Tag Archives: BBQ

Recipe: New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

20 Aug

When I first made this recipe (based on this from Return to Sunday Supper) I knew it’d be a keeper. Since then I’ve made it at least three times and have been asked for the recipe twice.

So for those who asked, and for those who haven’t yet experienced the spicy, savoury goodness of these BBQ shrimp, here it is. Make sure to have a loaf of good quality bread to sop up the sauce with.

I serve mine with an oil & vinegar coleslaw and sometimes boiled new potatoes to make a complete meal. It makes for a super easy week night dinner (since it’s assembled ahead of time) or a great company dish.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp | baconavecbacon.com

1 pound frozen uncooked shrimp (I use PC Raw Zipperback Pacific White Shrimp)
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 tablespoons Heinz Chili Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
1 tablespoon parsley (fresh chopped or dry)
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot sauce
5-6 cloves garlic, minced (I use two heaping tablespoons of bottled minced garlic)
1 lemon, sliced

Thaw the shrimp as per package instructions and remove the shells.

In the microwave, melt the butter in a large cereal bowl and then add the remaining ingredients except the lemon and the shrimp. Return to the microwave and cook for another 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool while you place the shrimp in a single layer in either a 9×13 pan or two 8×8 pans.

When I’m doing this on the BBQ, I like to use disposable foil pans for ease of cleanup and so my ‘good’ oven pans don’t get damaged. If you’re opting to use the oven, any glass or metal pan will do.

Pour the slightly cooled mixture on top of the shrimp, stir to coat all sides and top with the lemon slices.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

When ready, bake on the BBQ or in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. When done, the shrimp will be pink and have curled up. Be careful not to overcook!

When the shrimp are ready, I bring the whole pan directly to the table and set it on a wooden cutting board so guests can serve themselves and dip pieces of bread directly into the sauce.

NOTE – As is, the recipe has a little heat to it, but those of you who like fire may want to add a squeeze of sriracha.

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Recipe: Summer Shortcut Roast Chicken

10 Jul

If you’ve been following along with the blog, you’ve probably noticed a pattern. I’m kind of a lazy cook. I don’t like to make things that have multiple steps, or take a lot of time. I’m always on the hunt for a shortcut that doesn’t sacrifice quality or flavour. I’ve finally found a way to do that for whole chickens. (Which incidentally are on sale at Freshco this week.)

This is more of a method than a recipe, but it’s a winner through and through.

Summer Shortcut Roast Chicken

Summer Shortcut Roast Chicken | baconavecbacon.com

1 ‘fryer’ sized whole chicken
Seasoning of your choice – I used Club House BBQ Chicken Spice to try to approximate the rotisserie style grocery store chickens

Summer Shortcut Roast Chicken | baconavecbacon.comWash and dry your chicken. Season well. Get out your crock pot and a roll of tinfoil. Crumple 4-5 sheets of tinfoil into baseball sized balls and place them in the bottom of the crock pot. Place your chicken on top and cook on high for approximately 5 hours.

If you use a crock pot with a timer, you can set it in the morning and it’ll stay on ‘warm’ until you get home from work.

Most crock pot chicken recipes end there. However, a chicken with crispy skin is just so much better. So here’s the trick: fire up the BBQ.

Place the chicken on the upper rack with a disposable tinfoil pan underneath to catch drips. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the skin is crispy and the chicken has reached 160 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the thigh. This is a perfect opportunity to roast some vegetables as a side dish.

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

 

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Recipe: Best Ever Steak Marinade

18 May

It’s FINALLY summer which means it’s time to break out the BBQ. All winter long, one of the summer treats I crave the most is a nice grilled steak.

While there’s nothing wrong with a nice rib eye seasoned with some Montreal Steak spice and grilled to medium rare, Mr. Bacon prefers steak with a bit of a flavour kick so we wind up making steaks with this marinade more often. I use top sirloin steaks. They often go on sale in a ‘club pack’ of two for around $12-$14. That’s a lot of decently tender beef for the price so keep an eye out!

Best Ever Steak Marinade

Best Ever Steak Marinade | baconavecbacon.com

3/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 cups tomato juice (I buy the small six pack of cans so I always have tomato juice handy without having to open a giant can)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pour all of the ingredients into a large ziplock bag. Throw the steak in and prick it with a fork to let the marinade seep into the meat. Seal the bag up and marinate for 24 hours or overnight.

Grill the steak basting with the reserved marinade.

Let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

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Recipe: Oven ‘BBQ’-ed Ribs

19 Nov

It’s cold out. And we were out of propane. But that wasn’t going to stop me from turning two beautiful racks of ribs (scored on sale for an incredible 1.29/pound at Loblaws) into smoky, spicy sticky BBQ style ribs. No siree!

With an oven, a bit of ingenuity, a wicked from scratch sauce and a rub containing a liberal amount of chipotle chili powder I managed to make a championship worthy rack of ribs. Thanks to the chipotle they even had a bit of ‘smoke’ flavour.

Here’s the recipes you’ll need as well as a bit of ‘how-to’.

Oven ‘BBQ-ed’ Ribs

It all starts with the rub….

Smoky Chipotle Dry Rub

3 tablespoons chipotle chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Take your ribs and lay them meat side up. Slather the meat side (NOT the bone side) with a bit of oil and sprinkle the dry rub on top. Massage the rub into the meat. If you can, do this several hours before you’re ready to cook the ribs. If you can’t that’s OK too.

Set your oven to broil and while it comes to temperature, take a jelly roll pan (or a deep cookie sheet) and place a wire rack on top. Place the meat bone side UP on the rack and place it in the oven. Pour a half inch’s worth of HOT water into the bottom of the pan and let the ribs broil for approximately 5 minutes. Watch the ribs closely, they should be browning but not burning.

After five minutes, reduce the heat in the oven to 225 degrees and take the ribs out and flip them over. Cook the ribs meat side up for the next four hours or so. While the ribs are cooking, whip up BBQ sauce from the recipe below. Don’t be lazy and use stuff from a bottle!

You’ll know the ribs are done when the meat starts to break apart when you bend the rack. At this point, turn the oven back to broil,  take the ribs out and flip them bone side up again. Coat the ribs with sauce and pop them under the broiler for 5 minutes. Flip over to the meat side and repeat the saucing and broiling steps.

Let the ribs rest for about 10 minutes, cut and serve.

Secret BBQ Sauce (which now is not so secret…)

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, diced finely
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 heaping teaspoons of diced garlic
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup yellow ‘ballpark’ style mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup HP sauce
1/4 cup fancy molasses
1/4 cup liquid honey
2 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot
1 cup brown sugar, packed

In a large saucepan melt the butter and add the onion, salt and pepper and sweat it until soft. Add the chili powder and garlic and cook for another two minutes or until fragrant. Add the liquid ingredients and stir well. Let come to a boil and add the brown sugar. Reduce heat to slow and simmer until the sauce thickly coats the back of a spoon.

This sauce keeps for at least a month in the fridge and freezes well. It goes great on all kinds of pork as well as chicken. It’d also make a great topper for meatloaf.

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Canada Day Countdown

27 Jun

In our household, Canada Day is an excuse to have our nearest and dearest friends over for a BBQ and a bonfire. Nothing seems to be a more ‘Canuck’ way of celebrating than communing with nature while eating grilled meat and drinking beer.

Preparations are still fluid but I thought I’d share some inspiration ‘pins’ from Pinterest that you might be able to use for your own Canada Day celebration!

  • Want a new twist on a burger? Why not try stuffing your burgers with cheese? Or mixing the beef itself with blue cheese. Or going for something more exotic like buffalo, or elk. In Ottawa, the Elk Ranch in Kanata sells the same burgers you can get at the famous local burger chain The Works among other tasty treats for humans and dogs.

    Southwestern Skirt Steak Courtesy of Plain Chicken

  • If you want to step it up a notch, this southwestern skirt steak would be a surefire winner with beef lovers. This version of Korean bulgogi would be a winner too.
  • Want to serve ribs but don’t want to have to cook them all day? Why not try these ‘boneless’ ribs made from a pork tenderloin?
  • This summer’s favourite grill meat has been kofta, a middle eastern spiced meat on a stick. Everything is better when it’s on a stick. I’ve actually been buying my kofta meat pre-mixed at Damas Supermarket on Carling (across from the movie theatre) – really tasty and it’s also a great stop for other middle-eastern grocery items. It goes great with a cool garlic/yogurt/mint/lemon sauce.
  • Chicken’s always a winner too. We often do legs marinated in tandoori sauce (Patak’s is the best we’ve tried) and grilled on one of these gizmos. Totally worth the $14.
  • For dessert, last year I did cupcakes with maple leaf quins (available at The Bulk Barn) but this year I’m thinking either strawberry trifle or this donut/ice cream/maple syrup and strawberry combo. So Canadian eh? 🙂

    Courtesy of A Beautiful Mess

Have a happy (and safe) Canada Day everyone!

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