Pineapple Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil

1/2 cup minced onions (sweet yellow or red)

1 garlic clove, pressed

500 grams of fresh or frozen cranberries, or 1 16oz can of cranberry relish

500 grams of fresh crushed pineapple

½ cup ketchup 

1 cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt (optional to taste) 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet.

2. Add the diced onions and garlic and cook till translucent (about 4 minutes). 

3. Add all the other ingredients to a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a low simmer. 

4. Add the onion and garlic and let simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. 

5. Many of the cranberries will burst open and if you want you can use a potato masher and mash the berries into the sauce.

This sauce is great on pork ribs, in place of gravy, and in sandwiches.

Barbeque Baby Back Ribs (A Sous Vide Recipe)

Fixing some Barbeque Baby Back Ribs this weekend and cooking them low and slow with our Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator. These ribs will be over-the-top with flavor and tenderness.

Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are very difficult to achieve through other cooking methods. When cooking with water, instead of an oven or a pan, we can raise the temperature to get the food to the exact temperatures we prefer. We can take it out as soon as it's done cooking, or let it rest in the water until we’re ready to eat—no more obsessively checking inside the oven, no more chaining yourself to the stove.

Equipment:

• Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator
  
• Sous Vide water container with lid
• Vacuum food sealer (Foodsaver)
• 3 or 4 vacuum seal bags
• Large mixing bowl

Ingredients:

• 1 slab of Baby Back Ribs
• 2 tablespoons of our house BBQ Spice Rub
• 1 tablespoon of our house Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Tajín Clásico Seasoning (available in the spice aisle in most supermarkets)
• 3/4 cup of our house Texas BBQ Sauce

Directions:

• Attach the Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator to the water container
• Fill the water container with hot water until it reaches about 3 or 4 inches below the maximum water level of the Sour Vide device.
• Mix all of the spices with the BBQ sauce in a large bowl.
• Cut the Baby Back Ribs into sections with 3 or 4 bones each.
• Toss the cut sections into the spicy sauce mixture massaging them so that they are thoroughly coated.
• Place each section of ribs into a vacuum seal bag and use the vacuum food sealer to seal each bag. Make sure to STOP the vacuuming and seal the bag before the vacuum pressure force a rib bone to puncture the bag.
• Insert the vacuumed sealed bags into the hot water container so that the bags are not touching each other. Good water circulation is important for the perfect cook.
  
• Check the water level in the container and add, or remove, water so that the water level reaches the maximum level of the Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator
• Follow the guideline of the Sous Vide device and set the cooking temperature to 60.5°C, with the cooking time set to 24 hours. (These ribs can actually cook up to 48 hours in the water bath and they will still be perfect.)
• Check the water level in the container every few hours to ensure water is not evaporating. If it is, add more to bring the water level back up where it should be.
• When the ribs are finished, remove them from the vacuumed sealed bags and startup your barbeque grill. When the grill is hot toss the ribs on it for just a few minutes to slightly char them on each side. 
• Transfer to a cutting board to carve and serve.
• Enjoy!

Barbeque Spice Rub

Excellent rub for grilled steaks, chops, ribs, brisket, wings, etc.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
4 tablespoons granulated onion
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground Chinese 5-spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients and store in the freezer, in an airtight jar/container

Yield: 2 cups of spice rub

Grilled Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

Ingredients:

• 20 jalapeño peppers
• 6 slices of bacon, diced and fried crispy
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ cup of cream cheese
• 8 ounces shredded cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, or Colby jack work best)

Directions:

• Mix the bacon, garlic, cumin and cheeses, and chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the peppers
• Put on a pair of gloves and cut off the stem end of the peppers.
• Core the peppers by gently scraping our all the seed and ribs. Use a very small spoon to keep from tearing the pepper.
• Stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture to just overflowing and set them in the pepper roasting rack
• Set up the grill for indirect heat. The heat zone needs to be very high heat. The indirect heat zone should have no heat source below it. Let the grill heat for at least 15 minutes. 
• Place the rack of pepper on the grill over the indirect heat zone. If you want some smoke, add your wood chips to the direct heat zone. 
• Close the lid, and grill the peppers for about 20 minutes, just until all the cheese melts and starts to brown on top.

Serve and enjoy some cheesy peppery goodness.

Note: If you don't have a pepper grilling rack, no problem. Just leave the stem on the pepper, slice it lenghtwise, core it by removing  the seeds and rips, and stuff the halves with the cheese mixture. Depending on the size of your peppers and grill bars, you may not be able to place them directly on grill surface without them fallling through. A small baker's cooling rack works great.

Baked Beans ~ Frijoles Horneados

(Español mas abajo)

One of my favorite staples for a barbeque meal always included Baked Beans. I would start with cans of Bush's Best Original Baked Beans and then doctor them up with my favorite additions until they were just perfect. I just checked and a can of these beans sells for about $2 USD Stateside. They are about $3 USD per can in Costa Rica when you can find them at the high-end grocery store.

Since I've been craving these beans for a while now (especially since my recent conversation with my good friend Camille), it was time for the "mother of invention" to step in and provide a solution. I found canned white beans at the local grocery store for less than $1 USD yesterday, and today we are enjoying some truly fine baked beans with barbequed ribs for lunch.

Give it a try, it's an easy recipe and tastes better than Bush's Best.

Ingredients:

• 60 oz (4 cans) white beans, drained and rinsed, or ½ kilo of fresh cooked white beans with 1½ cups of the bean broth
• 4 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 5 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp Asian Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce
• 1 tbsp Salsa Picante
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard or Whole grain mustard
• 2 tbsp molasses or sugar cane syrup
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup of water

Directions:

• Drain and rinse the canned beans, or freshly cooked white beans then set them aside (reserving 1½ cup of bean broth). In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until browned, about 3 minutes. Add in onion and saute the onions with the bacon for 2-3 minutes until are translucent, but not browned. Add in all remaining ingredients except for the beans and stir to combine. Add the beans and stir until all ingredients are well mixed.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Transfer the beans to a large baking dish, dutch oven, or bean pot. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes if using canned beans and 2 to 4+ hours if using freshly cooked beans. Keep checking the level of the sauce if using freshly cooked beans and add more water, or bean broth if necessary. 
• (Note: When using dry beans the baking time will depend on how old the beans are. I usually save all of the bean broth to add as the beans cook down and become tender.)
• Remove the cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and bubbly and the beans are tender.
• Serve with your favorite barbeque.
  
  

Frijoles Horneados

Ingredientes:

• ½ kilo de frijoles blancos y secos
• 4 rodajas de tocineta picada
• 1 cebolla blanca picada
• 4 o 5 onzas de pasta de tomate (si no tiene pasta de tomate, se puede usar 10 onzas de salsa tomate (NO CATSUP)
• 4 dientes de de ajo
• 1 cucharada comino molida
• 1 cucharadita de paprika ahumado
• 1 cucharadita de sal
• 1 cucharada de Salsa Chili Picante con Ajo (Asiatico)
• 1 cucharada de Salsa Picante Banquet o más al gusto
• 2 cucharadas de salsa inglesa (Worcestershire)
• 2 cucharadas de mostaza Dijon
• 2 cucharadas de miel de caña
• 2 cucharadas de miel de abeja
• 2 cucharadas de vinagre blanca o de manzana
• 1 taza de azúcar morena
• 1 cucharadita de escamas de pimiento rojo o pimienta de Cayena molida (al gusto suyo)

Instrucciones:

• Remojo los frijoles durante la noche. En la mañana escurrirlos, cubre los frijoles con agua fresca y póngalos a cocer por 1½ horas, hasta empieza ensuavesar y escurrirlos guardando 1½ taza del líquido. 
• En una sartén grande, cocine la tocineta a fuego medio hasta que se dore, unos 3-5 minutes. 
• Añada la cebolla picada y saltea las cebollas con el tocino durante 2-3 minutos hasta que estén translúcidas, pero no doradas. 
• Añada todos los demás ingredientes restantes excepto los frijoles y revuelva para combinarlos. 
• Añada los frijoles y revuelva hasta que todos los ingredientes estén bien mezclados.
• Precaliente el horno a 350°F/180°C. Transfiera los frijoles con salsa en una olla onda y cubrirlo para hornear por lo menos 2 horas, hasta las frijoles están bien suaves. Si no tiene un horno convencional se puede usar una olla lenta por unos 4 hours en alta temperatura. 
• Siga añada agua durante el proceso de cocción para mantener una salsa espesa y rica.

Barbecued Pulled Pork – Crock Pot Style

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1½ tablespoons chili powder
1½ tablespoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4½ -5 pound boneless pork
2 cups barbecue sauce

Directions:
Place the onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot. Add the chicken stock.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl to make a dry rub.

Rinse the pork meat and pat it dry with paper towels.

Thoroughly coat the pork with the dry rub and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic.

Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender. It will take 6-8 hours on high, or 10-12 hours on low.

Turn off the crock pot. Carefully remove the pork and place it on cutting board. It will be so tender it will want to break apart. Let the meat rest for about 15 minutes.

Slice it cross grain in one-inch slices. Then shred the sliced meat into bite-size pieces with 2 forks and discard any fat.

Pour all of liquid in the crock pot into a medium size bowl.

Use a skimmer, or strainer, to collect the solid onions and garlic from the liquid and return it to the crock pot.

Set the remaining liquid aside to cool.

Add all of the shredded pork back to the crock pot with 2 cups of barbecue sauce.

When liquid has cooled, skim off the grease and discard.

Now add 1 cup of the strained liquid to the crock pot with the meat and barbecue sauce and discard the remaining liquid.

Heat the pork until ready to serve on hamburger buns.

Garnish with fresh sliced onions, dill pickles and Jalapeño peppers.

BBQ Beef Brisket

Ingredients:

Beef brisket, 1-1½# per adult, but don’t try less than a 7 pounder (however much yer want -- 15-16# makes a feast)
1-3 c. Texas Universal BBQ Sauce/Marinade (depending on how much meat there is)
Adolph’s meat tenderizer or similar brand using the ingredient papain

Trim off any really disgusting looking fat, but remember, we’s lookin for flavor, not the arteries of some 16 year old stud-muffin kid. Turn the meat fat-side up and cut score lines1/2”-3/4” apart, diagonally across the whole brisket through the fat, down to the meat. Similarly, slit through any membrane (eeeoooo!). Generously rub BBQ sauce into the slits and all over the surface. Turn ‘er over and place fat side down in a glass cake pan or porcelained roaster. Cover the lean side generously with the sauce. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for at least 12 hours (this stuff eats foil).

After this marinating period wipe the residual sauce from the meat into the pan (try yer hand, but resist lickin it -- un fricasseed meat juices an all, ya know; and don’t pour it back into the bottle.). Save the sauce in the refrigerator for later. Lay the meat out on a board and sprinkle the surface very copiously (Reader’s Digest, October ‘83) with meat tenderizer. Stab the entire surface with a regular dinner fork, spacing the stabs 1/4”-1/2” apart, tryin to penetrate the full depth of the fork. Flip ‘er over and repeat the tenderizer & stabbin routine on the other side. Knock the old crud offin yer smoker & build a real serious mesquite fire (or, fer you yankees, that’s probly gonna havta be Kingsford charcoal, about 10#, in the (gag) Weber). Damp down the firebox (and push the coals all to the outside, Weber-heads) and put a loaf pan of water in the center no-coals area, or fill the smoker’s water pan. Cover the grill area with heavy foil in the area that the meat will cover. Grease, oil or Pam the foil. Put the meat, fat side down onto the foil & close the cooker. Iffin you has a cooker thermometer, we’s lookin fer 180-225 F as the stable cookin temperature. Smoke for about 4 hours, watchin & replenishin the water & coals as required. After them 4 hours, open the cooker & slather the meat with the sauce saved from the marinadin, adding fresh sauce iffin yer need it to cover all the meat. Keep that temperature down & let’er go to fork tender, about another 4-20 hours, depending on the size of the cow. You will have to do a bunch of coal & water restockin, re-saucin and maybe a bit of foil covering on thinner sections that are goin to crunchy before the thick end gets there. The meat should be fairly smoke-black all over, pull apart with a fork, and sample slices (its allowed ... blame it on the dog) should be tender in the middle, completely rimmed with a 1/8”-1/4” red “rind” (soaked through sauce & smoke) and knock-ya-down juicy & tasty.

Remove from smoker and slice across the grain (start at the pointed, thinner “tip” end, cutting so the tip is a little triangle, informing the crowd that it’s important that the chef sample this tip for edibility). Other than that tip, cut thin slices, no more than 1/8” thick. Your slicin angle will change as you move up the brisket and the grain orientation changes. Serve with heated Universal Sauce on the side (or over, under, sideways, down). This should yield the yummiest, fork-tender eating orgy yer ever chompped. Traditional other meal fare is potato salad, cole slaw, white bread, ranch-style beans, whole jalpeños & iced tea. Go nuts.

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Originally posted 9/15/07

Panini Grilled Barbecue Beef Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Light Olive Oil
1/4 chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped sweet peppers (red green or yellow)
1 garlic clove - minced
8 ounces precooked chopped beef brisket (without sauce)
1/2 cup yellow sweet corn (canned, fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
8 thin slices of whole wheat sourdough bread

Directions:
Sauté onion & peppers in a skillet on medium until onions are clear. Add the garlic and cook an another minute or two. Add the meat, corn & barbecue sauce. Cover and bring everything to a simmer on low for 5 minutes.

Divide mixture into 4 portions. Spread mixture on a slice of bread and top it with another slice. Place the sandwich on a hot Panini grill until the bread is toasted on each side.

Make 4 sandwiches

Nutritional Information: Per Serving: 307 Calories; 17g Fat (49.1% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 33mg Cholesterol; 404mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Originally posted 7/12/09

Texas BBQ Sauce

Original recipe from Texas

Español mas abajo

Ingredients:

• 1 liquid gallon (128 fluid ounces, not by weight) Kraft Regular BBQ Sauce
• 1 (28 liquid ounces) bottle Kraft Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce
• 1 (15-1/2 oz.) jar banana peppers (hot, unless yer chicken)
• 1/2 cup ‘o them light virgin’s olive oil
• 1 T. ground black pepper
• 1 T. ground cayenne pepper
• 2 med. onions (white, red, yeller -- no difference)
• 1 T. salt
• 1 (4oz.) bottle liquid smoke
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 (12oz.) can beer (Gilley’s if yer can git it)
• 1 (1lb.) box dark brown sugar

Update 14-April-2017 - The ingredients have been updated to use the ingredients readily available to us in Costa Rica, and we think it is even better than the original recipe.
Ingredients:

• 2 - 82.5 fluid ounces of Kraft Regular BBQ Sauce
• 2 - 18 fluid ounces or Hunts Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce
• 1 - 16-ounce jar pepperoncini peppers
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 pinch of ground smoked ghost pepper (1/16 and 1/8 of a teaspoon, depending on how much heat you can tolerate)
• 2 medium onions (white, red, yeller -- no difference)
• 1 -tablespoon salt
• 1 - 4 fluid ounces of liquid hickory smoke
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 - 16 ounce can beer
• 1 - pound dark brown sugar

Save the jars.

Directions:
Open them winders & turn on the fan so that you can make the neighbors jealous. Drain the banana peppers, remove stem & pips. Peel & chunk garlic & onion. Chuck that whole mess into a blender or high-speed food grinder, with a little BBQ sauce fer some gitter-started juice. Smoosh that stuff up til its just this side of puree. Some folks like a little chunk left -- some don’t -- suit yerself. Now pour everything together in a large enameled, porcelain, or stainless kettle. Get the stove burner fire a-blastin and heat up the whole caboodle, stirrin the entire time to blend everthin, and keep it from stickin. Once it reaches a rolling boil, turn down the heat to low & commence to snorten them fabulous fumes. Cook down, uncovered, for about two hours, at a low simmer, stirrin frequently. Tastin whilst cookin is only permitted if ya don’t git caught. Cool in the kettle some & then pour into the saved, cleaned commercial jars. Refrigerate until used.

This stuff is the greatest. Works sooome magic on beef brisket, on beans & rice or as a topping for yer favorite Ben & Jerry’s Low Fat Yogurt (just checking to see if ya read this far).

Salsa Barbacoa Tejana

 (Receta secreta de John Wegner)

Ingredientes: 

• 2  (82.5 onzas/2.44 litros) botellas de salsa barbacoa regular de Kraft (Pricesmart) (Kraft Regular BBQ Sauce)
• 2 (18 onzas/532 ml) botellas de salsa barbacoa ahumado con Hickory de la marca Hunts o Kraft(Automercado o LaCoopeatenas) (Hunts Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce)
• 1 frasco (16 onzas/473 ml) chilis de tipo “Pepperoncini  Peppers” o “Banana Peppers” en su vinagre (Automercado)
• 1/2 taza aceite oliva virgen 
• 1 cucharada de pimienta negra molida 
• 1 cucharada de de cayena
• 2 cebollas medianas picadas (blanca amarilla o morada)
• 1 cucharada de sal
• 1 (4 onzas/118 ml) botella líquido humo (Liquid Smoke) (Automercado)
• 4 dientes de ajo 
• 1 botella de cerveza al gusto 
• ½ kilo de azúcar morena oscura 

Guardar las botellas vaciadas.

Instrucciones: 
Escurrir los chilis, quitar el tallo y semillas. Pela los dientes de ajo y la cebolla. Ponga todo en una licuadora o un molino de alimentos de alta velocidad, con un poquito de las salsas (una o dos taza) hasta todo está bien picado y como un puré. Ahora, vierta todo junto en una olla grande de esmaltado, o acero inoxidable. (es muy importante que no use olla de aluminio con salsa que tengan tomates como el salsa barbacoa) Con fuego mediano calentar todo hasta está hirviendo. Hay que mezclarlo frecuentemente para prevenir que quema. Una vez que llegue a hervir, baje el fuego muy lento. Cocinar, destapado, durante unas dos horas, en un mínimo. Enfriar en la olla y luego verter en las botellas guardadas. No debe poner la salsa caliente en botellas plásticas porque se derretirán.  Refrigere hasta que se use.