As a Southern Girl, there will always be a special place in my heart for BBQ. That is why this recipe is great- it’s super easy to make, and uses a leaner cut of meat so it is a little healthier too. While this recipe is very easy, it does require a good 2.5-3 hours of time in the oven so make it when you plan on doing some stuff around the house- like on a weekend .

Pulled Pork Sliders with coleslaw and red stripe beer.

Buy a pork tenderloin from the grocery store – this will usually equate to being about 3 lbs or so, and when you take it out of the package it is actually 2 pices of meat. So, if each piece is sold separately, it will be about 1.5 lbs each.

Here’s your ingredient list:

• 3 lbs pork tenderloin (see notes above)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tblsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tblsp. brown sugar
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tblsp. smoked paprika
• water or yeast rolls ( a pack of 6 or more)

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and start making your vinegar sauce.

Make your sauce:

Bring 1 cup cider vinegar, 2/3 cup water and red pepper flakes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes. While simmering, add the brown sugar.

Meanwhile, rub the pork in olive oil, grated sea salt, fresh ground pepper and smoked paprika. (Just grate the S/P) on top of the meat and add the tablespoon of paprika all over…)

Once the oven has preheated, put your pork in a casserole dish and cover with 1/4 of the sauce. (remember to save about 1/8 of the sauce to serve at the end if you want). Cook with a cover on- this will help steam the meat with the sauce and it will also cook more quickly.

Every 30 minutes, baste the pork in the sauce and add a little more sauce every time. Flip the pork every so often so it gets basted in the juices adequately on both sides.

You will be keeping an eye on the pork as you will be basting quite often over the cooking period. Once the pork starts looking shriveled and water logged, test it out with a fork. If you can easily pull the pork off with a fork so that it shreds, it is most likely done. If you can do this throughout the meat you are ready to go and pull it out of the oven. If it seems to be taking too long, You can push the oven temperature up to 300 degrees.

Once ready, shred the meat and pour the remaining sauce in and mix throughout. As the pork will already be quite vinegary, I don’t serve it with more vinegar based sauce.

While the pork is baked and basted in a vinegar based sauce, it is tangy for some so I reserve the sauce for those who want to try it and also put out my favorite store bought sauce- Stubbs. Stubbs spicy chipotle BBQ sauce is my favorite.

I serve with my chipotle cilantro coleslaw on water buns. A great addition is tater tots or sweet potato fries. For the sake of easiness, the sweet potato fries can be bought frozen and heated up are always good and usually turn out better for me than making them from scratch!!

Your friends will love this dish and it is great when you have people over because it will make a lot of food and the leftovers are even better the second day!!

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Lobster mac n' cheese with arugula

This recipe is enjoyable due to it’s simple yet complex nature; lobster mac and cheese is a pure comfort food with a little luxury thrown in. Ladies, if you make this meal for significant other, he will fall in love with you. Men, make this meal for your ladies and expect to get lucky. The final product is so divine you will grunt in satisfaction not once, but multiple times while consuming.

A consolation prize of sorts, I was admittedly acting a little crazy the week I chose to make this little piece of heaven for my fiance. I believe my stars were out of alignment or my biorhythms were quite off, but whatever the reason, I needed a redeeming dish that said “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for acting a little crazy lately.”

Let the Moaning begin:

ingredients:

• sea salt
• olive oil
• 1 lb .elbow macaroni
• 1 quart milk
• 1 stick butter (if reading out loud, say this in a Southern accent in honor of her buttery goodness- Paula)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flower
• 4 cups ***gruyere cheese
• 2 cups extra sharp cheddar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (more is always better!!)
• 1 1/2 lbs. cooked lobster meat (approximately 2 medium tails, 3 small tails), sliced into small pieces- (toss in 1/4 teaspoon old bay if you have it- this is optional)
• 1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cook your pasta according to directions, about 6-8 minutes.

This dish is simple but is does create a lot of dishes. All in all, you will need 1)  a small saucepan for heating the milk, 2) a large pot for boiling the pasta, 3) a saute pan to cook the lobster, and 4) another medium sized pot for the cheese/mixture – the final pot used for putting everything together.

While the pasta cooks, heat the milk in a small saucepan on medium/low and DO NOT LET BOIL. In a large POT, melt 6 tablespoons (all but 2 tblsp. of the stick) and add the flour (essentially, you willl make a roux and then add milk). Stir with a whisk while cooking over LOW heat, slowly adding the milk and whisking at the same time until the mixture thickens and you have poured in all the milk. Heat another medium saute pan and drizzle with olive oil. Saute lobster in olive oil while the separate pots of cheese and pasta cook according to directions.

Take the rouxoff the burner and add the cheeses, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir gently to remove the lumps, then add the pasta and lobster and stir into a uniform mixture. Transfer into a casserole baking dish. You can also divide into 6-8 individual casserole/gratin dishes.

Melt the remaining 2 tblsp of butter and add the panko bread crumbs. Once toasted, add to the casserole dish (es). Bake for 35 minutes or until the casserole has browned and begins bubbling!

As Julia would say : “Bon Apetit!”

Lobster mac n' cheese is much more fun with fish pot holders.

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Slaw, tatertots and texas toast are the perfect complement to ribs.

I like to call this recipe: Attention Deficit Disorder Ribs. It is hard for someone like myself to spend 6 hours on a dish and that is why they are called A.D.D. ribs.

Hardcore BBQ-ers will tell you that real ribs must be cooked over low heat for hours upon end to produce authentic ribs. I, too, enjoy ribs cooked in this fashion, and I usually get these at my favorite BBQ joint or let someone else cook them and have me over for dinner.

For those who like to “push the easy button” on ribs and still get tasty, “bone sucking” results, there are two time saving endeavors: parboiling and using your oven. “Parboiling” quite simply means to boil to make softer. This technique usually means that you will cook the food long enough to make it softer but not totally “done”. In this recipe, you will parboil the ribs to soften them but will finish cooking the ribs on the grill.

This recipe gives you grilled flavor and charring, minus the time. For those with gas grills, this will save you from using an entire can of propane!

Ingredients:

• 2 full rack pork ribs (enough for 4 people) *** I once made the mistake of buying beef spare ribs because everything in my grocery store was in spanish!
• salt, pepper – I prefer freshly ground pepper and sea salt, It does make a difference
• olive oil
• Your favorite BBQ sauce, either homemade or store-bought. I prefer Stubb’s Spicy Chipotle Sauce but they offer mild and medium options as well. ***In my personal facebook poll, Stubbs came in as the favorite store-bought sauce with Sweet Baby Ray’s a close second.

Take ribs and remove the outer membrane.

Bring a large pot of water to boil

Put the ribs in the water and let boil for 40 minutes

Take the ribs and place them in a 9X13 pan that is covered in foil (this will cut down on clean up!). Lightly brush with olive oil, then cover with salt, pepper and sauce on both sides. Let the ribs marinate in sauce for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, heat up your grill to medium/medium high heat.

Place ribs on the grill, baste with additional sauce. Grill on each side for 15-20 minutes, or until there are distinguishable char marks and the sauce begins to carmelize.

Serve with coleslaw, tater tots and **texas toast!

** I buy texas toast from the publix, found in the freezer section, and place the pieces on the top burner of the grill while the ribs cook on the lower burners. This gives the toast nice grill marks and cooks them perfectly. I also put the frozen taters tots on a foil packet and let them cook on the lower burners at the same time. Great served with Chipotle cilantro cole slaw. Essentially, your whole meal has been cooked on the grill and there is no need for the back and forth from the kitchen to the backyard.

Enjoy!

Finishing the ribs on the grill lets the sauce carmelize and gives nice char marks.

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This dry rub is great on beef, chicken and pork. I have not tried this yet on fish but I do believe it would also be good as the flavor complements but does not monopolize the taste of the meat.

The quantities listed below make enough for about 4 – 6 oz. steaks but you can make more/less depending on your needs.

Ingredients:

• 1 tblsp. ground sea salt
• 1 tblsp. fresh ground pepper
• 1 tblsp. garlic powder
• 1 tblsp. onion powder
• 1 tblsp. smoked paprika

The smoked paprika is the key differentiator here that lends a subtle yet smokey flavor. Apply rub generously on both sides of the meat and grill/cook as usual.

Everyone enjoys a nice rub once in a while!!

Grilled smoked paprika rubbed New York strip with grilled onions, arugula and gorgonzola.

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Sirloin Sliders, aka Mini Hamburgers

sirloin sliders- much more fun than your average burger!!

Well, this is not rocket science but it puts a fun spin on your standard hamburger. The mini burger idea is appealing because it is so versatile, depending on the occasion and setting. While one can make sliders as the main course, they are also a fun appetizer for entertaining and are great for tailgating as the burgers cook quickly due to their diminutive size. These are a low commitment burger- you get to satisfy your craving for a burger, but you still have room to sample a hotdog, eat large amounts of dip, and drink large amounts of beer. You may even have room for a guinness float afterwards.

Here’s a fun idea for your next gathering: make a “slider-bar”.

Cook the burgers (I prefer sirloin meat obviously) with various cheeses (cheddar, american, pepper jack) and some without; serve with toasted rolls- the kind that look like mini hamburger buns that you buy in the bakery at the grocery store.

Put out a variety of toppings for Southwest burgers, philly burgers, you name it:

• jalapenos
• guacamole
• salsa
• blue cheese
• bacon
• pepperoni
• various mayos- sriracha mayo, garlic mayo, etc
• arugula
• tomatoes
• grilled red onions
• roasted peppers
• (mustard, ketchup)
• pickles
• banana peppers
• sundried tomatoes

 The opportunities are endless and this puts a fun spin on your traditional cook-out. Happy Grilling and Happy eating!!!

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This is a fun and easy thing to serve when you are having people over as these are universally likeable and easy to make and serve. So far I’ve made these 3 times and everyone has liked both the flavor and the heat level of the sauce. Served with blue cheese sauce, they are the perfect easy dinner or appetizer while hanging outside, entertaining friends, tailgating or watching a game. I make these for an easy dinner all the time and Scott never complains!

Oh the joy of grilling with good friends, good food and many margaritas....

Buy

1) 3lb bag of chicken drummettes. I usually buy the frozen ones and defrost when I am ready to make.

Sauce

One cup Franks Hot sauce (not that hot and is supposedly the first original buffalo wing sauce)

• 1/4 cup sriracha
• 4 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
• 2 HEAPING tablespoons of minced garlic
• seasalt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients (sans the chicken) into a gallon ziplock bag and mix in bag (you can seal the bag and shake around). Add the chicken wings.

Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Cook chicken on a medium hot grill, about 10 minutes on each side (this will vary on your grill, size of wings, etc) or until done. Baste with sauce while chicken cooks.

Serve with Scott’s blue cheese dip. See recipe below.

• 12 oz. container sour cream
• 4 oz. container blue cheese (the better the cheese, the better the dip)
• 2 tblsp minced garlic
• 1 tbls spoon dry mustard
• lots of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Great on your spicy wings!!

No margaritas were harmed during the grilling of this recipe.

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Sriracha - a fiery Asian pleasure on anything you put it on!

Sriracha is the generic name for a Thai hot sauce named after the seaside city of Si Racha (according to wikipedia). This sauce has a hot yet slightly sweet nature about it that perfectly compliments seafood yet just about everything else. Key ingredients include hot chilis (Thai variety), garlic, sugar, salt, vinegar and quite often, fish sauce. When you go out for sushi and get a specialty roll with a chili sauce, here’s betting that its most likely sriracha or a homemade version. The name “Sriracha” is the generic name for the Thai red chili sauce, the most common “Sriracha” you will find in the US is made by Huy Fong Foods, the company owned by a Thai-American immigrant turned businessman.

This sauce compliments everything well- chicken, burgers, add it to your wing sauce. Give it a try and you’ll see why it’s become a household name.

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Even though I call myself the “Grillgrrrl,” there are nights when dinner doesn’t need to be a production. Heck, this dinner makes itself, you just add a little pizazz so your family still thinks you whipped it up from scratch. Here’s a “fake it don’t make it” dinner solution your family will look forward to. Trust me.  

1) First things first, buy Stouffers Stuffed peppers and cook according to directions.

Doctored Peppers- too good to not be from scratch and a hell of a lot easier!Buy Stouffer's stuffed peppers and set oven temperature accordingly to directions.

This dinner takes about an hour to heat so as soon as you get home from work, preheat the oven and then pop it in. While this bakes, I like to do things like: catch up on my blog, drink wine and just in general enjoy myself not being in the kitchen making a mess for myself to clean up later. he he

2) Take the peppers out ten minutes before the time goes off.

Here’s the suggested ingredients:

• Tomato sauce or diced tomatoes or both!
• fresh herbs
• soft grated cheese or lots of grated parm
• arugula
• frozen artisan bread (ciabatta), french bread or texas toast
• chipotle peppers- chop them up and mix in with the sauce and tomatoes.

 3)  With a big spoon, top the tomato/pepper mixture on top of the peppers. Take the spoon and drip existing sauce from the dinner onto the top as well so everything gets mixed and saucy together.

4) Add cheese and fresh herbs

5) Put back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Put in your frozen roles at the same time, check on them the last few minutes.

6) Top with arugula and also serve on the side as a salad with balsamic, olive oil, fresh grated parm and freshly grated salt and pepper.

Serve with bread and extra sauce. 

Voila- doctored peppers- they taste homemade but gave you an extra hour to catch up on stuff while they do their magic in the oven.

everything goes better with Sriracha!

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Beer Can Chicken- a fun way to spend an hour drinking beer with your friends outside!

My dad has been making beer can chicken for a while, and this was my first try. This is a great meal to make for 4-6 people and gives you a good hour outside of beer drinking, should you want to check on the chicken every so often.

The beer primarily serves two purposes. 1) It makes the chicken moist. 2) It helps prop the chicken up on the grill, and as a result the liquid gets hot and evaporates into the meat. 

If you have a signature rub you like for poultry, I suggest you use it on the chicken. We did a standard store bought rub consisting of your average stuff, like: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, mustard, etc. I recommend making your own rub consisting of a variation of the above mentioned ingredients. Even with just salt and pepper, this chicken will still be good. You will need about 1/2 cup ++ of spice rub. If you have extra, you can put it into the beer.

I bought a free range organic chicken (perhaps happy chickens taste better, less tuff! he he) from the specialty meat market and it was slightly larger than a roasting chicken you might buy at the grocery store. You will need to remove the neck and gizzards from the chicken (if you have dogs, they will love you forever if you grill this and give it to them!). Then, take olive oil and coat the entire chicken both inside and out. Yes, you will have to stick your hand inside the chickens “hoo-hoo”. 

Then, rub the chicken all over (in and out) with freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Then repeat with the rub. Stuff the neck of the chicken with fresh herbs, onions, garlic or anything you have in the fridge that might be a good addition (scallions, peppers, etc). 

Drink a little less than half the beer. We used a light beer (bush light, my dad’s favorite, no comments on this please) but I think using different types of beer could alter the flavors slightly in a good way. This time of year, an October Fest or Pumpkin Ale could be a fun option. 

The beer can will assist in holding up the chicken. You will stick the beer can up the chicken’s hoo-hoo. (If you watch SouthPark religiously from the CHEF era, you will know where this word comes from.) You can tuck the legs of the chicken behind and it will assist in holding the chicken up. 

You will want to grill the chicken on indirect heat. Depending on how many burners you have on your gas grill, turn all up on high heat until it gets good and hot, about 230-250 degrees. Then, turn all burners off except one. Place the chicken on the off burner, near the burner that is on. 

Cook chicken for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Adjust cooking times for the size of your chicken (less or more). Cook until internal temp reaches 160-170 degrees.

<a title=”Grilled Poultry on Foodista” href=”http://www.foodista.com/recipe/7S2LSMCN/grilled-poultry”><img alt=”Grilled Poultry on Foodista” src=”http://dyn.foodista.com/content/embed/logo.png?foodista_widget_C2L4FZMP” style=”border:none;width:100px;height:22px;” /></a>

Grilled romaine and roasted pepper salad

Voila- you have great chicken! I served mine with grilled romaine and roasted pepper salad and baked beans, all of which can be cooked on the grill to save trips inside and out. 

Dig in! You'll love how moist this chicken is!

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This dessert doesn’t even require a recipe- just some basic ingredient assemblage.

No campfire needed!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• shredded sweetened coconut- 8++oz.
• Dark chocolate – squares
• Ginger snaps- use these instead of graham crackers unless you prefer the latter
• Marshmallows- large size, 16 oz bag
• skewers- for roasting marshmallows

If the grill has cooled down after dinner, heat it back up- medium should be high enough for roasting the marshmallows.

In a piece of foil folded to create the shape of a small tray, lay a layer of coconut. They will start to brown and you can mix the shredded coconut around to cook evenly. When it browns, take the foil tray and move it over to indirect heat.

Meanwhile, for mass smore creation (for those not roasting their own marshmallows via skewer) put out another foil- tray (sheet of foil folded at the edges to create a “tray”).

awaiting chocoloate marshmallow-ey goodness!

Layer gingersnaps in a layer on the foil and top with marshmallows.
As the marshmallows start to roast, add a piece of dark chocolate and sandwich between another gingersnap!

Happy Smor-ing!

goo-ey goodness

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