

As an added bonus, we served our house-roasted cold brew coffee, which is a Brazil and Guatemala blend that features chocolatey and nutty tones and none of the acidity that you find in many other cold brews. We got a lot of complements about how smooth it was.

This event was a lot of fun and we are grateful for all of the positive feedback we received. That’s what keeps us going. We love putting a smile on your face and impressing you with our culinary creativity and barbecue acumen.

Most importantly, we are proud to be a part of an event that raised approximately $60,000 to help fight cancer. All proceeds from The Ohio Eggfest went to The James for cancer research. Thank you to Rob, Mike, and all the other event organizers for a well-run event. Hopefully we’ll see you again next year.