Shownotes
This episode features an engaging dialogue with Paula Stashera, renowned for her culinary expertise and her new publication, "Wing Crush." The core of our discussion revolves around her journey into the culinary world, particularly her innovative approach to creating stuffed chicken wings, which has garnered considerable acclaim. Stashera shares insights into her creative process, the challenges she faced while writing her book, and the invaluable support she received from her husband throughout this endeavor. Furthermore, we delve into essential grilling techniques, emphasizing the importance of using a thermometer to ensure optimal cooking results. Join us as we explore the intricacies of barbecue and the joy derived from sharing culinary experiences with friends and family.
Links referenced in this episode:
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
This is Barbecue Nation After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's jt and this is a special version of Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:It is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef, Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Mrs. Leanne Whippen and Paula Stashera.
Speaker A:Today from Wing Crush.
Speaker A:Wind Crush Wednesdays.
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker A:You know, we.
Speaker A:Ours.
Speaker A:Well, growing up, we had, like, pot roast Sundays, which got pretty bland after the first five years, you know, But I don't think we.
Speaker A:Your.
Speaker A:Your Wind Crush Wednesdays can get bland at all.
Speaker A:And I'm not talking about the flavor.
Speaker A:I'm talking about the repetitiveness.
Speaker A:Like that.
Speaker A:What's your husband think of all this?
Speaker B:I think he was very impressed.
Speaker B:You know, he's.
Speaker B:He didn't.
Speaker B:He didn't think that, you know, writing a book would come out of starting Windcrush Wednesday.
Speaker B:So he saw the whole process, and he was just like, how are you even doing this?
Speaker B:This is so much.
Speaker B:And he's like, I'm so impressed.
Speaker B:And I actually received my book on Friday, and as soon as he got home, I said, it's here.
Speaker B:And he looked through, and he's like, wow.
Speaker B:You know, like, he was just.
Speaker B:He was blown away.
Speaker B:He's like, you need to sign a copy for me.
Speaker B:I'm like, you're my husb.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:He's like, no, you need to sign it and make it personal for me.
Speaker B:So, you know, he helped me through the process, too.
Speaker B:You know, some days he was home, he would.
Speaker B:He would help with, like, the photography.
Speaker B:He would help set up and bring things outside, and he would help with the lighting.
Speaker B:So he was a big part of my book, and I think him seeing it come to life was just surreal for myself as well.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I hate to tell you this, but we got your book before you did.
Speaker C:I think we did.
Speaker B:We did.
Speaker A:And we can thank Charlotte for that back.
Speaker B:She's amazing.
Speaker A:Charlotte is great.
Speaker A:Charlotte Lyman, who works for Page street back there.
Speaker A:Really good.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:You ready for this?
Speaker B:Oh, no, I'm ready.
Speaker C:Okay, There we go.
Speaker A:If you could work with one of your barbecue heroes, or.
Speaker A:Doesn't need to necessarily mean barbecue, but any cooking icon that you really look up to, who would it be?
Speaker B:Rachel Ray.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:I knew you were going to say that.
Speaker C:Good answer.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What cooking skill took you the longest to master in doing not just this book, but overall working on Grills and smokers.
Speaker B:Charcoal took the longest for me to learn bringing it up to temperature.
Speaker B:Maintaining the temperature and trying to cook a brisket on charcoal is not very easy, so it definitely takes some practice.
Speaker B:It's easier to do it on a pellet grill, but charcoal is a different beast.
Speaker B:For sure.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:That took longer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Who's better at doing wings than you are?
Speaker A:Anybody?
Speaker B:My mom.
Speaker A:Your mom?
Speaker A:That's a safe answer.
Speaker B:Yes, it's true.
Speaker B:It's so true.
Speaker B:She's amazing.
Speaker A:Do you remember what the first thing was?
Speaker A:You ever grilled, smoked, barbecued anything with your dad back in the day?
Speaker B:Sausages and hot dogs when we went camping.
Speaker A:Were they on a stick or were they on a grate?
Speaker B:They were on a grate.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If Leanne declared you supreme ruler of barbecue for one week, what would you, as supreme ruler, decree?
Speaker A:This is where you get to throw your pet peeves out there.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:That's a good question.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's a little difficult.
Speaker C:Yeah, give her another question.
Speaker A:All right, all right, all right.
Speaker B:Let's move on.
Speaker A:All right, maybe we'll circle back to that.
Speaker A:You never know.
Speaker A:On a scale of 1 to 10, how much barbecue do you eat on a regular basis?
Speaker B:Nine.
Speaker A:Wow, that's good.
Speaker C:That's a lot.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Besides your new book, Win Crush, do you have a favorite barbecue book?
Speaker B:Chris Sussman's Four Fundamentals.
Speaker B:I love his book.
Speaker B:I have a copy, so I think it's incredible, like, the information in there.
Speaker B:He's amazing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Chris is a good guy.
Speaker A:I have a signed copy, by the way, so I hold them.
Speaker A:I usually hold people hostage when they come on the show, so I've got a great collection of stuff here.
Speaker A:Paula, if we put your skills to music, what would the music be?
Speaker B:Talking about cooking now, like music, like the genre of music or.
Speaker A:No, give me a group or a song or something.
Speaker A:What would it.
Speaker A:What would the music be?
Speaker B:Fire Burning by Sean Kingston.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:You know, Heart has a song called Playing with Fire.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:You never heard it?
Speaker A:I found it years ago.
Speaker A:I was doing DJ stuff, and I've always tried to see if I could get the girls to let us use that as a theme song here, but I've not been successful yet.
Speaker A:Where's the.
Speaker A:Where's the worst place you've ever had to cook?
Speaker B:In my backyard when it was snowing.
Speaker A:Ah, that brings another question to mind.
Speaker A:The Chris Lilly question.
Speaker A:Have you ever cooked out in the snow in your underwear?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:No, not Yet.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker A:Chris Lilly did, but it wasn't.
Speaker A:It was added a competition.
Speaker A:What's the dumbest thing you've ever seen done with a grill or smoker?
Speaker B:I don't think I've ever seen anything, to be quite honest.
Speaker B:That was dumb.
Speaker A:You will eventually.
Speaker B:Yeah, probably.
Speaker B:I haven't experienced it myself, but just people leaving it unattended when the fire is going and thinking it's okay to do that, especially on charts, but yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What's the worst concert you ever attended?
Speaker B:I haven't really been to many concerts.
Speaker A:Okay, Well, there's that one again.
Speaker A:I can't do that one.
Speaker A:Ford, Chevy, BMW.
Speaker A:Favorite car.
Speaker B:So one of those two?
Speaker A:Well, yeah, you can pick a choice or you can just tell me whatever it is you really like.
Speaker A:If you don't like those.
Speaker B:I'm a fan of Acura.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Favorite movie?
Speaker B:Dirty Dancing.
Speaker A:Oh, there you go.
Speaker C:Good one.
Speaker A:They told me I can't dance on TV anymore.
Speaker A:Leanne.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker A:Captain and Tenille are the Allman brothers.
Speaker B:Allman brothers.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:Have you ever smoked an armadillo?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:You want to?
Speaker B:I mean, there's a first for everything.
Speaker B:I'll try anything once.
Speaker A:How long did it.
Speaker A:This little more serious question here.
Speaker A:How long did it take you, Paula, not to learn to continually go out and peek under the lid, so to speak, when you're.
Speaker A:When you're in a cook?
Speaker B:I still get tempted to do it nowadays, but it definitely took me a while to do it.
Speaker B:And I keep having to tell myself, just let it do its thing.
Speaker B:Stop touching it.
Speaker B:Go away.
Speaker B:It's not going to cook any faster.
Speaker B:It's going to cook slower if you keep opening.
Speaker B:So it definitely took a little bit for me to get used to it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's the biggest mistake that you think in cooking and grilling and smoking that you ever made?
Speaker A:And there's a second part to that.
Speaker A:What's the biggest mistake you think folks.
Speaker B:At home make for me would be not using a thermometer while cooking a brisket and falling asleep and not being notified.
Speaker B:So that was pretty rough.
Speaker B:I mean, yeah, that brisket did not turn out how I wanted it to because, you know, I. I do have a.
Speaker B:A thermometer that sets off the alarm, and I just.
Speaker B:For some reason, I didn't put it in.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I think that's really important to make sure if you're doing those low and slow cooks, that you are looking at the temperature and being notified if you're not standing over it and and it's such a long cook and you want to take a little bit of a nap.
Speaker A:So definitely sounds like your nap was more than a little bit of a nap.
Speaker B:Yep, yep.
Speaker B:Little, little, little too long.
Speaker A:What do you think that applies to?
Speaker A:To people at home, or is there something else that could constitute a major mistake or error?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think that's important.
Speaker B:Using a thermometer, checking the temperature.
Speaker B:I feel like a lot of people think it looks like it's done and they pull it off.
Speaker B:And, you know, you're feeding it, especially if you're feeding it to guests and the food is raw, you don't really want to do that.
Speaker B:I think a lot of people just think that they can do it by looking at it, especially if they're just starting out and they're not used to doing these type of cooks.
Speaker B:So I think that's really important to use a thermometer.
Speaker A:Good, good.
Speaker A:Have you had fun doing all this?
Speaker B:Yes, it's been amazing.
Speaker A:It sounds like you've had a really good time.
Speaker C:You know what?
Speaker C:We forgot to ask her.
Speaker C:What's her favorite recipe out of the book?
Speaker B:Oh, out of 100.
Speaker B:Can I just pick one?
Speaker B:I think one of my favorite ones is a stuffed, which is the Mac and cheese stuffed wings.
Speaker C:I signed that, and I like the other one.
Speaker C:You had a chili jalapeno stuffed one too?
Speaker C:Both of them.
Speaker C:Honestly, I'd never heard of stuffed wings before, and that was like, oh, I'm gonna try that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because it really opens the door to stuff it with anything.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And the way I came up with that is because people stuff chicken breast.
Speaker B:You know, people stuff chicken breast.
Speaker B:So I said, well, then let me try to stuff a wing with the same type of things that you can stuff a chicken breast with.
Speaker B:So jalapeno chicken breast.
Speaker B:I did a jalapeno chicken wing.
Speaker B:So I did that, and I was just blown away that it actually worked.
Speaker B:So I think that's one of my favorite ones.
Speaker C:Love that.
Speaker A:Well, there you go.
Speaker A:Paula, it's been great to have you on the show and especially sticking around for the abuse and after hours.
Speaker A:And folks, we've been talking with Paula Stashera here.
Speaker A:Her new book, Wing Crush.
Speaker A:She goes by the handle Queen of the Grill on Instagram and Ticky Tock.
Speaker A:And I wish you the best of luck with all this.
Speaker A:I both Leanne and I know what a challenge all of this can be at times.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Congratulations.
Speaker C:You crushed it.
Speaker C:Haha.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:All right, we gotta go.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:Everybody remember our motto, turn it, don't burn it, and we'll see you later.
