Purists
can experiment
A
Southern Living cookbook is going to give you some good background, technique
and style. Think you know how to barbecue? I don’t care how long you’ve been at
it, I’ll bet their new “Ulitimate Book of BBQ: The Complete Year-Round Guide to
Grilling & Smoking,” will give you some ideas. Pitmaster Christopher Prieto
helped put this book full of recipes, photos and inspiration together.
So
barbecue brings out the purists. I’m all into that. But hey, does one have to
have the same beans, same one-color glob of slaw every time one fires up the
pit?
If
your brood fears experimentation, go slow. They probably would not object to
potato salad. Soon you can add a colorful grilled peach and avocado salad. Then
anything goes when they start appearing with somoky pimento cheese deviled
eggs. The combinations are limitless. And if one of these side dishes for some
reason doesn’t get rave reviews, there are pages and pages of more ideas. Here
are a couple of very easy variations to begin your summer over the fire:
Drizzles
for grilled chicken wings:
Cider
Vinegar-Brown Butter Honey Drizzle
One
half cup butter
One
half cup honey
1
tablespoon cider vinegar.
1.Cook butter in a saucepan over medium-high
heat 5 minutes or until brown and fragrant. Transfer to a small bowl and cook 5
minutes.
2.
cook honey and vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, 2
minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Horseradish-Honey
Mustard Drizzle
One
half cup honey
2
tablespoons prepared horseradish
2
tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
Cook
honey, horseradish and mustard ina small saucepan over medium heat, stirring
often, 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Cracked
Pepper-Rosemary Honey Drizzle
One
half cup honey
1
tablespoon cracked blaked pepper
1
three-inch fresh rosemary sprig
Cook
honey, two tablespoons water, pepper and rosemary sprig in a saucepan over
medium heat, stirring often, 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Discard
rosemary.
Chili-Lemon
Honey Drizzle
One
half cup honey
One
half cup bottled chili sauce
2
tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Cook
honey, chili sauce and lemon juice over medium heat, stirring often, 2 minutes
or until thoroughly heated.
It’s
not even January
Now
that it’s summer you’ll want to stock your freezer with…
Did
you say soup? Tabatchnick hopes you did, because they’ve come out with very
low-calories frozen soups to shape you up for beach season. Microwave a pouch
of cream of mushroom for 100 calories and stay in that range for flavors like
barley & Mushroom to Wilderness wild Rice. They were created to offer flavor and make you feel
satisfied, especially when paired with leafy green salads. These frozen
offerings also tend toward lower sodium canned options, makers say. It’s an
easy work lunch.
Barley & Mushroom Soup reminded me how filling a
handful of barley can be in your meal. They cooked up just right.
New York Style Chicken Broth
with Noodles & Vegetables – They do it a little differently in New York,
with wider noodles, I learn. I have to respect.
Prince of Peace
Tea can fill you up and fortify you
and it doesn’t have to be full of sugar, or even honey for that matter. Someone
has shared with me a few bags of Prince of Peace 100 percent oolong tea and one
bag makes a pretty strong pitcher. I’m calling it full-on tea. It’s full of
flavor and keeps the energy up.
