Cherry-Glazed Chicken

This was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Lisa really liked it and I thought it was just okay.

Ingredients:
6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 (10 ounce) jar black cherry jam
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
1/4 cup terriyaki sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

Mix everything but the chicken breasts in a sauce pan over medium heat until blended (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.

Put chicken breasts in a zip-top bag and cover with the cooled marinade.
Squeeze the air out of the bag, seal it, and toss it in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, overnight is better.

The picture looks disgusting if you ask me.

Set up your grill for a direct cook over medium (350°) heat. Remove the breasts from the marinade. Save the marinade.

Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil for about 3 minutes, until the marinade has thickened to the point that it will coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Pour off 1/2 cup of the marinade to use for basting the chicken. Save the rest to pour over the top when done.

Season the breasts on both sides with a little salt and pepper.

Grill the breasts 10 minutes on one side, flip and grill another 5 minutes on the second side. Brush with marinade and grill for 5 more minutes. Flip, brush, and grill until the juices just start to run clear or the internal temperature of the chicken hits 160°F.

Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest 5 minutes before serving. Top with the reserved marinade.

Thai Sweet Chili Spareribs

This rib recipe came from food-fire.com. Very, very good. This will definitely be made again.

Ingredients:
1 rack pork spare ribs, trimmed and membrane removed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried lemon peel
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Thai Barbeque Sauce:
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch – cilantro
3 green onions, sliced to fit in food processor
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce (Mae Ploy)
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce (Premier is gluten free)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
1 to 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil


Combine all of the herbs and spices in a shaker-top container and shake well to combine. Lay the ribs out on a baking sheet and coat heavily with the rub, working it in on both sides. This recipe should make just enough for one rack of ribs, so use it all up.

Cover the ribs with some cling wrap and stash in the fridge until just before you fire up the grill.

Make the sauce up the night before to give all the flavors time to develop. Put the garlic, green onions, and cilantro in a food processor and pulse until minced. Add the chili sauce, Hoisin, vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil and blend until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour into a covered container and store in the fridge overnight.

Plan on a 5 to 6 hour cook. You want the ribs over indirect heat at 300°. Add some hickory wood for smoke. Use an inverted plate setter to diffuse the heat and a pan with some water in it to catch the drippings.

Cook the ribs for 3 hours at 300°, flipping every 30 minutes.

Sauce the ribs on both sides and then wrap in two layers of heavy-duty foil or arrange them in a flame-proof 9×13 jelly roll pan and cover tightly with foil. Return the ribs to the grill and cook for another hour.
Carefully pull back the foil and check to see how done the ribs are. If the meat has started pulling back from the bone, they are ready to come out of the foil. If not, seal them back up and check again in 30 minutes. Repeat as needed.

When the ribs are ready, move them out of the foil and back onto the grill. Sauce both sides and cook for 20 minutes. Now check for doneness – the meat should have pulled well back on the bones and tugging on a bone should show that it’s ready to come apart. If the ribs are done, sauce them again and put them back on for another 10 minutes. Sauce them one more time and take them off the heat.

Let them rest for 10 minutes, then cut them along the bone into individual ribs and serve with more of the barbecue sauce, or plain sweet chili sauce, on the side.

We also sautéed every color bell pepper and an onion with sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce sauce, chili garlic sauce and anything else in the fridge that might have an Asian flavor. This turned out very good also.

And the finshed product. One word...... AWESOME!!!

Alaska BBQ Salmon

The salmon was very good, but nothing tops Lisa's homemade garlic mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
4 salmon steaks
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine butter, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and garlic in small saucepan. Heat slowly and thoroughly. Do not boil.

Brush salmon with sauce.

Grill at 250° until done.

And the finished product

Oriental Pork Chops

This was not bad. The pork chops were really tender after brining them.

Ingredients:
Brine:
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups water

Pork Chops:
2(1+inch thick)lean pork chops
1 egg(beaten)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry or dry white wine
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Brine Preparation:
Stir 1 tablespoon. each salt and sugar into 2 cups boiling water. Allow to cool to room temperature, then pour into a Ziploc bag with the pork chops and brine, refrigerated, for 5-6 hours.
Remove pork chops from brine, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Pork Chop Preparation:
Combine egg, soy sauce, and wine in a shallow baking dish.
Trim excess fat from pork chops.
Add pork chops to egg mixture, turning to coat. Cover and let stand 1-2 hours, refrigerated.

Combine bread crumbs, garlic powder, and ginger.
Dredge pork chops in bread crumb mixture.
Place chops in refrigerator to set the bread crumb mixture for 30-60 minutes.

Cooking:
Bring the BGE up to 400° with a raised grid and a piece of foil coated with cooking spray on the raised grid.
Place pork chops on the foil and cook for about 15 minutes. Turn chops over and continue to cook until internal temperature reaches 145° (turn gently to prevent breaking off pieces of the crust).

Elementary Macaroni

This is a recipe my father gave me and it is a very common meal at our house. It is one of our favorite pasta recipes. I have used ground beef, ground turkey, Boca crumbles and tonight ground deer. All of them were equally tastey.

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey
2 cups onion
1 cup parsley
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 large jar pasta sauce (or to taste, we like a lot of sauce)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
salt
hot sauce (2-3 tbs)
1 small jar mushrooms (optional)

Brown ground beef. Add onions, parsley, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until onions are clear.

Add cooked macaroni and blend well.

Add remaining ingredients.

Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Jamaican Firewalk Fatties

This is a great way to cook your breakfast sausage. It is fantastic on biscuits. This is not extremely spicy, but there is a little kick.

Ingredients:
1 pound of your favorite breakfast sausage (hot if you can find it)
1 1/2 tablespoons Jamaican Firewalk + extra to sprinkle on right before cooking
1/4 cup Fischer & Wieser, Mango Ginger Habanero Sauce
Extra sauce to glaze
1 package of Pillsbury Grands biscuits

Spread the meat out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle on the Dizzy Pig Jamaican Firewalk, and add the Mango Habanero sauce. Form into a log (about 12 inches). Refrigerate overnight in the refrigerator if possible.

Sprinkle with more Jamaican Firewalk before cooking for crusting and color purposes.

Cook at 300°, raised direct to 170°-175° internal. Brush on some Mango Habanero sauce for the last 20 minutes. It takes about 45-60 minutes to get the color, crust and fat rendered.

Serve on biscuits with a little warmed Mango Habanero Sauce.

Cuban Sandwich

Thanks to Vanessa for this recipe. This was a really good sandwich for a really cold day.

Ingredients:
Pork Tenderloin
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
3/4 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon Black Pepper
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Oregano
Deli Ham
Cuban Bread
Pickles

Marinate the pork tenderloin overnight in 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3/4 cup orange juice, 1 tbsp. cracked black pepper, 1 tbsp. kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon oregano. Grill until the internal temperature is 155. Toast the bread for about 1 minute.

Slice the pork in to thin slices and place on the toasted bun with yellow mustard. Then add a layer of ham, a layer of lacey swiss cheese followed by a layer of sandwich dill pickles.

We then placed the sandwiches on our panini maker, preheated to medium, for 2 minutes per side.