Bigmista’s Barbecue is leaving Sherman Oaks. Our customers in the San Fernando Valley can still get our great BBQ at the Atwater Village Farmers market on Sundays from 10a-2p.

We will still be at all of our other locations and look for us at new locations coming a little later in the year. Don’t forget we are available for catering all of your events!

SUNDAY | 10AM – 2PM

Atwater Village
Wells Fargo Parking Lot
3250 Glendale Boulevard

SUNDAY | 8:30AM – 2:30PM

Long Beach
Corner of Spring & Clark

THURSDAY | 3PM – 7PM

El Segundo
Main Street & Pine Avenue

SATURDAY | 8AM – 1PM

Torrance
Charles H Wilson Park
2200 Crenshaw Boulevard

Thanks!

Bigmista

Bigmista’s Barbecue would like to thank all of the Veterans who fought for our country and our way of life. We value our freedom and we truly appreciate your service.

The Bigmista Family

I got a new load of Mojobricks and decided to use them for a big cook. Mojobricks are single species hardwood sawdust that have been compressed into bricks for bbqing. Here is a shot of them:

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I was cooking in the new Spicewine trailer so this was a test of the bricks and the trailer. I wanted to see how the trailer handled large amounts of meat and how much fuel was required. This is the setup I used:

I used cherry bricks with hardwood briquettes. This setup produced some wonderful smelling blue smoke. Check out the Mojobricks in action:

I was cooking for a vending event so I prepped 10 briskets, 8 corned beef briskets for Pastrami and 8 Pork butts. I put them in at 10pm and I’ll be damned if they weren’t done at 5:30pm with lots of fuel left.

I was really impressed with the Mojobricks and we put out some great BBQ. Check out Mojobricks at Mojobricks.com and tell them Bigmista sent you!

Enjoy!

Bigmista

I was writing this really long post about my trip to the American Royal BBQ Contest, but I started to bore myself so I decided to show you guys some pics of what went on instead. I hope you enjoy it.

My first stop once I hit Kansas City was Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. This plae is a BBQ Mecca. I was really excited to be going there.

Not a Mecca anymore

I was really excited to eat there and I ordered a Brisket Sandwich, the true test of any BBQ spot.

Cold Brisket Sandwich

My brisket sandwich was cold. My fries were lukewarm at best and limp. And the sauce was gritty and chalky.

Gritty & Chalky

The best things on my plate were the pickles and Red Cream soda. Arthur Bryant’s is no longer a Mecca. It’s just Meh.

I spent Wednesday night with Andy and Kim Groneman of Smoke on Wheel BBQ. They hosted me, Danielle Dimovski if Diva Q BBQ and her family and Shelly Hunt of Desperados BBQ. It was a great big ol’ slumber party. And there might have been an adult beverage involved…

Scary, ain't it?

And of course we were bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning…

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

Andy drinks LOTS of Apple Juice in the morning.

One of the great things about being at the American Royal is getting to see old friends and meeting people you’v only talked to on the internet. Here are some of my friends, old and new.

Bob Denner of Boondoggle BBQ and Master Judge Dave Compton

Phil Rizzardi of BBQ-Brethren.com and Jimmy Brod of Smokin Cracker BBQ

Jeff Stith of Big Creek BBQ and Sweet T of Belly Bros BBQ

Danielle Dimovski of Diva Q BBQ and Todd Johns of Plowboys BBQ

BBQ-Brethren.com group photo. I think somebody grabbed my butt.

Me and Mike Mills. He actually knew who I was!

Me and Ray Lampe, Dr. BBQ

Me and Karen Walker. Lovely ain't she?

Me and my Homie, Diva Q!

If you’d like to see more photos, check out my slideshow here.

Have fun. I gotta go cook something.

Enjoy!

Bigmista

Walnut Raisin French Toast w/ blueberry compote

I know it may be hard for some of you to believe but sometimes I actually cook something besides barbecue. Take the foil off of your head. The world is not ending. When I have a few minutes to myself, I look around the kitchen to see what I have on hand then I get creative.

This week one of the vendors at the farmers markets gave us a loaf of  Walnut Raisin bread (barter is good!). Since it is a couple of days old, I decided to use it for French toast but instead of the sugary syrup, I went a different direction.

I took 1 cup of  frozen blueberries (which I usually keep on hand for smoothies) and put then in a pot with 1/2 cup of water and 1 tbsp of turbinado sugar. I put this over medium low heat and let it simmer until the blueberries started to break up and the liquid started to thicken (about 10 mins.)

In the meantime, I beat two eggs with a tbsp of cold water, a tsp of cinnamon, and a pinch each of sugar and salt. Next, I dipped the bread in the egg mixture, making sure both sides are coated. Then I cooked the slices on a buttered griddle about 2-3 minutes per sides.

To finish, I spooned the blueberry compote over the french toast and ate it with breakfast sausages and a navel orange.

Walnut Raisin French Toast w/ Blueberry Compote

Now it’s time to sit back and rub my belly!

Enjoy!

Bigmista

I have learned a lot over the years from my friend Steph from Simply Marvelous BBQ. His business is based in Ventura, CA and we have worked together on many events. He’s a great caterer and BBQ man. So when he asked me and my father-in-law Blondie to come and work with him on a wedding, we jumped at the chance because we were free today.

The Buffet Line

The wedding was at sunset and the Cabrillo Arts Center. Immediately after the cermony we served stuffed mushrooms and bacon-wrapped scallops for appetizers. The dinner menu was Tequila Lime Chicken, Tri-Tip, Garlic mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and a spinach salad. Steph and I were carving the Tri-Tip and we were definitely on point.

Bigmista and Big Brother Smoke

The family loved the food and our service. We got rave reviews all evening. It’s always a pleasure to work with Steph because we respect each others skills and we get along so well.

Bigmista And Big Brother Smoke

Here are a few other pics from the wedding:

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Bigmista

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a great New Years Eve filled with wonderful food!

We had a relatively quiet New Years Eve with some great friends. I made a pot of Seafood Gumbo that everyone enjoyed.

New Years Eve Gumbo

Mrs. Mista made some MOINK Balls with Blueberry Chipotle sauce…

MOINK Ball platter

MOINK Balls

…and friends brought Spinach Dip, Bruschetta and lots of booze. It was a great evening and we topped it off watching “The Thin Man”, one of our favorite movies.

What did you do for New Years Eve?

BigMista