such a fine and natural sight
As we often do at the end of a summery day, Alex and I had a barbecue last night. No, we haven’t moved out of our “penthouse,” nor have we figured out how to reappropriate our one square-foot fire escape landing as a deck, nor did we didn’t schlep out to Brooklyn where open spaces are less of an anomaly. Nope, we had it right inside our own apartment. Alex made a massive batch of “his” barbeque sauce, I made the baked beans, we slivered some cabbage and tossed it with coleslaw dressing, seared some chicken sausages from Whole Foods (that completely freaked me out because they had black beans, whole ones, inside–ew) and popped open a couple cold ones.
When you’re as barbecue-obsessed as we are, you can’t be limited by your lack of grill and patio. These everywhere-but-nyc standards are just minor setbacks, wee hurdles to overcome. The only thing you really need for an awesome barbecue is good company and failure-free recipes.
These are some of mine:
- Ina Garten’s Barbeque Sauce
- Hot and Smoky Baked Beans
- Tequila Lime Chicken
- Green Onion Slaw
- Deb’s Three-Bean Chili
- Corn Bread with Cheddar, Jalapeño and Green Onions
- Black Bean Confetti Salad
- Salsa Fresca
- Not Your Mama’s Coleslaw
- Pork Riblets (Actually, if you grill these this weekend and don’t invite me over, I don’t know if we can be friends anymore.)
- And whatever you do, don’t forget dessert.
Elsewhere:
- Last summer, we grilled pizza several times and it’s absolutely the best. That charred underside and smoky flavor is the closest thing I’ve made to the brick oven greats, and it’s such a refreshing change from the usual barbecue fare. MattBites breaks down the process splendidly over here.
- I haven’t made Melissa Clark’s version of “fake baked beans” yet (though I’m unsure what’s fake about them), but Luisa’s glorious description of them makes it difficult to hold out much longer, no matter how much I love the hot and smoky variety above.
- A popcorn popper! For the grill!
- Perhaps a holdover from my vegetarian days, there are few things that I think grill up better than vegetables. Kalyn gets zucchini just right over here.
- I made a batch of Ceres and Bacchus’ microwaved potato chips a couple nights ago, with a spritz of olive oil spray, sea salt and a dash of smoked paprika and nearly wept with joy. They might be the only thing to successfully upstage my precious turkey sandwich lunch.
- If you haven’t yet checked out HelenJane’s 31 days of warm weather entertaining tips, you’re probably already kicking yourself. But it’s not too late to catch up on white sangria, barbeque pork on a bun, demystified, burgers with a special song and a secret ingredient, bocce skewers and a dozen others. Somewhere, Martha Stewart must be weeping with creative envy.
I suspect I’ll have more recipes coming as the weekend progresses, but in case we miss each other, have a great holiday!
Your pictures are always SO lovely. All of these recipes make me want to really make my two barbeques this weekend really tasty and escape from the humdrum hamburgers and hot dogs.
I second Ina Garten’s BBQ sauce recipe it is great. I applaud you for having a BBQ inside. I too am doomed to be without patio space in the city, but I always find it too hot on days when I am craving BBQ to do it inside. Maybe I should make it a winter ritual?
I love BBQ! If you haven’t noticed, I tend to follow it around. I’ve lived in North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee (Memphis – home of the dry rub) and, now, Texas. Yeah, it’s a staple that I’m happy to say can be WW friendly. Also, a ton of your recipes for sides are too! One day, I’ll need to ship you some Goode Company’s BBQ and beans. Or Corky’s from Memphis. Or Dreamland’s from Tuscaloosa. Too close to lunch time to be thinking this way.
See you Monday at my Skybar BBQ. We might have some Marines! Yup, you heard correctly, MARINES. OMG What am I going to wear?
Blacked beans in sausages. Weird and freaky! This weekend means baseball games, bar-b-que, and PIE! Hope you have good one!
What a great collection of recipes! I am still learning how to make my husbands and our friends their favorite bbq foods, very different from my home country, and your list really helps!
This reminds me I need to make those pork riblets. Every time you mention them, I make a mental note to try them, but then a forget again, I suck, I shiver when I imagine what I´ll be like in twenty years.
and we thought our “condo” deck was small…..hah! You are very creative with your grilling! Cheers to ya!
Where there’s a will to grill there’s a way, I guess. At least that’s a variation on something my mother always said. The Black Bean Confetti Salad looks like a recipe I must try. And thanks for the mention of my grilled zucchini, something I eat all summer long.
Deb’s already received a gushing email from me about the Green Onion Slaw but I’ll reiterate here:
It IS fail-proof! Everyone at the party loved it, even people who don’t have much of a tolerance for spicy food. The slaw’s red cabbage throws in a festive, colorful touch to any fare so I, too, highly recommend it!! Plus, it’s so darned easy to make!!!
Oh we love grilling here too and your suggestion of recipes are all new ones to us. They sound great!
I love the suggestions and may spend way too much time on HelenJane’s sight trying to catch up with her 31 days. What a great idea!
I found the Black Bean Confetti Salad recipe on your site last week and I made it for a Memorial Day cookout. There was quickly a large crowd of party-goers clustered around the bowl, stuffing their faces. It was a huge hit! I served it as if it were salsa with tortilla chips. Perfect, addictive, delicious! Thank you!!
Readers, because of my dear friend Debbie’s fabulous blog here, I made up a mess of Ina Garten’s BBQ sauce for our friend’s Skybar Cookout on Memorial Day. We brushed chicken pieces with it as we grilled them and they turned out PERFECT. The U.S. Marines wholeheartedly approved. I felt like it was the best way possible to celebrate Memorial Day…they loved your coleslaw and the homemade S’mores too!!
Hi Deb! Delurking to say that I adore your blog and have tried many of your recommendations in the past, all delicious without fail. I was already having visions of the cheddar/jalapeno/green onion cornbread when my husband and I decided to host an impromptu BBQ for some friends. It gave me the perfect excuse to try everything I had my eye on! So we made your cornbread, your baked beans, and some blondies you wrote about a few months ago. Everything was wonderful. Thanks!
Our “Hey, everyone has returned from Up North” (where everyone goes on a MN summer weekend) meal included SmittenKitchen riblets & SmittenKitchen pineapple upside down cake. Both new recipes (to me) and both FABULOUS! Also, I made the homemade oreos last week as teacher gifts – way better than a ceramic apple! Thanks for the inspiration.
Delicious! A question if you wouldn’t mind. Your round bowl with the straight up sides (that has the tomato salad in) Is this oven proof and if so where did you get it from? I’ve been looking for a bowl like that for years but it really needs to be oven proof. Many thanks, Amanda
Hi Amanda — It’s not oven-proof. It’s some sort of crystal from Poland by way of the small boutique store, Crate & Barrel. Heh. Good luck looking.
Thanks! I’ll find one some day! Probably when I’m least expecting it. You can almost guarantee that I’ll then be without my purse…