Charlie's Award-Winning BBQ Sauce4 tablespoons olive oil3/4 cup small diced yellow onion2 cloves minced garlic10 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (do not add water)1 cup vegetable or beef stock3/4 cup ketchup1/2 cup steak sauce1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon celery seeds1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes2 teaspoons paprika2 teaspoons orange marmaladeHeat oil, and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic, and cook until you can smell it. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes; strain and reduce if necessary to desired richness. Add kosher salt, to taste.
This year's RiverRocks festival, celebrating the great outdoors, is officially scheduled to start on Oct. 5, but Chattanooga's cycling enthusiasts will give it a jump-start with the Bike2Farm Ride on Sept. 29.
Cyclists will spend that Saturday peddling through Chattanooga Valley, enjoying the scenery and food from four local farms.
Riders will leave at 2 p.m. from Chattanooga's Crabtree Farms for a 25-mile round trip into North Georgia that includes stops at Cloudcrest Farm, Eagles Rest Farm and Happy Valley Farm, all of which provide fresh produce to Chattanooga markets and restaurants. The route also includes a stop at Blacksmith's Bistro in St. Elmo.
At the end of the ride, cyclists can stay for Crabtree Farms' annual Pig Roast at 6 p.m. The family-friendly event features live entertainment and slow-roasted barbecue as well as a number of vegetarian and vegan options -- all with foods acquired from local sources. The roast also includes the popular Hittin' the Sauce barbecue sauce contest, with barbecue pros from around the area putting their sauces to the test.
The bike ride is just $10 per person. For information, email ride leader Mike Pollock at mike.pollock@mac.com. For a map of the ride, go to goo.gl/maps/P7cP.
Tickets for the Pig Roast are $35 (single), $60 (couple) and $80 (family) for nonmembers, with $5 and $10 discounts for members. The ticket price, which is 100 percent tax-deductible, supports Crabtree Farms' programs to grow the local food economy and to provide agriculture enrichment for area youth.
You need not participate in the bike ride to attend the Pig Roast. And if you do go on the bike ride, you don't have to attend the Pig Roast. More information can be found at crabtreefarms.org.
While you're planning your next few weeks, check out RiverRocks' newly designed website, www.river rockschattanooga.com, for all the action taking place during the festival, which continues through Oct. 14.
Charlie Loomis, executive chef at Greenlife Grocery, has won the Hittin' the Sauce contest for the past two years with the same recipe. This year, he's come up with a new recipe he hopes will wow the judges, so he graciously gave us his winning creation.