To promote barbecue grill safety, Tampa Fire Rescue will partner with BJ’s Wholesale Club for the first-ever Firefighter Grill-Off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in BJ’s parking lot at 6290 Commerce Palms Blvd., Tampa.

From noon to 1 p.m., a panel of judges (including myself) will evaluate foods grilled by firefighters from four Tampa firehouses, with the winner receiving a $1,000 BJ’s gift card.

The event also will feature firetruck tours as well as a safe-cooking display.

For the event, BJ’s will be providing everything the firefighters need to compete, from the grills, fresh produce, plates and paper towels to a delicious selection of meats and poultry. The grills will be donated to each of the firehouses after the event.

Competing will be firefighters Jace Kohan (Beer Can Chicken), Kevin Reed, (grilled chicken and ribs with shrimp appetizer), Larry Gray (Surf & Turf BBQ) and Doug Woods (Jerk Chicken With Mango-Cilantro Relish).

Here’s a map to the store:

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For those of you who can’t make it out there, here are the recipes they’ll be making:

JACE KOHAN’S BEER CAN CHICKEN (pictured at right helping a fire victim)
1 whole chicken
12 ounce beer can
Equal parts (1 cup each) of paprika, sugar, salt, and pepper
1 onion

Apply rub on the outside and the inside of the chicken.  Drink half of the beer and place a quarter cup of rub in the beer can.

Place the chicken on the beer can and put the onion in the neck of the chicken. Place on the grill at 350 degrees for 2 hours. Remove from the grill, let set for 5 minutes and it is ready to eat.

KEVIN REED’S GRILLED CHICKEN AND RIBS WITH SHRIMP APPETIZER
1 - 2 pounds of boneless chicken breast
1 ½ - 3 pounds of boneless pork ribs country style
1 pound of fresh shrimp
1 pound of bacon
1 bottle of Dale’s sauce
1 pound brown sugar
1 bottle soy sauce
2 bottles ground ginger
1 container of minced garlic
Several whole onions
1 bottle of bay leaves
2 bottles white cooking wine
1 bottle of Crisco oil

For the shrimp:
Butterfly the shrimp, wrap ½ a piece of bacon around it and place it on a skewer. Soak in dales for 30 minutes and grill.

For the ribs and chicken:
Boil the ribs and chicken separately. In the boil, use 1 whole onion sliced, a few whole cloves, a few bay leaves, 3 large garlic pods minced, slat, pepper, and onion salt. Boil the chicken about 15 minute, ribs about 45 minutes.

For the sauce:
Mix 1 cup oil, 1 cup white cooking wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, ½ cup brown sugar or honey, 2 cloves garlic minced and 2 tbs ground ginger.  Place in a large marinating pan and soak ribs and chicken for at least 1 hour. Grill to taste.

DOUG WOODS’ JERK CHICKEN WITH MANGO-CILANTRO RELISH

Combine the following ingredients into a processor:

Relish:
2 ripe mangoes
½ red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Marinade:
2 cups vegetables oil
2 large yellow onion
3 Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers
3 tablespoons ginger root
6 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
½ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fresh nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Marinate 6 pounds of dark meat chicken (legs and thighs) for two or more hours on grill.

LARRY GRAY’S SURF AND TURF BBQ RECIPE

4 pounds of Pork Tenderloin
2-4 frozen sea scallops (out of the shell) per person
2-4 frozen shrimp (cooked and peeled ready to eat, 21-25 count) per person
1 pound of sliced bacon (center cut)
1 fresh mango
1 fresh orange
1 fresh lime (juiced)
1 can of sliced pineapple
Kebab skewers

Pork
Cut pork tenderloin into small pieces . Marinate pork tenderloin in your favorite BBQ sauce for 24 hours.
Grill and season. Serve.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops
Partially cook bacon slices and wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon, baste with BBQ sauce.

Mango Salsa
Dice mangos and pineapple simmer until proper consistency . After the scallops are grilled and cooked properly on each side top with mango salsa and serve.

Shrimp
Peel and de-vein shrimp or use ready to use peel and eat shrimp (21-25 count).

Place shrimp on skewer. Season with a dry rub. Seasons for dry rub may vary but may include: garlic salt, cayenne pepper, and Chef Paul’s Magic Blend.

Grill until warm, generally 1 to 2 minutes each side.

UPDATE: The winner of the event was Doug Woods, who is seen here on the right hugging teammates Anthony Biboloni (center), and Dwanue Johnson (left).

To see more photos from the event, including Dwanue doing a victory leap after the team was named the winner, click here. Bill Wade of the Tampa Fire Department also put up some great pics in a Snap gallery.

My thanks to Bill for the invite and to all the cooks. It was incredibly difficult to pick a winner.