Posse blog readers: Here's your chance to win free Texas BBQ from FoodyDirect

In the news business, two of the best words you can use in a headline to attract attention are "win" and "free."

Now, because of an offer to Posse blog readers from FoodyDirect, an online food marketplace, we can add two more: "Texas" and "barbecue."

Win free Texas barbecue from either Snow's BBQ in Lexington, Kreuz Market in Lockhart or Black's Barbecue in Lockhart. The food, depending upon the joint selected, is valued at as much as $110. It will be shipped directly to you.

You can qualify for a chance to win by clicking on the FoodyDirect box at the top right of this page or going directly to FoodyDirect's sign-up page. The offer ends May 3 when a winner will be randomly selected.

FoodyDirect is based in Menlo Park, Calif., and offers food from restaurants and specialty shops around the country, including the three top Texas barbecue joints above.

One of the principals of FoodyDirect, which received venture funding last year, is Brad Koenig, one of Silicon Valley's top investment bankers during the early years of the Web. He backed Yahoo's public stock offering.

First Look: The Slow Bone Barbeque in Dallas

All photos by Jim Rossman

It's a great day when I get to eat at a new place.

Today, Jack Perkins, owner of local burger joint Maple and Motor, opened the doors to The Slow Bone Barbeque, his new barbecue restaurant at 2234 Irving Blvd. at the base of the new Sylvan Ave. bridge near the Design District in Dallas.

Jack won the brisket competition at last year's Meat Fight and announced his plans to open Slow Bone late last year.

Well, today was the day.

Video: Pecan Lodge's Justin Fourton shows you how to cook a great brisket

When it comes to smoking a brisket, Pecan Lodge pitmaster and co-owner Justin Fourton is among the best in Texas. Their recent appearance on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is further evidence of that fact.

However, our photo crew at the Dallas Morning News beat Guy Fieri to the airwaves by a couple of weeks with this video of Justin explaining how to prep, cook and cut a brisket. Staff photographer Vernon Bryant spent a day behind the scenes at Pecan Lodge to bring you some of Justin's secrets. Enjoy.......


Video: Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News, Photo: ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse

More evidence of the Texas BBQ hipster pitmaster, and this one's smoking turkey

Lockhart Smokehouse pitmaster Will Fleischman. (Photo ©Chris WIlkins/Texas BBQ Posse) 

While we were at Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas the other day, pitmaster Will Fleischman stopped by our table to explain his recent experiments cooking turkey breast. He didn't have high hopes, he admitted, but the final product turned out well and will soon be added to the regular menu.

We tried some and it was excellent.

As Fleischman talked, it occurred to us that here was another example of the phenomenon we wrote about recently, the young hipster pitmaster who is changing Texas barbecue.

Last year Fleischman was named one of the 10 best pitmasters in the south by Southern Living magazine. Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin was the only other Texan on the list.

Of course, this week in Dallas, we'll get the debut of the anti-hipster pitmaster when Jack Perkins is scheduled to open his Slow Bone joint at Sylvan and Irving Boulevard.

We can't wait.

Lockhart Smokehouse owner wants to add another pit to keep up with demand at his Oak Cliff joint

Our Shiner Platter lunch at Lockhart Smokehouse. Yes, it was a good as it looks. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins)

During an anything-but-light lunch Thursday at Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas, owner Jeff Bergus said business has been so strong -- up more than 25 percent this year -- that he's thinking of adding a second pit to the big Bewley that the joint has used since opening in early 2011.

Where would it go?

Bergus said he wasn't sure, but pointed out that there is a small, vacant storefront adjacent to the back of his place, which would be one possibility.

Lockhart is now cooking two tons of meat a week, he said, and sometimes selling out.

First visit to Opie's Barbecue in Spicewood

Opie's Barbecue in Spicewood had been on the "must visit" list for a while. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

The timing could have been better for my first visit to Opie's Barbecue in Spicewood. I was following a hungry Easter crowd, arriving at 2 p.m. and there wasn't a lot of meat left in the large black warming pit that greets you as you walk in the front door.

This joint has been on the Posse's "must visit" list for a while, but unfortunately Spicewood is a little off the beaten path. They've been named a Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ joint twice, in 2003 and 2008, despite only opening for business in 1999. Not to mention that I've never heard a negative comment about Opie's.

And that's rare in the highly emotional and opinionated world of Texas barbecue.