Archive for July, 2006
July 4th Dessert Wars
Stumbled across these photos of last year’s annual 4th of July “Dessert Wars” at the Westwood Swim Club’s Independence Day barbecue. Those are some great looking desserts, great work folks!
What a better occasion than Independence day to gather with friends and family for a cookout. A little friendly competition never hurts either. Tell us about your July 4th barbecues, we’d love to hear about everyone’s traditions!
The Westwood swim club is located in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.
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Grilled Chicken with Blueberry BBQ Sauce Recipe
Making your own BBQ sauce, especially one with a unique flavor such as this one, immediately establishes you as a serious grilling aficionado.
Ingredients
- 6 bone in chicken breasts
- 2 cp. fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cp. balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
Bring all the ingredients (except the chicken of course) to a low boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool. Pour the BBQ sauce into a blender and blend until smooth.
Put the chicken breasts and a 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce into a zip top bag and coat well. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Reserve the rest of the sauce for serving. Grill the chicken over medium high until cooked, 7-8 minutes per side. Top the chicken with the BBQ sauce and serve.
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Some Independence Day Side Dishes
I’m sure most of you have your favorite burger and chicken recipes lined up already for tomorrow’s Fourth of July cookouts. What about side dishes? I think the birth of our nation deserves more than bags of chips or store bought potato salad, don’t you? Here’s a couple of alternatives that I think your guests will like.
Creole Potato Salad Recipe
Combine all ingredients and chill for at least an hour.
- 8 boiled potatoes (cubed)
- 1/4 cp. mayonnaise
- 1/2 cp. chopped green onion
- 1 cp. diced celery
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco
Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad Recipe
This is best made at least 24 hours before, and well chilled. Combine all ingredients, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve chilled atop a lettuce leaf, or just on the side.
- Corn kernels from 4 ears of grilled corn
- 2 15 oz. cans, drained
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 minced jalapeno peppers
- 1/4 cp. chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cp. minced red onion
- 2 tbsp. lime juice
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
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The $50,000 Hamburger
So you think you make the world’s best hamburger do you? Well Sutter Home and the California Avocado Commission want you to prove it, and if you’re right you’ll take home$50,000.
This is the 16th running of the annual contest, and will no doubt draw thousands of entries from around the country. Onions and mustard won’t cut it here folks. You better have something extra special if you are going to hang with the competition. There’s even a category for non beef burgers made from Salmon, Chicken, and so forth.
Hurry, the submission deadline is August 21, 2006. If you are looking for some hints, checkout the official cookbook, which contains recipes from winners and runners-up from past contests. Hmm, I’m thinking my entry will be the Sutter Home Merlot with Avocado burger.
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Know Your Cuts of Meat!
Fans of David Letterman will no doubt have heard about his “know your cuts of meat” game where audience members must identify various steaks and chops to win valuable prizes. Expert grill jockeys must also be familiar with all the options the humble cow, pig, lamb, or chicken has to offer us.
Fortunately for those of us who are not professional butchers, the folks over at Ask The Meatman have a wide variety of meat cutting posters for sale that can teach you everything you need to know.
From color prints to those classic butcher shop charts, they’ve got something for everyone. If you are a really serious carnivore, put one on your wall and use them as a checklist, ticking off each cut of meat as you barbecue them to make sure you haven’t missed one!
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Chocolate Divas Offer Chocolate Grill Rubs
The small company Chocolate Divas is offering a new line of chocolate grilling rubs that can add an interesting twist to your cooking. If you think chocolate seems an unlikely seasoning for use on the grill, remember that chocolate in its usual candy form is sweetened, but in its natural form has a slightly bitter, exotic flavor that nicely complements the smokey flavor of grilled meats.
The company offers several varieties of rubs, ranging from $4.95 to $7.95 a day. Here’s a few examples from their website:
- Orange Chocolate Chicken Rub – A subtle mix of orange peel and roasted cacao nibs (coca beans), combine with the rare selection of herbs and seasonings.
- Cocoa Fennel Burger Mix – Natural fennel and onion crown a seasoning blend of sweet paprika, cocoa and herbs.
- Kickin’ Chocolate Beef Rub – Red and cayenne peppers mixed with chocolate and tossed with herbs and seasonings … it’s a chocolate grilling rub even a man will love.
As you can see they have a variety of rubs for beef, chicken and pork. I haven’t tried any myself, but I’m going to try to get my hands on some so I can do some reviews and tell you my favorites.
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Smoked and Fried Chicken Thighs
Over at the BBQ General weblog the General has posted an article with a number of spicy grilled recipes. One of the more interesting to me was his recipe for barbecue chicken that is first smoke, then deep fried.
Before going into the smoker, the chicken marinates in soy sauce, orange juice, and barbecue sauce. Sounds delicioius, I’ll definitely be adding this to my next cookout menu.
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Barbecue Cookbook Benefits U.S. Marines
Last year, active duty and reserve Marines at 10 military installations around the country fought in a different type of battle, this one thankfully a lot safer than their day jobs.
The troops battled it out on the barbecue pit to find out who would take top grilling honors. The event, sponsored by Weber, was designed to earn money for the families of Marines killed or wounded in action.
To earn money, they are selling a barbecue cookbook that showcases the winning recipes from the competition, along with steak recipes from famous former Marines like Lee Trevino and Ed McMahon. The book is only $10, and 100% of the proceeds benefit the Marines and their families.
For $30, you can buy both the book and a nice knit shirt. The book is also available at a number of retailers like Ace Hardware and Do It Best Stores.
This is a really good cause, so I encourage anyone interested in barbecue and grilling to pick up a copy. It’s the least we can do.
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