Eat This! - Last Update 6/16

16 June 2007 - Easy KC-style BBQ Sauce

Hey all - no need to buy bbq sauce when it's easily made at home. For me, bbq's more about the meat anyhoo, but the following is a pretty good example of a decent KC-style bbq sauce (Closer to Gates' the Bryant's, miles away from crappy KC Craptsterpiece)

1 Large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 head garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp Paprika
3 Tbsp Chili powder of your choice
1 Tbsp Ginger powder
2 tsp Celery seed
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 28oz can tomatoes (whole, stewed, diced, whatever)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

1. Sautee onions and garlic over low-medium heat, about 10 minutes
2. Reduce heat to low and add all powdered spices. Sweat spices, stirring often, another 10 minutes
3. Add tomatoes and unstick any spice goo from the bottom of the pan
4. Blend with hand blender until smooth
5. Add honey, molasses and vinegar - stir
6. Cook on low-med heat 2-3 hours.
7. Add salt if desired / necessary
8. Strain if desired / necessary

Happy 'cue-ing! Off to a pork party at Ame and Ron's........!!!!!!!!!!!!




15 June 2007 - "Elotes" aka Mexican Mayo Corn

Hey all - Summer is just about here, and I assume most folks I know have already busted out the BBQ. We at THB West Coast HQ certainly have, and one of my favorite sides is corn-on-the-cob that has been parboiled, dressed with a spicy mayo and grilled to deliciousness. I first heard of the idea from editor and pal AJ who recounts the wondrous post-closing time strolls to the "eloteros" of Chicago for a little nibble of the niblets. The classic elote would involve first grilling the corn to doneness, then a slathering of the mayo, followed by a sprinke of cotija cheese, a squeeze of lime and perhaps a sprinke of chili. If you are a huge fan of the mayo, this would be your preferred preparation. For me, not so much. I like to make a spicy chili mayo and apply to the corn before it goes on the grill. This way most of the fat from the mayo goes away, leaving behind a nice sheen of tasty chili goodness. Besides, not all of the fat goes away anyhoo. So here's my recipe for THB elotes:

6 ears corn, still in the husk
2-3 oz mayo
1 Tbsp med-hot chili powder - (Meg and I received some great chili powder from friends and Albuquerque denizens Rich and Jill for our wedding. Both the medium and the hot we received are awesome. The source is The Fruit Basket Market, and as I understand it, they'd be happy to do some mail orders for y'all. (505) 345-3942 or 898-7367 or 344-0885)
1 Tbsp paprika (for extra color)
Cotija or Parmesan cheese to sprinkle (optional)
Lime wedges for squeezing
Salt to taste

1. Get grill rockin'
2. Prepare corn by shucking and parboiling in salted water for 8-10 minutes.
3. Mix together mayo, chili and paprika. You may want to add a little salt in here too, but it is probably unnecessary.
4. When corn is done parboiling, let cool 5 minutes
5. Slather corn with spicy chili mayo
6. Grill corn on all sides until nicely browned, if not even a bit charred in places
7. At this point you could re-slather with a bit of the mayo, sprinkle with cheese and squeeze limes over the ears - or any combo thereof.

Hope your summer is as corny as Kansas in August!

Cheers! Jeremy, The HuskyBoy