JBug's Kitchen Antics

Meatloaf on the Barbecue

The computer's off to a slow start this morning and I'm hoping that's not an indication of how the day's going to pan out. There's just so darn much to do and so little time!

After the beautiful much needed rain cleaned the dust off Tucson on Saturday and the wind blew the rest of it away yesterday, this morning's shaping up to be an absolutely beautiful day, made even better by the presence of some of the  Big Guy's leftover meatloaf in the refrigerator. Yes, people, contrary to popular belief you can make meatloaf on the barbecue - at least my Big Guy can and he's ready to share some of his secrets with everyone.

He loads these little football shaped beauties up with ground beef, ground pork and hot Italian sausage, moistens 'em with chopped fresh mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes, adds spice in the form of jalapenos, red pepper flakes and a lot of garlic, then shapes them into 12 ounce ovals and heads out to the barbecue. An hour later after his usual magic, we're enjoying this! Just look at that smoke ring?

Now when I said the Big Guy's sharing "some of his secrets" that's absolutely the truth. He's prepared to divulge his meatloaf recipe but his homemade barbecue sauce is another secret entirely.

By the way, if you're not all that fond of spicy food, I'm tellin' ya, just lower the amounts of jalapeno and red pepper flakes, but don't leave them out entirely. It wouldn't be a Big Guy recipe without 'em. Course that was news to me when we were just starting out. This is the first thing that darling man of mine ever cooked for me and at the time my tastebuds had yet to be indoctrinated into the Big Guy way of doing things. He didn't make 'em in front of me so I had no clue there was anything incendiary in them. The first bite was so hot, it darn near blew my roof off but now I don't find 'em spicy at all but then again, he may have changed his recipe just a tad. It just proves what a pansy I was. 

The Big Guy’s Meatloaf Barbecue (an original from JBug’s & The Big Guy’s Kitchen)

These fabulous individual sized meatloaves freeze very well and are fabulous to have on hand either sliced cold in a sandwich, or warmed and served with creamed corn or your favorite veg. You’ll notice there’s not a spec of salt in it and it doesn’t need it either.

2 pounds ground beef (chuck or 80/20’s great)

1 pound ground pork

1 pound hot Italian sausage (loose without the casings)

1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (drained of oil)

1/3 chopped pickled jalapenos

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

3 eggs

2/3 cup panko crumbs

Barbecue sauce of your choice

Mix all ingredients except for barbecue sauce together by hand and form gently into loaves about 12 ounces each. Cook for 40 minutes using indirect heat on the barbecue (400 degrees). You may have to rearrange the loaves about half way through depending on how they are cooking. Brush heavily with barbecue sauce and continue cooking for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

 

Grilled Lamb Chops with Wheatberry Salad

It was a good grillin' day yesterday and what's better on a hot windy desert spring day than a "cool" easy on the cook dinner of lamb chops and salad.

Our lamb loin chops got a significant head start in the flavor department thanks to a bath in a marinade made of olive oil, white wine, lots of lemon juice, garlic, parsley, rosemary and mint. They looked almost like ceviche when they went on the grill but came off looking and smelling rather wonderful.

The flavors were all there - unfortunately neither the prep cook (me) or the butcher cleaned them up enough from the start so quite honestly, other than the little tenderloin the rest of them were quite sinewy. For some reason I'm always a little hesitant to remove fat from extra lean loin chops before they're cooked, but the 8 minutes the chops spent on the grill coupled with their extra thickness meant the fat really didn't have a chance to break down anyway and it was really hard to remove from the chops at the dinner table. My bad - I should have done a better job!

As for the Wheat berry Salad - well it was a first for me cooking these little pellets of winter wheat and it certainly won't be the last. For darn sure if you're looking for a little "movement" in your life, this fiber rich grain is the one to add to your diet. In a salad filled with crunchy pistachios, fresh ginger, raisins and green onions in a lemon honey dressing, it's about as good as it gets. I added some slivered apricots and forgot the goat cheese, but I'm putting it in the recipe so you don't make the same mistake although the salad was plenty good without it.

I figure this chewy flavorful side dish will be lovely with just about anything off the grill this summer, be it chicken, fish, pork or beef, or just fine on it's own as a vegetarian dish but pretend I didn't say that OK. After all,the master of the house is a dyed in the wool carnivore. Hmmm, that was rather appropriate after a big feed of lamb chops wouldn't you say?

Grilled Lamb Chops with Herb Marinade (adapted from Canadian Living Barbecue & Summer Foods Cookbook)

Pour this marinade over a boneless leg of lamb if you prefer, then grill until medium rare and slice very thinly.

4 – 1-1/2 inch thick lamb loin chops

Marinade:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Grated rind of 1 lemon

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped minced onion

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Place olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, lemon rind, garlic and onion in a deep container and whiz with an immersion blender or alternative place in a food processor and pulse until mixture emulsifies. Add salt, pepper, parsley, rosemary and mint.

Trim, wash and dry lamb loin chops and place in zip top bag. Add marinade and refrigerate 4 hours. Remove from marinade and blot slightly with paper towels. Place over hot coals on grill and cook to desired doneness (8 minutes for medium rare). Download Grilled Lamb Chops w Herb Marinade

Wheat Berry Salad with Raisins, Apricots and Pistachios (adapted from Today’s Food and Wine, MSNBC)

1 cup uncooked wheat berries (hard winter wheat)

Water to cover by 2 inches

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons peeled minced fresh ginger

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup slivered dried apricots

1/2 cup toasted pistachios

3 green onions, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Place wheat berries in a medium sized saucepan and cover with water at least 2 inches above wheat berries. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour. Drain. Add remaining ingredients except for goat cheese to hot cooked wheat berries and toss well to mix. Sprinkle with goat cheese just before serving. Serve at room temperature or cold. Makes 6 servings. Download Wheatberry Salad with Raisins, Apricots and Pistachios

 

Grilled Lamb Riblets and a Warm Veggie Salad

There's a first time for everything and last evening's dinner was our first foray into the world of lamb ribs. I'm not sure what is normally done with these little beauties because as far as I know I've never seen them at our local butcher or supermarket but thanks to the U of A Meat's Lab, our ribs came with the lamb we ordered a while ago.

Much like almost everyone I know, I would have boiled the ribs first before slapping them on the grill but the big guy poo poos the idea that in order for this particular cut of meat to be tender they need that step in the first place. He simply slathered them with a dry rub made up of sea salt, coarse ground pepper and garlic powder, then cooked them over a charcoal alder wood combination using the indirect method. After 40 odd minutes, he glazed them with some Kumquat Habanero Marmalade then slapped the veggies for the salad right next to them. Before you could say "pour me another limoncello lemonade, would you please" dinner was on the table.

The ribs were tender and succulent, though small and less meaty than pork ribs. As for the veggie salad, how can you go wrong with grilled eggplant, stop light peppers (red, yellow and green), and sweet onions slathered in a touch of vinaigrette and a garnish of feta cheese. Sorry, I can't give you an exact recipe for the ribs, but here's the salad. Download Warm Grilled Veggie Salad

Warm Grilled Veggie Salad (a JBug’s Kitchen Original)

1 small eggplant

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 sweet onion

Vegetable oil

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons of vinaigrette of your choice

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Black olives (optional)

Wash and dry eggplant, and slice into half inch pieces leaving skin intact. Sprinkle with salt and place on a sheet pan or cutting board between sheets of paper towels. Cover with another sheet pan and weigh down with a heavy pan. Let sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, clean membranes and seeds from peppers and cut into quarters. Cut sweet onion into half inch slices and run a metal skewer through them to keep them intact while on the grill. Place all vegetables into a bowl and toss with approximately 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on hot grill and cook, turning often until vegetables are softened and have grill marks. Remove to a bowl. Toss with a few tablespoons of vinaigrette and garnish with feta cheese, parsley and black olives if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Herb Vinaigrette

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey  

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Combine ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake until well combined.