3 Times Thursday - Recipes for Summer BBQs and Picnics

It's just about time to start planning your Memorial Day menu. For this week's 3 Times Thursday, we give you three ideas for all your summer BBQs and picnics. What makes them great holiday weekend recipes? They're super easy to make, they feed a crowd, and they can be served at room temperature. Happy Almost Summer!

#3. Easy Orzo Salad - A really simple but oh, so tasty pasta salad.

Ingredients:

1 lb. orzo

1/2 lb. crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons fresh basil

1 cup slow-roasted tomatoes with garlic* 

1 tablespoon basil oil or plain olive oil

*since it's too early for garden tomatoes, substitute some sun-drieds

Prepare the orzo according to package directions. When it is done, drain it and rinse it well with cold water. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

#2. Steakhouse Skewers - Only three ingredients, plus a toothpick!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound deli roast beef, sliced

4 ounces crumbled bleu cheese

1 pound green seedless grapes

Fold bleu cheese into a small slice of roast beef, and skewer with a toothpick on top of a grape.

#1. Fritos Dessert Bars - Crunchy, salty, sweet, and sticky plus everyone's favorite combo - chocolate and peanut butter. Added bonus? No baking involved!

Ingredients:

1 10.5-ounce bag Fritos corn chips

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Spray a 9X13 baking pan with cooking spray. Empty Fritos into a large bowl. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter; stir until smooth. Pour mixture over Fritos and gently stir to coat. Pour into prepared pan and using wax paper, press down to spread evenly into the pan. Put chocolate chips in a small zip-lock bag. Microwave for 30 second spurts to melt. Cut off a corner of the bag and drizzle over the Fritos bars. Allow to set, then cut into squares.

Sweet Cheeks Q (A Review)

Amy writes...

Did your 4th of July BBQ make you hungry for more? If so, keep reading. It all started when J wanted to take me out to a schmancy dinner in Boston for my 40th birthday. Due to the busy-ness of the school year, April and May were chock full of nonsense. So we decided to go a week after school got out, and we made it an overnight. Foodies that we are, a good chunk of the 36 hours centered around food, right from the get-go. This is the story of amazing meal number one - barbecue.

Shortly after we got off the turnpike, J, who had recently had a college reunion, took me on a driving tour of the Fenway area so I could see how much things have changed. That's about when we decided we were hungry for lunch and absolutely had to check out Sweet Cheeks Q. Sweet Cheeks Q is a real Texas BBQ joint owned by Tiffani Faison (of Top Chef Season One fame), that offers a unique and sorely needed type of cuisine right near the Green Monster. Their meats are all-natural (including Berkshire pork and locally sourced beef), and they utilize local farms as much as possible.

The decor is simple, homey and fun - sauces, napkins and flatware in old coffee cans sit atop glossy picnic tables. The space is bright and open, with enough light that you can almost imagine you're eating in the good ole' outdoors.  The lunch menu is straightforward (and reasonably priced!) as well, focusing on "trays" that are served with hot or cold "scoops," and sandwiches, with a few other tidbits thrown in for good measure. It didn't take long for us to choose what we wanted - for me, the pork belly tray; for J, a pulled pork sandwich.

Our waitress was young and friendly, attentive and welcoming. When we mentioned we were fans of "Tiff," she let us in on the secret - Tiff was there at that very moment - and said she'd ask her to come visit our table. Chef groupie that I am, I got all verklempt!

"The House Bill 819" - tea-infused Berkshire Mountain corn whiskey

with lemon-mint simple syrup

We enjoyed our drinky-drinks (it was big girl lunch, after all) and anxiously waited for Tiffani to visit and for the deliciousness to arrive. Our trays came first. I had ordered the Berkshire pork belly with a hot scoop of mac-n-cheese. While the fat on the pork was not quite crispy enough for my taste, OMG was the the flavor ever there and more. Smoky and meaty and incredibly good, I coudn't possibly eat it all in one sitting (at least not along with the creamy mac, pickles, Texas-sized white bread, salt and pepper potatoes appetizer, and a few tastes of J's lunch), so I insisted on taking the leftovers. Once we got to the hotel, poor J had to create a makeshift refrigerator out of some ice and a hotel shoe-shine bag for me.

J had better luck finishing her Berkshire pulled pork sandwich, which was slathered with crunchy/creamy slaw and served on grilled, buttered Texas toast. The pork was so tender and juicy, if she weren't so careful, she would have dribbled it all over herself. The "heirloom bbq beans" she got for her side dish were perfectly cooked, sweet and smoky. Although we barely had room for them, the salt and pepper potatoes were crispy fried bites of heaven, like the simplest but most delicious potato skins you've ever had. And although neither pork dish really needed them because the Texas-style dry rub was so awesome, we tasted all three of the housemade sauces - one sweet and smoky (the sweet bbq), one tangy and vinegary (the Carolina), and one sweet/hot and peppery (the cilantro habanero) - and liked them all.

When Tiffani visited, she was kind and hospitable, graciously chatting and accepting my business card as if she hasn't gotten a million of them from foodies all over the place. We so appreciated her taking the time to come out and see us and making us feel special. 

To sum up, every bite was as good as, if not better than, the last. Drinks were strong (in a good way), food was plentiful and comforting, service was awesome, and we met Tiffani!!! As far as I'm concerned, this lunch ranks in my personal Top 3 of all barbecue experiences. I will be back. Chris has got to eat here...and so should you!

Thank you, J, for dinner, a couple of these photos, and everything else, most importantly, your friendship.

To check out J's blog, go here.

Labor Day 2011 Rib Smackdown

Two couples, two racks of ribs, one smoker and one gorgeous day off. Sounds like the makings for the Labor Day 2011 Rib Smackdown. Neighbor D offered Chris one rack of ribs and a challenge: season, rub, marinate, do whatever you want to your ribs, but both racks get smoked together, over pecan wood chips, and the wives (us lucky gals!) will judge whose ribs are the tastiest.

While the ribs sat in the smoker all afternoon, we prepared a pitcher of Rummin' Teas and a few side dishes. We started with some chips and salsa. We tossed a bunch of red and yellow potatoes in Crisco's new Pure Olive Oil (a sample of which we received through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program) and added  plenty of chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Then we placed these on the grill in a grilling basket; in 40 minutes, they were perfect - crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.

We steamed a pound of Louisiana Gulf Shrimp in Blue Crab Bay Co. Steaming Spices (a gift from D and J's many travels) to add a little "surf" to our "turf." A few ears of corn roasted on the grill for good measure. And then the ribs were done and it was time to eat. 

Chris had rubbed his rack in a mixture of red sea salt, chipotle pepper and Mexican chocolate, then marinated them in Red Stag Bourbon overnight. These had an intriguing mix of sweet and spicy flavors, from cherry to chocolate to salt to pepper. Very interesting indeed.

D had rubbed his with a little "Butt Rub" and cayenne, then covered them in a paste made from basil, minced garlic and olive oil. They, too, were "finger-licking good" in a more traditional way, and offered themselves over to barbecue sauce a little more easily than the others. Yummy.

Both ribs were tender, falling off the bone and had an sweet smoky flavor from the pecan wood chips. How could we possibly pick one over the other? We had to call in a reinforcement judge - neighbor R who is a long-standing and enthusiastic taste-tester around these parts. He, too, was undecided. Both were just too good. The wives awarded both ribs first place. Let's hear it for the boys and a delicious holiday spent with good friends. It doesn't get much better than this.