Smokin' in the Boys' Room: Southern Recipes from the Winningest Woman in Barbecue (Melissa Cookston Book 1) (Volume 1)

Melissa Cookston, a seven-time barbecue world champion and judge on American Barbecue Showdown, presents over eighty-five Southern-influenced barbecue recipes in her first cookbook. The collection explores techniques for using fire to create smoked meats, baked and fried dishes, sides, and desserts. Cookston shares her personal journey into barbecue and rise through the competition circuit, including her distinctive approach to smoking whole hogs. The recipes span sauces and seasoning blends, pork and bacon, beef, poultry, and seafood, along with sides and desserts. Specific dishes include Slow-Smoked Competition Brisket, Fire-Grilled Pork T-Bones with Hoe Cakes and Mississippi Caviar, Grilled Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, BBQ Shrimp and Grits, and Red Beans and Rice. Many recipes have won contests and have been refined through competition or in Cookston's restaurants, Memphis Barbecue Company. Some reflect traditional Southern cooking while others draw from her Delta roots. The book is designed for both experienced competitors and beginners learning to grill.