BBQ at Home

I love barbeque. My husband and I began a BBQ tour last summer and visited a number of local BBQ joints in Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka. I really enjoy comparing the smokiness of the meat, the quality of the beans and the crispiness of the fries at each place.

My problem? I can't re-create good BBQ at home. I like shredded pork sandwiches, meaty beans and hot, fresh fries. It's hard to do at home. I recently tried this recipe from 30-Minute Meals with Racheal Ray for chicken sandwiches. It actually turned out pretty well and I will definitely try it again. I didn't modify it any from the original recipe and it was easily made in 30 minutes.

So I solved my meat dilemmea, but you might be wondering how I got yummy sides at home. Takeout is a good thing.

Shredded, Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies
1 cup chicken stock
1 bottle Mexican beer
4 pieces, 6 ounces each boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 tablespoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning, by McCormick)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large sour deli pickle, chopped
6 to 8 slices sweet bread and butter pickles, chopped
6 soft sammy buns, such as soft burger rolls, split

Bring liquids to a simmer in a small to medium skillet and slide in the chicken breast meat. Gently poach the chicken 10 minutes, turning once about after 5 minutes.

While chicken poaches, heat a second medium skillet over medium low heat. To hot skillet, add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and onion and gently saute until chicken is ready to come out of poaching liquids. Combine the next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and reserve. When the chicken has cooked through, add 2 ladles of the cooking liquid to the bowl, combining with the sauces, spices, brown sugar and tomato paste.

Once the liquids and seasonings are combined, remove chicken, slice it, and transfer to the medium bowl. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken and combine with the liquids. Add the shredded chicken to the onions and garlic and combine well. Simmer together 5 to 10 minutes, using extra cooking liquids to make your chicken as saucy as you like. Combine sour and sweet pickles in a small bowl. Split rolls and fill with scoops of shredded chicken. Top with pickle relish and serve.

Recipe from 30-Minutes Meals with Rachael Ray

Brown Bag It

Both my husband and I take our lunch to work often. Our brown bag staples: turkey sandwich, pretzels and pineapple chunks. But a girl can not live on turkey alone! To spice up our lunch bag a bit, I recently experimented with some different types of chicken salad.

I have mentioned before my love of rotisserie chicken. Once again, those chickens have come to my rescue. This basic recipe for chicken salad (pesto, lemon, chicken and scallions) can be jazzed up with sun-dried tomatoes or any other add-in that sounds good to you. It doesn't have any mayo, but the pesto provides plenty of moisture.


Chicken Salad
1 tub (1 cup) store-bought pesto sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cooked rotisserie chicken, pulled from bone
4 scallions, chopped
1 jarred whole roasted red pepper, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the pesto in a large bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Add the chicken, scallions, roasted red pepper and toss coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cookout

This weekend, we grilled hamburgers and bratwurst with our family. Hamburgers aren't really all that exciting, so I tried to make it more interesting with slightly more creative side dishes.

I like potato salad, but sometimes it's nice to do something different with a classic dish. I like this recipe for Potato Salad with Bacon and Gorgonzola Cheese. It's got a great flavor and it's very easy to prepare. It's been pretty popular everywhere I've served it. The recipe has some specific instructions on preparation that I usually disregard. I like to add the mayonnaise and other ingredients to hot potatoes, so I don't let them cool before I toss them with the other ingredients. I think the potatoes absorb more flavor when you mix them in hot.

I also made grilled vegetables with balasamic vinegar and olive oil. I don't really have a recipe for that, but it typically involves slicing some zucchini, squash, red pepper, onion and eggplant and adding some olive oil and balsamic vinegar before grilling. I usually add a bit more balsamic vinegar to the vegetables once I take them off the grill. A little bit of salt and pepper is good as well.

For dessert, I made Paula Deen's Banana Split Cake for the first time. This dessert is so delicious, I could have eaten it until it made me sick! It's very rich, but the pineapple and banana give it such a great spring taste, it's perfect for a cookout.

Potato Salad with Bacon and Gorgonzola

2 1/2 pounds potatoes
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise, divided
1 cup gorgonzola cheese
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain potatoes and return to same pot. Place over very low heat until excess moisture evaporates, about 1 minute. Transfer hot potatoes to large bowl; cool 10 minutes. Mix in 1 cup mayonnaise.

Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Cool bacon; crumble coarsely.

Mix remaining 1/4 cup mayonnaise, cheese, green onions, parsley and half of bacon into potatoes. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining bacon.

From Bon Appetit magazine


Banana Split Cake

4 cups crushed graham crackers
3 sticks butter, room temperature
2 eggs
16-ounce box powdered sugar
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2 to 3 bananas, sliced
12-ounce container whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust, mix crushed graham crackers and 1 stick of butter. Line bottom and sides of a 13 by 9-inch pan with mixture. Bake crust for 5 to 8 minutes.

Beat the eggs, 2 sticks butter, and the powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread mixture on cooled crust. Add layer of crushed pineapple and layer of sliced bananas. Cover with whipped topping and sprinkle with nuts or graham crackers. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

The American Egg Board states: "There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of foodborne illness. Healthy people need to remember that there is a very small risk and treat eggs and other raw animal foods accordingly. Use only properly refrigerated, clean, sound-shelled, fresh, grade AA or A eggs. Avoid mixing yolks and whites with the shell..."

From Paula's Home Cooking, Paula Deen, Food Network