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For Super Bowl Sunday, it's a sure thing that Erica Blaire Roby will be serving barbecue to her guests.
"If it's coming from my kitchen, it's going to be barbecue-related," the Houston-based champion pitmaster told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)
Roby won the Food Network's "BBQ Brawl" title of "Master of 'Cue" - and has won other barbecue cooking titles as well.
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But she did not grow up in a kitchen or tend to a barbecue pit as a child.
She was a lawyer before pivotins toward the food industry in 2014. Initially, Roby became certified as a sommelier and then, after having a child in 2018, she found herself at home.
"So I would call my dad all the time on the phone. He's from New Orleans," she said.
"And we always just talked about his bucket list and what he wanted to do. He said that he had always wanted to have a barbecue restaurant."
This revelation came as a shock to Roby, who said that opening a restaurant with her father had "never been on my radar."
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"We both realized that neither one of us knew how to run a restaurant or to cook barbecue. So I went online and found barbecue classes," she said.
Roby took to cooking barbecue, entering competitions and sharing her creations on social media. That led to a call from the Food Network, which asked her to audition for "BBQ Brawl."
Initially, Roby was intimidated by "all of these barbecue legends" she had seen on television, she said.
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"I called my dad and I was like, 'Dad, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I'm going to be home very, very quickly. So you're not going to have to watch my kid for very long. The bad news is, I'm going to publicly embarrass our family on national television,'" she said.
Her father suggested she go by her middle name and style herself as "Erica Blaire, for Blue Smoke Blaire Barbecue."
On the show, she started "really leaning into" her Creole New Orleans roots to cook - "and those dishes started winning," Roby said.
The next thing she knew, she said, "I'm announced as Food Network's 'Master of 'Cue.'"
After that, Roby dedicated her life to barbecue and "spreading barbecue love."
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Although New Orleans is not necessarily known for barbecue, "it has a lot of rich cultural history when it comes to culinary and food," she said.
Incorporating the spices and ingredients of Cajun cooking with the smoke and meats of barbecue was a way to add an "element without actually changing the integrity of the tradition of the cuisine," Roby said.
"And that was something that's really beautiful. It's unexpected."
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Roby shared one of her hybrid Cajun barbecue recipes with Fox News Digital.
With Super Bowl LIX taking place in New Orleans, this is a great dish to celebrate with some Big Easy flair, she said.
Gravy and Beef
2 cups leftover beef (shredded)
2 tablespoons butter or oil
1 onion, chopped or sliced
1 bell pepper, chopped or sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon BBQ Rub
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon flour or cornstarch (optional, for thickening)
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Sandwich
4 French bread rolls or hoagie rolls, split
Lettuce, shredded
Tomato, sliced
Pickles, sliced
Mayonnaise
1. Sauté the vegetables. In a skillet or saucepan, heat the butter or oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and bell pepper and cook until soft and caramelized, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
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2. For gravy: Add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and BBQ rub to the skillet, stirring well to combine. Bring to a low simmer.
For a thicker gravy, sprinkle in the flour or make a cornstarch slurry by combing two tablespoons of cold water with one tablespoon of cornstarch in a separate bowl and stir. Slowly add this slurry to the gravy and stir until thickened.
3. Stir in the shredded leftover beef, letting it warm through in the gravy for about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
4. Assemble the Po' Boys: Spread mayonnaise on each French bread roll. Layer with shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and pickles. Spoon the smothered beef and gravy onto each roll.
This recipe is owned by Erica Blaire Roby and was shared with Fox News Digital.
