Sweet and Sour Pork Kabobs

Sweet & Sour BBQ kabobs

I love going for the classics, but sometimes I just gotta mix it up. This one’s got a little Asian flare to it.

2 medium carrots

half a pineapple, cubed

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbs cooking oil

1 tbs soy sauce

1.5 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp sugar

1 clove of garlic, minced

12 oz. pork cut 1-inch pieces

1 small green pepper cut 1-inch pieces

1 small sweet red pepper cut 1-inch pieces

1. Cook the carrots in a saucepan in a little water for 8 mins. I do this right on the side burner of the Weber Summit, no problem.

2.Now it’s time to make the sauce:

i. In  a different pan, combine  about 1/4 of the pineapples mashed, vinegar, oil, soy sauce,        cornstarch, sugar, garlic, and a 1/4 cup of water (more if needed).

ii.  Cook and stir till all nice thick and bubbly, then for another minute or so.

3. Skewer the peppers, carrots, pork, and remaining pineapples

4. Lay those skewers down over a pipin’ hot grill (I can fit about 3x this recipe on my grill, enough for a good-sized party). Cook ‘em for 8-12 minutes until the pork is no longer pink. While they’re cooking make sure you brush them with plenty of that good Asian sweet & sour sauce and rotate occasionally.

5. Eat up! This makes about 4 servings.

This is great all year round for when you just want to try something different. It’s also a great starter recipe if you’ve never made any Asian flavor foods on the grill before

A Charcoal Grill Classic: Baby Back Ribs

Ultimate Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs are one of the great BBQ classics. When cooked well, these are really the ultimate grilled meat.  Here’s the recipe:

• 6-8 lbs pork baby back ribs

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup dark molasses
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup bottled chili sauce
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke, or more to taste

Get out a heavy saucepan for making this baby back rib sauce. Heat up the butter and cook the onions until they’re nice and wilted. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, and stir. Let it simmer until it becomes a good bbq sauce consistency.  It will probably take around a half hour.

Set up your charcoal grill, and light the coals. Once they’re ready to go, spread the coals out around the edges of the grill. If you have a larger Weber kettle, this will work better than a small one. The idea here is to cook with indirect heat, so you don’t want the coals to be too close to the meat. You also need enough space to put a drip pan in the middle of the grill.

When the coals are medium-hot, brush with oil and place the ribs meat-side-up in the center of the grill. Brush the ribs with your barbeque sauce and cover the grill, adjusting the vents for even heat. Check every 20 minutes or so, turning the ribs and basting with the bbq sauce each time. It will take about an hour to 1:20 to finish cooking, when the meat is no longer pink.

Heat up the remaining sauce to serve at the table. Enjoy!

Don’t Be a Jerk, Cook With Jerk!

Grilled Jerk Chicken

This post is all about how to make a Jamaican Jerk seasoning. It’s a spicy rub sauce traditionally used on pork and goat, which is then smoke grilled.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 big bunch of green onions or a couple smaller bunches
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme, or 1 Tbls fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 1-10 scotch bonnets. Start with a small amount and add more lately if you think it needs it.
• 1 thumb sized knuckle of ginger (don’t worry about peeling it; just blend it up skin and all!)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 a small onion
• 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar

This sauce if you make it right will taste pretty salty. Don’t worry though, it won’t make the meat salty. It will taste awesome when you’re done with it!

It’s gonna brine the meat while it marinates. After it’s done marinating, throw some woodchips in your webber grill,  grill up the meat and you’re good. I like this recipe best with a good chicken breast.

If you’re not sure how to smoke or smoke-grill on your charcoal grill, I will be covering that in an upcoming post.