This is fairly simple recipe for BBQ chicken. I just gussy up some bottled bbq sauce, and voila yummy sauce. The chicken can be grilled or broiled. If broiling, I suggested basting with the sauce prior to putting under the broiler and to make sure its at least 6″ from the element. Otherwise the bbq sauce can burn before the chicken cooks. The recipe I made was for a big batch of chicken, it could easily be halved. I also found that cutting slits into the thighs makes cooking the bone-in thighs easier. You could use boneless, skinless thighs for the recipe, but you would need to decrease the cooking time by almost 1/2, depending on the thickness of the chicken. And reduce the brining time to 30 minutes, otherwise the chicken might be a little salty.

Brine:
1 cup kosher salt or 1/2 cup table salt
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 quarts water

Sauce:
1 cup Bull’s Eye Original BBQ sauce
1 tb molasses
1 tb worcestershire sauce
1 tb Garlic Award Mix (or other seasoning, like Mrs. Dash)
couple of dashes of tobasco

12 bone-in chicken thighs

1. Dissolve salt in the 2 quaarts of water. Addgarlic cloves and chicken. Soak in brine solution for 1 hour in refridgerator. Drain and rinse with water to remove some of the surface salt. Cut two slits crosswise (across the bone) on the skin side.

2. Fill a chimney starter with 6 quarts of charcoal and light. Once charcoal have a light grey ash all over, pour onto grate and stack 2 high on one side of the grate. Put grill on and let heat for 5 minutes. Clean grill with a grill brush. With a paper towel lightly soaked with oil, wipe the grill down. Close the vents closest to the fire, and keep the vents wide open on the opposite side.

3. Grill chicken skin side up for about 6-8 minutes until the underside is starting to get golden brown. You may need to spritz any flare up with a water bottle.

4. Turn over and start grilling skin side down. While the chicken is cooking with the skin side down, start basting with the bbq sauce. After about 6-8 minutes turn over to start carmelizing the bbq sauce. Start basting the skin side with the bbq sauce.

5. After a few minutes and the underside just start to char turn over to carmelize the skin side of the chicken. Baste the chicken again with the bbq sauce.

6. Turn over one last time and check for doneness. Take off the grill once internal temperature reaches 175 degree. If additional cooking time is required, give one last basting with bbq sauce.

Serves 12

I was in the mood for some guacamole for the bbq. I rarely have it, but a good guacamole recipe is hard to find. This is a fairly easy and quick recipe.

I don’t like my guacamole super chunky, but I do like to have a few chunks of avocado in it. And when I came across the base of this recipe, I was thrilled. I did try the original, that I got on the Cook’s Illustrated website (original recipe here), but it didn’t quite have the umph I was looking for. By adding a little bit of cumin, I thought it had just the right taste. If you want it chunkier, just change the ratio of mashed up avocados to the ones you dice up.

Since I was also making my salsa recipe for the bbq I was having, I just used some of the left over jalepeno, serrano and anaheim chilis from it. The recipe I made this weekend is not quite as spicey as I normally like it, but what I like about this recipe, is all that you have to do is add more jalepeno and its spicier.

4 avocados
1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
1 jalepeno, seeded and minced
1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 anaheim chili, seeded and minced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 lime, juiced
1/4-1/2 ts cumin
cayenne pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut 3 avocados in 1/2 and remove pit. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash with a potatoe masher or fork (you could also use a food processor on pulse).

2. Add cilantro, peppers, onion, tomato and mix.

3. Cut remaining avocado in 1/2 and remove pit. Cut into small cubes without piercing skin. Scoop out with a tablespoon into bowl.

4. Add lime juice, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Mix gently.

5. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and serve with tortilla chips.

When I was doing my shopping in preparation for the BBQ I was having this weekend, I came across a Jack Daniels Mesquite EZ Marinade. The marinade was already in a heavy duty zip lock type bag, and all you needed to do was add meat. I’ve always liked the Jack Daniels menu items at Friday’s, and I thought what the heck I’ll try it. I did have enough tri tip to marinate both in the Jack Daniels Mesquite EZ marinade and a Garlic, Ginger and Soy marinade I had originally been planning on doing. In this recipe I used tri tip steaks (at least thats how it was marked on the Costco packaging). It just looked like a tri tip that was cut into strips. I thought it would be easier to cook when it was in strips, and easier to cook the strips to different doneness. When I have the whole family over, I normally have to cook beef from anywhere between medium-rare to well done.

I got the Garlic, Ginger and Soy Marinade from one of my favorite sites for recipes, America’s Test Kitchen. I used a little less ginger than the recipe called for becase I’m not fond of a strong ginger taste. The recipe actually calls for marinating for 1 hour, but I marinated it for 3-4 hours and got good results. I was surprised that the flavor was quite mild, but tasty. As opposed to the tri tips that I marinaded with the Jack Daniels EZ marinade that had a bold, sweet flavor. Quite reminiscent of the Jack Daniels items at Friday’s. Both sets of tri tips came out quite tender. I’m not sure if they start out that tender, or by marinating for up to 3 hours helped in its tenderness.

I cooked the tri tip over medium hot coals, and I pulled most of them off by the time it was medium (some of the pieces were tapered so I knew those ends would be closer to well done). I let the meat rest for about 5-10 minutes

1 pkg Jack Daniel’s Mesquite Marinade
Garlic, Ginger Soy Marinade (recipe below)
4 lbs Tri Tip Steaks (about 1 1/2 inches thick)

1. Poke all the tri tip steaks with a fork all over. Put 2 lbs of tri tip steaks into Jack Daniel’s marinade bag. Put other 2 lbs of tri tip steaks into a zip lock bag and pour the garlic, ginger, and soy marinade over it. Refigerate for at least 1 hour. Flipping the bags over about 1/2 way through the marinating time.

2. Fill a chimney starter with 6 quarts of charcoal and light. Once charcoal have a light grey ash all over, pour onto grate and stack 2 high. Put grill on and let heat for 5 minutes. Clean grill with a grill brush. With a paper towel lightly soaked with oil, wipe the grill down.

3. Lay tri tips to a right angle of the grill grates and baste with some of the extra marinade. Cook for 5-6 minutes on first side. Turn over and cook for another 5-6 minutes (or longer depending on desired doneness). Baste again.

4. Remove from grill when you’re 5 degrees below desired doneness. Tent loosely with foil and let rest 5 minutes.

Medium-Rare 145 degrees
Medium 150 degrees
Medium-Well 165 degrees
Well 170+ degrees

5. Slice thinly (about 1/4″) pieces against the grain and serve.

Serves 6-8
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Garlic, Ginger, and Soy Marinade
Source: America’s Test Kitchen

1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 medium cloves of garlic pressed through garlic press or minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 piece fresh ginger (1 inch), minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest from 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 medium scallion sliced thin

Combine all ingredients in small bowl

I thought I would get started a little earlier for the Memorial Weekend BBQ I’m having tomorrow. Its going to be a small get together, and I thought it would be a perfect time to make a small batch of salsa. The porpotions I have below makes a somewhat spicy salsa. Since some of my famly doesn’t like spicy foods, I used 1/2 the amount of the chilies (1/2 jalepeno, 1/2 serrano and 1/2 anaheim chili). I used to mince everything by hand, but this recipe can be easily done with a food processor. My suggestion is to process one ingredient at a time in the food processor and set eash one aside. I find that its easier to control the heat of the salsa by doing it that way because I can control exactly how much chili peppers go into the salsa. I actually only do the onions and tomatoes (separately of course) in the food processor. This recipe makes a chunky, fresh salsa that goes well with toritilla chips.

10 roma tomatoes, finely minced
1 jalepeno, finely minced
1 anaheim chili, finely minced
1 serrano chili, finely minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely minced
1/2 small red onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
salt,to taste

Mix all together. Chill for several hours.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Yield: 4 cups

I had picked up italian sausage from my favorite italian deli, Lucci’s, in Huntington Beach, CA some time ago and stored some of it in the freezer. I had actually bought 2 lbs from them several weeks ago and froze 1 lb of it. the other day I was digging around in my freezer contemplating what I could cook and saw the sausage. A little light bulb went off in my head and I thought, why not make some spaghetti sauce. This is a simple sauce that only gets better the longer it simmers. In a mad hunger rage (ok i’m exaggerating a little), I’ve started eating it after 2 hours of simmering, and its still good. However, I do prefer to have it when its closer to 4 hours of simmering. I normally serve this over spaghetti but any pasta will do. I have used it as my sauce for lasagna, but because of the long simmering I tend to run short on sauce when I make lasagna (maybe I make them to big).

1 lb sweet italian sausage, removed from casings
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves, minced
2-3 tb dried oregano
2 tb dried basil
28 oz can crushed tomatos
2-15 oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 ts tomato paste
1/2 ts crushed red pepper or to taste
1 tb garlic powder
2 ts salt
1 ts pepper

1. Saute onions until transluscent over medium high heat. Add gralic and saute until the onions just start to brown.

2. Add 1 tb oregeno and 1 tb basil and cook for 1 minute. Add italian sausage. Brown sausage and break it apart as it cooks. About 5 minutes.

3. Add crushed tomatos, tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, salt, pepper and remaining oregano and basil. Bring to a boil. Recude to medium low and simmer 2-4 hours (minium 2 hours).

4. Taste sauce and adjust salt and pepper to taste. If you like a spicier sauce, add more crushed red pepper.

Yield: Enough sauce for about 1 pound spaghetti.

I’ve been craving Tonkatsu for weeks and I just haven’t gotten around to making it. I think this is probably one of the easiest Japanese dishes to make. I learned this technique from a Japanese co-worker years ago. I did make a few of my own tweaks to it that I thought made a crunchier (and better sticking) crust. I bet you’re wondering what ‘ajinomoto’ is, well, its just MSG. I just think ajinomoto sounds better . This is an optional ingredient to use, as I am aware that there are many people who are sensitve to MSG. I have never omitted MSG, so I do not know what the taste difference would be. I do not use very much, just a light sprnkle on each side. On to the pork chops, I bet you’re asking why buy 1/2″ chops just to pound them down to 1/4″, why not just buy 1/4″ ones. I guess you could do that, but I think pounding them makes them a little more tender, and you relieve some stress at the same time.

As a suggestion from a friend, I decided to add a few more pictures to this recipe. It will show some of the steps I took to create this dish. And you’ll a couple of links to some short videos demonstrating a couple of things. Sorry no voice instructions for this recipe .

6 - 1/2″ Pork Top Loin Chops
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
2 tbl water
salt
pepper
ajinomoto (optional)
canola oil for frying

1. Put pork chops one at a time into a ziplock bag. Pound the pork chop (video link here) with a meat pounder until they are approximately 1/4″ thick.

2. Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper, and ajinomoto.

3. In a shallow bowl or plate put cornstarch, set aside. In a shallow bowl add eggs and water and beat until frothy. Set aside. In a separate plate add the panko bread crumbs.

4. Working with one chop at a time. Dip both sides into cornstarch to lightly cover. Then dip both sides into egg mixture.

5. Set onto panko bread crumbs and sprinkly some bread crumbs on top. Flip the chop over to coat the other side with bread crumbs. Press firmly on pork chop to bread crumbs set in. Transfer to plate or baking rack set over paper towels.

6. Repeat steps 5 & 6 with the remaining chops.

7. Pour about a 1/4″ of oil into a 12″ skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until breadcrumbs bubble and float to the top once dropped into oil (video link).

8. Reduce heat to medium and carefully put 2 pork chops into hot oil. (video link here)

9. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

10. Transfer to wire rack to drain and cool slightly. Cook remaining pork chops as diredted in step 10.

Serve with rice and tonkatsu sauce.

This is one of my dad’s favorite snacks and its probably one of my favorite filipino snacks as well In a nutshell, its a slightly sweet banana spring roll. Lately it seems like at least once a week I’ve been wrapping a big batch of these, and freezing some to cook later. I’ve never made these with regular banana you get at the supermarket. I’ve only made it with the filipino saba bananas. The saba bananas seem to be sweeter and have a softer consistancy than regular bananas. I’ve tried to make them with burro bananas, as well, with great success. I’ve found the burro bananas at the local Asian market, but I only seem to find the saba bananas at the neighborhood Filipino market. As for the wrappers, I wouldn’t use the Chinese eggroll wrappers as they have a different consistancy than the filipino lumpia wrappers once its fried. The turon is best made with the filipino lumpia wrappers (my favorite brand is Tropical). Somestimes you can find these at the local Asian market. I have made them with Vietanmese springroll wrappers in the past and those turn out pretty good too.

5 saba bananas
Lumpia wrappers
sugar
1 Tb flour
2-4 Tb water

1. Mix water and flour together to get a slurry. This will be the ‘glue’ that will hold the lumpia wrapper together. Slice bananas in 1/2 lengthwise.

2. Place sliced banana on on bottom third of a lumpia wrapper and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of sugar.

3. Roll the wrapper over the length of the banana, then fold the ends over the banana, and keep rolling the banana like you would an eggroll. Before you get to the end dab some of slurry on the wrapper to glue it shut.

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until all the bananas are wrapped.

5. Heat about 1/2″ of oil in small saucepan until hot. Fry the turon until browned, about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Note: I normally do a whole bunch of bananas, about enough to go through a whole package of lumpia wrappers. I then freeze most of it, so its ready to fry at any time.

I experimented with variations of the dry rub before I came up with the combo that I have here. I started off with the base from the Good Eats episode “A Rib for All Seasons” The dry rub recipe that he used is excellent as well. I’ve changed quite a bit of the ingredients but have roughly kepts the proportions at a ratio of 8:3:1:1. This rub works well quite a few meats, I’ve used it on the pork loin roast, ribs and chicken. The original rub is quite yummy, but I wanted mine to be unique. I wanted to add my own twist to it. Some of the ingredients I used can be found in the spice asiles of most grocery stores but there is one (Garlic Award Mix)that I got from the Gilroy Garlic Festival and I am not sure how easily available it is in markets. But it can be found over the net. I’ll usually make a double batch of this and put into a jumbo size shaker. That way I always have some readily available.

Da’ Rub
8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Award Mix
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon pappys seasoning
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Pork Loin Roast
2 1/2 to 3 lbs pork loin roast, tied in 1 1/2″ intervals
6 tablespoons salt
3 quarts cool water
2 tablespoons olive oil

mesquite charcoal

1. Dissolve salt in 3 quarts water. Place pork loin in salt water and let soak 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Remove pork loin from salt water, rinse and pat dry. Pour the oil over the pork loin and generously coat with rub. You may not use all the rub, and that is ok. Let pork loin come to room temperature while you start the bbq.

3. Light approximately 6 quarts of coal until they’ve covered with a thin layer of ash. Create a 2 level fire by stacking coals 2 - 3 deep on one side of the grill. Put grate on grill and clean with grill brush. Close lid and let grate warm up for about 5 minutes.

4. Place pork loin perpendicular to the grate but opposite side of the fire. Close grates closest to fire and open ones on the oposite side of grill. Grill for 10 minutes, turn pork loin and cover again. (I sometimes keep the the grill lid open, but use one of those aluminium chafing dish pans to cover it.) Cover and grill until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

5. Once pork loin is cooked take off the grill and let stand, tented with foil, for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve. I like to serve it with roasted red potatoes.

I thought I would start off with my course, dessert. This makes very yummy chocolate cake, with a nice taste of Kahlua. The first time I made this, I tried to invert it out of the pan a little too early. I would suggest letting it cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before trying to invert onto your serving plate. Dusting the cake with powdered sugar is optional, but it makes for an excellant presentation. I still want to try drizzling it with some chocolate ganache, for an even more sinful dessert.

1 box Moist Deluxe Devil’s Food Cake
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Kahlua
1/2cup chocolate chips — optional
powdered sugar
butter or oil for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl.

Pour into a greased, 12-cup Bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs clinging to it, about 45 minutes.

Cool in pan and serve on a platter with powdered sugar lightly sifted over the top.