Share this:

Related posts:

1. Pulled Pork Sliders with Cajun Slaw
2. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad
3. Barbequed Green Beans

This Sangria is definitely a light version, but for our hot Sacramento Valley it’s become a summer  favorite among our friends.

This recipe uses fresh watermelon,  which ties in with the watermelon vodka. You can easily substitute the fresh fruit for your preferred vodka flavor, which can be blueberry, passion fruit, grape, and others. Just be sure to match the fresh fruit to the vodka flavor. All the other ingredients remain static.

INGREDIENTS:

•            1/2 (750 milliliter) bottle dry white wine

•            1/3 cup  watermelon flavored vodka

•            3 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

•            2 tablespoons white sugar

•            1/2 pound watermelon, seedless and sliced

•            1/2 cup  seedless red grapes, halved

•            1/2 cup  seedless green grapes, halved

________________________________________

DIRECTIONS:

1.            In a large pitcher, combine dry white wine, flavored vodka, lemonade concentrate and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add sliced fruit, red and green grapes.

2.            Refrigerate sangria until well chilled, at least 2 hours, or overnight to blend flavors. Serve over ice, and use a slotted spoon to include sliced fruits and grapes with each serving.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Barbequed Green Beans
2. Damn Close to Sonic’s Diet Cherry Limeade

“El Pescadorito!” The crewman on our dilapidated San Carlos Bay fish boat, chuckled as my 1o year old daughter landed her third Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) of the morning in one of our favorite fishing grounds on the Sea of Cortez. It was late morning, and we both said “yes” when asked if we were hungry. We had a pretty good idea of the ensuing fare.

Fish tacos are a favorite of many, yet so many of the recipes are neither authentic nor tasty. I’ve discovered that when trying to emulate food from a different culture, first consider the ingredients they have readily available. In Mexico, for example, any place but the most urban areas has limited selection of foods and ingredients, so it’s usually safe to assume their delicious fare  is made from relatively and simple ingredients. As you will soon see, the “secret sauce” is……not.  At BBQ4Dummies we always try to keep things simple and healthy. This  fish taco recipe is taken directly from our San Carlos charter boat, as I simply watched the mate cook our fresh fish and prepare the best fish tacos.

Fish: Mahi mahi is best, snapper, true cod, or redfish. Cut to McDonald’s Chick Nugget size, dip in milk or raw egg then dredge them in a dried bread crum coatings. Use Dixie Fry or Panko as a coating–I prefer Dixe Fry for fish tacos. Fry them in plain cooking oil. FRY means they should be covered with oil all the time while they are cooking, as in deep fat fry. An option is grilling, but although healthier I think pan fried tastes better.

Tortilla: Corn. Lightly coat with butter, then grill quickly for warming.

Secret Sauce: Mix a little mayo with some salsa; that’s the ‘secret sauce’ for most true Mexican fish tacos. It’s about a 40/60 mix. It ‘s not exact, and largely by taste, but start with 2 parts mayo to 3 pasts salsa.

The grill marks are inside the tortilla, not outside. Spread your salsa/mayo mixture throw in the fish, add some more salsa, top with a sliced cabbage, add a good sqeeze of fresh lime,  and you’re good to go.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Catfish Santa Fe
2. BBQ Pork Ribs Done Right

Beans and barbeque pair up, and always have. Unfortunately, most bean recipes are loaded with sugars and fat, and at BBQ4Dummies we work hard to de-fat anything we can while still retaining a great taste. This recipe is usually paired with JR’s Smoked Rice. If you are health conscious, one half cup of each combined with your favorite BBQ sauce is a complete meal. Technically, it’s the perfect meal. Over half the world lives on a primary diet of beans and rice, and we rarely see obesity in those people. You get protein, good carbs, and we added the ham for a little fat and flavor.

This is a very basic recipe, and lends itself to a myriad of variations with spices and peppers. Our entire household eats beans and rice as a staple, and two of the three of us (not I!) are averse to peppers and onions,  although  they are shown here, save for some dehydrated onions I sneak in. This is fairly mild, and you can hot it up with some jalapenos or serranos, and add some fresh onions and bell pepper for more flavor. Another variation is the beans. Feel free to substitute black beans or red beans. Whatever you choose, don’t use canned beans, use dried and cook them yourself. It’s much healthier and they taste better.  And it’s cheaper!

Ingredients (about 10 –1/2 cup servings)

Package of pintos or red beans

2 cans of diced tomatos (14 oz. each)

1-1/4” slice of ham–about 1/3rd lb. , diced

2 tbs chili powder

2 tsp cumin

Celery

4 tbs diced onion

3 tbsp diced garlic

Rosemary

Louisiana hot sauce

Pepper

½ tsp salt

Instructions

Empty a package of beans into a colander, and wash thoroughly. Put beans in a large saucepan, add water to twice the height of the beans, and soak overnight.

The next day, drain the remaining water from the beans, and add about one cup of fresh water. Add the diced tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Add the other ingredients and let boil gently for about 10 minutes. Transfer to crock pot or let simmer for 4-6 hours.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad
2. Barbequed Green Beans
3. JR’s Smoked Rice

Pulled pork anything is very trendy now, but it’s one of the oldest BBQ specialties around. BBQ4Dummies strongly recommends pulled pork as your first attempt at BBQ. Barbequing a shoulder is incredibly easy and very forgiving. You have to try to screw this one up.

First, a little about the cut itself. A pork shoulder consists the upper portion of the hog’s front leg. There are  two parts to the shoulder, the pork butt, sometimes referred to as Boston Butt,  and the picnic. The picnic is often used for making ham, thus the term, “picnic ham.”

Often the cuts are not distinguished properly, so if we hear pork butt or Boston Butt or pork shoulder, it’s going to be one of the two parts. The pork butt is the traditional cut for pulled pork, but this time I’m using a picnic. It was $.98 per pound from Wal-Mart, and I like the slightly “hammy” taste of a picnic over a butt. I am using 10 lbs. pre-cook weight, bone in. I can’t think of any cut of meat where bone-in isn’t better for BBQ.

Ingredients

Pork Shoulder, butt or picnic as detailed above, about 10 lbs.

Yellow mustard

Molasses

Pork Rub

Cheap, soft white hamburger buns. Basic, nothing fancy.

Cole Slaw (see below for recipe and ingredients)

Barbeque Sauce, vinegar based, thin consistency. If you don’t have this, don’t want to make it up, or can’t find it, you can thin out any sauce with some white vinegar. Put some BBQ sauce in a saucepan, heat to medium, and slowly add white vinegar until the consistency is very fluid, not much thicker than water.

Prep is simple. After working the picnic over well with my Marinade Turbocharger, I first trimmed off about 3/8ths inch of the fat cap. We need some fat to retain moisture in low and slow cooking, but as is often the case with untrimmed brisket, there’s too much fat for any beneficial use. After the fat is trimmed, simply coat the pork with a light film of yellow mustard, then a generous coating of molasses, and then cover with a good pork rub.

It’s best if the fat cap is facing up when cooking. That way the fat will actually run through the  meat rather than simply be rendered down to the bottom of your pit.

Now that the shoulder is cooking, it’s time to make the cajun slaw. You can refrigerate it for as little as 6 hours, but overnight is even better if you’re an advanace planner. Here’s the recipe:

Cajun Cole Slaw

INGREDIENTS FOR REMOULADE SAUCE:

•            1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

•            1/2 cup Creole mustard (I use Grey Poupon )

•            1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

•            1 tsp hot sauce

•            1/2 cup Heinz Hot & Spicy ketchup (I used Chili Sauce, seemed to work).

•            1/4 cup minced red bell pepper

•            1/4 cup minced yellow bell pepper

•            1/2 cup minced celery

•            1 tbs finely minced garlic

•            1/4 cup minced parsley

•            1/2 tbsp lemon juice

•            salt and cracked black pepper to taste

INGREDIENTS FOR SLAW:

•            4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

•            3/4 cup shredded red cabbage

•            3/4 cup Remoulade sauce

Mix together well, and refrigerate

Pork shoulders are a tough piece of meat, and this one took 8 1/2 hours to finish, keeping the BBQ temperature around 225 degrees with an internal  temp reading of 185 degrees. You can let it get to 200 degrees and it will be fine; don’t pull it until it’s at least 185 however. It’s safely cooked at 170, but this cut needs to be thoroughly cooked in order to pull it easily in shreds.

Double wrap in foil, wrap a beach towel around it, and place in insulated cooler for at least two hours. If you skip this step your pork will not have the flavor depth you desire. By “letting set,” we’re letting the juices re-disperse throughout the roast.

When the resting time has passed, place the roast on a cutting board ,and first check to see if there is a fat cap that can be easily removed. You’ll know–poke around with the broad edge of a knife blade, and if it’s there the knife will pick it up easily. Then, grab a fork, and start sheading! You can’t over do it, just dig in and pull hard. When you’re done you’ll have a platter full of shreaded pork, and that’s pulled pork!

Here’s the order of prep.

1.  Lay each side of the bun face up on a plate.

2.  Brush some BBQ sauce on each bun

3.  Spoon on a healthy portion of pulled pork on the bottom bun

4.  Add a little BBQ sauce, maybe a tablespoon

5.  Spoon on some slaw right over the pork.  A heaping tablespoon or two will do it.

6. Slap on the top bun, and serve

You’re done!

Share this:

Related posts:

1. BBQ Pork Ribs Done Right

Who would have thought that a little drive-in from Oklahoma would have taken America’s retro taste buds by storm?  Is there anything more appealing that a Sonic Limeade on a hot summer’s day?  After growing tired of driving 30 minutes to the nearest Sonic, I’m embarrassed to say that I made at least 10 runs at this recipe, using internet suggestions and tasting before I got this close. It’s not 100% Sonic, but it’s so close you don’t have to drive there. Now to work on that Super Breakfast Burrito!

Ingredients

12 oz. Sierra Mist Diet Lemon Lime soda (you can try others–Sierra Mist seems very close to the real thing)

2 tablespoons diet  cherry syrup (available at BevMo or some grocery stores)

2/3rds of a fresh lime, sliced in half (2-1/3 slices)

1 packet Slenda

Crushed ice

Instructions

Fill a 16oz glass about 2/3rds full with crushed ice. Dump the ice in a blender. If you don’t have an ice crusher, use the blender as a crusher (you may have to break up the ice with a hammer with the ice in a towel first)  then test the quantity by filling the glass 2/3rds full prior to adding the other ingredients. To the blender with crushed ice, add the soda, syrup, 1/2 a packet of Spenda, and squeeze the juice of 1/3rd of a lime into the mixture. Blend on the pulse setting, just enough to mix everything well and crush the ice a little more. Pour the finished limeade into the glass, squeeze the remaining 1/3rd lime into the glass and drop it in. If you need additional sweetening, add the remainder of the Splenda, and stir in quickly.

No more of those “emergency” trips to Sonic!

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad
2. Mango Salsa in 4 Minutes
3. Catfish Santa Fe

I’ve been grilling Catfish for nearly 20 years, and nearly always blackened. I like it because the farm-raised variety is readily available, relatively inexpensive ($5-$6 per pound in filets), and has a pleasant ,mild taste, unlike it’s “gamier” tasting cousin, the wild-caught Channel Cat which can be quite strong. Although at 50% fat with some cholesterol, farm raised Catfish isn’t quite as healthy as tuna or salmon, it absorbs spices and flavors beautifully and makes a great meal on occasion.

This recipe is original. I’ve called it Catfish Sante Fe because it combines several aromas, flavors, and spices, and in my opinion the Southwest chefs in Sante Fe are the best combiners on the planet.  This recipe uses our BBQ4Dummies Mango Salsa, and can be plated with JR’s Smoked Rice and Gloria’s One of Everything Salad. Doing so adds a few good calories and brings down the fat percentage. If you have those all made up, putting this beautiful and tasty dish out is a snap.  This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

4 fresh Catfish filets

2 fresh limes

Chili powder

Oregon Marionberry preserves

Mango Salsa

Rub

Quarter one lime, and squeeze over both sides of each filet, covering completely. Sprinkle some fresh chili powder on each side, covering the area area about 50%. That’s somewhere between sparingly and generously. Carefully place the filets in a non-reactive container or Ziplock bag, and refrigerate for four hours.

Marionberry Glaze

Be sure to use preserves, not jam. You may be able to find sugar-free preserves as well, but avoid anything that adds corn syrup. Take two tablespoons and place in a small saucepan. Add the same amount of water, and wisk. Heat slowly, wisking until you have a liquid about the consistency of syrup, but not to boiling. Put this aside at room temp until ready to use.

Grilling the Catfish

Heat a charcoal or gas grill to 400 deg. When ready, warm the glaze up in a saucepan or microwave on low power. Brush some olive oil on the grates to prevent the fish from sticking. Quarter the second lime. Place the filets on the grill, and give the filets a final coating of fresh lime juice.  Grill until the entire filet is opaque throughout; it should be a rotation of about 4-4-4-4, meaning 4 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees for another 4 minutes, flip the filets to the other side for 4 minutes and once again coat the exposed side with lime,  rotate 90 degrees and finish the last four minutes.

Serving

Place the filets on their plates. Now, carefully spoon 1 tablespoon of the warm Marionberry glaze onto each filet, covering thoroughly. Do not use more than one tablespoon per filet. When done, then add one heaping tablespoon of the Mango Salsa, heaped in the middle of each filet.

Add the sides and serve! Using the smoked rice and Gloria’s salad on the plate, you will create artwork with explosive summer colors. The taste will first be the glaze and mango salad, then the chili-lime heat will be felt slightly in your throat.

Pair with a Pinot Gris for a Northwest taste, or a Riesling for a slightly drier, California touch.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Mango Salsa in 4 Minutes
2. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad
3. Darcy’s Grilled Zucchini Bruschetta

Sometimes experimenting by throwing together some ingredients yields great tasting stuff, and this one worked so well I wanted to share it.

Ingredients:

1-whole chicken (I buy mine , usually Foster Farms here in NorCal, either on ad or from Wal-Mart and pay $.79 – $.98 per pound. That’s $5 for a good size bird or about $.75 per entree serving.

Mustard-1 tbl (I prefer dijon)

Poultry rub

Dehydrated onion-1-2 tbl. or a fresh diced Walla Walla onion

BBQ Sauce-your choice, but thin and vinegar-based (Carolina-style)  is the best

Preparing the Chicken: I only barbecue or smoke* whole chickens, but parts can work. If you don’t have a barbeque, a charcoal grill can work, but you have to hold the temp to 225-250 to get the smoke flavor.

Take a whole chicken, rub in a tablespoon of mustard, and cover thoroughly with a good chicken, poultry,  or all purpose rub.

Barbeque with cherry or apple wood, nothing stronger,  until the internal temp reaches 162-170, pull, double foil wrap, wrap again in a large beach towel and let set in a cooler for 2-3 hours. This setting procedure should always be used for poultry when BBQing so the juices can disperse. It will take about 3-4 hours cook time to reach the proper temp. The minimum safe temp for poultry is 160 deg; you will hit +10 degrees with the wrapping procedure above.

Making the Salad: Remove the skin, then cut up the chicken (you can pull the meat off with your hands and by digging afork into the meat and pulling,   if it’s cooked right), then dice with a good chef’s knife or Chinese cleaver. Put in a large bowl. Add about 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard, just enough to wet it down so it can be mixed in, then add about a tablespoon of BBQ sauce, preferably vinegar based. You can thin down a tomato based sauce with some vinegar and a little sugar if you put in too much vinegar. Add 1/4 cup chopped onions; you can even used dehydrated onions. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate overnight.

This is the best chicken salad I’ve ever tasted!  I haven’t done a calorie count but as the only fattening ingredient is the darker meat, it’s pretty healthy especially if you limit your serving to 4 oz. If you’re super diet conscious, just use the breast meat with just a little dark meat for extra flavor. You can use a turkey or turkey breast as well;  it will be less smokey but with less fat. Eat as a main course, put in a green salad,  use in a sandwich, or serve it over my JR’s Smoked Rice. Hope you like it.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Pulled Pork Sliders with Cajun Slaw
2. BBQ Pork Ribs Done Right
3. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad

Darcy Goulart lives in Elk Grove, CA and is an Urban Planner

Slice zucchini and drizzle with a little olive oil and grill on each side to a texture that suits your liking (we like ours on the firm side so we grill each side for no more than 2-3 minutes).

Bruschetta (prepare ahead of time and let chill for about 15-20 minutes)
Mix together chopped tomatoes, red onion, parsley or basil and garlic (amont depends on your love for garlic) and salt/pepper to taste.

Top the zucchini with a spoon full of the bruschetta, add a little grated parmesan cheese and serve.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. LC’s Super Tasty Low Fat Pinto Beans
2. Catfish Santa Fe
3. Stylie’s Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs

Not that I’m the final authority on ribs, but there are a few basic steps I’d like to share.

Meat: Your choices will generally be spare ribs or back ribs. Spares are meatier and cheaper. Back ribs are smaller, and more expensive, but with less waste and a sweeter taste. Personally I prefer a quality spare, but they’re hard to find as most people now buy baby backs or back ribs. Regardless, unless you know your butcher wel, always buy Crovac and branded ribs, like Swift. You will pay slightly more but get much better quality usually than if they are locally cut. For sources, Costco is excellent, and Raley’s/Bel Air has comparable quality and are competitive when ribs are on ad.

Preparation: Few meats can be thrown on the grill or barbeque without some prep, and ribs are no exception. For spares,  the flap meat in back should be cut out and discarded. For either spares or back ribs, there is a thick membrane in back on the bone side that needs to be removed. Many people do not, and skipping this step will affect the flavor and tenderness of your product greatly. Here’s how to remove it:

1.  Start by working a butter knife between the meat and the membrane. Once you have the two separated, insert a finger between them and start slowly working the membrane away from the meat. There is a motion and feeling that will be very familiar but I won’t describe it as you’ll get it pretty quick;-)  If you’re good you can remove the entire membrane without breaking it. If you do, don’t worry, just pick up the process in the remaining membrane area.

IF you want a crunchy rib, and there are a few that prefer that texture, all you need to do is omit this membrane removal step, but score the membrane diagonally, both directions, like a series of “Xs.”

2.  Apply Rub A rub is a mixture of dry spices. You can make up your own, or as most do, buy a commercial product. Be sure you buy a pork or rib rub; these are sweeter than a general or beef rub.

This is not the time to be dainty. If you’re producing several racks you will  have your rub in an aluminum tray for dredging, but if you’re doing one or two you will probably sprinkle the rub on. Take off the stupid plastic thing with the holes, and dump out a tablespoon on the back, or bone side. Now, with your fingers, gently rub it in so all the surface is covered. Important!  Leave it set until you see the meat “sweat.”  This means the rub is being absorbed. Now, turn over the rack and repeat on the meat side. The finished rack will look like this

Refrigerate from 4-12 hours. Longer and the meat may turn mushy. less and the rub will not have the penetrating effect desired.

Whatever you do, never marinate pork ribs. It’s just wrong.

If you’re using spares and want to produce “fall off the bone” ribs, use a restaurant trick and sprinkle with Adolf’s Meat Tenderizer 30 minutes ( no more) prior to putting the ribs on the grill. Be sure to use Adolph’s as it’s citrus based, and you don’t want an MSG product eating your stomach lining. This is a secret, and you don’t have to tell!  Be sparing here as Adolph’s is salty.

Cooking: Ribs can be barbequed or grilled, but you’re rarely hear of a grilled rib winning a competition. Low and slow is the key, and that means about 3 hours at 225 degrees. I use a rib rack which keeps them vertical for even heat and smoke. Hanging accomplishes the same thing. If you lay them flat on the grill, be sure to rotate the exposed sides every 30 minutes or so.

The rib is done when you pick them up with tongs at about half the length of the rack, rack inside the tongs, and the loose half starts to fall away from the bone. If you feel you’re within 20 minutes of finishing, apply a finishing sauce. If you’re using a thin BBQ sauce you can use that, or (heaven forbid) if you’re using a thick sauce, cut it with some water or vinegar and brush some on prior to pulling the ribs. This is a step used in competition, and provides a nice glaze and a little extra taste.

Let Set: DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP!  Never serve ribs off the grill. You will lose much of the smoke flavor as it’s in the extremities. First, double wrap the ribs in foil, and that means two layers of good, commercial grade aluminum foil. Then, wrap them in a beach towel. Then, put them in a cooler and let them set for at least two but not more than four hours. You will be amazed at how warm they still are, and how tender the meat has become over that time.

Serving: Never sauce ribs when serving. If your guests are experienced rib eaters, they will likely not want any sauce at all, however always put some on the side. As to sauce, pay attention to it and don’t just buy anything, like KC Masterpiece. That’s thick gooey stuff that should be illegal!  Get a fairly thin sauce, or thin out what you have with some vinegar. The ideal sauce will be hot on your throat, and sweet on your tongue. If it’s hot on your tongue, you’ve got too much cayenne. You can’t kill that; cut back next time. My favorite commercial sauce is Dreamland, and the sauce that I make up is close. If you don’t want to make your own, order some Dreamland from Alabama. You won’t be sorry.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Stylie’s Grilled Baby Back Pork Ribs
2. Pulled Pork Sliders with Cajun Slaw
3. Darcy’s Grilled Zucchini Bruschetta