Texas In South Dakota

My wife warily eyed the large brown Quonset building
that sits at the north edge of Milbank. "I think they're
closed," she proclaimed .

"But the sign out front says they're open," I countered.

"You go check, then," she replied. It was clear from her
demeanor that she wasn't getting out of the car until I had
reconnoitered and returned with a full report.

The place was indeed open, and I was able to convince my
wife to accompany me into the machine shed-like building that
houses R & J Texas Barbecue.

As we entered the cavernous Quonset, we were met by a
bearish man who addressed us with a jovial Texas drawl.
"Howdy!" he boomed, "How y'all doing?"

We had just met Rick Bolin, the "R" part of R & J Texas
Barbecue. I was pleased to note that Rick carries more than a
few extra pounds. Skinny cooks should always arouse
suspicion.

The interior of the Quonset was clean and well-kept, its
walls decorated with football and bull riding paraphernalia.
The bare concrete floor was populated by a couple dozen small
tables, each covered by a red-and-white checkered table
cloth. My wife deemed the table cloths "a nice touch".

We ordered a sampler platter of assorted barbecued meats
and sat down at one of the tables. As we dug in, Rick came
over and struck up a conversation.

I commented to Rick that he obviously wasn't a native
Midwesterner. "Nope," he drawled. "I've lived here about six
years is all. My wife, Julie, is from Waubay, which is why I
wound up here."

Moving from Texas to northeastern South Dakota must have
been quite a shock, weather-wise.

"I love the cold," said Rick. "I can't get enough of it!
Besides, my barbecue pits work better when it's cold. The air
has less humidity then."

One can't help but notice the big barbecue pits near the
door. Those chrome smokestacks are really cool; it looks like
they were made for semi tractors.

"They were," said Rick. "I built those pits myself, from
used LP gas tanks."

How did you get started in the barbecue business?
"After we moved up here, I noticed there was no place to
get good barbecue like I'd had back home. So, I started
making it myself and word sort of spread. Pretty soon folks
were asking me to make barbecue for their gatherings."
You've got a healthy collection of trophies there by the
front door.

"I've won my share of barbecue contests. But what I like
most is making barbecue for folks and watching them enjoy it.
Besides, our 14-year-old son, Cole, is the up and coming
barbecue champ in the family. He beat me last year in the
barbecued brisket division. Plus, our 8-year-old daughter,
Callie, has started barbecuing chicken."

Where did you get the recipe for your dry rub?

"It's been handed down and modified some over the years.
Back in Texas, our whole family was big into barbecue, and my
cousins and I each developed our own little secrets. The
potato salad we serve here is made from my mom's recipe, and
the noodle salad is Julie's creation. Our barbecue sauce is
an old family recipe that we've played around with."
Care to share any of those recipes?

"Nope."

What's the hardest part about barbecuing?

"The weather. Every day is a little different, so each
day's barbecue is a little different. The wood I use to fire
the pits can also varies some, but I always use only ash,
oak, and apple. I barbecue my brisket for 12 hours, which
means if we open at 4:00 in the afternoon, I have to be here
at 4:00 a.m."

I saw that you had several pits smoking away out there.
How much can you barbecue at a time?

"All together, my pits going can hold 1,000 pounds of
meat. I've catered gatherings as close as my back yard to as
far away as a couple of hundred miles. I'm willing to hook
onto my pits and go about anywhere!"

My wife and I walked out of the big brown Quonset
wearing Texas-sized smiles. Our tummies were full and there
were smudges of secret barbecue sauce on our chins. She was
no longer nervous about the building and was already talking
about our next visit.

Perhaps the day will come when the countryside is dotted
with numerous brown Quonsets, and my wife and I will be able
to say that we knew about R & J Texas Barbecue "back when".