Shredded Barbecue Chicken with Grits

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
1 cup hickory smoke-flavored barbecue sauce
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon ground ancho chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-1/4 cups water
1 cup quick-cooking grits
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
6 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with pepper; place in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup broth, barbecue sauce, molasses, chili pepper and cinnamon; pour over chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Shred meat with two forks and return to the skillet.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring water and remaining broth to a boil. Slowly stir in grits and pumpkin. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 5-7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted.

Divide grits among six serving bowls; top each with 1/2 cup chicken mixture. Serve with tomato, sour cream, green onions and cilantro.

Comments:
Adapted this one a little for what I had around. Left out the cinnamon and pumpkin, used cheddar instead of pepperjack, omitted the tomato and cilantro. Overall not too bad. Adam thought it would make a good sandwich.

Slow-Cooker Barbecue-Beef Sandwiches

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
5 tablespoons dark brown sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (1-pound) flank steaks
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 (2 1/2-ounce) submarine rolls, halved
Red onion slices (optional)
Dill pickle slices (optional)

Directions:
Combine 1 tablespoon brown sugar and pepper; rub over both sides of steaks. Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, onion, and next 9 ingredients (onion through salt) in an electric slow cooker. Add steaks; turn to coat. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting for 1 hour. Reduce heat setting to low; cook for 7 hours. Remove steaks; reserve sauce. Shred steaks with 2 forks. Return shredded steak to cooker; stir into sauce. Spoon 1/2 cup steak mixture onto bottom half of each roll; top with onion and pickles, if desired. Cover with tops of rolls.

Comments:
Yay for slow cookers and stuff you can just throw in them. This week was rough with multiple colds and the like and even though my bell practice, which dictates "slow cooker Mondays", was cancelled, it was still nice to have this all ready to go when I got home from work. This was a very easy recipe and it was pretty good. I did it as an "unsandwich" while Adam went the "with a bun" route.

Barbecued Meatballs

From Slow Cooker Magic in Minutes



Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 1/3 cups ketchup, divided
3 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tbsp dried onion flakes
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine ground beef, 1/3 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, egg, onion flakes, garlic salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Mix lightly but thoroughly; shape into 1-inch meatballs. Place meatballs in two 15 x 10 jelly-roll pans or shallow roasting pans. Bake 18 minutes or until browned. Transfer meatballs to slow cooker.

Mix remaining 1 cup ketchup, sugar, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce in a medium bowl. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cooke on low for 4 hours.

Comments:
These were really good. For someone who doesn't particularly like barbecue, I loved these and plan to include them in the menu at our Christmas party. Just the right balance of sweet and tangy, and the seasonings inside the meatballs themselves is definitely a plus as well.

Grilled Pork Sliders with Honey BBQ Sauce

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
1/2 cup bottled barbecue sauce (such as Sticky Fingers Memphis Original)
2 tablespoons dark rum (such as Myers's)
2 tablespoons honey
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
Cooking spray
4 (1.8-ounce) white wheat hamburger buns

Directions:
1. Prepare grill.

2. Combine barbecue sauce, rum, and honey in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Reserve 1/4 cup sauce for serving. Use remaining 1/4 cup sauce for basting.

3. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes. Turn and baste pork with sauce; cook 8 minutes. Turn and baste with sauce. Cook 4 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink). Let stand 5 minutes; cut into thin slices.

4. Place buns, cut sides down, on grill rack; toast 1 minute. Place 3 ounces pork on bottom half of each bun. Spoon 1 tablespoon sauce over each serving; top with remaining halves of buns.

Comments:
These were good. I don't like barbecue too much but the honey and rum really seemed to offset the smoky flavor nicely.

Baby Back Ribs

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
Three 2-pound racks baby back ribs, cut into 6 equal portions
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325°. In a 6-quart ovenproof pot, stand the rib sections upright to form a circle. Add 1/4 cup vinegar, the salt and 1 quart water; bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, transfer to the oven and bake until tender, about 1 1/2 hours; transfer the ribs to a plate.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, chili powder and remaining 1 teaspoon vinegar.

Preheat a grill to medium. Brush the meaty side of the ribs with half of the sauce and place meaty side up on the grill. Cover and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly charred, 10 to 15 minutes. Brush the ribs with the remaining sauce before serving.

Comments:
Originally I was going to throw these in the crockpot, but I went ahead and did them the way the recipes says instead. I laughed when I copied the directions from the website this morning - they totally edited the first step. I even read the directions to Adam last night to make sure I wasn't going insane because they made no sense. Here's what they say in the magazine:

Preheat the oven to 325°. In a 6-quart ovenproof pot, stand the rib sections upright to form a circle. Add 1/4 cup vinegar, the salt and 1 quart water; bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low, cover and bake until tender, about 1 1/2 hours; transfer the ribs to a plate.

Hmm. Why would you lower the heat to low when you're putting the pot in the oven? I was confused, but decided to turn the burner off and put the pot in the oven. Guess I was right about that! Ha ha.

Anyway, faulty instructions aside, this was pretty easy. Takes some planning ahead since it takes about 2 hours to cook. Adam liked them a lot. And while I'm not really a rib kind of person, these were alright. I still prefer my crock-pot Home Style Ribs.

BBQ Turkey Breast Roast

From The Biggest Loser Cookbook



Ingredients:
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless turkey breast roast
1 tsp EVOO
2 tbsp barbecue sauce
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly mist an 8 x 8 glass baking dish or nonstick baking pan with olive oil spray. In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Place the turkey on a cutting board. With a fork, pierce each side deeply about 25 times. Drizzle on the oil and rub to coat evenly on both sides. Sprinkle on the reserved seasoning mixture. Rub to coat evenly on both sides. With the smooth side of the breast down, drizzle on half of the barbecue sauce, rubbing to coat. Place the turkey, smooth side up, in the prepared pan. Rub the remaining barbecue sauce over the smooth side of the breast. Pour the water into the pan, taking care not to pour it over the turkey.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Place on a clean cutting board. Carve, against the grain, into thin slices.

Comments:
Ok, so where does one procure a 1 1/2 pound turkey breast roast? I looked at three different stores and couldn't find a turkey breast smaller than 5 pounds. And that sucker would take a whole lot longer than 35 minutes to cook. I went with turkey tenderloins and they ended up kind of dry. I'm not a turkey fan in the first place. Add to that the barbecue thing and I only lasted two bites. Not for me.

Sticky Chicky

From Taste of Home, but I can't find it on their site. It was in the April/May 2009 issue.



Ingredients:
16 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (any kind)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat over to 400F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken in the pan in a single layer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Pour evenly over chicken. Turn pieces to coat both sides. Bake, uncovered, for about 40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.

Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm. Carefully pour the sauce from the pan into a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and mix until smooth. Add to sauce. Cook until sauce in bubbly and has thickened. Serve hot chicken with extra sauce on top.

Comments:
My edits: breasts instead of thighs, omitted the ginger, white wine rather than red wine vinegar.

These turned out great. They smelled good while they cooked, came together easily, and weren't too overwhelmingly barbecue-y. Which is good because we all know I don't particularly like BBQ. Adam suggested the sauce would go well with ribs. We'll see if we can't work that into the menu at some point...

Peachy Barbecue Chicken

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups peach preserves
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 medium green peppers, julienned
2 cans (8 ounces each) sliced water chestnuts, drained
Hot cooked rice

Directions:
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil in batches on both sides. Return all to skillet. In a large bowl, combine the preserves, onion, barbecue sauce and soy sauce; pour over chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add green peppers and water chestnuts. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Serve immediately with rice; or cool chicken and transfer to a freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Comments:
I halved this recipe and left out the peppers and water chestnuts. I also served it with some pre-fab (and not so impressive) scalloped potatoes rather than rice. I wasn't sure if I'd like this dish as it has the "barbecue" right in the name of the recipe. Luckily I ran out of barbecue sauce so it was a little skimpy in that department. I'm talking maybe 1/3 instead of 1/2 cup, so not a huge difference, but in any case the barbecue flavor didn't overwhelm the other flavors and it turned out great.

Barbecue Beef Cups

From Everyday with Rachael Ray - November 2007 (also seen here.)



Ingredients:
3/4 pound group beef
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
16.3-ounce tube refrigerated biscuits
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. In a skillet, brown the beef over medium heart. Drain off excess fat. Remove from the heat and stir in the barbecue sauce and brown sugar. Grease a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan and place a piece of biscuit dough in each cup, stretching the dough up the sides. Divide the beef mixture among the biscuit cups, sprinkle each with cheese and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Comments:
I've made this quite a few times since the original post back in October of '07. I even made mini version for our Christmas party that year. They didn't turn out so hot - not enough room for the filling. They ended up looking kind of sad, but still tasted good. Anywho, obviously a good recipe if we keep coming back to it.

Home-Style Ribs

From Taste of Home.com



Ingredients:
pork ribs
onion
ketchup
water
brown sugar
vinegar (I used apple cider)
Worcestershire sauce
ground mustard
salt
paprika

Comments:
Once again, this has the food network to blame. We were watching "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" and saw all kinds of barbecue joints. This got Adam craving ribs. And when we went grocery shopping they just happened to be on sale so he picked up a package. I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website that didn't sound too gross. Threw everything in the crockpot this morning and had a wonderful dinner tonight. There are leftovers for his lunch tomorrow so he's pumped about that.