I Built A Better Burger

One of my favorite chiles has to be the poblano pepper. Though it is certainly not the hottest out there it does have a ton of flavor. Recently I decided to build a better burger and this is what I came up with. I started by grilling a few poblanos until I achieved a nice char around the whole pepper. I then peeled off the char-ness and sliced them up. Next I prepared the burgers themselves using 80/20 meat. You'll want plenty of fat in your burger if you want it to taste. You could always go 75/25 but at the end of the day I do have some respect for my arteries. When forming your patties, less equals more. Don't pat your patties down too much or they will become tough when cooked. I seasoned mine with a little salt and pepper and tossed them on the grill over high heat. 4 minutes on each side is all I needed. Before the second side was finished I added a big hunk of goganzola cheese and covered the lid to melt it. Assembly included a big honkin' slice of white onion, some garlic manoyaise, and of course the poblano pepper. While this burger might not go on to win any awards it was pretty darn good. A few weiss beers and some grilled corn and the meal was sealed. Next time I think I will through the trouble of grinding my own meat and perhaps create more of a sauce out of the poblanos.

BTW - I am leaving for Europe this afternoon so I wont be able to post next week. I am off to Turkey for a few days. Hopefully I''ll be able to track down some tasty kebabs and see if I can find some Roman ruins.

Beer Can Chicken

I made a beer can chicken a couple of weeks ago and am just getting around to posting about it. I was running a little low on beer so I ended up using a Yuengling Premium Light. I guess a more flavorful beer would have been better but it was certainly better than no beer at all. To get the beer can prepared, I cut the top off with a can opener and drank half of it. Next I squeezed in a lime and tossed it in the beer along with some black pepper and paprika. To prepare the bird I gave it a big rub down of chili powder, paprika, garlic, and salt. I also threw my herb garden at it by putting sage, thyme and basil under the skin.

After getting the bird seasoned I then got to work on my Weber. As you can see from the picture above I got the coals nice and hot and then separated them to the sides using those aluminum baskets. They can be bought at any of the hardware stores. The idea is to stand the bird up on the can of beer and then place it in the middle of the grill. This method delivers even heat to both sides of the bird. I cooked my 5 pound chicken for about 1.5 hours at around 350 degrees. A meat thermometer would be a good idea for this one. Remember that you are trying to get the meat up to least 165 degrees in the breast. The trick is to make sure the bird does not fall over. I did mine freestyle but you can also buy beer can chicken holders at the hardware store. Though it is by no means required I also tossed on some hard wood to help smoke the chicken as well. I had soaked the chips in water for a couple of hours and this time I just put it directly on the grill over direct heat.

If you get everything right the skin should turn out nice and crispy and the meat should stay nice and moist because of the beer inside the cavity. After pulling the bird off of the stove be sure to cover it for 15 minutes to let the juices settle. Don't make the cover airtight or your skin with get soft. Make sure you have a few friends over to enjoy it...or in my case bring it over to Mary's!

Barber Foods Frozen Entrees

The other day, the nice folks from Barber Foods contacted me to see if I would like to sample their products. I said of course and a few days later a gigantic box showed up at my doorstep containing several packages of chicken on dry ice. Barber Foods specializes in "easy-to-prepare frozen chicken entrees" which are "palate pleasers that make everyday meals special.". Now for the most part the BBQB does not normally buy premade entrees at the grocery store so I was a little unsure if I would like these. The entrees they sent me were several stuffed chicken meals and some chicken patties.

The first entree I tried was the chicken cordon bleu and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. The most striking thing to me was how good the cheese was. I was half expecting a bland generic taste but instead it was tangy and delicious. To serve them I created a string bean salad with a pesto dressing which accompanied the chicken perfectly. For great pesto recipes and ideas click here.

Simply prepare the pesto dressing and pour over string beans that have been boiled for a few minutes.

A few days later I tried the chicken patties. This is where things got even a little more interesting. I am always a bit skeptical about store bought chicken patties. There is always a fine line between undercooked and dry. To prepare these I simply followed the directions on the box these guys came out nice and moist.

To serve, I made chicken burgers out of them with melted cheese, lettuce, and tons of Bucking Willy's Mango Mustard Sauce.

Overall, as I am sure you can gather from my comments I was pleasantly surprised. These entrees are not your average frozen entree and definitely raise the bar a bit. Meals like these would be perfect for the middle of the week when everyone is too busy to cook.

Thanks Barber Foods.

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.