South Carolina BBQ Sauce

Was never a fan of yellow mustard so if I saw it in a recipe normally I'd pass. My favorite is a hot Dijon or a spicy brown. But I was looking for something new from our two usual go to rib sauces and I figured I'd give the yellow a try. My imaginary friend from internet space, San, had recommended this one highly and we liked it so much I made it twice in one weekend. It was so good on the baby back ribs that we decided next day to try it on skirt steaks and chicken wings. Good decision. This is a keeper. Thanks San!

South Carolina BBQ Sauce

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Source: from San, original recipe posted by Ruthanna on Gardenweb

Printable Recipe

2/3 cup yellow prepared mustard
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chili powder (medium heat)
2 teaspoons black pepper
5 to 6 drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon butter

Combine all ingredients except the soy sauce and butter in saucepan. Be careful as the sauce will smell very pungent. Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce and butter.

Use as a basting sauce for barbequed meat or as a condiment alongside grilled pork, beef or chicken. Also good on pulled pork sandwiches. 

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 Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Sometimes even the most predictable people can fool you big time. You could have picked me up off the floor the day Miss Picky came home from a friend's house, and wanted pulled pork. They were having pulled pork for dinner and she insisted that I make pulled pork for her. WHAT? Did I hear right? Pulled pork? I love that stuff. But I've only had it at BBQ joints. Never homemade. I thought it might be difficult, but for my Miss Picky, I'd find a good recipe. I knew everyone else would like it, but Miss Picky is a definite challenge when it comes to food.

I looked through tons and tons of recipes. Some had too many steps, some involved smoking. I wanted easy. I needed easy, really easy! Martha Stewart had just what I wanted. I could do this. And so can anyone. Miss Picky loved it. We all did. Except for one little thing, next time she wants the all the sauce mixed in with the pork, not poured over it! Still, we're making progress!  If only she'll come home one day and insist on a piece of grilled salmon or something!

Pulled Pork with a side of Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries and Cole Slaw.

Someone couldn't wait to eat before the picture was taken. Snuck a bite! It was that good!

I used Head Country BBQ Sauce. Best sauce in the whole wide world. No kidding.

Pulled Pork
Source: Martha Stewart Living, January 2007
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

3 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon packed dark-brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pork roast (shoulder or rump; about 5 pounds)
Barbecue sauce, any kind you like
6 brioche, challah, egg rolls or hamburger buns, split
   
Stir together paprika, garlic, sugar, ground mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture all over pork. You can refrigerate and marinate at least 3 hours (up to overnight). Or not, I put the rub on, but didn't have time to marinate, it still tasted fine!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Transfer pork to a roasting pan. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the meat registers 170 degrees and pork pulls away easily with a fork, about 6 hours, or less for smaller roasts. Transfer pork to a cutting board; let rest 10 minutes.

Using two forks, shred warm pork into a large bowl. Add some of the barbecue sauce, and stir to coat. Spoon pork onto bottom halves of rolls; top with more sauce, and top with the roll. Serve.

Join Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. So stop by Beth Fish Reads and join in on the fun! On weekend's she's reading about food and cooking, and so can you!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. 

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Another Smoky, Sweet-Hot Sauce!

This recipe for pork chops came to my inbox the other day from the Seattle Times Food and Wine newsletter and when it said it can be ready in about a half an hour, it definitely peaked my interest. Not to mention the maple syrup and the chipotle's! There's that sweet-hot again! First time for us having a pork chop, just one of those things, never had one, never ordered one out, we just always just passed them by, but not any more. we really enjoyed them. Sauce was great, it would also be really good on wings, pork tenderloin, salmon, the possibilities are endless. Doesn't get any easier and it packs a lot of flavor. Of course Miss Picky opted out. She had a burger. A very thin, very flat burger. You've heard of quarter-pounders? Well this must have been a quarter-ouncer! No kidding. My new trick, I used a rolling pin to get it pretty flat. I told you, Miss Picky is very, very Miss Picky!

Grilled Maple-Chipotle Pork Chops
Source: Seattle Times Living, from a recipe in the cookbook "The Big Book of BBQ" by Southern Living
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus one teaspoon adobo sauce
6 (1 1/4-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
Salt and pepper

Whiz the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor. Or chop the chipotles and then whisk everything together.

Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper.

Grill, covered, about 20 minutes depending, or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 155°F, turning once. Baste with half the barbecue sauce mixture during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Serve with remaining sauce drizzled on top.

Joining  Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter

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Mosaic Monday! Chicken Scarpariello (Chicken in the Shoemaker Style!

Joining Mary at the Little Red House for another fun Mosaic Monday! Stop by to see all the Mosaics this week! I like the look of the canvas panels! So I made another one at Big Huge Labs using the Framer, then clicking on Canvas Panels!

Lots of different ways to make Chicken Scarpariello, as many ways to spell Scarpariello, it seems! There is a bit of history on the dish at the website, Almost Italian, if you're at all interested.

If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it, it's one of my favorite dishes. Scarpariello. Chicken in the Shoemaker Style. What does that mean?  The Shoemaker must have a lot of styles because it's never exactly the same wherever I go. Some restaurants use potatoes, some not, some sausage, some not. Always cut up pieces of chicken. Been to one place that also throws in some filet mignon and cooks the whole thing tableside. That was an OMG dish!

I found this recipe a long time ago and it had everything in it that I love. Country Style. Some places manage to keep the chicken really crispy, I haven't managed that all too often, most likely I'm in too big a rush and feeding too many at one time and I end up crowding the pan! It's best when you cut the pieces very small. Add as many cherry peppers as you like, you can leave them out but they add some really good flavor to the dish!

Not a pretty dish, so obviously it's not like a fashionable shoe shoe-maker chicken, more like a comfort shoe shoe-maker chicken dish! I took the skin off and crisped the chicken in the pan, so it would be a little less fat, maybe that make's it an athletic shoe-maker chicken?

Chicken Scarpariello (Country Style)
Source: adapted from a recipe at McCalls magazine, January 1990
Printable Recipe

sliced hot cherry peppers from a jar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red or yellow bell pepper (julienne)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 1/2 lb chicken, cut in very small serving pieces
1 lb Italian sausage links (sweet or hot or both), cut in 1-inch pieces
1 onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
juice of a fresh lemon (you can also use red wine vinegar)
fresh lemon zest
2 potatoes (small dice) steamed for about ten minutes in microwave first!
3/4 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced

In a skillet, heat oil. Add chicken and sausage in batches; brown on all sides, removing pieces to a plate as they brown. Discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pan. To hot drippings in pan add mushrooms, peppers, onion, potatoes and remaining garlic; saute until tender. Return chicken and sausage to skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, the rosemary, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, the broth and wine. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove from skillet; arrange on warm serving platter and spoon sauce on top.

Serve with a crusty bread to sop up the sauce!

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Raid the Frig dinner!

It was one of those days. We had a "dump" dinner. Whatever I had in the vegetable drawer, was dumped on a baking sheet and roasted. Mixed in with some pasta and some ricotta cheese. Makes a quick, easy dish. We had ours with grilled French-style sausage. The kids had theirs with meatballs from the freezer. Anything goes in a dump dinner :) This one had roasted cauliflower, grape tomatoes, shallots, garlic and white mushrooms. Reserve some pasta water to mix in to thin out the ricotta a bit.




Roasting Vegetables

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss cauliflower, shallots, garlic and whatever other vegetables you like with about 3 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast about 25 minutes or so, until lightly browned and tender, tossing them once after 15 minutes.

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Farewell to February...

Jayne at Grain of Salt is tired of winter and so are a few of our blogging buddies! So here's a goodbye to February from me as well!



Farewell to February...



and a big hello to Spring to come! and soon!

Spring to me means vegetable gardens and planting Heirloom tomatoes. I'm only just learning about flowers and gardening from my internet friends. To me it's all about the food :)



Lettuce for salads...



Beautiful Bouquets of flowers...






and best of all... grilling!



We grill in the winter sometimes, but it'll be nice to do it when it's light outside and we're not shivering :)

When you're ready for grilling, these are my two most favorite rib recipes. Although I am always on the lookout for more...

This one comes from my good friend, San! Her recipes always have that secret ingredient and they always work! This one has Cherry Cola. and it's so good! From Bon Appétit to me by way of San!



Grilled Spareribs with Cherry Cola Glaze
Bon Appétit | July 2002
from San

4 12-ounce cans cherry cola (flat)
2 cups cherry jam or preserves
2/3 cup Dijon mustard with horseradish
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons malt vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

7 1/4 to 7 1/2 pounds well-trimmed pork spareribs

Boil cherry cola in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 45 minutes. Stir in next 5 ingredients. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. Transfer glaze to large bowl. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Position racks in top and bottom thirds of oven and preheat to 325°F. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Wrap each rib rack tightly in foil, enclosing completely. Divide foil packets between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until ribs are very tender, switching positions of baking sheets halfway through baking, about 2 hours total. Cool ribs slightly in foil. Pour off any fat from foil packets. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep covered in foil packets and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before continuing.)

Prepare barbecue (medium-low heat). Cut each rib rack between bones into individual ribs. Set aside 1 cup glaze. Add ribs to bowl with remaining glaze and toss to coat. Grill ribs until brown and glazed, turning to prevent burning, about 5 minutes total. Serve, passing reserved glaze separately

and this one from Sue at the Cooking Forum. Always gets raves.



Grilled Roadhouse Baby Back Ribs
posted CF CookingRVC (Sue)

2 large racks pork baby back ribs
salt
coarse ground black pepper

SAUCE:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup minced fresh onion
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon bourbon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper -- coarse
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika

To make the ribs, cut each large rack of ribs in half so that you have 4 half-racks. Sprinkle a light coating of salt and a more generous portion of coarse pepper over the top and bottom of each rack. Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours.

As the ribs cook, make the sauce by heating the oil in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes or until they start to brown. Add the remaining ingredients and bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/4 hours, uncovered, or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and set aside until the ribs are ready. Preheat your barbecue grill.

When ribs are finished in the oven, the meat should have pull back about 1/2-inch from the cut-ends of the bones. Remove the ribs from the oven, let them sit for 10 minutes or so, then remove the racks from the foil and put them on the grill. Grill the ribs for 3 to 4 minutes per side. They should be slightly charred in a few spots when they're finished. Brush barbecue sauce on the ribs while they're grilling, just before you serve them. Don't add the sauce too early or it will burn.
Serves 2 (full-racks) to 4 (half-racks).

Check out more Farewells to February...
Jayne, A Grain of Salt
Susan, Savoring Time in the Kitchen
Kathleen, Cuisine Kathleen
Barb, Foley's Follies
Debbie, Mountain Breaths
Marsha, Marsha's Garden
Cynthia, Events Only

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Let the good times roll...

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roule!

You're all invited to Suzy's Mardi Gras Party!  Help Suzy celebrate, she's originally from Louisiana and is now living in the Pacific Northwest! So everyone is invited to join in on the fun!

Everything I know about Mardi Gras is from my friends, Suzy and Cindy! Suzy's celebrating big time over at her blog, Kitchen Bouquet! Stop over and join the party, everyone's invited! My contribution is Cindy's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. I haven't had the chance to make it yet, but every other recipe from Cindy has been a winner, her Lousiana BBQ Shrimp has always gotten raves, so trust me, and if you like gumbo or shrimp, give these a whirl!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

from CindyMac
Printable Recipe

6 boneless chicken thighs

Flour

salt, pepper, and cayenne

vegetable oil for frying

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped green bell peppers

1 cup chopped celery

half a bottle of dark roux heated over low heat in cast iron skillet after chicken has been fried and cooled, oil removed. Then add vegetables to soften.

about 8 cups chicken stock

1/2 pound Andouille smoked sausage or any other good smoked pork sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2-3 teaspoons teaspoon minced garlic

hot cooked rice

green onions, sliced

Remove excess fat from the chicken pieces. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne in paper bag. Toss in thighs and shake to coat.

In a large cast iron skillet heat about ½ inch of oil until very hot (375º to 400º). Fry the chicken pieces until crust is brown on both sides, about 6-8 minutes per side; drain on paper towels. Let oil cool, then remove from skillet, leaving as many of the browned particles in the pan as possible.

In a medium-size bowl combine the onions, bell peppers and celery.

Place the stock in a 5½-quart saucepan or large Dutch oven and let simmer while you cook the veggies.

Add roux to skillet over low heat and stir while it melts down. Then add veggies and cook till soft, stirring constantly. Takes about 10 minutes or so.

Bring stock to a slow boil, then add the roux mixture by spoonfuls, stirring until dissolved between additions. Add the garlic and sausage and let simmer for 40 minutes. Last 5 minutes add chicken.

Serve over rice and top with green onions.

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Louisiana BBQ Shrimp

Source: CindyMac

Printable Recipe

1 – 1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp

1 stick butter, melted

3 tablespoons Worcestershire

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon olive oil

DEHEAD shrimp if necessary, but don't peel. Place in a shallow dish (I use a pie pan). Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over shrimp. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-3 hours. BAKE in preheated 350 degree oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Serve with French bread to sop up all the wonderful juice.

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 

 

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