The Backyard Barbeque Qzine

February 2010 / Issue #6

Warm and Hearty Comfort Food - Try Beans

As I sit here contemplating the winter of 2010 I'm thinking about comfort food. This winter has been a doozy, one snowstorm after another. We decided to make a very comfortable for cooking several bean dishes.

There are all types of beans including crowder peas, butter beans, navy beans, kidney beans, black beans, black eyed peas, pinto beans, and great Northern beans. Beans are packed will of nutrients, fiber, and they don't contain a lot of fat.

The good thing is you don't have to feel guilty about eating beans. They are very healthy and cost-effective. You are in to barbecue like we are then beans it right in because the best tasting beans are flavored with smoked meat.

Here are some helpful tips on cooking beans:

When cooking beans mix up varieties. Beans have different tastes and textures. Add butter beans, field peas, and black eyed peas sugar snap peas, they make a great combination.

For a very rich flavor cook your beans in chicken or beef broth rather than water.

When picking unshelled peas look for pods that are flexible and well built with very tender seeds.

Did you know that acid salt can keep the beans from coming tender? Cook the beans first before adding salt, tomato, or other acidic ingredients.

We have several bean recipes for you and we also have some links to sites that have great recipes. Enjoy this month’s issue!

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Note From the Editor:

Welcome to the February Issue of Backyard Barbeque Qzine - our periodic E-zine, filled with great information on cooking barbeque and traditional southern style dishes!

And welcome to our new subscribers! We look forward to having you as part of our community.

If you like this E-zine, please pass it along to a friend or family member, I'm sure they will thank you for it! To pass it on just email them and ask them to chef at this link "http://www.backyard-smoker-barbeque-chef.com/".

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Have a Great Barbeque Day!,

TC Mcrae

In this issue:

•Warm and Hearty Comfort Food - Try Beans
•White Beans and Smoked Sausage Recipe
•Review of the Startin The Fire
•Grilled Venison With Bacon
•Barbeque Meatloaf

Andrea's' Kitchen

White Beans and Smoked Sausage

It is SO cold this time of year. Firing up the grill is impossible with 6 foot snow drifts and unseasonably below freezing temperatures. So I cheated a little and added barbecue flavors to my dishes this month. When it is this cold you need something that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling; a reminder of Grandma and her good old fashion cooking. This recipe should make you feel full and satisfied. All you need is a crock pot.

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Simple Wintertime Dish:

Barbeque Meatloaf

This dish can be cooked on the grill using indirect heat if you have a perforated grill pan that won’t allow the meat to fall through.

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Review of "Startin the Fire"

My friend and neighbor George Hensler just wrote a book about starting a competition barbecue team. The book is a great read on the topic of barbecue and specifically on the topic of barbecue competition teams. This book is all about entering the world of competition barbecue, there are no recipes so don’t look for any. George gives a very detailed look at what it takes to get going.

Getting into competition barbecue not a trivial pursuit. There is a huge time and money commitment. George goes through the process of planning and organizing the effort so that process doesn't take away from the cooking. He also points out that barbecue competition cooking can be great fun. If you are considering starting a competition barbecue team then this book is required reading.

A great upside to reading this book that George is an excellent writer. He is a contributing columnist for the Kansas City Barbecue Society newsletter called the Bull Sheet. His style of writing is upbeat, conversational, and funny. We think that you will enjoy the book.

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Grilled Venison With Bacon

Back when deer season was in full swing there were lots of request of what to do with all that deer meat. I'm sure that many people still have a lot in their freezers so we thought it would be a good idea to come up with a recipe. This one is not bad...the bacon minimizes a little of the "gaminess" of venison.

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