Apple BBQ Sauce

This is a recipe that I saw on Food TV on a show called Chuck's Day Off. It works really well with pork shoulder with a spicy rub. I am going to be using this sauce this weekend when I smoke the first pork butt of the year. I am also going to use a spicy brown sugar rub made with ancho and chipotle chilis. I'll be talking more about the preparation of the shoulder tomorrow.

Apple Barbecue Sauce


1 cup apple sauce (250 ml)
1 cup ketchup (250 ml)
1/2 cup honey (125 ml)
1/4 cup molasses (60 ml)
1/4 cup soy sauce (60 ml)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (15 ml)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 chipotle pepper, in Adobo sauce, chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

Breakfast at...Chris' Pancake House

I had breakfast yesterday morning with some friends at Chris' Pancake House. Chris' is owned by Bartolinos and located at 5980 Southwest Ave. Basically, take Hampton south to Southwest and make a right, you'll see Chris' on the left.

I had corned beef hash, it's almost St. Pat's day, with hash browns, 2 eggs over medium, and biscuits n gravy. The food was good. The biscuit's n gravy were excellent. No one tried to do anything fancy with these biscuits n gravy. They did however perfectly execute classic biscuits n gravy. In addition to the good food, the service was amazing. I never had a empty coffee mug the entire time we were there. They also have call ahead seating, which meant we only had to wait a few minutes for a table. Check them out for breakfast some time, and check out their link below.

http://www.bartolinosrestaurants.com/chrispancakes.htm

Fish Tacos w/ Pickled Red Onions, Avocado Ranch Sauce, and Mango Habanero Salsa

Fish Tacos w/ Pickled Red Onions, Avocado Ranch, and Mango Habanero Salsa

This was something I tried to change up the normal Lenten fish meal. You get a little bit of everything in this meal. Sweet, Salty, Sour, Spicy and crunchy.

Pickled Red Onion

1 red onion (about 12 ounces), halved lengthwise, cut thinly crosswise

2 cups apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

Place onion in heatproof bowl. Mix vinegar, lime juice, and salt in small saucepan. Bring just to boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Pour over onion. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

Avocado Ranch Sauce

Mix store bought guacamole with Hidden Valley Ranch. The consistency should be similar to the ranch salad dressing.

For the fried Tilapia

1 pound Tilapia fillets

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups panko bread crumbs

2 cups vegetable oil for frying

4 corn tortillas (6-inch size)

Jack Cheese

 

Cut the Tilapia fillets into bite size pieces. In a plastic storage bag, shake the tilapia and the flour (1 cup) until coated. Add more flour if needed.

Beat 2 eggs with 1/4 cup of milk

Dip a few of the flour coated tilapia pieces into the egg/milk mixture and coat with the panko breadcrumbs (2 cups).

Heat the vegetable oil in a pot to 350 degrees. Fry the tilapia pieces until cooked through and golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove the fish from the oil on to a paper towel to drain the oil. Season immediately. I used some of Emeril's Essence.

 

While the fish is cooling, cut the tortilla shells into quarters and fry them in the oil. They will puff up a bit and become crispy. Remove them from the oil and season lightly with sea salt.

 

To assemble the tacos, take on tortilla quarter, start with a bit of the pickled onions, then rest the fish on top of the onions. Top with cheese, avocado ranch, and mango habanero salsa.

 

Pappy's is as good as advertised

I've been doing a lot of research about BBQ lately. More specifically BBQ in St. Louis. Most of the time, a search for BBQ in St. Louis results in Pappy's Smokehouse at the top of the list. I decided to head down and try it out with some good friends. The BBQ experience begins at Pappy's as soon as you step out of your car. You are surrounded by the smell of some of the sweetest BBQ around. The place itself is pretty cool, with lots of pictures hanging from the walls. They also have a couple of Grand Champion trophies from the Memphis in May BBQ event. I had a pulled pork sandwich, that was pretty good. It was made even better by the Sweet Baby Jane BBQ Sauce. I had my sandwich with a side of coleslaw(vinegar based), and sweet potato fries coated in a sweet seasoning that had to involve brown sugar and cinnamon. When I was done with the sandwich, I was absolutely stuffed. In the 30 or so minutes we were there, the owner stopped by our table twice. He told us a bit about the place, and some of the history. The only downer of the night was that we arrived around 7 P.M. and they were out of most of their menu options. No worries though, just an excuse to go back, but earlier.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

What do you need?
1 package of Chicken Thighs
1 bottle of Lawry's 30-Minute Marinade, Caribbean Jerk with Papaya Juice
1/2 cup Mauls Sweet & Mild BBQ Sauce
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, I use Durkees Grill Creations
Apple Wood Chunks or Chips

Use 1 Cup of the Lawry's to marinate the chicken thighs. Marinate the thighs for 2-3 hours. Mix the remaining Lawry's marinade and the Maull's BBQ Sauce. Save in the frig for later.

30 minutes before you are ready to cook, get your charcoal started in your grill. Once the charcoal is ready, add some chunks of apple wood.

Remove the thighs from the marinade and season with the jerk seasoning, be sure to get the seasoning under the skin as well as on top of the skin. You're now ready to grill the chicken thighs.

Make sure that the wood has started to smoke. Then add the chicken and grill until the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 155 degrees. At this point, begin basting the chicken with the jerk bbq mixture made earlier. When the sauce begins to caramelize, turn the chicken over and baste again. The chicken should be basted twice per side. The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

All that's left to do now is dig in and enjoy.

Mop that BBQ

As promised, here is a recipe for my favorite BBQ mop. But first, I'll answer the question, what is a BBQ mop? A mop is a simple sauce that adds flavor and moisture to food during BBQ-ing. Just apply the mop periodically while cooking your favorite BBQ foods.

Here is my mop recipe for pork ribs.

1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 can Dr. Pepper
1/2 can Coke
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce
A couple dashes of hot pepper sauce

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.