The Backyard Barbeque Qzine

June 2009 / Issue #3

Nine Cool Facts About Barbeque!

During the spring time of every year, it is almost a tradition that people in America dust down their barbecue sets and begin bulk buying all of their meats in preparation of their outside meals. However, how much do we really know about barbecuing?

1. Did you know that barbecues originated in old time pig-pickins? It was common to throw parties and elaborate meals outside before the civil war. The people would roast an entire pig on an open flame.

2. “Smoking” has been used for over 6 millennia for the purposes of safely cooking and storing food. The meat was treated to bellows of smoke and low heat in order to prevent any bacteria cultivating into the products.

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In this issue:

•Nine Cool Facts
•Andrea's Kitchen
•Review of new WSM
•Kickin Ribs

Andrea's' Kitchen

Cheese Portobello Burger w/ Chipotle Mayo

Every once and awhile I get tired of eating meat. I love fruits and vegetables a lot. Now my husband prefers meat for all of his meals but I was finally able to convince him to try an all vegetable sandwich. This is a great way to make sure that the whole family gets its daily serving of veggies. Plus some of your 4th of July guests might be vegetarians. Anyway, anything that is grilled outside always tastes great! The compound cream cheese really sets this burger off.

Ingredients:

4 large portobello mushrooms (black gills removed)
1 Vidalia or Bermuda onion thickly sliced
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 ripe tomato, sliced
Iceberg lettuce leaves
1 teaspoon Olive oil for brushing on the veggies
4 Kaiser Rolls or Onion rolls

Directions:

Scrape the black gills from the mushroom with a spoon and discard. Brush veggies with olive oil.
Grill the Portobello and onions for 3 minutes on each side. Grill the bell peppers over the coals until the skins turn black.
Scrape off the black skin. After grilling, slice the peppers into strips. Keep all the veggies except the lettuce and tomato, warm.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

½ Cup Mayonnaise
Pinch of season salt
¼ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

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Featured Cookbook:

Down Home with the Neelys: A Southern Family Cookbook

The Neely's (Pat and Gina) have become a favorite on the Food Network. Their cheerful and friendly style have made them a popular new addition. They just happen to be pretty good cooks of southern style comfort food too! But we shouldn't be too surprised because they come from the famous Neely barbeque restaurant family of Memphis.

We've found the recipes in this new cookbook to creative, tasty, and easy to cook. My favorite is their Nana's Gumbo recipe. We're pretty sure that you will like their take on southern cooking. Add it to your cookbook library today.

Review of the New "Big" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker

We all know that Weber makes an outstanding product for the backyard smoker cook in it's product the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) vertical water smoker. If you are not familiar with this product please check out the WSM here. The WSM is the ideal smoker for the occasional barbeque chef because of several things:

It is easy to use.
It is the ideal size for family barbeque.
It produces great ribs, pork, brisket, and chicken.

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"Kickin" Ribs

Great ribs are an art. As in any description of art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beholder being dependent on which part of the country you happen to come hail from.

So it is with the folks from Memphis, Tennessee. They like their ribs unsauced so that you can taste the flavor of the meat (they do like the sauce on the side). I don't blame them...I like them that way myself.

This month's recipe is a good version of a Memphis style rib. Check it out and enjoy!

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