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Welcome to BBQ Nation with JT's After Hours.Conversation that took place after the broadcast ended.
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Here's the after hours.We got Matt, uh, more with us today is new book butcher on the block.I recommend it.And, uh, we'll start really easy.Okay.
What would you say your success to failure ratio is when you're creating a new recipe for one of your books?
I would put it closer to 75 to 80% because it's typically something that is built off of a failure of the past.And I have to pass everything by a New York Times food critic who lives in my house.
My wife really actually doesn't work for the New York Times, but I'm always saying that.I got it.I feel like every night I'm trying to cook for a Michelin star.
I think that's a good thing.
Yeah.If you could work with one of your barbecue heroes for, say, a weekend, who would it be?
I'm going to, this is not a setup from the press show, but I get meathead speed.I like everything about him and I like going down the rabbit trails and like just spending time with him the way his mind works.
I've learned more from him in just a few hours in person and I've been fortunate to do that several times with him.So I think a weekend, plus he's a great, he's super knowledgeable in the wine world too.So I think we'd have a lot of fun.
might not be able to stand up at the end of the day, but yeah, that would be fine.If you could cook, cook for and then dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
And the person could be deceased or not.
Yeah, well, yeah, that's an easy question.I would I would bring my grandfather back to life and tell him about this book and about this story.
And yes, we would have the shish kebabs, but I would make kibbeh naya, which we feature in the book, which is the kind of the Lebanese style tartar.That would be a no brainer for me.
Good for you.I'm sure, Matt, your grandfather would be very proud of you. Yeah, I say that sincerely.
If Leanne declared you supreme ruler of barbecue for a weekend, what would you as supreme ruler decree?
I think you're the first one that's ever said that.
Let's define that a little bit.Are you saying more different cuts of pork or just more pork?
I just think more pork in general.I love Texas and Oklahoma.I love the beef.I love Kentucky with the mutton.I love all realms, but to me, I just get more pork.That's my answer.That's what it felt like.That would be the decree.
Maybe we'd have a face off of all things pork.
Well, if you if I see another picture of you carrying a hog head across the pasture, it's definitely a face off there.If you could erase one mistake from your past, Matt, what would it be and why?
Hmm, that's a good one.Probably having my wife be on the front cover of my first cookbook because it's not my wife and she always gets that.Oh. I hadn't met her yet for full transparency.
That's Matt.That's not good.
That's one where the spine is showing in my house, not the cover.Yeah.
I'm surprised it's in the house anyway.
I'm surprised it's not out in the ash can of, uh, you know, more than the other ones.Um, if you were on death row, if you do that shit again, I'm putting out your wife on the cover.Uh, if you were on death row, what would your last meal be?
Seafood gumbo.And I'd have to make it.
I think they only let you.
Is that recipe in this book?
It's in Southern Gentleman's Kitchen.Probably not the first time I've answered that consistently like that, but it's always it's good.
But they only let you spend 40 bucks.You probably didn't know that part.
Yeah, that would be might be tough for my I typically get in the plane and fly down to Lafayette and source my seafood and fly it out.
Listen to this guy.Listen to this guy.What's your least favorite food to cook, Matt?
Least favorite food to cook.Yeah.That's a good one.I'm gonna go, my least favorite is maybe my favorite to consume, and it was in Southern Gentleman's Kitchen, but grape leaves, another Lebanese dish.
And so grape leaves is my favorite to consume, least favorite to cook, because it's such a pain in the tail to take all the time and energy, all these Middle Eastern foods,
They take so much time with your hands, you know, so there's never I'm always rushing through it.My kids want it.That's why I created the princess rice that's in butcher on the block, because it's the ground meat and the rice with all the flavors.
But I don't have to roll it into the grape leaf.
Got it.All right.So if we put your skills to music and Leanne was your backup singer, what would the music be?
We would do Shakedown Street by the Grateful Dead.
You know, I I gotta tell you, I have a, I have a golf show and I don't know if you knew that or you didn't, but I interviewed a guy from San Francisco, a teaching pro from San Francisco once and said something about the grateful dead.
And he said, you know, if it wasn't for all the drugs at the grateful dead concert, you'd really realize how crappy the music was.
Man. I live in Nashville and people always ask me, you know, who should I go see in Nashville?What's the new music?And I just say the Grateful Dead keeps getting better.
Yeah.Yeah.Every day, every day.What's the worst place you ever had to cook for somebody?
Worst place I ever had to cook for somebody.Hmm.
A friend of mine in Nashville one time was having a corporate retreat and advertising me as the celebrity chef and I was doing him a favor and not getting paid and flew home on American Airlines in a middle seat to arrive at his house to get to the grill and realize that he had no grill.
and I had made the entire meal based on grilling.So instead, he had two ovens, and we broiled everything possible in about an hour period.And I had to serve it to people from all over the country that had decided to fly in.And that's my friend.
And so the next day, we went and bought him a proper grill.But it was sort of like meal impossible, if you will, with a lot of people judging.But it turned out fantastic.So heat is heat, and we just figured it out.
That would be a good show.Meal impossible.You know, have a little Tom Cruise music in the background there.If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
An animal.I'm going to go just dog.I'm going to go a good lab.Go to bed early.Eat what I'm told.Follow the rules.Gentle and kind.I'm going to go lab.
Plus, they don't eat them in this country.So that's good. What's the hardest thing about your job?You get a lot of fun stuff.You get to meet people and try their food and, you know, discuss ideas and different things with them.
But what's the toughest part of it?
For me, it's just the responsibility of telling somebody's story and doing them justice and the honor that I think that comes with the opportunity, right?
So I've been given this incredible platform to write books that, you know, once they're printed, they stand the test of time, and it's a certain time period or a stamp.
And I just want to make sure that the angle and the approach that I take, typically in just maybe a day's time, you know, showcases the heart and soul of those people and does justice on the food and the work that they're doing.
Okay.Sounds good.Excuse me.Would you describe yourself as corn fed or grass fed?
Attaboy.Boxers or briefs?
Okay.Dire Straits, ACDC, or Billy Ray Cyrus?
There you go. The walk of life, buddy.The walk of life.I mean, what would you cook for Mark Knopfler if he showed up at your house?
Man, all I'm thinking about is I used to be in a band called the Filibusters, and the sign said, Well, we said, you may not like our music, but your girlfriend will.And I was in the band with a buddy of mine, Billy Bennett.
He was the kicker at Georgia, held the NCAA record for most points, scored forever, because we were terrible during the Georgia years, and he always said to kick field goals.
For Knoppler, I don't know, does he have any dietary needs that I need to be aware of?Or would I just do him a good, I'm thinking a pork blade steak.You know, I said more pork earlier, so I think something along those lines would be pretty good.
I don't know if he still does, excuse me, but he liked his pints, you know?Yeah, he liked his pint.So you'd have to have an ample supply of that.Do you have a favorite movie, Mark?
Yeah.Favorite movie is going to go.I'm going to go Dumb and Dumber.So if you read my books, you're going to find a lot of Seinfeld and Dumb and Dumber related.
I noticed the Seinfeld, but I didn't notice the dumber dumber.So what do you want to do when you retire?
If you live that long by putting some other woman's picture on the cover of your cookbook, other than your wife, um, man, I want to keep doing what I'm doing, flying airplanes, writing books and cooking great food.There you go.
Um, what do you think would be the one thing you could do to help people? with their cooking, with their cooking.OK, not in general, but yeah, you've got a lot of great stuff in this book.
You had a lot of great stuff and cereal griller and butts and all those.But what's the one thing that sticks out in your mind?
make things super approachable, right?I mean, for me, that's, when I'm writing a recipe, I think, would I, will I do this, right?
Obviously there's ways to scale things, but I'm really trying to invite everybody in the kitchen to have that pint with me, the glass of wine with meathead, and kind of say, you can do this.
And if I do, if you want to take it the next step, I would say that I think to help people, the more that we invite, you know, friends, strangers, whoever into our homes and cook and share food, I think that's going to help as well.
I will give you a little inside baseball tip if you're meathead likes his naps, especially if you saw me get down the football stands.
I'm not to the nap stage yet.
Yeah.Well, there's a story about that and I'll tell you off the air, but we were at a convention, the three of us and meathead disappeared for an afternoon at And then he showed up again and then he was refreshed.But at that is what it is, man.
Hey, when you know, you know, you know, you know.Here's your chance to deliver a message to the world, Matt, what's.It doesn't have to be about food, it could be about anything.So what what's your message to the world?
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Look at the look on his face when he said that, too.That was good.That was good.Matt Morris, new book, Butcher on the Block, Everyday Recipe Stories and Inspirations.There's a lot of that in there from your local butcher and beyond.
Matt, we want to thank you for taking the time.It's always a pleasure to talk to you, buddy.
Thank you, guys.Simply to speak to you, maybe on that meathead trio or maybe the next book.
Oh, well, we can do that meathead trio.Meathead be all over that.
Yeah, I like that.I like it a lot.
You bet.We're going to get out of here.We'll be back next week with another edition of Barbecue Nation and After Hours for Miss Leanne.There she's got the book.See right there. Yeah, she can do that.I can't do that.
I got a green screen deals going on behind me.Yeah.So for misleading myself and for Matt, everybody have a good week.Remember our motto, turn it, don't burn it and take care.
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