Carolina Style BBQ Pulled Chicken

Oh, hi.
Remember me?
Ya... I have a blog.

You may remember me from the past few posts about my daily juicing "habit," buttttt, well.... I caught a cold and now the last thing that I want to drink is juice, so we are going to take a short break from that whole idea. I'm certainly not the best at committing to these grande plans that I come up with, but I am really good at my marriage and that is a huge commitment, so that's gotta give me some points, right? It kind of evens out? Look, I juiced some really good juices... and now I am ready to move on. Maybe I will come back to it, maybe I won't. I am on the no plan juice plan and were gonna play that plan by ear.

On a more positive, solid food note.... I catered a party a couple of weekends ago and pretended that I was a southern belle again. You know, the whole she-bang. Biscuits, pimento cheese, slaw, mac n cheese.... I did it up real southern and real delicious.

I really just love southern food. SO much. It's comforting, it's satisfying, and it's gosh darn delicious. (Ya, I said "gosh darn." It was cute, right?) You should give it a try... Southern food that is. It will make you happy and it will make you full which are the very best things to be.

a little southern birthday catering by yours truly. 

Ingredients:
5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (they don't have to be boneless and skinless, but it makes everything easier because you don't have to pick out the skin and bones. That all sounds very barbaric, but it is true.)
2 onions, quartered
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Special equipment:
Slow cooker

carolina style BBQ pulled chicken

Method:
Place onions in slow cooker.
Blend brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper; rub over chicken things.
Place chicken in a slow cooker and drizzle the liquid smoke over it. If you haven't used liquid smoke before, you are in for a treat. It is awesome.
Combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and garlic, stir to mix well and then pour into slow cooker.
Cook the chicken on low for about 8 hours until it is falling apart and your house smells like heaven.
Remove meat and onions, discard onions and shred meat. Add juices from slow cooker to the shredded chicken so that it is super moist. I know that word is gross to many of you, but it is the only appropriate word. I am sorry.
Now, here's the really great thing... this chicken is freaking delicious by itself, or you can pile it on a bun, top it with some slaw, and eat it as the most delicious pulled chicken sandwich ever.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Dear loyal blog readers (Mom) and friends,  

You may have noticed my absence over the past 5 days. Your day probably wasn't the same without me, I know. But for this, there is a reason. It's not a good one, but it is indeed a reason. On Saturday we had a BBQ. Now, you may or may not have had the privilege of attending one of our summer fetes, but let's keep it vague (and PG) and just say that they are usually pretty epic. We cook (a lot) we drink (a whole lot) and sometimes we (I) end up twirling around my living room in my undies around 8pm. It happened and I am not sorry. (Except to my mother...) Needless to say, my dancing skivvies and I have needed a couple of days of recovery time before I was ready to share this absolutely, most delicious veggie burger recipe with you. 

Veggie burgers are something that I have a pretty hard time with. The frozen ones are nasty and I try to steer clear from tofu and fake meat. So, really my only option is to make them from scratch. I've tried quite a few recipes and this one is by far my absolute favorite. Super moist on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside. They are packed with protein and tons of nutrition so that if you have a few (hundred) cocktails your body might hate you a little less. *Note: If you make them, but then do not eat any of them, or anything at all, your body will hate you more. A lot more. Welcome to my Monday.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

1 cup old fashioned oats 

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle powder 

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Roast the sweet potatoes: Slice the sweet potatoes down the center lengthwise. Place the sweet potatoes cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until they yield to a gentle squeeze, 30 to 40 minutes or longer. Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skin (it should pull off easily) and roughly chop the insides. Set aside to cool completely.

Cook the quinoa. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to boil. Stir in the millet, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until tender (about 25 minutes). Drain off any remaining liquid and set aside to cool.

Grind the oats. Use a food processor or blender to grind the oats until the flakes are broken up, but not as fine as flour.

Mix the burgers. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the cooled sweet potatoes and quinoa, black beans, onion, cilantro, cumin, chipotle, cayenne and salt and pepper. Use a potato masher, big mixing spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer to mix really well. It’s ok if the black beans get smashed in the process.

Mix in the oats. Sprinkle the ground oats over the mixture and mix well with a big spoon until the mixture holds together when you shape a portion into a patty. If possible, cover and refrigerate the mixture for best results (the patties will hold together better during cooking if they are chilled first).

Shape the burgers: Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture. Gently shape it into a patty. Use your hands to gently flatten the burgers and smooth out any jagged edges. Repeat the process for each patty; you should end up with 8.

Panfry the burgers: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, place several burgers in the pan, leaving enough room to flip them. Cook each patty until browned and heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet for each pan of burgers you fry

Pan frying the burgers give them a crispy outside. Then I threw them on the grill for a few minutes so they tasted more like BBQ!

Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from cookieandkate.com)

Stuffed Portobellos and 4th of July Shenanigans!

I am wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July today... on the 9th. The first Monday after the 4th of July.... this is Monday, right? Guess how long my weekend was..... like seven days, duh. There are several reasons for this. Most of them we won't go into (sorry, Mom) but I will say this: I have been in a food coma since Thursday.

I went into my favorite summer holiday with a bit of a bleak outlook seeing as BBQ food isn't always the most vegetarian friendly cuisine. I haven't had the best experiences with veggie dogs and bullshit burgers. Let's be honest.... tofu is possibly the worst thing EVER. So, rather than gagging my way through a garden burger from hell, I decided to step up my game and try something new.

Honestly, I had tried this recipe once before, but it did not go well. When I tell you to soak your cedar planks..... do it. Seriously. Soak them for as long as this recipe says... then do it longer. And then don't walk away from your grill for more that two seconds or else you will be greeted with uber dense briquettes of mushroom charcoal attempting to melt your grill from the inside out. Though our grill, our house, and my lovely ginger hair and eyebrows survived, it was a tragedy. We all know that Rich is the grill-master in this relationship... and thank God for that.

PART ONE: STUFFED PORTOBELLOS

cedar smoked portobello mushrooms

Ingredients:
1 cedar grilling plank
5 medium portobello mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
5 ounces chopped baby spinach
3/4 cup coarse breadcrumbs
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste


Method:
SOAK the cedar planks. If you don't want to use planks and grill these.... you can totally do them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Chop them and set aside. Scoop out the gills and discard them.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and cook the onions, mushroom stems, and garlic for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add the spinach and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir the bread crumbs, cheese, pecans, sage, and mustard until just combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

On a charcoal or gas grill, place the cedar planks on an uncovered grill directly over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until the plank begins to smoke and crackle. While you are waiting for the planks to smoke, place the mushroom caps directly on the grill to give them grill marks (I forgot to do this, but you should...)

Place the mushroom caps on the planks, spoon the filling into the caps, and cover the grill for about 15 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned and the filling is heated through.

*This is the part where my first round of mushrooms caught on fire. Once again, I recommend keeping a close eye if you actually want to eat.

Transfer these beauties to a platter and serve!
Makes 5 stuffed mushrooms that will be gone in the blink of an eye!

PART TWO: THE SHENANIGANS

Lucky for you, and everyone that joined our summer festivities, these mushrooms pair perfectly with Jell-O shots and slip and sliding. Enjoy... I sure did. (Sorry again, Mom. You're welcome, everyone else.)

Napa, I love you.... and BBQ sauce, too.

I know, I know. It's been a while.
I will start with excuses...again.

The Mr. and I just got back from yet another lovely trip to Napa. We had a wonderful weekend filled with friends, wine, amazing food, and me lusting over farmhouses and the dream of owning a horse and chickens. I love Napa.

Cue photos.....

We stayed in an amazing B&B in downtown Napa (courtesy of my wonderful parents) called The Inn on First. The food was wonderful. Really, really wonderful. Not to mention it was as charming as one would ever hope an early 1900's mansion turned romantic inn could be. The owners were so kind and helpful and made our stay seriously flawless. If my farm fantasy doesn't pan out, I will just live there. 

We were also joined by our wonderful friends, Caroline and Ben, from D.C. which was the absolute most fun! And what's my favorite rule in Napa? The more people in your group.... the more wine tastings you must squeeze into each day. That's a rule right?

We stopped at many of our favorite wineries including Stags' Leap, Cliff Lede, Opus One, Heitz Cellars, Marimar Estate, Etude, and Saintsbury (to name a FEW.) We also were introduced to a new favorite......

Scribe Winery.

All in all, as usual, Napa was dreamy. And also as usual.... I probably gained 67 pounds. 

Let's get to the good stuff....

Quack and Cheese from Carpe Diem in Downtown Napa. 

Creamy mac & cheese (a personal fave.) But oh no, it didn't stop there. Top it with caramelized onions and duck confit and you have a dish that will haunt your tastebuds for weeks. So delicious. 

We also ate at Bounty Hunter, which I have to say is one of my new faves in Napa. Please, any restaurant that serves rare wines with a heaping side of pulled pork, ribs, and coleslaw has my vote. Seriously worth the wait (they don't take reservations) and the shame of walking back to your B&B with your jeans unbuttoned. Don't judge. While I loved the BBQ there, my snobby southern hubby turns up his nose to almost all BBQ that doesn't come from a hole in the wall joint off of the interstate in the middle of nowhere. This was no different. In his opinion, the sauce was not up to par.... so, I will leave you with two absolutely to die for barbecue sauce recipes from my sweetie.

South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups yellow mustard
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

2/3 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon celery seed
3 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer over low/medium heat. 

Tennessee Whiskey Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups Jack Daniel's Black Label or Bourbon
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
4 tablespoons dark molasses
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Method:
Combine ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce by 1/3.

Slather onto some smoked ribs and eat your heart out.