Each month three or four of my favorite internet BBQ friends will use the same four or five ingredients to cook a meal. The only real rule is that the “protein” must be cooked outdoors. It should be interesting to see what each of these experienced outdoor chefs have up their sleeves each month. At the end of this post you will find a brief description of their blogs and links to the great creations they’ve come up with.
This month’s challenge was to come up with a meal that contained the following ingredients:
- Fish
- Couscous
- Figs
- Eggplant
When the first ingredients were announced I knew I wanted to do a whole fish. The main reason was that I have very little experience with grilling whole fish and I knew this would be a good time to give it a try.
One of my favorite markets to shop at when I want the nicest produce and fish is our local Nugget Market. I know that I can always find something different to cook there. When I walked into the meat department my eyes were drawn quickly to the bright colors of the (farmed) Golden Trout.
Continue reading Maple Planked Grilled Golden Trout With Fig Compound Butter
I like to trim my spare ribs down to what is called a St. Louis Style Rib. By cutting pork spare ribs down to St. Louis style you get a more uniform rack of ribs. St. Louis style ribs make cooking and serving them much easier. More St. Louis style ribs fit on the smoker and they are easier to tell when done.
St. Louis style ribs are prepared by removing the cartilage from the “top” of each rib rack. If you go to a BBQ restaurant and order “rib tips” this is where they’ve come from. Some meat processors sell these “rib tips” by the case. It can be an economical way to serve ribs to large groups.
When you trim lots of racks of ribs you end up with quite a few freezer bags full of trimmings. One of the most common questions asked on BBQ forums is “what do you do with your rib trimmings? There’s a lot of different techniques/recipes for rib trimmings. Here’s one of the ways we utilize rib trimmings at are house. (Click each picture to enlarge.)
Place all your rib trimmings in the crockpot.
Add a can of green enchilada sauce and cook until tender
Shred the pork. Make sure you discard all fat and cartilage
Continue reading Rib Trimmings = Awesome Taco Salads
Ingredients 1 pound dried pinto beans 1 12 oz jar of salsa (brand and heat level of your choice) 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground pepper 1 tablespoon “Johnny’s Au Jus Sauce” 2 tablespoons bacon drippings 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 pound smoked sausage, diced Directions
Sort
Continue reading … BBQ Grail Salsa Beans
I made a trip to Seattle recently which included a stop at Pikes Public Market. There are so many amazing foods to try Pikes. This trip I picked up some Pappardelles Chipotle Fettucine. Pappardelles one of the premier makers of artisanal pastas. They make over 100 different handcrafted dried pastas and raviolis. One of the great aspects of Pappardelles pasta is they take great pride in their product and only distribute through certified farmer’s markets and mail order from their own site (www.pappardellespasta.com).
When I purchased the pasta I had no idea what I was going to make with it. But I knew when I saw and tasted this pasta that I had to come up with something. In addition to the protein I wasn’t quite sure what sauce to serve with it. After some thought I decided to go towards a more Mexican style dish. I picked up a couple of Tomatillos and a bunch of cilantro. What I came up with is a Tomatillo Chipotle Cream Sauce served with a grass-fed chicken I purchased at local farmer’s market.
Continue reading Dirty Chicken with Tomatillo Cilantro Cream Sauce on Chipotle Pasta
Ingredients 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves 1 Tablespoon dried Oregano 1 Teaspoon ground Cumin 2 Garlic cloves, minced Zest and juice of 1 lime Zest and juice of 1 orange 1 Teaspoon Kosher salt 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper Directions
Place the chicken, oregano, cumin, garlic, zest and juices in a large glass
Continue reading … BBQ Grail’s Cumin Grilled Chicken
There are a multitude of recipes sites on the internet and for the most part they all serve a vital purpose. “Cooking” has never been more popular than it is now. But every other recipe site lumps all “BBQ” recipes together. What this means is that if you search for a recipe with “BBQ”
Continue reading … The New BBQ Grail Recipe Box
Ingredients:
12 Vine Ripened Tomatoes 2 tablespoons Olive Oil 2 garlic gloves, peeled and smashed 3 cups Vegetable Stock 1 cup Tomato juice (I used V8 Juice. Next time I’ll use Spicy V8 for a little more kick.) Pinch of Chili Flakes Pinch of sugar Salt (Kosher or Sea) 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese,
Continue reading … Meatless Monday: Grilled Tomato Basil Soup
The Sioux City Journal does a great job of promoting BBQ with online videos. Here’s the most recent video and The BBQ Grail gets a mention for the Rosemary Garlic Poultry Brine recently posted.
