Sunday, June 7, 2015

BBQ purists welcome to play



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.

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