Grilling the Subject Read online

  Mush the mixture with your hands and press into a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan.

  Bake for 1 hour, until nicely browned on top. Serve hot.

  From Katie:

  I have a friend who must eat low-sugar items. This recipe is not sugar-free. I use a sugar substitute that is sugar-free and I really like it for its consistency, but note that there is sugar in ketchup. So if you can tolerate a little sugar, this is a good sauce for you. It’s so tasty! P.S.: You might be wondering why some sauces have a regional name to them. Well, they generally fall into four categories: vinegar and pepper, mustard, light tomato, or heavy tomato. This one is the vinegar-and-pepper kind. Enjoy!

  Low-Sugar St. Louis Barbecue Sauce

  (yields 1½ cups sauce)

  1 cup ketchup

  ¼ cup water

  3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

  3 tablespoons Swerve (sugar substitute)

  1 tablespoon yellow mustard

  ½ tablespoon garlic powder

  ¼ teaspoon white pepper

  3 to 4 pounds pork spare ribs

  Preheat the oven to 300°F.

  In a small bowl, mix the ketchup, water, cider vinegar, Swerve, mustard, garlic powder, and white pepper.

  On a large baking sheet, place a long piece of aluminum foil. Rinse the ribs and cut them into portions. Set the ribs on the foil and brush both sides liberally with the sauce. Turn the ribs bone-side down on the foil. Top with more foil and pinch the foil tightly to seal.

  Bake for 1½ hours. One hour “in,” heat the barbecue to medium.

  Remove the ribs from the oven, then remove them from the foil and set them on the hot barbecue, bone-side down. Cook for 10 minutes. Flip and cook another 10 minutes. Be careful not to let your barbecue temperature climb too high. You don’t want to burn the sauce.

  From Jenna:

  I learned to grill chicken from my dad. He says to bake the chicken first in the oven to seal in the juices. Simply wrap the chicken in foil and bake at 300°F for 30 to 40 minutes. Then heat the grill to medium-low and grill the chicken slowly, 5 to 10 minutes a side, until the chicken is cooked through. Start basting after the chicken is seared on both sides. Baste and turn often.

  Margarita Barbecue Sauce for Chicken

  (makes enough for 1 whole chicken or 4 chicken quarters—leg/thigh or breast/wing combinations)

  ¼ cup Rose’s sweetened lime juice

  2 tablespoons honey

  2 tablespoons tequila

  1 tablespoon safflower oil

  ¼ teaspoon white pepper

  1 teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons cornstarch

  1 whole chicken or 4 chicken quarters

  In a small saucepan, mix the lime juice, honey, tequila, safflower oil, pepper, salt, and cornstarch. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sauce thickens. Remove the saucepan from heat. Keep at room temperature.

  Grill the unseasoned chicken as you normally would, brushing with oil so it won’t burn.

  After the chicken has seared, baste the chicken on both sides with the barbecue sauce. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Baste again. And again.

  This is a light, sweet, but savory sauce.

  From Jenna:

  I’m graduating to more difficult recipes, it appears. Barbecue sauces can do that to a girl. There are so many spices, but Katie says, “Break a recipe into steps and it won’t be overwhelming.” She, like my dad, also likes to slow-cook ribs before barbecuing. She has taught me to tightly wrap the ribs in foil without sauce and bake for 1½ hours at 300°F. Then heat the barbecue to medium-low, baste the ribs, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes per side. Slow-cooking will make the meat fall off the bone. Be careful not to let your barbecue temperature climb too high. You don’t want to burn the sauce.

  Memphis Barbecue Sauce à la Jenna

  (yields 2 cups sauce)

  1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  1 cup ketchup

  ⅓ cup water

  3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

  2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

  2 tablespoons steak sauce

  2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

  1 tablespoon molasses

  1 tablespoon yellow mustard

  1 teaspoon salt

  ⅛ teaspoon white or black pepper, ground fine

  ½ yellow onion, diced

  1 garlic clove, diced

  Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the ketchup, water, cider vinegar, brown sugar, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, yellow mustard, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

  Add the onion and garlic, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the onions are tender, about 15 minutes.

  Strain the sauce into a bowl through a mesh sieve, pressing a spoon on the onions and garlic to extract any liquid.

  Baste your meat or poultry liberally with sauce while you barbecue.

  From Bailey:

  My mother loves serving this dish at The Pelican Brief Diner. It’s savory and is a good side dish to just about everything. It has become one of Tito’s favorite dishes. He likes things spicy, like me.

  Spanish Rice

  (serves 4 to 6)

  ¼ cup butter, cubed

  2 cups uncooked white rice

  1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes with their liquid

  1 cup beef broth, plus more if needed

  1 medium onion, chopped

  1 garlic clove, minced

  1 bay leaf

  1 teaspoon sugar

  1 teaspoon salt

  ¼ teaspoon black pepper

  ⅛ teaspoon white pepper

  In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the rice and stir until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

  Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid, beef broth, chopped onion, minced garlic, bay leaf, sugar, salt, black pepper, and white pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer the rice for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Add more beef broth if needed.

  Remove the bay leaf before serving.

  Isn’t that easy?

  From Katie:

  I’m always searching for a new recipe for sweets. The patrons at the café don’t want the same old, same old. They want new. And they seem to love spicy. For the Wild West Extravaganza, I decided that a hot, spicy fudge would do the trick. This is so easy to make. If you don’t like it too spicy, omit the cayenne pepper, but keep the bacon. Chocolate and bacon are a superb sweet-savory combination!

  Spicy Chocolate Fudge

  (makes 32 large or 64 small pieces)

  3 cups dark chocolate morsels

  1 can sweetened condensed milk

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

  ⅛ teaspoon white pepper

  4 tablespoons crisply cooked and crumbled bacon

  Line an 8-inch-square pan with parchment.

  In a saucepan, heat the chocolate and the sweetened condensed milk over medium-low heat until the chocolate is melted. Be sure to stir continually so the chocolate melts evenly.

  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and white pepper.

  [If you’re worried about how hot it might be, cut back on the peppers and taste with the tip of a spoon.]

  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Top with crumbled bacon and press the bacon lightly to affix to the chocolate.

  Allow the fudge to set for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Slice into pieces using a hot, wet knife.

  Grandmother’s Spoon Bread

  (serves 6-8)

  3 cups milk

  1¼ cups y
ellow cornmeal

  3 eggs

  1 teaspoon salt

  1¾ teaspoons baking powder

  butter, if desired

  Measure the milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cornmeal; reduce the heat to low. Cook and stir for several minutes, until the cornmeal has absorbed all of the milk. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 1 hour. The mixture will be very stiff.

  Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 1½-quart casserole dish.

  Place the cornmeal mixture in a large bowl.

  Separate the eggs. Stir the yolks, salt, baking powder, and butter into the cornmeal mixture.

  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the cornmeal mixture.

  Pour the batter into the prepared casserole dish.

  Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges of the spoon bread become lightly toasted. Serve hot. This does not cut like a pie. Use a large spoon to dish it up.

  Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award–winning author of Fudging the Books, Stirring the Plot, Inherit the Word, and Final Sentence, as well as the Cheese Shop Mysteries under the pseudonym Avery Aames. Like her protagonist, Daryl is an admitted foodie and an avid reader of books, including cookbooks. Prior to writing, Daryl acted on stage and television, including on Murder, She Wrote. To sign up for her newsletter, download recipes, and join contests, visit her website at darylwoodgerber.com.

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