Grilled Shrimp and Pesto Skewers

There is no better way to impress your 'guest' than by dealing out a multiple course meal. The key is to keep things simple. The other night I decided to put together some shrimp and pesto skewers as a first course. Let me tell you, this is one bangin' appetizer. When buying shrimp always try to buy the raw ones with the shell still on. Frozen is usually fine. If I am making an app like this I also order by piece count rather than weight. Count on 5-6 shrimp per person if they are the size above. I would have bought biggers ones if they had had them. Three huge shrimp would have looked a bit nicer.

To prepare these guys I tossed them in a chili, crushed garlic, salt, and lime juice marinade for about 30 minutes. Since the shell is still on be sure to use plenty of spice as much of it will end up getting peeled away. While the shrimp are bathing away be sure to soak your wooden skewers in water to keep them from burining on the grill. This would also be a good time to go out to your garden and gather up some of your basil to make the pesto. Click here for some pesto recipes.

When grilling shrimp, less is more. I grilled these guys for about 2 minutes on each side over direct heat. Any more and you risk drying them out.

Serve this frist course with a chilled white and your meal will be well on its way.

Chicken Paprikash - Inspired by KimDec

Well in case you haven't heard the Barbecue Bachelor was rated one of the top food blogs in Chester County by the Chester Count Cuisine and Nightlife Magazine. Another blog that made list was My Lil’ Kitchen by KimDeC. Besides being an incredible cook she is obviously also a fantastic photographer. The other day I was trolling through her recipes and stumbled upon her Chicken Paprikash and decided to try and recreate it but in my own twist.

• 4 Chicken quarters
• 1 Smoked Ham Hock
• 1 Cubed Potato
• 1 Tbs. Canola Oil
• 1 Cup of Chicken Stock
• 1 Chopped Onion
• 5 Garlic Cloves
• Handful of Paprika
• Pinch of Ow!
• Salt
• Pepper

Following KimDeC's instructions I pan fried the leg quarters using my cast iron dutch oven in the canola oil for about 15 minutes to brown them up a bit. I chose to take the skin off the chicken though you could certainly leave it on as well. I then removed the chicken from the skillet and added the garlic, onions and the rest of the spices. I fried them up a bit and then added everything back into the dutch oven along with the chicken broth, potato and smoked ham hock. I let that simmer for about 40 minutes. At the end, to thicken up the sauce, I put in a pinch of corn starch. Served over a bed of whole wheat pasta this turned out pretty darn tasty.

Thanks for the idea KimDeC. Hopefully you don't think I butchered your recipe to badly. I guess you just forgot to add a ham hock to yours:)

Paprika dry rub vs Honey Mustard Pork Loin on the Q

A reader submitted this the other day and I am finally getting round to posting it. Keep them coming. Those loins look like they came out pretty good. Speaking of loins, I believe Acme has them on sale this week for $1.49/lb

"
We decided to do a comparison between two versions of BBQ pork loin. One was the recipe I sent to you before with the paprika/chili pepper/garlic/salt/olive oil dry rub and the second was a honey mustard marinade. We took one solid piece of meat and cut it in half.
The paprika dry rubbed one looked like:

The honey-mustard one looked like:


Each were placed in the fridge for 2 hours prior to grilling.

As you recommend we used the thermometer to get the temp to about 150 F. It took about an hour to get up to the right temperature. I tried to lay them to the side of the grill with the burner off. The problem was that there was so much meat that it was a little tough to avoid some direct heat. The middle burner was put on medium and the remaining burner was on high. Go Gas!



Then we ate them. Both were excellent. Its tough to beat the ease and outcomes of BBQ'ing pork loins. We easily fed 10 people.

As expected the paprika/chil pepper version had a bit more bite. I may have also used more salt on it. So I liked it a bit better.

"

Simple Sangria

If you have a few friends coming over for an afternoon bbq on a hot day, I find one of the best ways to quench their thirsts is to make Sangria. Not only is Sangria easy to make but it is also easy on the budget. I made a batch of this over the July 4th weekend and it was a winner.

Ingredients (Works for about 8 people)

• 1 of those glass jugs of red wine (You know the big cheap ones that I am talking about)
• 4-6 limes
• 3-4 Oranges
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• Few splashes of white rum
• Soda water

Start by slicing up your oranges and placing them (skins and all) in a big pitcher or punch bowl. I used the bottom half of one of those salad spinners. Don't mash up the oranges or they wont look good later. Next, slice up half of your limes into pie wedges and add them to bowl. Take the remaining limes and juice them into the bowl. Add the simple syrup, the rum and the wine and stir. Now let the sangria rest for about an hour in the fridge.

Serve the sangria over ice with a splash of soda water!

Happy Birthday 2009!

To celebrate America's B-Day yesterday, I invited a few friends over for a little grill-out. My neighbor Mary Bigham of WC Dish fame even stopped by for a bit. There is something about getting together with friends, having a few laughs, good music, and of course plenty of good food and drink that can't be beat. Even the weather was perfect. As I mentioned in my last post, I had been itching to smoke up another pork shoulder and what better day than July 4th. Luckily I had purchsed my shoulder from Shop Rite the day before because when I went back to Shop Rite the next day they were already sold out.

Though the star of the show was going to be my pulled pork sliders I decided to start the meal off with the BBQB's version of grilled clams casino. They are actually fairly easy to put together and when served definitely raise the wow factor.

Here's how I did it. You'll want to plan on about 1-2 clams per person. Take the clams and place them directly on the grill over high heat and close the lid. While the clams are heating up, microwave a few strips of bacon and then cut them up into little pieces. In about 5 minutes or so take a peek in your grill to see if the clams have opened up. If so, then stuff each clam with the bacon being careful not to burn yourself. Let them cook for a few minutes before removing from the grill. At this point I took a knife and cut the muscle in each clam to make it easier for my guests to eat them. I then sprinkled on a few bread crumbs and chopped parsely before serving. Judging by the reactions I think they went over really well.

Pig Out At Swingin' Thursdays

Yours truly made it up to West Chester's first Swingin' Thursdays of 2009 last night. As always there was a ton of good music and of course excellent street food. These type of street fairs really set West Chester apart from the rest of Chester County. People turned out in droves and I was happy to see that most of the shops and restaurants were packed.

It may come as a surprise but even though there were a lot of food vendors to choose from, I had barbecue on my mind. As soon as I made it up to Gay Street I made a B-line for Pig Out. Pig Out was recently voted "Main Line Today’s Best North Carolina BBQ 2009" and I had a hanckering for some pork. a pulled pork sandwich. While I dig on North Carolina BBQ I actually usually prefer a the 'normal' pulled pork sandwich. I don't know about you guys but most pulled pork sandwiches I get up north are frankly awful. I had my fingers crossed as I gave them my $5. As soon as I saw the final construction of my sandwich I knew I was about to indulge something special. Their sandwich is served on half of a hoagie role with an enromous pile of chunky pulled pork and a healthy amount of tangy bbq sauce. I grabbed a stack of napkins and dove in.

The pork was incredibly tender and I could even see a beautiful smoke ring throughout the meat. Nice job Pig Out!

Towards the end of the Swingin' Thursday night I also ended up grabbing a turkey leg from a West Chester street fair staple: Capt'n Dicks. Dollar for dollar their turkey leg is one heck of a meal. I am embarrassed to say that I couldn't even eat the whole thing.

I didn't see Mabel's BBQ out last night but hopefully they will make an appearance this summer as well. There's nothing like some good bbq competition.

Stay tuned as I think I am going to whip up some of my own pulled pork tomorrow for America's birthday celebration.