Review - Ultimate Book of BBQ

I received an email a couple weeks ago asking if I would be interested in reviewing a BBQ cook book. My initial response was, "Is this a trick question?" I'm always looking for new recipes, tips on cooking and just improving my BBQ skills in general.

I agreed to review Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ - the complete year-round guide to grilling & smoking. A couple days later I received it and two other grilling books which I will be reviewing later.

Pitmaster Christopher Prieto of PRIME Barbecue in Wendell, NC has worked with Southern Living to compile over 200 recipes, creating a hefty cook book that covers the basics to the finer points of BBQ.

A Few of My Favorite -BBQ- Things

Over the past few years of cooking BBQ I have found a few items that I really like to use when I cook. Some of them are very useful and almost necessary and others are just things that I find make the process easier. I've come up with my top ten list of these items and will list them in order of least necessary to ones I use all the time. Feel free to add items you think I missed in the comment section.

Recipe: Apple Pie Sopapillas

I wanted a dessert after grilling some food and came up with this. We had just bought apples and I wanted an apple pie something. I pulled out my pan and cooked up some apples and toasted the tortillas on the grill and I had something yummy.

Review: Amor de Brazil - Carnivores Paradise

Name: Amor de Brazil
Location: Matthews, NC
Price: $$$$
Link: amordebrazilsteakhouse.com

There's a taste of Brazil hidden in Matthews, NC. The service is friendly, the ambience intimate and the food plentiful. It's a great place to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or just hangout with a bunch of friends. But go hungry.

Recipe: Grilled Bruschetta

My family loves Italian food and snacks. We love to try new things at home and one of our favorite appetizers is bruschetta. I was watching the Food Network and one of the chefs made grilled bruschetta. It looked good and I thought I can make that and make it better. So I did.

Grilled, Stuffed Pork Chops

Warming up the grill.

I like to try new things on the grill. One thing I have been wanting to try are grilled stuffed pork chops. My wife and I have regular conversations about what to eat for supper and one day she said, "There are pork chops you can grill." That decided what I was going to make. I just had to figure out what I was going to stuff them with.

I had visions of nice, thick center cut pork chops that I could slice into to make a pocket. I was a little disappointed when I got home.

Chicken and Noodles

Something that I have always wanted to make is pasta. Why? I don't know I just think it would be cool to make my own pasta. So I finally took the plunge and tried it out. I made grilled chicken which I served over my pasta with a simple tomato sauce. For a first try it turned out ok.

I used a simple pasta recipe consisting of, 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, 1tbls olive oil, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of garlic powder. Mixing the dough was simple but the next parts took some doing. I don't have a pasta maker. I hand rolled the dough and cut it with a pizza slicer.