Slow Smoked Spareribs with Sweet-and-Sour BBQ Sauce

My husband is loving his grill.  I am loving that he is liking to help with dinners!

He followed a recipe in his Weber's Way to Grill book but he used a different technique than slow smoking.  He followed the directions for "stacking" the ribs, which took about 2 hours less time.

Lots going on with these ribs.  There was a dry rub.  There was a "mop" (like a baste?)   There was a BBQ sauce.  Good work, Jimmy!

We found this recipe in one of our grilling cookbooks but the recipe is online too-

Click here for the stolen recipe for Slow-Smoked Spareribs with Sweet-and-Sour Sauce.

Classic Fajitas & Corn with Spicy Chili Butter

I picked out this next recipe. It really just appealed and it seemed like a good recipe to have under our belts if we ever have a dinner party. The meat and vegetables needed almost no prep which is awesome.

I wish I would have made my own guacamole (the avocados at the store were not ripe) or salsa but maybe next time. I even joked that I should've made my own tortillas!

Jim is becoming a master chef. And isn't he cute in this shirt? (Note: he bought the shirt to amuse James. He said he wouldn't really wear this shirt out in public, too cutesy. I hope he doesn't mind my 5 blog readers seeing it :)

I should have taken some pictures of the grilling in action. The flank steak grilled quickly and easily, the vegetables blackened just a bit, and now the steak is being sliced. Yum.

No editing. Just fabulous natural colors!

I didn't do much for this meal. We ended up boiling the corn and not grilling it because Jim was already doing a bit on the grill, I didn't want him overwhelmed. I made the spicy chili butter on the stovetop. I LOVED it. The spice and lime juice were wonderful!

Delicious! And plenty for leftovers :)

Both of these recipes were from Jim's new cookbook- The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue. I'm always glad to find the recipes online for you.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Classic Fajitas.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Corn with Spicy Chili Butter.

Grilling- Asian inspired meal

Jim received a great grilling cookbook from my sister Ana for his birthday. It is called The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbeque. The first page that I opened the book up to called our names.

We made Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spicy, Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce, Coconut Curried Fried Rice, and Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad.

I almost think we had too many flavors on our plate. They were all VERY good. Everything smelled AMAZING too. I am nuts for coconut so the rice really, really appealed to me. It was also a bit spicy from the curry paste so that was great too.

I did prep everything- the brine, the chicken rub, the sides- but Jim gets lots of credit for the grilling because I don't know even know how to turn it on :) Without Jim this meal wouldn't have been possible.

Lots of spice in the rice. My rice cooker bowl is permanently stained yellow I think. Oh well. The rice cooked with coconut milk... mmmmm......

This dipping sauce was THE BOMB. So easy.

The rub was also pretty easy. I always thought rubs were dry ingredients, but this was one was really wet with lots of lime juice, oil, and spices. Jim said it flared up a bit in the grill but luckily enough of the rub was also placed under the chicken skin. It was really flavorful and MOIST (Ana!) because of the brining.

James stole his Daddy's seat at the table. Too bad he didn't try the grub.

The recipes for the Chicken and then the Cucumber Salad were both from the cookbook. I did find the recipes online and they are linked below. The rice recipe is from a trusty food blogger.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spicy, Sweet, and Sour Dipping Sauce.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Coconut Curried Fried Rice.

Tequila Lime Chicken & Grilled Corn Salad

If you know me, you know my love of tequila. It's a new love. I love tequila and tonics especially. Haha. But when I saw this recipe from the wonderful Pioneer Woman, I knew that I had to try it. I actually printed the recipe out at work and I think one of my co-workers saw it at the printer (or maybe she saw the update on PW's blog) but she told me that she was trying the recipe too. So my friend made the chicken before me and she told me that it was fabulous.

I knew it would have to be good after bathing in a marinade of tequila, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro!

My husband was kind enough to make the grilled corn salad during the day. I LOVE this salad. I had three helpings and didn't feel guilty because it's full of yummy vegetables. Grilled corn, zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno... mmmmmmmmmm. I've made this often but I decided that we're going to make this again and again and again this summer- all of the vegetables are farmer's market staples.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Grilled Corn Salad.

So the verdict is that the chicken was very good. The tequila was very prominent which is a good thing :) I made this recipe this week because I was planning on making this for a dinner party next week. I like it but I decided that it wouldn't taste right in the way that I had planned- cut into strips on a salad of greens, avocado, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, etc. Oh well. We have a great way to use up my tequila so I don't just drink it all!

Sunday's dinner

Red Wine Balsamic Grilled Chicken, French Mashed Potatoes, and grilled asparagus with olive oil, garlic and sea salt.

The chicken was very flavorful! It should have been- it marinated for the entire day in a wonderful smelling blend of vinegars, thyme, garlic, orange juice, and honey; then I grilled it on my grill pan. As I ate the chicken I kept thinking it would be great tasting even cold on a salad later in the week. I made plenty of extra chicken, thinking they could be my dinner when hubby is out of town.

The mashed potatoes were the creamiest I've ever had- with lots of melty cheese and just enough garlic and butter. They were made mostly in my food processor. I think I would make half the recipe next time- we are left with way too many potatoes for two people! Or maybe we should invite guests next time? :)

The asparagus was made in my favorite way- tossed with olive oil, garlic, and sea salt and then grilled quickly on my grill pan. Man, I love my grill pan! {Constance, get a grill pan!)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Red Wine Balsamic Grilled Chicken.
Click here for the stolen recipe for Aligot (French Mashed Potatoes).