Espresso Barbecue Sauce

We had a few friends over for a smoked rib barbecue for Labor Day. Did I mention we bought a smoker? Matt has been wanting one for awhile now but they one he wanted was almost $200. We were at the hardware store the other day & I suggested we see if smokers were on sale when we saw the Brinkmann "El Cheapo."

This little guy was only $40 & according to a lot of folks on the web quite a smoker. We've used it twice now, once for chicken & once for ribs & have been thrilled with the results. I actually think we may have sold two last night to the folks who came to dinner.

Now on to dinner. We bought some beautiful baby back pork ribs & Matt rubbed them with the Black Espresso Rub from Mastering the Grill. Then placed them in the smoker. After about 3 - 3 1/2 hours of smoking over low heat he brushed on the Espresso Barbecue Sauce he made & let them smoke for another hour.

These ribs were fabulous. Smoky, zesty & juicy. They weren't fall off the bone (we could have smoked them a little longer to get to that point) but they were tender & perfectly cooked. All of our guests loved them. The espresso cut the overwhelming ketchup flavor so many bbq sauces can have and added a real depth of flavor. The chipotle gave it a nice bite without being too hot. Matt calls this a quick sauce since he used onion & garlic powder in it instead of using fresh & then pureeing it.

Espresso Barbecue Sauce

1 c ketchup
1 T molasses
2 T red wine vinegar
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 T brown sugar
2 T instant espresso powder

Mix everything together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar & espresso. Let simmer gently about 10 minutes to meld flavors.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

We won & Weekly Menu 9/7 - 9/12

While we were gone Heavy Table & Crispin Cider announced the winner of their Grilling Contest & we took the Golden Tongs with our recipe for Crispin Cider Brined Pork & Braised Kohlrabi.

This is the first time we've won a recipe contest so we were thrilled, especially since we loved this dish so much. I encourage you to go pick up some Crispin & try it yourselves.

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Monday - Smoked Ribs with Espresso BBQ Sauce - We are having friends over for a holiday bbq. The weather is supposed to be perfect & Matt needs another excuse to use his new smoker.

Tuesday - Sausage & Peppers - I discovered how much I love this last year.

Wednesday - Our friends our getting married today (09/09/09) & we'll be celebrating at dinner with them.

Thursday - BLTs with homemade potato chips - Always a classic & always best when tomatoes are in season.

Friday - Grilled Steak with Cheesy Broccoli Romanesco Bake & Spinach Salad

Saturday - Still up in the air

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

What's in CSA box #9

We are back from India and quite a bit jetlagged. It's always hard to come back from a long trip, face that empty fridge & get back into the swing of cooking. Luckily for us there was a CSA box waiting & I've been doing most of the cooking from it.

Beans - These red & white beans are the type to shell & eat.
Spinach
Radishes - We sliced some in a stir-fry last night which was quite good.
Carrots - I'm getting a glut of carrots in the fridge again this year. Guess its time for carrot cake.
Watermelon - Dessert for a bbq tomorrow
Squash - I think this will get grilled for a side dish at the bbq
Melon - A delicious orange melon that Matt & I ate for dessert last night
Grape Tomatoes - I turned this into a quick sauce for pasta the other night using an onion, some garlic & fresh basil & oregano
Sprigarello - A type of broccoli rabe. We used in in the stir-fry last night & I was not wild about it at all. It had quite a rubbery texture.
Orange Ukraine and UV Roaster Peppers - I'll use these in sausage & peppers this week
Jalapenos
Edamame - We steamed & shelled some into the stir-fry which was good. The rest I'll steam & serve as an appetizer tomorrow.
Broccoli Romanesco - I'm thinking of baking it with some cheese as a side dish
Cucumber - this will just be a snack
Yellow Onions
Garlic
Raspberries - I'm going to add these to homemade vanilla ice cream tonight.
Tomatoes - Matt wants a good BLT
Potatoes

We have another box coming this Thursday as well (we usually get one every other week but got off schedule with traveling) so we really need to work hard to eat most of this box in one week.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Zucchini Carbonara

Yes, another recipe using zucchini! You're not surprised are you?

This is a really brilliant use of the zucchini in my opinion. It add some vegetable & color to a dish that typically doesn't have either. When cut into strips like this the zucchini becomes just like more noodles in this pasta. I almost think you could get by with more zucchini & less pasta than we used if you wanted to. The zucchini really doesn't do anything change the flavor of this dish but absorbs the other flavors well.


Zucchini Carbonara

6 oz linguine
6 sliced bacon, chopped
1 medium zucchini, cut into strips with a peeler
2 cloves garlic, chopped
pepper
1 egg
2 T heavy cream
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan

Cook the linguine according to the directions.

In a large skillet cook the bacon until crisp. If there is a lot of fat drain some leaving about 1 Tablespoon or so. Add the zucchini, garlic & pepper to taste. Stir to cook for about 1 minute.

Mix the egg, cream & cheese together.

Drain the pasta reserving a little of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan with the bacon & mix well. Remove from the heat & stir in the egg mixture. Stir until cooked (return to heat if you need to). If its a little too thick stir in a little of the pasta water.

Serves 2

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Pepper Salsa

Matt has been dying for the tomatoes to ripen so he could start canning homemade salsa. I like a little salsa as an appetizer at a Mexican restaurant or such but Matt loves it. He often has it as a side dish with lunch or as an afternoon snack. As long as he gets one without all sort so preservatives I would say its a pretty healthy snack (well without all the tortilla chips.)

Our last CSA box contained the first of the large tomatoes plus some of the ones in our garden were ripe so his salsa making time had some. This is a spicy salsa & can be made more or less spicy by the type of peppers you use. Matt used a mixture of banana peppers, jalapenos & some mystery small red peppers in our garden. After the salsa has been canned you want to let it sit for about a month so the flavors can meld.

Pepper Salsa
(adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

3 c tomatoes, cored & chopped (the recipe says to peel them but Matt didn't bother)
3 c peppers, seeded if you wish & chopped
1 c onions, chopped
1 c cider vinegar
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T cilantro, finely chopped
2 t dried oregano
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground cumin

Prepare six half-pint jars by boiling them for 20 minutes. Boil the lids for 5 minutes.

In a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan bring the tomatoes, peppers, onion, vinegar, garlic, cilantro, oregano, salt & cumin to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat & let simmer for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened.

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Clean the rims, place top on & hand tighten the neck band. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes. Turn off heat & let sit another 5 minutes. Remove from water without drying & let cool for 12-24 hours undisturbed. The lids should pull downward with a pop. Any jar whose lid does not pull downward needs to be refrigerated & used or reprocessed.

Makes 6 cups.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski