As I had mentioned in my Homemade Dumpling post, I decided to do a cook out in the middle of making dumplings. The reason behind the cook out was because I really wanted ribs when I saw baby back ribs on special in the HEB weekly ad. And I really wanted to make the peach BBQ sauce I had made a little while ago in my Pulled Pork Pancakes post. I ran to the store real quick and picked up the ribs and some fresh corn to grill.
I seasoned the ribs real quick with a rub that I make consisting of about 10 plus different items in it. A lot of people like to eat ribs that just fall of the bone and that is achieved usually by a slow cooking method such as smoking. Do not get me wrong, I love eating smoked ribs, but I already had it in my head that I wanted grilled ribs that you have to pull off the bone with your teeth. I grew eating ribs like that, but my mom cuts them into each individual rib and I only like to cook my ribs as a whole slab. Anyways...since it was pork and they were pretty meaty ribs, I popped them in the oven for about an hour and a half at 300 degrees to let it partially cook. I finished the ribs on the grill to get that char and then slathered it in the peach BBQ sauce and let it caramelize on the grill. While I was doing that, my brother had mentioned that Greg was smoking chickens on the grill at his house. So we wrapped everything up after I finished the ribs and went over to Greg's house.
When I got to Greg's, first thing he tells me is that he has some leeks in the fridge that he needed to use and had no ideas for it. I have been wanting to try to make leek soup for some time now, but never remember to buy leeks when I am at the store. So I go through his fridge and find bacon, potatoes, milk, clam juice and fresh crab meat. Long story short, I cook down the bacon, toss in the potatoes, then the leeks and cook everything down. I added some flour to the pot and slowly added milk in to form a creamy chowder consistency. Essentially, I made Bacon Potato Leek Crab Chowder. To everyone's surprise, it was a hit! It was so many flavors going on in it, but it worked so well together. Everyone had seconds and some had thirds and fourths.
I had thrown a quick portabella burger together for my brother as well since he is still not eating meat. He even refused to eat the amazing soup I had made because of the bacon. I was pretty excited to do this because I have always wanted to make a portabella burger. I made a quick marinade for the portabella which basically consisted of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and Italian seasoning. I grilled the portabella and then figured I might as well grill the bread, tomato, and red onion. I had poured the marinade onto the tomato as it was grilling. Greg happened to have some Boca Burgers as well so I grilled that and added it to the burger. Look terrific, but I only made one for him to eat.
Crystal had wanted a pasta salad as a side dish. So I whipped something up real quick with red and green bell pepper, onion, garlic, celery, olives, and oregano. I threw in this "Italian" seasoning I had accidentally made a while ago. The pasta salad turned out very well. I would have to say, along with the people eating, that this was my best pasta salad. I think from the heat of the pepper flakes and the fennel seeds really brought the flavors out.
The grilled corn was so simple yet so good. I think I may have said it before, but corn any way shape or form is amazing. Many people have lectured me the way I grill my corn. Many people grill corn with the husk on because they say it cooks it without burning it. To me, that is just steaming the corn on the grill. You do not get that grill and char flavor to it. When I grill corn, I pull all the husk off and cook it directly. Many non believers in my methods end up liking my style of grilling corn. You get these random char "burned" kernels that are amazing. To their surprise, it does not burn and it does cook through all the way.
The chicken Greg had smoked was pretty amazing. I mean, how often can you slice or cut into a chicken and literally have butter still oozing out of the meat. It was amazing. He did the same with the tri-tip. It was cooked perfectly. With a tri-tip, you cannot really cook it past a medium rare or else it becomes tough. It is a really great cheap roast if cooked properly like Greg did.
The Menu for the cookout:
- Peach BBQ Grilled Ribs (me)
- Smoked Chicken (Greg)
- Smoked Tri-tip (Greg)
- Bacon Potato Leek Crab Chowder (me)
- Grilled Corn (me)
- Pasta salad (me)
My avocado was bleeding!!!!! And yes I checked my fingers and I did not cut myself.
I am happy to say that their was not a single bad item that was made that day. I even brought over some seaweed salad for people to try and they loved it. Happy Eatings!
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