Barbara Bush's Barbecued Chicken! Again!

Lordy, lordy, folks...belly up to the bar for this dish, and hurry up 'cause it won't last long!

A few years ago we had a Memorial Day cookout and decided to try barbecued chicken, since Hometown Cooking magazine had just featured this recipe, touted as Barbara Bush's favorite. Now, I should mention that I am not normally a fan of barbeque sauce on anything, much less chicken. I was the kid who asked my dad (every SINGLE TIME) to just grill mine plain, or basted with butter. But once we found this recipe, everything changed. Well, not totally, because I still don't like barbeque sauce much, but homemade barbeque sauce? And on chicken? Oh yeah, I like it. I like it A LOT. And Sheri wholeheartedly agrees. And my hubby? Well, yeah...let's just say that he will eat barbeque sauce on anything and everything, and yet he completely drools over this. So get out your chicken, peeps...it's time to get grillin'!

Barbara Bush's Barbecued Chicken

2 1/2 to 3 lb broiler-fryer chicken, quartered
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 1/2 c. water
1 c. coarsely chopped onion
1/2-3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. prepared yellow mustard
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
6-8 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Place chicken in a plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For the marinade, stir together 3 tablespoons lemon juice, cooking oil, salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and garlic. Pour over the chicken and close bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, turning often.

In a saucepan, combine water, onion, sugar, butter, mustard, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stir in ketchup, Worcestershire, 6-8 tablespoons lemon juice, and ground red pepper. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes or until reduced to about 4 cups.

Meanwhile, drain chicken, discarding marinade. In a grill with a cover, arrange preheated coals around a drip pan. Test for medium heat above the pan. Place chicken, bone side down, on grill rack over drip pan. Cover and grill for 50-60 minutes or until chicken is done. (170 degrees for breast meat and 180 degrees for thighs and legs), brushing often with barbecue sauce the last ten minutes of grilling.

To serve, pass the additional barbecue sauce around with the chicken and just wait for the ooooing and aaaahhhing to begin!

Buffalo Chicken Strips

This weekend marks the exciting beginning of the 2009 football season for us Ohio State Buckeyes and one of the most popular places people go to watch the game and eat wings is BW3's. Most people like to eat their hot wings dunked in Blue Cheese Dressing. I think we all know these tasty little wings are near the bottom of the list for healthy chicken and somewhere around the top of the list for fattening chicken.

But what if we could get that Buffalo Wing flavor without the breading? Would it satisfy that craving for hot wings with Blue Cheese? Of course, it's not going to be exactly the same, but we thought it was worth a try.

These Buffalo Chicken Strips are designed for the grill, but they can certainly be made in the oven too. We're giving you a homemade Blue Cheese dressing recipe, but of course, you can always buy yours straight from the store. We'll tell you though - it takes no time at all to make if you're up for it....

Fire up the grill and try these out for the Labor Day weekend - we think you'll be surprised!


Buffalo Chicken Strips

For The Wing Sauce:
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
One Tablespoon Hot Sauce (Tabasco or Texas Pete)
One Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper or Chili Powder ( use your favorite)
One Teaspoon Paprika

For The Chicken:
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Halves
One Teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Prepare your grill.

To make the wing sauce, whisk the butter, oil, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne or chili powder, and paprika together.

Rinse the chicken breasts under cool water and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken breasts diagonally into 1/2-inch-wide strips and season with salt and pepper. Place the strips in a shallow dish or bowl and pour half the wing sauce over them, and toss to coat evenly.

Brush the grill grates lightly with oil. Place the chicken strips on the grill and grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the breast, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the grill and serve immediately with the Chunky Blue Cheese Dip, the remaining wing sauce, and of course, celery sticks!

Chunky Blue Cheese Dip
1/2 Cup Well-shaken Buttermilk
2/3 Cup Mayonnaise
One Teaspoon White Wine Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
4 Ounces Crumbled Blue Cheese
2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Chives (optional)

Stir the buttermilk, mayo, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a medium bowl. Stir in the blue cheese. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, stir in the chives and transfer the dip to a small serving bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to one week.

Black Thai Burgers with Gingered Shiitakes

These here burgers are not for everyone. They are not for the weak at heart, they are not for the Plain-Jane eaters at your table, and they are not for the Big Mac lovers of this world.

These burgers are for the adventurous soul, the live-like-there's-no-tomorrow explorer, and that specially spirited person who says "Yes" to trying anything at least once.

Who are you?



Black Thai Burgers with Gingered Shiitakes

For the Burgers:
1-1/2 Pounds Ground Chuck
2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro
2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Mint
One Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
2 Teaspoons Minced Jalapeno Peppers, with seeds
2 Teaspoons Minced Garlic
One Teaspoon Grated Lime Zest, opt.
One Teaspoon Grated Fresh Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the Mushrooms:
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Teaspoons Grated Fresh Ginger
8 Ounces Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, stems removed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

To Prepare Burgers:
In a large bowl, gently mix together the burger ingredients with your hands. Shape the meat into four patties of equal size and thickness (about 3/4-inch thick).

To Prepare the Mushrooms:
In a medium saute pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the oil and add the ginger. Add the mushrooms and cook, Stirring occasionally, until tender, 4-6 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

Brush both sides of the patties with the oil and grill over direct medium heat until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees for medium, 8-10 minutes, turning once halfway through grilling time. During the last 30 seconds, grill the buns until lightly toasted.

Serve the burgers hot on the toasted buns, topped with gingered mushrooms.


Happy Fourth of July!!!

Sensational Steak with Raspberry Sauce

We absolutely love this steak recipe for a myriad of reasons, the most important one being that it tastes amazing! But the other reason it's one of our all-time grilling favorites is because it was the recipe, that upon reading the list of ingredients, our initial thought was "yuk". The ingredients they were suggesting we layer upon a perfectly grilled rib-eye seemed horribly mismatched and certainly a recipe for disaster. Or so we thought at the time.

Now, at that point and time in our lives we had not yet discovered how magnificently different fruits, vegetables, herbs, cheeses, and meats, when allowed to perform together, could be such a big hit. After all, we were still cooking in a world where a Cobb salad was our idea of mixing it up and going crazzzzzzzy!

But we trusted this cookbook, we were feeling adventurous, and if truth be told, the picture of this enticing steak was nothing less than slobber-worthy, so we decided to give it a try. Besides, we both love sitting around reading cookbooks for fun and are both suckers for a beautiful photograph of food, so if we see it, and we like what we see, we must make it.


So, right off the bat we X out two of the ingredients because we unanimously decide that (1) we don't want figs on our steak and (2) ham on top of steak is just overkill. Today, however, the figs don't sound like such a bad idea, so we'll leave them in the recipe in case you're a big fig fan. Yes Sarah, we are talking about you up there in Canada. Go crazy with your figs!

We found the rest of the recipe to be pure genius. We made it, we ate it, and we fell in love with "horribly mismatched" ingredients. That day was the beginning of a brand new adventure for us in the kitchen. Nowadays, we welcome recipes that sound a little crazy. We have eaten at our fair share of wonderful restaurants that get creative with food combining, and time and time again, we find ourselves falling in love with a new flavor sensation. Basically, what we have learned over the years is that anything goes!

Between talented chefs preparing our meals and us cooking them up ourselves, we've rarely been disappointed and are super confident that you will not be disappointed with this Gold Medal Winner today. (We awarded it the Gold medal..... ...because it is worthy!)

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Sensational Steak with Raspberry Sauce

1/2 Pint Red Raspberries
3 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
One tablespoon Oil
One Small Red Onion, thinly sliced
One Teaspoon Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
3/4 Teaspoon Garam Masala (DO NOT SKIP THIS! It is the glue)
Freshly Ground Pepper
8 Boneless Rib-eye or Beef Tenderloin Steaks (2-1/2 lbs)
6 Ounces Blue Cheese, crumbled
8 Large or 16 Small Figs, quartered (optional)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the raspberries, sugar, and vinegar. Simmer for ten minutes, or until reduced by half.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the rosemary, garam masala, and1/2 teaspoon pepper ( and figs) and cook a couple more minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper. Grill or broil the steaks for 12 minutes, turning once, until a thermometer inserted in the center registers 145 degree for medium rare.

Place each steak on a plate. Evenly divide the cheese on top of the steaks and cover with some of the onion mixture. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the raspberry sauce all over it. OR drizzle raspberry sauce THEN the onion mixture. YOU decide!

Take a bite.



Now you know what heaven is like......

Goat Cheese Burgers with Onion Jam

Do you know what's great about having a party where everyone brings their favorite dish? You get to have your very own smorgasbord of new and exciting foods to try. You walk through the line, pick out what looks good and interesting, and then have yourself a taste. If you're lucky, you hit the jackpot and taste something new and extraordinary. Once you've realized that you just tasted something spectacular, you go on a crazy mad hunt in search of your now, favorite guest - the one who brought this something spectacular to your party. Once you track them down, you insist that you must have the recipe. Beaming with pride, this guest happily agrees to share the recipe with you. Seriously, is there any better compliment than to have someone on their knees begging for your recipe?

Heck, 90% of the time, it's not even an original recipe. But, just because we didn't invent the winning recipe, doesn't mean we don't deserve a standing ovation for knowing a good thing when we read it. Kate found this recipe on MSN and somehow, she knew it would be a hit. She's good! She wanted to share the joy with us and now we want to share the joy with you!

Soooooooo....


We had the chance this past weekend to give these burgers a try and to say that these burgers were a hit is a ginormous understatement. There was lots of moaning and groaning going on at the table and our friend, Shawn threw it out there and said, "This might be the best burger I've ever had". Bold statement! But everybody around the table moaned and agreed!

These burgers have incredible flavor and if you make the Onion Jam the day before as suggested, these tasty burgers can be made in a flash. We wish we had prepared the onions the day before because we were super hungry! Neither of us had read the directions thoroughly, so we underestimated how long the onion process would take. Although, to smell the aroma of the onions cooking down and caramelizing into jam was a real treat for us. There was some serious salivating going on in that kitchen!

Also, the recipe calls for Texas toast, but ever since we discovered the wonderful world of Skinny Buns we have found it impossible to use anything else. Shawn and Deetra, who are big fans of Texas toast, seemed a little nervous about the substitution, but they came around to our side when they tasted first hand, how the skinny buns allowed the spotlight to shine brightly on the main event - the burger!

We followed Kate's instruction not to use condiments and we all agreed that this burger can and should stand alone.

Barry, who normally has an aversion to anything involving vinegar, was a huge fan of these burgers and thought this recipe would make a killer meatloaf!

So, if you're looking for that burger recipe that will have everybody on the block talking about your Memorial Day cookout, look no further - the winner is right here!

Thanks Kate!



Goat Cheese Burgers w/Onion Jam

2 Pounds Ground Beef
Onion Jam (see recipe below)
4 Ounces Goat Cheese
2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
12 Slices Texas Toast or Skinny Buns

Additional goat cheese for topping - optional
Golden tomato wedges - optional

Directions:
1) Combine the ground beef, half the Onion Jam, 4 oz. of goat cheese, salt, and red pepper in a large mixing bowl. Divide into 6 portions and form into patties.

2) Place burger patties on a lightly oiled grill rack and grill directly over medium heat. Grill for 18-23 minutes until internal temperature reads 160 degrees. Turn burgers once halfway through grilling.

3) Grill the Texas toast (or if in a pinch, just heat them in a covered skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side on the stove). Spread 6 slices with some of the remaining onion jam and top each with a grilled burger patty. Top with additional goat cheese, if desired. Top with remaining toast slice and garnish with tomato slices. (No ketchup, mustard, mayo needed - it takes away from the intense flavor of the jam and the mellow cheese).

Onion Jam
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 large yellow onions and 2 large red onions, thinly sliced; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups chopped green onions. Cook onion mixture for 25-30 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar; reduce heat. Simmer 10-12 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat. Cover and chill for up to one week.


Coming Soon..... Many More Great Recipes for Your Weekend Cookout!