BarBQBoozers

Owww…..in all the hectic of this week I almost forgot that Saturday is International Bacon Day! How could I forget…even though I think it should be Bacon Day every day!

And I know you’re all waiting for a juicy story about balls and sauce but that’s not going to happen today! Sometimes even the Dutchess has to settle for a quick one, but that’s better than nothing!! Now let’s get those balls rolling!

1 lbs. ground meat (not too lean)
1 egg
2 tablespoons of your favorite bbq sauce
1 tablespoon parsley, dried
A few drops of hot sauce
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chipotle chile seasoning
1 spring onion, only the green part, thinly sliced
Pepper/salt
Panko (I used about 1 cup)

Mix all these ingredients and make meatballs.

Then it’s time to get saucy!

1 thick slice of bacon (ooow homemade by The Dutchess herself!), cut into cubes
½ cup bourbon
¼  cup heavy cream
½ cup beef broth
Pepper
2 tablespoons of your favorite bbq sauce
Pepper/salt
Grated cheese
Butter

This time I used the Burnt Finger BBQ Private Stock Barbecue Sauce in the sauce and in the meatballs, and it tasted great, again! The smoky taste was a good choice for this meal!

Start with melting the butter in a wide pan and cook the bacon until crisp.

Set the bacon aside but leave the grease in the pan.

Add some more butter and cook the meatballs for about 10 minutes.

Place the meatballs on a platter and add the bourbon, heavy cream, beef broth, pepper and bbq sauce to the grease. Let it boil for 1 minute.

Put the meatballs back in the pan, close the lid and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

If the sauce hasn’t thickened enough now, you can add some sauce thickener. Sprinkle the cheese over the meatballs, close the lid and let it melt in about 5 minutes…

And this is the result: mouthwatering, and I tell you something, these meatballs would be great on a bun!! As all meatballs do… haha!

Before I forget, don’t forget to click on this FriendsEAT link, or click on the picture below, and you will see some (fun) facts about bacon!!

         Happy International Bacon Day!!!!

Cheers and enjoy!

This Photo was just a way to get you here....Sorry-but needed a way to get you to check out the blog! Haha

Are you looking for a recipe that is both unique and will also make your toes curl? This one will definitely do the trick. Okay-Okay The Burgerman has to admit...maybe the toe curling is an overstatement, but I'm trying to express, as best I can, the way this all turns out. It's as close as you can get to a sexual experience while grilling, without....uhm.... ya know.... (but wait-there was that one hot night on July 12th......... hmmmmmm......but then.... I digress) 

First of all, we need a great piece of meat! Of course the bigger the better is what I've heard. (Size does matter-even on the grill), How's a large 1-1/2 lb Ribeye Steak sound?  I told the butcher to wrap up this baby in paper and I headed out of the store with a slight skip to my step and hopefully the folks in the parking lot did not notice the Happy Dance-though that one lady did look at me sorta funny. Nothing brings happiness to a man's (or woman's) grill than a good quality cut of beef. Can't you just feel the excitement building??  

What we need now is a real "wake-me-up" Espresso coffee for our recipe to really POP. Starbucks does make one of the best...but any Espresso coffee will do. Like a waitress at a New Jersey turnpike restaurant told me one time: "Hon-We serve up Friendly Tawk and Hot Cawfee for Free- If you want some fancy grind...get Awf the next exit, pay the toll, and don't waste my time."  She had me at Hello! haha.

Grind some beans finely, make a pot of "cawfee", and save about 2 tbl spoons of grounds for the next step- Our Espresso rub!

Place your steak in a large saucer, pour over some espresso coffee, add some salt and pepper, and then rub the espresso dry grounds all over the steak. Work it into the meat.... (Sorry if this part is turning any of you on) haha

Cover the steak, rub, and espresso with plastic wrap and shove it into the fridge for at least 6 hours. The longer the better..... This window of opportunity allows the espresso to do its thing. There are no accidents when it comes to marinade. Sometimes you just gotta wait for things to happen and allow the stars to align.

When you pull the steak out of the fridge for grilling, make sure you rinse off the espresso grounds... otherwise you will have a burnt coffee taste. You can leave a small amount, but wash-off most.

Waa Laa- A perfectly grilled Rib Eye! Almost brings tiny tears to your eyes..doesn't it? Now comes the best part...Don't Freak Out! This is where the true experience begins.... The Sauce!!

There's that bear again! He certainly gets around in my recipes. But there's something about Honey that seems to work... no matter what you might be "cooking" up (on or off the grill). We will need 2 teaspoons of this sweet liquid goodness from the Gods!

Then of course we need 2 shots of vodka! Since the "Nude Vodka" bottle is still sitting around (actually this is a new bottle). We will need vodka for our special sauce... Yes-there is a pattern developing..in case you have not noticed. ( At this point I suggest a shot for the cook...it's not mandatory but it works for me) Doesn't hurt to keep a bottle "by your side" for all tasks in the kitchen and elsewhere. :)

Then we need "Hershey Kisses" I prefer the Special Dark Chocolate kind!

Yes.. I said Kisses on your steak. Don't knock it until you try it. Tell me who doesn't like "Kisses"?? We need 10 for this recipe. Don't they look like little soldiers getting ready for battle!

Combine the Honey, Vodka, Dark Chocolate Kisses, and a teaspoon of Olive Oil (to keep it from sticking) into a saucepan and bring the sauce to a boil while stirring the whole time over medium/high heat! Once it begins to boil then sit it to the side to cool and simmer for about 5 minutes.

The Chocolate Fountain does not belong here-But this just seemed appropriate because I just like Fountains and Lots of Dark Chocolate!!

Pour the Chocolate Vodka Honey Sauce all over your steak, just before serving. You won't believe how good this smells and tastes!

This meal will score you a "10" on the delicious meter... if you want to impress your guests! Which is a much better result than what I scored in my grilling experience in July (mentioned above). I only received a 9.3 back then....  I guess I will need to work on my dis-mount! haha

Enjoy the recipe my friends! The Burgerman is now going to crawl back into his cave window and work on another recipe for next time. See ya'll-
 
Until then..........

A new recipe, a burger this time, but.....not from the Burgerman but from the Dutchess, yeah that's a bit disappointing I'm aware of that but the good thing is there's booze!! That made it better already, didn't it? I hope so! And, bummer #2, there's also no nudity involved, geez...am I letting you down??

Well there's only one person to blame for all this, yep. Things can only get less from now I'm afraid!! But what's less when you're nude? Hmmm we're drifting off.... What I was trying to say was that this boozy burger is something special!! That is if you like Bourbon. And I know you do, I know everything you like...how's that??!! Be careful now, things might get tricky now....hehe..

Why don't we have a burger first? Oh no, let's have a drink first, just to get used to the taste of Bourbon in case it has been longer than let's say a few hours ago since you tasted it.

Woah...I'm ready when you're ready, shall we proceed now?? I'm getting hungry....

How do you get from a regular burger to a super boozy burger?? I'll tell you and I'll show you...meat pics!!
2 lbs ground meat, not lean, at least 70% fat
pepper, salt
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup soft cheese (see below), crumbled
shot of Bourbon
2 onions, thinly sliced
4 large strips of bacon
2 shots of Bourbon
thick slices soft cheese (I used soft Gorgonzola cheese) 1 for each burger
butter
buns (for the burgers!)

Mix the meat with the pepper, salt, parsley, soft cheese and Bourbon. Form it into patties. I found out that this goes very well if you use a sheet of foil, the patties look nice and your hands stay clean (that way it's easier to lift your glass while doing this!).

In a pan, melt butter and add the onions. Glaze them on a loooow heat.

In another pan, melt butter and cook the bacon until crisp.

When the onions are almost ready add the 2 shots (or more!) of Bourbon and on a high heat let it boil for 1 minute.

Grill the burgers and toast the buns.

Put the burgers on the bun, add the cheese slices, the onions and then the bacon.....

OMG Bourbon Burger Heaven!!

Cheers and enjoy!

Finally! It's weekend! And for me that means today no cooking on this Friday Evening but a quick snack! With booze, because that's the way we roll here at the BarBQBoozers Website! The booze is calling us (and you too) and we just can't resist....

And what did I make for you this time?? A new twist on the Philly Cheese steak! I know you're about to ask me if that is such a good idea, why change a winning team?? Because I say so and because we want booze! Trust me in this one (yeah I know, not easy) and you'll be on your knees thanking me (again and again, as you should) for bringing this cheesy boozy stuffed piece of bread into your lives.... now, sit down, read on and enjoy this ride!

First you must start with grabbing the bottle of Tequila, and ask yourself the most important question of today: is there enough in it to get me through at least another couple of hours?? If yes: great, pour me one shot too. If not: go buy a new one but don't expect us to wait for that, we got more important things to do! Arribbaaaaa! Look at this picture!!

Other stuff you need:

1 garlic bread (bake off, cut in half horizontally)
6-8 mushrooms (I choose chestnut mushrooms aka brown cap mushrooms)
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced in rings
a few jalapenos (from a jar), finely diced
half a green bell pepper, finely sliced
roast beef, thinly sliced
pepper/salt
a piece of very soft cheese (I used Taleggio)
shredded cheese
and don't forget that Tequila!

Got that? Good, time for shot #2.

Toast the bread and owwww....that smell!!

In the meantime add some oil to a large pan and add the mushrooms, onion rings, jalapenos, bell pepper, salt and pepper. Have another shot (I lost track).

Cook it for about 5 minutes and then add a big (what's big, liquid-wise I have no explaination for that, just a very large shot I'd say...)splash of Tequila (to the pan and have another shot yourself too). 

Let it boil for a few seconds and then add some shredded cheese over it....owwww that smell!!

When the bread is ready, start building the sandwich and start with the roast beef, then the soft cheese and then the Tequila mixture. Top with the other half of the bread and then.......owwww......mmmm!!!

Did I make you happy??? Good!!

Oh yeah and if you insist on thanking me anyway...we accept bottles, full ones, but that's obvious!

Cheers!

Today is Wednesday, right? A.k.a. Hump Day and therefore we have a new recipe for you with balls: Meatballs! And not some average balls, not the one you know so well, but we have balls for you with red wine! Oh yeah these balls are smothered in a sauce, with red wine too. I think you’re going to have some party tonight ha?!

You can use leftover wine (huh? you have that?) or buy special small bottle(s) of wine for cooking if you’re not a wine drinker. For others: just open up that bottle that has been flirting with you for some time. You’re excused to buckle under that pressure!! I wouldn’t recommend to use an expensive one, you won’t taste that in the recipe anyway after you’ve finished the first bottle as an appetizer… and having said that, it would be nice if you could manage to prepare all the balls with the same size, but I won’t hold it against you if you can’t!

How do we get these balls in the pan:

The balls:

0.5 lb ground beef (lean)
1 egg
1 scallion, finely diced, only the green part
Salt/pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1 garlic clove, mashed
dried chili flakes (amount according to your own taste)
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
¼ cup red wine

Panko (about ½ cup, see recipe)

Mix all the ingredients, except the meat and the panko together, it won’t look nice…

Now add the meat and then the panko. Use just enough so you can make nice firm meatballs, not those softy ones.

Heat a pan, add some oil and cook the balls until brown on all sides. Handle with care. 

In the meantime, you can start thinking about the sauce:

1 small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, mashed
1 can peeled tomatoes
½ cup red wine

Add some oil to a sauce pan and add the onions. On a low heat, stir occasionally until the onions are soft, not colored. Add the garlic, stir and immediately add the wine...

...and the peeled tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until the meatballs are ready. Don't forget to taste if you should add more wine...

Pour the sauce over the meatballs and let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

You can boil some pasta (spaghetti is a possibility) in the meantime and serve these delicious wine balls as spaghetti with meatballs!!!! I served it with garlic pasta.
But whatever you do, don’t forget to serve it with lots of grated Parmesan Cheese and the (rest of the) red wine…..ooowww……

Cheers!!

Ok, so where is The Burgerman headed with this recipe? The title itself is a mouth full and it sounds slightly crazy. But would you expect anything less? 

Step One: The "PB" (Peanut Butter) Get Some! The Burgerman prefers Skippy, but any brand will work in a "JIF"

Step Two: The First "B" (Bacon) The Burgerman picked up some Hickory Smoked Bacon. One slab will do ya!

Step Three: The Second "B" (Beer) You will need two cans for this recipe and several more for the cook. Any brand will work for the recipe, and this cook is not picky either, as long as it is cold and wet. (Hey-Where's the Recycle bin? I know how to recycle the beer, but where do I put these cans?)

Step Four: The Final "B" (Beef) The ground up variety! This recipe takes about 3 lbs. and of course the 80/20 blend was on sale...

Let's start by putting the ground beef in a mixing bowl and add 3 Large spoon heaps of the PB. (About 1/3 of a large jar or about 16 oz of PB)

Go fry the bacon up crispy (about 1/2 lb) and then crumble it up into small pieces, like bacon bits. (I forgot to photograph this) Then mix the ground beef, peanut butter, and bacon together. (Believe me I know it it sounds weird but wait..it gets better) 

Then we add the beer (my favorite part). Use a full can and mix it in with the peanut butter, bacon, and beef combo (see below- Now-doesn't that look tasty? hah) The fun part was all that sticky Peanut Butter...but that's why God invented water and soap.

The smell of this combo of peanut butter, bacon, beef and beer is amazing. Wait until you cook it!!

Make the mixture into 12-14 large patties and grill 'em. By the way..when PB's in the mix the patties sure are easy to form! (I don't think I need to explain the grilling process do I?) Add the seasoning of your choice; but I like just black pepper and dried parsley and basil on mine.

Next we gotta make the Peanut Butter Beer (PB & B) Hot Sauce for the Burgers!
This is real easy... Get a sauce pan, add one can of beer, 4 tablespoons of peanut butter, hot sauce-as much as you can stand, dried red chiles, two tablespoons of lime or lemon juice (or both), black pepper, and a dash of olive oil and a table spoon of minced garlic. Mix it all up in a pan..bring to a boil and stir it throughout until you have a thick Hot Sauce Paste. Let simmer in the pan.

Here it is.The finished product: Two PB & B & B Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries, and of course a splash or drizzle of the PB & B Hot sauce on Top!

MMMM....MMMM  You gotta taste these!! You won't see this on McDonald's menu board...Would be too tough to say McPBBB Burgers in the drive thru window.

Sometimes you want something new, something different. Why this recipe popped up I don't know. I get ideas for dinner at the most unusual places (no not there, I know what you're thinking!), last week when I was driving home from work it hit me: beef rolls, stuffed beef rolls with cucumber and spring onions that is. Yeah I don't know why, it must have had something to do with that cucumber.
Anyway, after some deep thoughts, this came out! Stuffed with cheese that will melt while cooking!
Pfew, that was what I wanted!
 Too bad it rained here last night so grilling outside wasn't an option. Besides, with the cheese it wouldn't have been a great idea anyway. So it became a regular (what's “regular”) dish, from the stove because I had to be careful not to overcook the meat. That would have been such a waste!
And let's not forget the booze! That's the most important ingredient! Vodka my dear friends..Vodka was what I had on my mind!

I bought beef tenderloin for this, the butcher did the work (yeah hit it baby!) and I ended up with a nice thin tenderloin.
Make a marinade of 1 cup Vodka, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, one mashed garlic and let the beef marinate for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime slice up some cucumber and spring onions, thin strips:

Slice the cheese, you have to pick a soft cheese that will easily melt and has a strong taste (once again I used Taleggio):

This is the beef after marinating:

Divide spring onions, cucumber, cheese, some dried chile flakes and a bit of steak seasoning over the beef and roll it up. Season with steak seasoning. The thinner the beef is the better it goes (or use less stuffing!).

Melt butter in a pan, cook the rolls on high heat on all sides for 2 minutes, turn the heat low and let them simmer while you add leftover spring onions, cucumber and maybe cheese and a little bit of soy sauce (about 1 teaspoon). This will take max 8 minutes. As soon as the cheese starts melting the tenderloins are ready!

Spoon something a bit of the leftover “gravy”stuff from the pan over the rolls and it's dinner time!

Served with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile:

It was delicious! What do you think of this Burgerman? It ain't burgers I know....but it has Vodka!! 

Cheers!

I’m wondering if this ever happens to you too: before dinner you drink some wine and when it’s about time to start making dinner you’re not quite capable anymore to put an awesome dish on your plate…. No?? Hmm… weird, it happens to me, sometimes…  Now in case it happens to you too one day, then I hope you’ll be able to remember this post because it will save your meal!

Only three ingredients (yes because the pepper, salt and butter don’t count for me) and the title says it all. Easy as opening a bottle of wine. Which is one of the ingredients. Woah can it get even more easier?? Nope. Relax and grab a saucepan, heat the grill and have another wine, this you can fix without thinking! The Dutchess is here to serve you! Oh wait, this could be misinterpreted, well, you know what I mean! (No not that!! I think…)

Before it all gets too hot now, let’s have dinner first, and then we’ll discuss what’s for dessert!

The recipe:

1 small red onion, minced (that’s the only tricky part)
1 cup red wine
1 cup gorgonzola cheese, cut into cubes
Salt/pepper
Butter

Heat the butter in a small saucepan. Add the onion and on a low heat cook until soft.

Add the red wine, bring to a boil and then add the cheese.

The sauce is ready as soon as the cheese is melted. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Serve it with grilled beef tenderloin and stuffed pasta and you might end up with this plate:

Don’t forget the wine!! Cheers!

...and enjoy your dessert....

I’m in a Bourbon state of mind, is that news? Nah…not really…but I love it! After all the testing with the cocktails I did last week it was about time I got some real food again. That cocktail thing is not easy, but I do it, nobody forced me. No need to….you know me! And in case you’re wondering, nobody was hurt during these cocktail sessions, only my head the next day. But there’s nothing a good strong cup of coffee can’t solve. Coffee, straight, no adds of whatsoever…I swear!

So now let’s get cooking again, as I said with Bourbon. Geez that reminds me, gotta do some booze shopping today wooh!!! The bottles are getting empty! Oh yeah, Burgerman, we definitely need a sponsor, go out and find one!

Let’s see, you would like some beef? Than continue reading, and if you don’t keep reading too because there’s more here to discover than just Beef and Bourbon..

Ingredients

Beef tenderloin, cut into big cubes
Olive oil
Steak seasoning
1 large onion
Butter
1/4 cup Bourbon
3 tablespoons peppercorns
some fresh black pepper, ground
½ cup heavy cream

Start with marinating the beef cubes for 30 minutes in olive oil and your favorite steak seasoning. Or use only pepper and a bit of salt instead.

Cut the onion in thin slices and add some butter to a sauce pan. On a low heat let the onion slices get soft, not brown, take it easy with the onions!

Grill the beef on a grill or use a cast iron pan. This won’t take long, only a few minutes.

Add the Bourbon, the pepper and extra pepper  to the onions, and let it boil for 1 minute.  And I tell you, this smells divine!! I don't mind if you can't concentrate on the rest now, but please try! Then add the cream and let it simmer until the beef is ready.

This is such an easy recipe, you can do even after some drinks! 
I served this delicious dish with some  tiny round potatoes. Oh and a glass/bottle of Shiraz wine, lovely!

Cheers!

And because I couldn't get enough of it, here's one more picture.....

Dinner is ready Burgerman!!!

Today, my beloved friends, is a special day. You don’t know it yet, but I’m here to tell you that you’re about to discover your most  favorite recipe: it’s hot, it’s steamy, it’s double pleasure… oh my… and I know you’ll be begging for more!!

Okay let’s do it, right here and now but don’t forget to bring a bottle of Tequila because that’s half of the fun!!!

Serious note: I’ve made this recipe before for The Dutchess Cooks but I didn’t use my Weber at that time. Don’t ask me why, probably too much Tequila before I started cooking…. So that’s why I made a new, grilled version, perfect for the BarBQBoozers website!  And let me tell you, this grilled version sure made my skirt fly up… hehehe…

Now, if you want to follow me, we can get this thing started…. you can’t wait can you.... perfect, I like that!!

Ingredients:

1 red chili pepper

1 red bell pepper

Olive oil

1/3 cup cilantro

Juice of ½ a lime

Large shrimps, peeled and cleaned

Beef tenderloins

4 oz feta cheese, cut in cubes

Tequila

Rub the tenderloins with your favorite beef seasoning, and marinade the shrimps in your favorite shrimp seasoning (I’ll be posting a new recipe for that on The Dutchess Cooks soon!)

Use a blender to make a salsa from the chili pepper, bell  pepper, olive oil, cilantro and the juice of half a lime.

Light the coals and get them as hot as you can. I sure hope I don’t have to explain how, you can do that don’t you?!

Skewer the shrimps. Place a suitable pan on the grill, directly above the heat, add some olive oil and the salsa.

Grill the tenderloins directly above the hot coals. Total time depends on the heat and the thickness of the loins, but these took about 7 minutes.

At the same time you can add Tequila (how much?? C’mon… hahaha let’s start with ¼ cup) and the feta cheese to the salsa and let it bubble while you grill the shrimps.

Grill these for a few minutes, and then add them to the salsa mixture. Add some extra Tequila, stir a bit and you’ll be ready before you know it!!

You could slice the tenderloins before you put them on a plate but I forgot, I guess I was too impatient!

As a “side dish” I suggest some bread and Shiraz wine….and soon you’ll be in heaven….awww!!!