Kabobs

The warmer weather has arrived and with it comes fresher produce at the store. Which makes everybody happy and kabobs are a smash hit at our house. I love fixing them because their so simple to put together and even easier to cook. The ingredients in our house is pork tenderloin, because it's really tender and loaded with flavor, bell peppers, usually red and green, and an onion. When it comes to assembly I just mix and match to what ever hits me and then season it up with my favorite BBQ seasoning. Then it's on the grill direct over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes each side. To serve we slide the meat off the skewers and eat buffet style. The great thing is their kid approved and there is rarely any left overs.

New BBQ Rub!

While attending the Festival of Smoke I had the fun opportunity to mix together a very basic all purpose KC Dry Rub. It's a sweet rub with a very subtle bite and salt making it great for pork and poultry, in my opinion. I used it the moment I got home on some pork chops I had set out for grilling that night. It gave them a real nice color and balanced well with the pork flavor. Now here's the funny thing, my little girl absolutely loved it! So I now have a BBQ Rub that has been Tot Approved! How cool is that?

My wife picked out these pork chops, I had no idea they sliced pork chops so thin. It looks like some one ran over it with steam roller.

I also tried something new with my mashed potato recipe, I added just 1 tsp of garlic powder to the mix and it came out wonderful!

Ingredients
3 tbsp superfine sugar
2 tsp seasoning salt
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp celery salt
2 tsp onion salt
4 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder, dark
1 tsp black pepper, table grind
1 tsp lemon pepper
pinch sage, ground
pinch dry mustard
pinch thyme ground
pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients together and store in an airtight container until needed
Makes 1/2 cup.

Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs potatoes
butter 1 stick
milk, about 1/2 cup
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Peel and cube potatoes, place in large pot filled with water and boil until chunks are easily sliced with a kitchen table knife. Remove potatoes from the stove and drain water. Place Potatos in a mixer bowl with butter. Turn on mixer to stir and slowly begin adding milk till potatoes are creamy. when most of the chunks are mashed work the mixer up to high. Add the salt and garlic, allow to be well mixed and then serve.

Jerk Pork Chops with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

I've had this recipe marked for a long time and man was I missing out. This recipe is packed with flavor and the grill always adds a dimension of flavor to food that in my opinion is hard to beat. When you grill pineapple it practically turns to candy, throw in a little brown sugar on it and I'm pretty sure it now qualifies as candy. Now add in grilled bell peppers, candied ginger, and lime juice and you have a wonderful mix.

For the pork I took the easy way since I put so much time into the salsa. I used a bottle of Jerk Marinade off the store shelf and put it to work an hour before it was time to grill. I have to say it was very delicious with only a very small hint of some heat. The wonderful thing about grilling now is that most grocery store shelves are loaded with all kinds of commercial products for grilling, and many of them have been created by award winning BBQ teams. So I see no shame in using their products if it will save me some time on a weeknight and get the food to the table sooner, which simply means you will have a lot happier home.

Pork Chops
4 pork chops
1 bottle of Jerk Marinade with Papaya

Place pork chops in a seal-able zip-lock bag and pour in enough marinade to cover, seal the bag and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until ready to grill.

To grill heat the grill to high and cook for 4-5 minutes each side or until done.

Salsa
1 ripe pineapple
1 medium-size red bell pepper
1 medium-size yellow bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced candied ginger
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, or more as needed

1. peel the pineapple, cut it in half lengthwise, and remove the core. Cut each pineapple half lengthwise into quarters. Yous should have 8 pieces.
2. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.
3. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Arrange the pineapple pieces and bell peppers on the hot grate and gill, turning with tongs, until nicely charred on all sides, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer the pineapple and bell peppers to a bowl and let cool.
4. Cut the cooled pineapple into 1-inch chunks. Core and seed the bell peppers and cut them into 1 inch dice. Combine the pineapple, bell peppers, candied ginger, cilantro, lime juice, and brown sugar in a serving bowl and toss gently to mix. Taste fore seasoning, adding more lime juice and/or brown sugar as necessary; the pineapple salsa should be highly seasoned. Serve the salsa within 3 hours.

If you like a little heat with your salsa you can always add a Scotch bonnet chile or other hot chile of your liking.

Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork with Caribbean Rice and Beans

I love going to eat at Chipotle's, but as it's not easy on the pocket book or calorie count I wanted to find a better way of enjoying it with out all the guilt. I got the idea from skinnytaste.com where she was asked to do the same thing for a different restaurant. I took her recipe for the pork and a recipe from my Cooking Light Cook Book for the rice. We loved it and it was close to Chipotle's, which is probably because it was a lot healthier.

Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork
Ingredients
Marinade
2.5 pound Pork Tenderloin
salt and pepper
garlic powder
6 oz Coke Zero
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water

Step 2
8 oz Coke Zero
6 oz can sliced green chilies
8oz tomato sauce
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup brown sugar

Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.

Caribbean Rice and Beans
Ingredients
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup uncooked instant rice
1 tsp vegetable oil
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
3 garlic clobes, minced
1 cup coarsely chopped tomato
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cliantro
1 (15 ounce) can black, beans drained and rinsed
1/2 cup pre-shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions
1/ Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, and stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add chopped tomato, salt, crushed red pepper, and cumin; saute 2 minutes.
3. Stir in cooked rice, cilantro, and black beans; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Divide bean mixture evenly among 4 plates and sprinkle with cheese.

BBQ Mesquite Pork Tenderloin

I was at the grocery store looking over the small selection of whole pork tenderloins and was left with a choice between purchasing a seasoned prepackaged tenderloin or a plain one to do with as I please. I decided to give the seasoned tenderloin a shot as I have never just picked one of these up before, mainly because it's always fun to try a new recipe or rub every time I grill. This particular tenderloin was labeled as BBQ Mesquite which complimented the pork very well, and the meat was very tender and juicy. Now I know this isn't a new recipe, but I just had to share my experience trying a piece of meat packaged in seasoning. I'm afraid that I do not recall the name on the package, but I found this one at Target so it is very possible it was done on site. Now one thing to keep in mind when purchasing meat that has been seasoned by the store is when was it seasoned. Because if there is a high salt content in the rub it could dry out the meat, so be sure to check expiration dates closely and keep your eyes open for a date of preparation.

I cooked this tenderloin on my gas grill indirect at 400 degrees F for approximately 45 minutes, flipping after 20 minutes.

Citurs & Salsa Roast Pork

It's starting to get pretty cold around here and with the sun setting so early I want recipes that have me indoors cooking instead of running in and out tending the food on the grill.  I found this recipe from Cambell's that is loaded with flavor. I used some one inch thick pork chops as I was only cooking for two, which still leaves plenty of left overs. I served with with mashed potato's and whole kernel corn.

Ingredients
1 jar (11 ounces) Pace Chunky Salsa
1 cans (11 ounces) Mandarin orange segments, drained
2 (1 pound each) pork tenderloins
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions
Heat the oven to 425º F. Stir the salsa and oranges in a small bowl

Place the pork into a 3-quart shallow baking pan. Rub the pork with the oil. Pour the salsa mixture over the pork.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Remove the pork from the pan and let stand for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve with the lime.

Pulled Pork

So I finally got around to getting to do some true BBQ this last weekend! I chose to do pulled pork for our Luau, and I would have enjoyed staying traditional and doing the way they do it in Hawaii, but I did not have time or the resources for that. So when I researched recipes for Hawaiian style pulled pork, I got recipe after recipe calling for a crock pot and liquid smoke, I don't think so. I've done a few pork shoulders on a smoker, so I knew I could do better then a crock pot and liquid smoke. It was time to get some charcoal and get the cooker out of the shed and ready to do a long eight hour cook. The meat of choice was a Boston Butt, why they call it a butt shoulder I don't know. The previous night I cut off most of the fat cap and rubbed it down with my wife's favorite BBQ Rub from Plowboys, it was then wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge over night. I used apple wood chips for smoke and Kingsford Competition Charcoal, I may do a review of the charcoal later since it was my first time getting to use it. Now my cooker of choice was my 22-1/2 Weber kettle, because it's easy to add more charcoal to, very fuel efficient, and offers relatively good temperature control. If you are looking to get into a very versatile charcoal grill and want to buy just one, this is the grill for you. So enough of with free shout out, on to the grill set up. I chose to go with the two charcoal basket set up; which involves a basket on either side of the grill and an open space in the center, that's where you do you indirect cooking at. Overall the cook went very smooth, but I did have a tough time keeping the temperature below 300 degrees. When cooking low and slow you want to try and keep you temperatures under 275, but in the 225-250 degree range will give the best results. With the hotter cook temperatures the shoulder actually finished quicker then I would have liked, but no biggie. I took the shoulder off the cooker, wrapped it up in aluminum foil, then wrapped it with a bath towel, and placed in the microwave to rest until it was about time for every one to arrive. This rest time is very important, it allows the meat to absorb the juices from cooking, and in this case it sort of steams itself in it's own juices. The final product was delicious, it was tender, juicy, and just a touch of smoke flavor.