A salad without lettuce?  Who would have thought this would be something that tasted awesome.   I saw this on the Fine Cooking website and figured it would be a novel idea to try and blog about.  Little did I know that it would, in fact, be a flavorful and extremely tasty appetizer.  You’ve just got to try this recipe.

Grilled Bread Salad With Basil and Cherry Tomatoes

A trip to the grill gives the makings of a classic Italian bread salad—a good crusty loaf of bread, ripe summer tomatoes, and basil—a little smokiness and crisp texture. Because this salad can sit out at room temperature for an hour or two, it’s the perfect side for a picnic or barbecue. If you can’t find bocconcini, substitute a large fresh mozzarella cut into 1-inch pieces.

Ingredients:

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

Sizzle On The Grill

Who would have thought…

I smoked a bunch of chicken thighs rubbed with DDog’s “Apple Rub.” After the thighs cooled I removed the skin and pulled the meat off the bones. I then used the food processor to chop the chicken meat into a really fine consistancy.

Threw some neufchatel cheese into a bowl:

Added some onion and a good dose of additional “Apple Rub”

After adding the smoked chicken and mixing very throughly I put the mixture into a mold and let it set. There is also mayo, lemon juice and some tabasco added.

When it was time to serve the “pate” was unmolded and sprinked with a little more “Apple Rub” and then drizzled with “Blue Hog” sauce.

This nice little appetizer was simply fantastic.  Give it a try.

Smoked Chicken Faux Pate

1 1/2 cups smoked chicken thighs, rubbed with your favorite rub.  (Use something sweet) Chopped very, very, fine.

Mix smoked chicken with 8 ounces of Neufchatel Cheese, softened.

Add 3 tbls finely chopped onion

2 tbls  “rub”

2 tbls mayonaise

2 tsps lemon juice

Hot sauce to taste

Combine all the ingredients.  Transfer to a 2 cup mold coated with “cooking spray.”

At serving time, turn out onto serving plate and sprinkle more rub and drizzle with your favorite bbq sauce.

Favorite sandwich: Pastrami with jalapeno pepper jack cheese.

Favorite bbq appetizer: ABTs (Atomic Buffalo Turds)

I was sitting around last week trying to come up with a new appetizer for a church dinner next weekend when I had the thought of combining a pastrami and pepper jack cheese sammie with an ABT. This is what I came up with!

Started with some fresh jalapenos that I halfed, cored and removed membranes and seeds. I soaked the peppers in Sprite over night. I had heard that soaking them in Sprite would remove some of the heat and leave the flavor.

(The Sprite soak worked just as advertised. And the by product is a super spicy hot Sprite that can be used as a spritz on something else. Probably Super Bowl ribs)

Each half of pepper received a hunk of plain pepper jack cheese. I then took a partially froze, raw corned beef brisket flat and sliced it thin. Like bacon! The pastrami slices got a good hour long soak in cold water to remove excess salt. Each pepper and cheese combo was wrapped in a pastrami slice or two and sprinkled with a pepper blend.

They got a two hour smoke at 250 degrees with hickory wood. They came out amazing! It’s a winner for sure. I’ll be making these for all my bbq parties from now on.

One change for the future. Next time I’ll pre-smoke or roast the peppers a little. Because the pastrami is so lean it won’t take cooking long enough to get the peppers all the way done. If I’d cooked them until the peppers were soft the pastrami would have been jerky.

I’m not sure if my new PBTs helps me find that bbq grail but it sure makes the journey more enjoyable!

One of my favorite restaurants is Bandera in Sacramento. They make the most amazing cornbread. It isn’t often that I’ll go to a restaurant because of a side dish, but in the case of Bandera’s cornbread I am willing to make an exception.

I’ve been searching for a cornbread recipe that is close to Bandera’s for quite some time. I’ve tried many “scratch” recipes that just don’t cut it. I was amazed when I came across a recipe on the BBQ Brethren’s website that came closer than most. And it uses plain old, ordinary Jiffy corn muffin mix.

All I had to do was mix two boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix with a large can of creamed corn. Toss in a little sugar, a can of diced chilies and mix it all up.

Heat a cast iron skillet in the oven until hot. Add a couple tablespoons of butter and heat it until it just starts to smoke. Dump in the cornbread mix and bake it until a knife, inserted in the middle, comes out clean.

It doesn’t get much easier than that. Does it?