Pulled Pork with White BBQ Sauce

Pulled Pork with White BBQ Sauce

Dump into each bag:

·         1 Onion, thinly sliced

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 T brown sugar

·         1 T chili powder (or less depending on your preference)

·         1 T salt

·         ½ t cumin

·         ½ t paprika

·         5lb pork shoulder or butt roast

Instructions for Ziplock:

Cook low 8 to 10 hours (recommended to shred meat after 8 hours and cook a little bit longer).  

Serve with white BBQ sauce: 2 cups mayo, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 T brown sugar, ½ t salt, 1 t pepper, 1 t cayenne pepper (or less depending on your preference), juice from 1 lemon (can be made ahead and stored in fridge for up to 2 weeks).

BBQ Beer Chicken

BBQ Beer Chicken

Dump into bag:

·         3lbs boneless, skinless chicken

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 tablespoon onion powder

·         ½ tablespoon paprika

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         3 cups BBQ sauce

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot along with 1 can of beer (whatever kind you want).  

Cook on low 8 hours.  

Shred chicken and serve on buns of your choice.

Maple Breakfast Sausage in the Thermomix (AIP)

I had some pork mince to use up and I wanted something simple and tasty to do with it.  

I found this Homemade Maple Apple Breakfast Sausage recipe 

over on Savory Lotus that sounded good.

As much as possible, I try to use my Thermomix and so I decided to do the beginning steps in that ...

Also, I didn't bother peeling the apple, I used more onion, more herbs and I used smoked garlic ...

Here's my list of ingredients:

500g pork mince

1 small red onion
2 cloves smoked garlic (or regular would be fine too)
1 apple, cored and quartered

a handful of fresh herbs (I used parsley, oregano, chives, thyme)
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground sage
(oil for cooking but I did ours on the BBQ so didn't need any oil) 

Here's how I did it (in the Thermomix):

Put the onion, and garlic in the Thermomix.
Chop on speed 5 for 5-7 seconds. 

Scrape ingredients to bottom of bowl.
Add apple.
Chop on speed 5 for 3-5 seconds.
Add 5-10g of olive oil.

Sautee on Varoma temperature, 5 minutes, speed .

Let this mixture cool for a few minutes.

In a bowl, add pork, maple syrup, herbs and ground sage.  Mix well.  Once the Thermomix mixture has cooled to the touch, add to the pork and mix well.

Shape into patties of your desired size.

If cooking on BBQ ... heat it up (we have a gas BBQ and I make sure it is up to at least 200 Celsius).  Once it's heated, put the patties on the hot BBQ and shut the lid.  Set timer for 3 minutes.  Rotate patties (don't flip them yet, just rotate them so that the like 90 degrees) shut the lid. Set timer for 3 minutes.  Now flip the patties. Shut the lid. Set timer for 3 minutes.  Rotate patties again. Shut the lids.  Set timer for 3 minutes. The patties should now be ready.  Just cut one in half and make sure it's cooked through. 

I served with:
fresh spinach

chopped avocado
sautéed onions, zucchini and mushrooms

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

YUM!

In crock pot or ziplock:
- 3lbs boneless skinless chicken
- 1 tablespoon paprika (I just sprinkled in a bit)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder (I just sprinkled in a bit.  Could use minced cloves)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce

Day of cooking:
- add 1 cup of beer

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: Shred chicken and serve on kaiser rolls.  Great topped with cole slaw

Optional: If sauce too soupy (mine was), strain sauce into a small pan, add thickener (such as corn starch) and boil till the sauce reaches desired consistency.

Baby approved!

Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 1

I keep forgetting to take pictures of these - so I haven't been posting the recipes.  Finally decided to just post the recipes and try and remember to upload pictures later!

A few notes:
1. Any of these can be assembled in the crock pot the day of.

2. If you assemble the ingredients ahead of time and put them in the freezer, they can be put in the crock pot frozen or you can thaw them out prior to putting them in the crock pot.  If you want to just throw everything in froze (EASY PEASY!), put the zip lock in some hot water for a few minutes to get the bag unstuck from the ingredients.

3. For easy morning prep, label your zip locks with the name of the recipe, cooking time, and any extra items that need to be added to the crock pot.  This is also super helpful if you forget to start the crock pot in the morning and ask you 16 year old son to do it when he's home from school on his lunch hour...not that I would have ANY experience with that ;-)

4. I've found most of these recipes online, and have modified them to my families tastes.  Feel free to follow to a T or be creative!

5. I've found that when stocking the freezer with meals, it's best to chose a few recipes with lots of chopping and a few that don't involve much chopping that way you can do a bunch without killing yourself.


 TERIYAKI CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2 lbs bone-in or boneless chicken (I like thighs, but you can use whatever kind your family prefers)
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic minced (or more depending on how much you like garlic! If I'm in a hurry, I just use garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- OPTIONAL: 1 can pineapple chunks

Day of cooking: Add 1/2 cup chicken broth

Cook time: 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: cooked white or brown rice and green veggies (can top with sesame seeds)

Serves: 4 to 6


BBQ RIBS

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2 lbs boneless ribs (I've also used bone in and it was yummy!)
- 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Cook time: 8 to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: mashed potatoes, veggies, or favorite BBQ sides

Serves: 4


SALSA CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2.5 to 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken (breast or thighs or combo)
- 16 oz jar of favorite salsa
- OPTIONAL: sprinkle in some cumin and lime juice to kick up the flavor

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours on LOW

Serving suggestions: use as meat for rice bowls, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, or burritos

Serves: 4 to 8 or more, depending on how it's used after cooking

Simple BBQ Clams

I know I have been MIA around here for a bit.  Sorry!  You can pop over to my other blog and read this post if you want to know why!

Anyway, I have a long list of recipes I want to share with you.  I'm doing a bit of a re-schedule of my ENTIRE LIFE so we'll see how I go with that.  Today, I'll share a very simple recipe.  It's not even a recipe.  All you need is a BBQ and some fresh clams.

Just put the clams on the BBQ and wait for them to open.  When they open, they are done.

I ate them just like that, but I LOVE clams.  Next time I may do a simple sauce to go with them ... you might like to do that too.

Apricot Chicken

This was easy and delicious !!

This technically should serve four but we served it with A Nutty Cous Cous and only ate 1/2 a serve of chicken so had it for dinner and lunch the next day !

Chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

salt

pepper

olive oil

Apricot Sauce:

a blub of oil, I used olive

3/4 cup dry white wine, I used Chardonnay

1/4 of a red onion

4 fresh apricots, pitted and chopped

3 tablespoons apricot jam, I used St. Dalfour

2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped (or 1/2 tsp dried)

Here's what you do ...

Rub the chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook on the BBQ. Or you could pan fry if you wanted.

To make the sauce ... Saute onion in oil over a medium heat. Add wine. Reduce ... maybe 3-5 minutes. Add apricots. Cook for a couple of minutes ... the fruit will break down. Stir in jam, tarragon and a pinch of salt. I kept it on the heat and stirred until it was combined and a thickness I was happy with. Take off heat and let sit til chicken is done.

When chicken is finished, top with apricot sauce and serve.

Delicious !!

Changas in the Weber !

So ... our oven broke the other night.
We discovered it when we went to put these in it !

We needed a plan B.
We decided to try them in the Weber BBQ!

We are so glad we did !
They were amazing. It added a smokiness to them.

We will do them this way from now on !

What you need:
1 and 1/2 cups cooked and thinly diced chicken ( about 2 breasts )
1 jar salsa, I use a medium
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions (spring onions)
I also mix in leftover cilantro (coriander) from making guacamole !
12 eight inch flour tortillas
2 TBLS melted butter, or olive oil
--

Mix salsa, cumin, oregano, chicken, cheese and onions. Place about 1/4 cup chicken mixture in centre of each tortilla. Roll. Brush very liberally with melted butter, or olive oil. Bake at 400F degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. (watch them the first time you make them ... mine don't ever take that long to cook) OR cook in a hooded BBQ ... about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Serve with salsa (I don't add more salsa to mine but my husband likes hot salsa so he puts that on here ...), sour cream and guacamole.

BBQ Meatballs

* photo taken on my iPhone ...

We used to have these often but haven't had them for years. I got the recipe from an email group called "real food for real people" that I used to be a part of years and years ago. We used to make them as burgers but last night I decided to make them as meatballs. They were really yum ! This recipe makes a heap ! We ate them for dinner, and will eat them again for lunch and still have some left over. Usually I freeze half the batch ...

For the meatballs:
3lb ground beef (just over 1kg beef mince)
3 saltine (salada) crackers, crushed (i actually did about 8 ...)
1/4 cup water to each lb ground beef

Mix ingredients and roll into meatballs (or patties) and quickly brown. Do not cook completely. Put into baking dish and cover with BBQ sauce, bake 350F/180C for one hour.

For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
6 tbls Worchestershire sauce
1 large onion, finely diced

Bring all ingredients to boil on top of stove, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over burgers/meatballs.

**

I served this last night with roast potatoes, peas and corn. As we were eating, I remembered that we used to serve this with mashed potatoes ... mmmmmm ... next time !

Make sure you scoop lots of that yummy sauce on top of them meatballs when you serve !

Meat for Burgers

So ... we have been working for years on our meat patties that
we use to make burgers. Rory has pretty well perfected them
now ! Every time we make burgers and I post about it, I
refer you to the first post I did when we were first
starting out, the photos leave lots to be desired.
I keep thinking, I need to do another post
but I always forget to take a photo of
the patty itself ! As you can see, I
still haven't done that. This is
last nights burger, that
is a combo of the
Bohemian
and
Pioneer

Delicious, I might add !

Here we go ... how we make our meat patties for the Cheese & Burger Society Burgers we have tried ...

500g (1lb) mince (ground beef)
1 small onion, very finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbls chopped parsley, oregano, chives, basil ... or whatever herbs you like
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (just put a couple of slices of bread ... I use the ends ... into your food processor ... process for a few minutes and voila ... bread crumbs !!)

Combine all ingredients.
Make into patties.
Cook.
We cook ours on the BBQ ...

Fun {with} Pancakes

I like to make mini pancakes for the kids lunches ... I put this insanely delicious fruit spread in between two of them and send 'pancake sandwiches' as a lunch box treat ... yum. I usually make myself a couple too ...

Here's how I make our pancakes these days ...

Add the following to a blender ...

1 &1/2 cups milk ... regular, skim, soy, almond, powdered ... doesn't matter. I've tried them all !
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs olive oil
1 & 1/3 cup whole wheat flour (whole meal spelt flour is also good)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Blend.

Pour pancake size batter blobs into a heated frying pan ... when they bubble for a bit and the edges begin to go darker than the rest of the pancake, flip it ... Cook a couple more minutes and voila ... pancakes !

Another fun thing ... as if pancake sandwiches aren't fun enough ... is to pour your batter into a big jar and head down to the beach and BBQ your pancakes there for a beautiful Saturday morning breakfast !!

Grilled Steak

Best Grill Steak Recipe a la Uncle Jim

Step 1:
Look for sale on Rib-eye steak at Safeway

Step 2:
Buy steak and freeze

Step 3:
Wait for blizzard




Step 4:
Have wife and niece shovel path to bbq



Step 5:
Put on bbqing clothes
(ie: shorts, t-shirt, and sandals)



Step 6:
Thaw froze Rib-eye

Step 7:
Remove snow from bbq utensils

Step 8:
Carefully remove plastic from steak packages

Step 9:
Place steak on hot grill

Step 10:
Flip steaks

Step 11:
Remove steaks from grill

Step 12:
Serve and Enjoy!