Up in Your Grills!

You’ve always been the one to serve up the slaw that slays ’em, the ribs that have ’em licking their fingers, and the firewater concoction that leaves ’em shaken and stirred. But now you’ll have the chance to show off on a bigger scale beyond your friends and family, because The Independent is hosting its first-ever Summer BBQ Contest, with five ways to win.

Both professionals (you cook for pay) and amateurs (you cook at home only) get to enter in separate best entrée and best side dish brackets. To muddle things up a bit, there will only be one contest for best summer cocktail, as pro mixologists and backyard bartenders will both fight for the no doubt slightly cock-eyed crown. Submit your recipes to bbq@independent.com by May 3. Finalists will be selected based on those submissions.

Contestants must be able to prepare their food/drink on Thursday, May 20, for official judging, and again on Thursday, June 3, when winners will share their food with the public. Yep, that means there’ll be a party at the end where we will all be winners. Stay tuned to this space for details, and, in the meantime, kick your Kingsford into gear.