River Watch Week – BBQ Byway

With the Army Corps of Engineers blasting levees and flooding over 100,000 acres of land I wanted to bring everyone along on a tour of the affected areas… from Cairo, Illinois to Louisiana this spring is bringing rain 300% above normal already.

Monday – Memphis District Munchies – Elvis Meatloaf
Tuesday – Vicksburg District Vittles – Mississippi River Chicken & Dumplings
Wednesday – New Orleans District Nosh
Thursday – BBQ Byway
Fishy Friday River Style

Bring the taste of The Shack from Arkansas to your house.

Today I wanted to give you some suggestions from both ends of this flood with a BBQ focus.  Some are straight sauces while others are “different” dishes.  Many of these could be used to serve a tasting menu of several different styles with each person getting one rib of each style.

Menu

Regional Lists

Bill’s Barbeque – Tour of the Southeastern US differences in sauce.

Southern Cooking by State – Quick category page to search the region on Allrecipes.com

Favorite Barbecue Sauce Recipes – Mega list of recipes from around the web. Only one is on the below list.

Kentucky

Owensboro Mutton Barbecue Sauce makes for a good flavor base for Burgoo, the traditional western Kentucky stew rich with vegetables and bold flavors.

Western Kentucky Pork Barbecue Sauce – Ketchup with dry mustard and other spices.

 

Snacking Saturday – Sweet Potato Blueberry Bar

Basket of Bars to Begin the Picnic Season

As the weather turns warm our picnic basket is starting to call. My taste buds have wandered back to my post on healthy school lunches for an addition to a gluten-free brownie recipe I stumbled on this week. This recipe went together quickly and makes for a sweet new combination of flavors to ride along in the picnic basket with gluten-free brownies!

Voting is still open through the month of May

The USDA is hosting a contest for school lunch programs around the country to encourage healthier options that can fit within school district budgets. 340 recipes were submitted ranging from bean soups to whole grain pasta salads to tasty tater tot alternatives.

Ingredients

 

Fishy Friday Dinner News – Hraimeh

Enjoy the spices and creativity of Libya with Hraimeh and rice

Today we are swimming across the pont to Northern Africa and enjoying a spicy Libyan specialty. While most of the cuisine of Libya is based on lamb the opening paragraph of Hraimeh – Fish Pouched In a Spicy Gravy (Libyan Pouched {sic} Fish) describes the variety of fish throughout the coastal region and provides a nice starting point to understand the invading influences and local seafood availability.

For some side dish and dessert suggestions take a stroll  through 16 March 2011 Dinner News – East Coast of Libya or 8 March 2011 Dinner News – Southern Libya for regional additions to a Libyan evening at your dinner table.

Ingredients

Toast

Sauce

 

National Egg Salad Week – Dessert Fist

Welcome to a week-long celebration of all things egg… peel back the shells and enjoy some new ways to have an egg-cellent meal.

Monday – Dessert First – Cadbury Deviled Eggs
Tuesday – Devilish Dishes – Inside Out Deviled Eggs
Wednesday – Entrée Entries – Scotch Eggs
Thursday – Global Ovals – Bauernsalat
Friday – Tour d’ America – Pittsburgh Maurice Salad

don't cry over spilled eggs - make devish desserts

Cookies

Chocolate Chip – Collaboration of 3 bloggers to create both standard and small batch recipes for those who don’t want to have 8 large cookies taunting them.

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies – Shortbread feel with the classic pound cake taste.

Amazing Double Chocolate Hard Boiled Egg Cookies – Sour cream and brown sugar cookie with both chips and powder.

Chilled Cheesecakes

Paskha S Varyonymi Yaytsami – Candied fruit and farmer’s cheese mixture molded in a lined flower pot and chilled.  Served with the Russian equivalent of a Panettone.

Kohupiimapasha keedetud munarebudega – Almond and orange version of a Paskha with whipped cream and curd cheese.

Paskha – Gives several variations on cheese, molding, cooking, and decoration.

Cooked Puddings

The Six Combination Dessert 六味糖水 – Combination of ingredients created for health and good luck traditionally served at Chinese New Year turned into a slow cooker dessert and served with hard boiled eggs.

Eggs Benedict Bread Pudding – Broccoli and lemon juice mimic a spring Benedict with hollandaise.

Deviled Cadbury Eggs – Cream cheese, apples and pecans make for a surprisingly tart taste and a challenge to make.

 

30 March 2011 Dinner News – Cricket World Cup

India Wins The Match
Both Countries Come Out Winners

Pakistan and India played each other in the Cricket World Cup with India winning the match, but both countries coming out winners as relations between the counties appear to be thawing.

Adapted from Chicken Shawarma at Food.com. See the  28 March Dinner News – Pakistan & India post for side dish and dessert suggestions to accompany this grab and go meal.

Tahini

Making tahini isn’t as straight forward as you would think.  Just trying to grind up sesame seeds leaves you with more husk than paste.  This recipe is for a saucy version and not a “store for later” stiffer mix.

 

25 March 2011 Dinner News – Syria

 

Start dinner with a Mezze that includes Kofta

The Meal

Mezze

This can be an elaborate spread of forty or fifty hors d’oeuvres or simply a salad and a bowl of nuts. But it is always a social occasion when friends and family gather to enjoy appetizers and conversation before lunch and dinner.

The Wikipedia article provides a good list of dishes that may be served at mezze.

Over on Food.com they provide recipes for Hot Spiced Cheese Goreme, Fattoush Salad, Lamb Koftas, and Warm Roasted Olives with Preserved Lemons.

Entree

Rishta – Noodles, lentils and tomato (this will be our dinner tonight and the play-by-play will be a future post)

Sambusak – Triangle filled turnovers.  This recipe provides both options for chickpeas and meat filling.

Chicken Shawarma – Like a gyro… like a taco… folded bread, meat and veggies with a variety of spices. Lamb would also be a common option.

Sujuk – two-part video recipe showing how to make these sausages without casing.

Dessert

Ba’lawa / Baklava – This is Alton Brown’s version, I have made it several times and it is easy to make. Browse through the travel photo links below to see amazing piles of different shaped versions.