BBQ Tofu and a Surprise!

There are many, many people out there who really enjoy eating cow. I am not one of those people. Instead, I am a person who enjoys tofu...



...cooking on a cow! This is our little hibachi grill that my dad gave us for our wedding. Isn't she cute? She is the perfect size for two people--we have grilled many a cow on our cow. And she has a name. She is Hot Flash, the Menopausal Cow. Apropos, no?


Whenever it's warm outside (here in Oregon, that has occurred approximately twice in the past 3 million years), Hot Flash comes out of her corral (er, box) to cook up some delicious grill fare. Is it slightly cannibalistic that we sometimes cook cow on our cow? Meh, I don't care. She does a mooo-rvelous job!

Tonight she was observing her vegetarian roots and grillin' up some slices of extra-firm tofu and some zucchini. De-lish!

Good job, Hot Flash.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

Cookie Monster and I like to make homemade pizza every now and again. Here is one we sometimes like to make. This one is totally different, and it's the first time we've had this variety of pizza at home. Using the barbeque sauce I made from scratch, along with the chicken I roasted at home, this made an awesome pizza. CPK, you got nothin' on me!


I wanted to make homemade pizza dough, but I didn't have time this day. So I went with our ol' standby for pizza dough: whole wheat baking mix. I just mix it with water 'til it's the right consistency, then stretch it out onto a pizza stone drizzled with EVOO so it won't stick. Then I added the awesome pizza ingredients. I started with a layer of bbq sauce, then spread out the chicken. Then I added mushrooms and olives, and grated a layer of white cheddar over everything. Then I cut up a slice of proscuitto and put the pieces all over the top so they would get crispy.

I baked it 'til it looked like this:

And it was incredible. If I do say so myself. Which I do.

Homemade Barbeque Sauce

I had been thinking about doing this for quite a while, and finally got around last week. Instead of buying high-fructose corn syrup-laden sauce from the store (ok, so you can check the label and find some without it, too), I decided to make my own. I stole Pioneer Woman's idea of arranging all the ingredients on the counter so I remember everything I put in. Except then I put in some more stuff after I took this picture, thereby pretty much defeating the whole purpose. Sigh.

Oh, well. Here's most of the stuff I put in my bbq sauce. I first started by sauteeing some finely chopped onion in some EVOO. Then I added all this stuff:

Then I basically just cooked the crap out of it. Ok, not really. I let it cook on very low heat for a long time--about an hour. Once it had reduced, I tasted it and discovered it needed more stuff. I put in a lot more molasses since I got a little enthusiastic about the vinegar and put too much in initially. I also added some chili powder and a bit of cayenne. And salt.



I kept tasting and adding 'til it tasted right. And voila! Homemade bbq sauce! Using some of my leftover chicken from the freezer, I made a killer bbq chicken pizza, which I will share with you in my next post. I know you can't wait.

Until then, I'll leave you with a joke:
What did one earthquake say to the other earthquake?
"It's not my fault!"

Barbequing in the Rain (and Hail)

So Cookie Monster and I wanted to have a barbeque. We inherited a free grill from a neighbor and wanted to break it in. So I got some beef and trimmings at Trader Joe's (one of the best stores in the history of the world) for him and our guests, and I had some veggie burgers in the freezer for me. I also made some potato salad, going off a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

When we fired up the grill it was cloudy but pleasant outside--about 55 degrees or so.

As you can see from this photo, it did not stay that way! All those little white specks you see around the steaming grill? Yeah, those are hail stones.

Ah, what a lovely afternoon in the Pacific Northwest.




But don't worry. The burgers were great!

Here's the recipe for the potato salad. It's one of the few times you'll see a recipe here at Chez VCK with actual measurements used. So really relish this rare moment.

Classic Potato Salad
from Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition

6 medium potatoes (I didn't use this many--I used about 3-4)
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise (I don't know how much mayo I used. Probably not this much)
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)
1/3 cup chopped onion (I didn't use this much onion--probably only a good handful or so. I know, really accurate)
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles or relish
6 hard-boiled eggs (I used 3)

In medium saucepan place potatoes and small amount of water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until just tender. Drain well; cool slightly. Peel and cube potatoes. (This is a really roundabout way. I didn't go through all these steps. I cute up the potatoes into bite-sized chunks, then boiled. This saves a lot of time. Also, I didn't peel them. Potato peel is perfectly edible and it adds fiber. So I never peel.)

Meanwhile, for dressing, combine mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper in large bowl. Stir in celery, onion and pickles. Add potatoes and eggs and stir to coat. Cover and chill for 6-24 hours (I wanted to serve it right away, so I put it in the freezer for about half an hour. It worked fine).

Ta da! Potato salad!