Barbeque Delight

By Micheal Ramirez
Contributing Writer

With the recent warm weather and the way too few sunny days we’ve had, my family and I got the urge to barbecue. We decided on a menu, bought and prepped the meats with marinades and dry rubs and made plans to do the actual cooking on the weekend. Lo and behold, Saturday dawned, gray, wet and downright nasty. With our plans shot down for an outdoor barbecue, we were left with few choices but to either scrap our plans or cook everything on a stove top or in the oven. Considering what we had to cook, both options made good sense (we had bought a 10 lb beef brisket, chicken and the usual burgers and brats). First the brisket was coated with a dry rub and allowed to marinate overnight. The brats were soaked overnight in beer; the chicken was marinated in of all things a bottled salad dressing (which was a pleasant surprise as it was extremely flavorful). The following meal was a huge success, even though we had planned to spend it outside next to a wood fire in our fire pit, enjoying the sunshine, but a day spent inside, surrounded by friends and family, enjoying some killer barbecue, is still a day well spent. The following are some of the recipes we used that day, hope you enjoy.

All purpose dry rub mix

2 cups of brown sugar
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup cracked black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 parsley
2 tbs of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup granulated onion
1/4 cup granulated garlic

In a large bowl mix all ingredients thoroughly. Use on beef, chicken or dust on burgers.

Texas-style beef brisket sandwich

For this killer sandwich you will need:
1/3 lb of slow roasted and dry rubbed beef brisket
1 sub-roll, buttered and toasted
your favorite barbecue sauce
chipotle mayo
thinly sliced red onion
pickle slices

Toss the brisket in the barbecue sauce of your choice, pile it on the sub roll you have spread with about a tbs of chipotle mayo and top with sliced red onion and pickle slices. Enjoy with an ice cold beer.

Roasted garlic marinated baked chicken

For this flavor packed recipe you will need:
1 pkg of cut up chicken (8 pc family pack)
1 bottle of Kraft roasted garlic salad dressing
1 extra large Ziploc bag

First poke holes in the chicken with a fork, which will allow the marinade to soak and penetrate into the chicken. Next place all the chicken in the Ziploc bag, close and allow it to marinate for at least 4 hours (if you leave it overnight the flavor will be too intense). Bake in a 350 degree oven for at least 45 minutes to an hour or until juices run clear in the chicken, pair with a creamy pasta salad.

Well here’s hoping the sun starts shinning bright and the temps keep going up to a decent level; can’t wait to barbecue out in the yard.

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