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Rhubarb BBQ Sauce

Barbecue, Braising, Delicious, Game Day, Grilling, Sandwiches, Sauce, Smoker - No Comments » - Posted on May, 19 at 8:52 am

I, as many here in Wisconsin, have been waiting for spring to arrive. It’s finally here, and as we are blessed with wonderful weather, we are also blessed with farmers’ markets. Spring time in Wisconsin is probably my favorite season of the year, with fall being a close second. Spring time just has this thing about it. Maybe it is the fact that everything is beginning to blossom, or that we can begin planting in our gardens, or just maybe, the smell of the cool air. Maybe it is as simple as the morning bike ride to visit to the farmer’s market on Saturday. Yeah, that’s it.

I was excited to see the signs in the neighborhood that the farmers market was opening this past weekend. I love waking up early in the morning, before everyone else, and getting on my bike to head over to the market. It is less than a couple of miles from my house, so it is a nice ride to wake me up. As our farmer’s market is small, there are two farm stands that I really enjoy buying from. One is a larger one where they have an abundance, and an array of fresh produce and herbs, and the other, a bit smaller, but offers different produce during the the season. I had one thing in mind that I wanted to purchase this past weekend, and that was rhubarb.

Rhubarb is in season right now, and as my kids have never tried rhubarb before, I thought that I could offer a sample and see how they would like it. I recall growing up and having rhubarb growing wild in our backyard. I had no idea what it was until my dad had pulled a stalk, and with that dad tone said “never eat the leaves!”. I have no idea why one would even make an attempt to eat the leaves, but we understood his point. After all, the leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous. But it was the stalk  that we could eat, and wow did it pack a tartness like I’ve never had before. Well, let’s just say that the  tartness overwhelmed my oldest son. He liked it, but did think it was a bit too tart. With that said, I thought I would sweeten it down a bit and make a barbecue sauce!

Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Recipe
Pictured above: Pulled Pork BBQ Sliders in Asian Steamed Bun Topped with Rhubarb BBQ Sauce and Minced Shallots

Ingredients:

Begin by heating up the oil in your sauce pan on medium heat. Toss in the garlic and shallots and let them cook for about 4 minutes. Add in everything else, give a good stir. Bring this to a simmer, stirring on occasion, and cook for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Making Rhubarb BBQ Sauce

If you have an immersion blender, use it, blend everything until you have a nice and smooth sauce. If you do not have an immersion blender, carefully pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until you have a smooth sauce.

Let it cool before storing in your refrigerator for up to two weeks. Feel free to freeze some as well as this makes plenty.

Use this as you would like any other barbecue sauce. For me, well, my kids are really into pulled pork, so that is the direction I went with. We love eating pulled pork sandwiches by steaming lotus leaf buns that you can purchase in the frozen section of your local Asian market. Basically you steam them for about 10 minutes, open them up, and pile your pork in there. Top with the sauce, and repeat. My kids tore through these like they were going out of style, and the rhubarb barbecue sauce is pretty fantastic. It’s sweet, with a bit of tart, and to me, that is a pretty amazing sauce when you can get that type of balance.

So if you have rhubarb growing in the backyard, or if you find some at your local farmer’s market, pick some up and make this barbecue sauce. I know you will love it! Plus it is a nice surprise that your family or guests will be inquiring about.



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Preserved Lemons

Appetizers, Baking, Chicken, Ethnic, Grilling, Pasta, Rice - 1 Comment » - Posted on May, 17 at 4:25 pm

I have been on a real citrus kick lately. Maybe it is the season, but I have been going through a lot of lemons and limes. For the last couple of weeks I have been juicing close to nearly 40 limes, only to pour a bit of the juice into smoothies or weekend cocktails. The same goes with lemons. As I was juicing the lemons into a smaller sized mason jar, it occurred to me that instead of juicing them, I should create some preserved lemons!

You might have never seen preserved lemons, yet, as they are typically not used on a regular basis in American cooking. Or, maybe they are and many of us just never know. The preserved lemon is commonly used in Moroccan or African cuisine, and let’s face it, many of us are not eating that cuisine in the states on a regular basis.

Recipe for Preserved Lemons

The preserved lemon is a thing of beauty, and it can be used in a lot of different dishes, not just Moroccan or African. If preserved right, and long enough, the lemons have an intense citrus smell and and taste which enhances most any dishes that require a bit of lemon.

Ingredients:

Begin by cleaning your lemon by washing it in water, then pat them dry. Take your knife and take off any of the knobby end parts. Run your knife, lengthwise down the middle of the lemon, leaving about 1/2 inch at the bottom. Turn 90 degrees, and do the same. You pretty much have a quartered lemon but not cut all of the way through. Repeat with the remaining lemons.

Mix your salt, fennel seeds, and peppercorns.

Ingredients for making Preserved Lemons

Add about a tablespoon, or so, of the salt mixture to the bottom of the canning jar. Take a lemon and open it up a bit, and begin rubbing a tablespoon or so of the salt mixture all over the inside of the lemon. Take it and smash it down into the mason jar. Repeat with the second lemon. Two lemons fit into my canning jar. Depending on the size of your lemons, you might have more or less. Once smashed, roll a lemon on the counter, and apply enough pressure to extract the juices. Cut the lemon in half, and use your hand juicer, or hands and squeeze as much juice out of the lemon into the canning jar to nearly fill the top. This takes about two lemons per jar.

Repeat with a second canning jar. Add any remaining salt mixture to the top of the open canning jars, seal, and give a shake. Let these sit on your counter at room temperature for about 2 days, shaking the mixture each day.

Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks before using.

When you are ready to use some of the lemons, open the can, remove the softened lemons, and rinse under cold water. You can use the pulp in sauces if you would like, or stuff it inside of a chicken before roasting, otherwise, remove the pulp and slice the lemon peel into thin slices to be used in sauces, salads, rice, or whatever you can think of that would use that wonderful lemon and salt flavor. Give it a try. It’s something new!



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One Response to “Preserved Lemons”

  1. Liz Says:
    May 17th, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Hey…this is GREAT! Lemons can be very expensive – at least here in northwest, MT. This will allow me to buy in bulk when they are on sale. Thanks!

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Breakfast Cups

Appetizers, Bacon, Breakfast, Cheese, Game Day, Kids, Sides, Snack - No Comments » - Posted on May, 14 at 2:30 pm

I have to admit, I like planning things to do for Mother’s Day. I will also admit that my wife works pretty darn hard every week, not only in her full-time job, but also taking care of the kids. So as the ‘big day’ quickly approached this past weekend, my job was to make sure Mom stayed calm, laughed a lot, and to had the best day ever. What does that mean? Well, it means it is a pretty darn good challenge for me, and probably my biggest challenge was to keep my kids from arguing with one another, throwing fits, and well, spoiling the day. I have to admit they did pretty good, well, for most of the day.

Breakfast Cups with cheese, egg, and Canadian Bacon

I started off the day, much like most Mother’s days by making my wife breakfast. As my taco cups recipe was a major hit with my wife, I decided to play off that recipe and make some breakfast cups. I wanted to surprise my wife with something new and wonderful, and boy did these ever hit the spot.

Breakfast Muffin Tins Recipe

Ingredients:

Now you see I have two things going on here right? I have flour tortillas, and I have mashed potatoes. Why? Well, I like to try and create new things. I’m glad I used both because they were both really, really good.

For my mashed potatoes, I used a rutabaga that my son brought home last week. He said his classmate’s dad gave it to him because he knows I like to cook and thought I could do something with it. Well, I did. I cooked the rutabaga, along with some russet potatoes, added a bit of milk, butter, and salt to them and mashed them. Let’s just say they were good, and good enough to form a mold into one of my muffin pans.  If you don’t want to try using mashed potatoes in your mold, then just go ahead and use the flour tortillas.

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Next, melt one tablespoon of the butter into a skillet, and add in 6 slices of Nueske’s Canadian bacon. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, then remove it from the heat. Cut them into small rounds using round cutters, or something that is small in diameter. Your goal here is presentation. After all, it’s Mom you are cooking for, remember? Take the remaining Canadian bacon and go ahead and eat it. Nueske’s bacon, and well, all of their product is amazing. This will get you excited as to what is going to come.

Take your scramble egg, and cut those into the same size as your Canadian bacon. Each item should not overlap your muffin tin.

Breakfast Recipe Ideas

Rub the insides of six of the muffin tins with the remaining butter. Take about 4 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes and place inside one of the muffin tins. Repeat with however many more potato muffins you want to eat. Working with the back of your spoon, form them in the tin, making sure there is a nice pocket. Your goal here is to cook the potato in the shape of the muffin tin so that you can stuff it with the remaining ingredients when it is nice and crisp. Potatoes will take about 15 minutes to stiffen and crisp up.

If you are using just the tortillas, go ahead and take your cut tortillas and place them into the muffin tin that you have rubbed with butter. Tortillas will take about 5 minutes to cook and form into a workable shape.

After they are cooked, fill each cup with the shredded cheese, top with the egg round, and then top with the Canadian bacon.  Place back in the oven and cook another 5 minutes.

Remove, and plate.

The great thing about these breakfast cups is that you can stuff them with your favorite breakfast toppings. A two bite breakfast, these little morsels will have you making them time and time again. Let’s just say that after we had them, we both wanted more. Next time, and that time will be coming by shortly, I am going to fill the entire muffin tray with creations. Simple, fun, and definitely comforting. These breakfast cups are sure to please!



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