The Cyclist's Wife: BBQ

Showing posts with label BBQ. Show all posts

Labor Day BBQ Eats

Oh my, our summer is coming to an end. For those of you who live in places with real seasons that fact is really true. Here in Sacramento, it should continue to be hot until about the end of September, then start turning Fall-ish for real around October. I'm simply ignoring the fact that I've already started to see some leaves start to drop.

What are your plans for this Labor Day weekend? We have a family BBQ on deck. The Cyclist's family knows how to cook it up right, so you can be sure I'm excited about the plate of ribs that will be waiting for me.

I've compiled some recipe ideas for your Labor Day weekend activities too!

For The Grill - Lot's of yummy hamburger and hot dog alternatives for you here. Prepare the meet in advance and bring it to your grilling destination!

Click here for the recipe

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Dill Sauce - click here for the recipe

Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce - click here for the recipe

Turkey Burger with Fresh Herbs - click here for the recipe

Sides - Is someone else doing the grilling for you? Awesome. That's my kind of BBQ! If all is required is a side, check out these tasty ideas...

Click here for the recipe

Corn Salsa! Click here for the recipe

Costa Rican Black Bean Dip - click here for the recipe

Click here for the recipe

Prosciutto Caprese - click here for the recipe

Frozen Treats - OK, so these are frozen obviously and might not work if you're heading to a BBQ at a park or lake or anywhere that doesn't have a freezer for you. But if the BBQ is at your house or someone else's, bringing a frozen treat on a hot day is always a score.

Click here for the recipe

Other Treats - No freezer where you're going? These treats should do just fine.

Click here for the recipe

Philly Cream Tart with a Shortbread Crust - click here for the recipe

Enjoy your 3 Day Labor Day weekend!

4th of July BBQ Ideas

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Hey friends!
4th of July is just 3 days away so I thought I'd compile a list of goodies to inspire your BBQ.

And....we're off!

BBQ SAUCE

Sweet & Spicy BBQ Sauce - Can't have a BBQ without some good swauss right?

GRILLED GOODS

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin - The summer herbs are aplenty right now and they go great with a nice pork tenderloin and your grill.

Turkey Burger with Fresh Herbs - Here is another herblicious idea, spice up your plain old turkey burger with some fresh herbs!

Asian Turkey Burgers - Want something spicy instead? Try these Asian inspired turkey burgers. I served them over rice but they'd be just as good on a poppy seed bun with cilantro mayo.

Homemade Garden Burgers - Are there vegetarians in the house? You can grill up a veggie burger too!

Salmon Cakes with Creamy Dill Sauce - Looking to make something unique? These salmon cakes should do just fine on the grill too! Topped with cool creamy dill sauce, they are sure to be a hit! The recipe has a selection for cakes or a burger too.

SIDES

Bean Salad in a hurry - Looking for something quick and easy? You can whip up this tasty bean salad in no time flat.

Cold Quinoa Salad with fresh mint, craisins and almonds - This is a healthy and delicious treat for a hot day. It will also hold up well without refrigeration for some time.

Corn Salsa - You can never go wrong with a good salsa.

Costa Rican Black Bean Dip - Looking to bring something hot and spicy? This is always a hit!

Grain & Veggie Salad over Shredded Cabbage - This Trader Joe's knock off is a favorite of mine. It will also hold up well without refrigeration for some time.

Prosciutto Caprese - An oldy but a goody. The prosciutto brings a nice saltiness to this basic caprese.

SWEETS & TREATS

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie - Nothing better than a cold pie on a hot day, especially when there is peanut butter involved.

Philly Cream Peach Tart with a Shortbread Crust - Or you can use the delicious peaches that are now in season to make your sweet instead.

Orange Snickerdoodles - Want to just whip up a batch of cookies? These 50/50 like snickerdoodles will do.

OK, I think I've got you covered! Come back before the 4th for some tasty ice cream treats and a giveaway!

P.S. I'm sure you've heard it a kajillion times but Google Reader is dead. You can find me on Bloglovin'.

BBQ Sauce!

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. BTW - mine was a 4 day weekend. I took the last two Friday's off which is why you didn't see blog posts from me....sorry. I usually don't go on the computer often at home unless I'm editing or uploading photos.

So, as it was Labor Day weekend, we barbecued. Did you? We just pulled the chicken out of the freezer in the morning, so it wasn't marinated, so I thought to myself, BBQ Sauce! (Yes, in my head I am saying BBQ "swuaas".)

We made our own BBQ swuaas once before for a pulled pork recipe, so I knew it was pretty easy. I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for a guide, then modified it to make it my own. I was going for something spicy/sweet. Here is what I came up with...

The Suspects included:

White Onion

Garlic

Ketchup (organic from TJ's)

Tomato Sauce (or Swuaas)

Molasses

White Vinegar

Worcestershire Sauce (or Swuass...or "whatsthishere swuass" if you're my Mom)

Dry Chipotle Chile Pepper

Honey

Home-made Apricot Jam

I started by chopping the onions, mincing the garlic and sauteing...

I kept the burner at a low heat and added the ketchup and tomato swuaas...

...then I added in the brown sugar...

...and molasses...

...after adding it, I was a little worried that this was too much molasses.

It turned my pretty red swuaas into black-ish swuaas...

but, thankfully, it turned out to be fine once we put it on the chicken.

I also added the Worcestershire Sauce which I don't have a photo of.

Hopefully you know whatthishere sauce is.

At this point I started adding the vinegar....

I started with 2 tablespoons, then added the others after adding more sweet stuff and continued tasting.

I was avoiding having the swuaas be over-vinegar-y.

In the end I used 4 tablespoons of vinegar total.

I also started adding my chipotle chile pepper here and continued to add it after each sweet thing, while continuing to taste. I wanted spicy but not super hot. I ended up using 3 teaspoons total.

This is the stuff....

Next up....

....some honey!

Meanwhile, I've still got this on low and I'm simmering and stirring...

Then, the secret ingredient....

Nana's home-made apricot jam!

Nana is The Cyclist's Mom.

She makes the best jam in the whole wide world.

Apricot is The Cyclist's favorite.

Yum!

Once everything was all simmered together and the right combo of spicy/sweet, we put it on the chicken...

I was really pleased with the consistency and how it "stuck" to the chicken.

The color turned out good too (not black as I had thought when I added the molasses).

Yipee!

So, this was good and I'll for sure make it again.

Additionally, we made BBQ Chicken Pizza the following night and used the left-over swuass on the pizza - it turned out great too...if I don't say so myself.

The Cyclist & J both suggested more onions and more chipotle pepper. I agree on the more onions!

I posted the entire recipe to Tasty Kitchen.

My recipe on Tasty Kitchen has already been modified for "more onions" than I used above. I will make a note about the chipotle for 3-5 teaspoons "to taste". We all like spicy, so if we make it again, I'll add more, but it might be too much spice for the masses.

Happy Barbecuing!

***I also shared this recipe on the following sites, click the links for more tasty recipe ideas!

Food Renegade - Fight Back Friday

ann kroeker. writer. - Food on Friday

Food Trip Friday

Real Food Freaks - Freaky Friday

Tidy Mom - I'm Lovin' It

Little House in the Suburbs

The Healthy Home Economist

Beyer Beware - Hunk of Meat Monday

Delightfully Dowling - Mangia Monday

New Life on a Homestead - Monday's Homestead Barnhop

Melt in your Mouth Monday

My Sweet & Savory

Hey What's for Dinner Mom

Simply Sugar & Gluten Free - Slightly Indulgent Tuesday

All the Small Stuff - Tuesday's at the Table

Real Food Forager - Fat Tuesday

Growing Home - Teach Me Tuesday

Centsational Girl

Rio BBQ

The weekend before last we went to the Rio annual BBQ. Rio is the first team The Cyclist raced for and I think we both consider it the "home" team. We ♥ all our Rio peeps!

One thing about (most) cyclists is they like to eat - hey, it's important to re-fuel after all those calories get burned! The food at a cyclist event is always good (at least in my experience) and often creative.

I did not take a ton of pics because I was too busy socializing, but I did get these....

This guac was amazing. I thought it had ranch seasoning in it, but no! Sour cream was the secret ingredient.

I am definitely adding sour cream next time I make guacamole.

A note on the chips - these were multi-grain scoops; I have not had these before but I thought they were better than the regular kind.

Can't have a BBQ without watermelon. But this wasn't just any watermelon....

The secret sauce of Bacardi poured over the top added a nice little punch.

I don't think a cyclist BBQ would be complete without a crumb-topped berry pie from Ikeda's...yum.

I'm sorry I missed a slice of this!

Now this I thought was awesome.

This big tray had all this good stuff (can you see the chocolate at the top left?) and was spread out over butcher paper with some crackers on the side.

The presentation was really beautiful. I am totally going to copy this at some point.

Cheers to whoever made this one!

Also, RR - the tri-tip was perfect, but I did not get a photo because....I ate it. :)

And...onto some photos of the event....