Barbecue Sauce

MMMMMmmmmm! Gotta love that barbecue! Local artist Bill Levers does. A painting he made of a stoic Indian chief will appear on the label of thousands of jars of "Old Dakota Barbecue Sauce," a product from Britain set to hit grocery store shelves in Europe and Australia by April. Not only will his painting be on the jar, but so will his name and endorsement of the product: "BAR-B-Q Sauce Suggested By Bill Levers, Western Artist. " Now, Levers may not technically be a "Western Artist," - he grew up in Southwest Philadelphia and has lived for 22 years in Washington Township, but he has taken plenty of vacations in the Dakotas and has taken hundreds of photographs of Western landscapes, which he plans to eventually reproduce in paintings.

Pickles may not be glamorous, but they're what Bob Bernstock has to work with. "We will start with the humble cucumber and only when the cucumber has reached its full potential will we even look at other possibilities," he says with aplomb. Bernstock, a former Campbell Soup top executive, has a new assignment. He's running Vlasic Foods International Inc., a good-sized food company spun off by Campbell Soup in late March. In addition to Vlasic pickles, the nation's best-selling brand, and popular Swanson frozen dinners, the company contains this mish-mash of less attractive businesses: a Midwest barbecue sauce called Open Pit, an Argentina beef processor, a German gourmet food distributor, and a network of high-cost mushroom farms.

The most democratic religion in America has no chapel. Its altar is a glowing bed of briquettes and its priesthood an army of aproned suburbanites brandishing spatulas and bulb basters. Its rituals follow a pattern that has not changed for generations. From marination through the whitening of the first ash to the ceremonial flipping of the last burger, Americans are fanatical about their barbecue. Even this summer's widespread media reports linking outdoor grilling to carcinogenic nitrosamines have not dampened the fire.

Company description: (Bacon-Cheddar BBQ) A 5.5-ounce, flame-broiled premium ground chuck patty topped with two slices of melted cheddar cheese, three slices of naturally smoked hardwood bacon, fresh-cut romaine lettuce, red onions, ripe tomatoes, creamy mayonnaise and BBQ sauce on an artisan-style bun. Limited time only. Chain: Burger King. Calories: 820, with 56 grams fat, 135 mgs cholesterol, 1,800 mgs salt. Location: The Gallery Food Court (9th and Market)

If you've had it with hamburgers and you're unmoved by meat loaf, here's a Slim Gourmet alternative. Turn extra-lean ground beef into an all-meat "pizza. " Despite its saucy Italian flavor and top layer of melting mozzarella cheese, this oven-easy main course is calorie shy - only 200 per serving. For this simple hamburger dish, you'll want extra-lean beef round, not chuck or fatty hamburger meat. Have the meat trimmed of fat and ground to order - that way you leave the extra fat on the butcher-shop floor.

Yo, Chefs! I am a crab lover: hardshell, softshell, no shell, male, female. I have made several dishes with crab and would like to try more. Can you help me find one? Marcia Sheppard Philadelphia Dear Marcia, Here's a wonderful recipe for grilled softshell crabs in a sage barbecue sauce, from chef Zachary Conover of Philadelphia Fish & Co. He serves the dish in great quantities during softshell season. Do not be afraid of cleaning softshell crabs. It is actually very easy.

The albondigas dish at La Calaca Feliz - the new Mexican spot from Cantina Feliz chef Tim Spinner - might be just meatballs on a plate, but they aren't simple. Beef is mixed with herbs, stuffed with a nugget of Oaxaca cheese, breaded, skewered and grilled. And that's before they are coated with the deep, smoky-sweet ancho-berry barbecue sauce (cooked with cherries and cranberries) that is good enough to bottle. Other menu highlights include the masa flatbread "tlayudas," the popcorn-caramel-brownie sundae, and the fact that while not advertised, virtually everything on this menu is gluten-free.

Even before you're seated at Rib-It, on Grant Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, the smoky aroma of barbecue begins tantalizing the senses, while the sound of many mouths gnawing on ribs plays like harmony to lively chatter. This is one of several Rib-Its, which, like the others - Cherry Hill, Turnersville, Media and Camp Hill - is owned by U.S. Restaurants, a Blue Bell-based business that operates a number of food franchises, including some Burger Kings. And like the others, it's a place for rolled-up sleeves, where fingers become acceptable dining tools and often work better than the knives and forks that come wrapped in thick paper napkins.

BARBECUE PENNE PASTA 1 pound mini penne 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups diced onions 4 to 6 cups shredded, store-bought rotisserie chicken (one 3-pound chicken or two 1 1/2-pound chickens) 1 quart hickory-smoke-flavored barbecue sauce 12 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled 1/2 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese In a medium saucepan, cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente.

Food marketers can toil in the trenches for years before cinching the kind of deal that basically fell into Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby's laps. The food/housewares giant Williams-Sonoma has three sauces branded with the name Vedge, the couple's upscale vegan restaurant in Center City. They are to go on sale this week ($14.95) at more than 150 stores in the United States and the Middle East, and starting Jan. 17 on its website. The arrangement began simply. In the spring, a Williams-Sonoma executive visiting Philadelphia had a good meal at Vedge and called, said Shannon Gomes, a Williams-Sonoma spokeswoman.

Food marketers can toil in the trenches for years before cinching the kind of deal that basically fell into Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby's laps. The food/housewares giant Williams-Sonoma has three sauces branded with the name Vedge, the couple's upscale vegan restaurant in Center City. They are to go on sale this week ($14.95) at more than 150 stores in the United States and the Middle East, and starting Jan. 17 on its website. The arrangement began simply. In the spring, a Williams-Sonoma executive visiting Philadelphia had a good meal at Vedge and called, said Shannon Gomes, a Williams-Sonoma spokeswoman.

If you've been without power at home, you'll soon be making decisions about what to pitch from your refrigerator and freezer. Here are some tips: A fully packed, free-standing freezer that has remained closed will stay at acceptably cold temperatures for two to four days. The following partially defrosted foods may be safe to eat/refreeze if they still contain ice crystals or have been kept below 40 degrees: beef, veal, lamb, pork, ground meat, casseroles, soups and stews, hard cheeses, juices, flours, nuts, packaged waffles and pancakes, frozen meals/convenience foods.

Maurice Bertrand's football physique likely saved his life when he was shot five times on a blistering summer day last year in Camden. When he arrived at Cooper University Hospital, "first thing they said was, 'This guy is still alive?' " Bertrand recalled recently at Lincoln University in Chester County, where he has resumed the sport many thought he'd never play again. Doctors, including Robert Ostrum, the surgeon who helped save former New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine after a serious auto accident, rushed to tend to Bertrand's injuries: High-caliber bullets had broken Bertrand's right thigh bone into 10 or 15 pieces, gone through his left ankle, and struck his back; one hit his left biceps so hard it went through his shoulder and into his eye. Bertrand's large body - 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds - helped stop the bullets from puncturing vital organs.

WHAT'S A GALLON of 20-year-old barbecue sauce worth? Almost $10,000 if it was left over from the days that McDonald's sold the McJordan sandwich, named after former NBA star Michael Jordan. According to an ESPNChicago.com report, a man from Chicago bought the sauce on eBay for $9,995. "I've got quite a bit of McDonald's memorabilia," said Mort Bank, who sold the sauce and was once the owner of a Mickey D's in North Dakota. "This was on my shelf, and my daughter who helps me with eBay said, 'I wonder what something like this would be worth?

The Smoke Truck, featuring the barbecue prowess of Mississippian Mark A. Coates, impressed the judges and was named winner of the Vendy Cup at the second annual Vendy Awards Saturday. People's choice winner was Vernalicious - Verna Swerdlow and David Jurkofsky's comfort-fooder - and best dessert honors went to Lil' Pop Shop, Jeanne Chang and Vince Tseng's popsicle company. The winners of both the 2011 and 2012 Philadelphia Vendy Awards will roll into Eakins Oval on Thursday, for the Winners' Oval Event.

Company description: (Bacon-Cheddar BBQ) A 5.5-ounce, flame-broiled premium ground chuck patty topped with two slices of melted cheddar cheese, three slices of naturally smoked hardwood bacon, fresh-cut romaine lettuce, red onions, ripe tomatoes, creamy mayonnaise and BBQ sauce on an artisan-style bun. Limited time only. Chain: Burger King. Calories: 820, with 56 grams fat, 135 mgs cholesterol, 1,800 mgs salt. Location: The Gallery Food Court (9th and Market)

After more than a decade as one of the Philadelphia area's best-known eaters, Bill Simmons has cleaned the barbecue sauce from his chubby fingers and stopped stuffing his face, at least competitively. "It was just time, time to move on to something else," said Simmons, better known as El Wingador, five-time champion of Wing Bowl, that spectacle of gustatory excess held annually at the Wells Fargo Center. At the suggestion of his friend Kevin "Heavy Keavy" O'Donnell, a Wing Bowl champ who was retiring from competition, the Woodbury Heights resident took up the cudgel in 1999.

The albondigas dish at La Calaca Feliz - the new Mexican spot from Cantina Feliz chef Tim Spinner - might be just meatballs on a plate, but they aren't simple. Beef is mixed with herbs, stuffed with a nugget of Oaxaca cheese, breaded, skewered and grilled. And that's before they are coated with the deep, smoky-sweet ancho-berry barbecue sauce (cooked with cherries and cranberries) that is good enough to bottle. Other menu highlights include the masa flatbread "tlayudas," the popcorn-caramel-brownie sundae, and the fact that while not advertised, virtually everything on this menu is gluten-free.

BARBECUE PENNE PASTA 1 pound mini penne 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups diced onions 4 to 6 cups shredded, store-bought rotisserie chicken (one 3-pound chicken or two 1 1/2-pound chickens) 1 quart hickory-smoke-flavored barbecue sauce 12 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled 1/2 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese In a medium saucepan, cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente.

IN LIFE, people always want to keep up with the Joneses. But not James Jones, who allegedly stabbed his dog to death with a 30-inch samurai sword (July 16). The mere mental image is enough to give a child nightmares for years. I realize that this will be labeled nothing more than animal cruelty, and will draw a fine and perhaps some jail time. Funny, but I thought the definition of murder was when you killed something. If it were a child he did this to, he'd be looking at the needle.