July 4th BBQ: What's on Your Grill?

The 4th of July is a great time to get out and barbecue your favorite foods. So get creative and celebrate the holiday weekend with these delicious grilled dishes. 

Barbeque Ribs:  To barbecue means to slow-cook meat at a low temperature for a long time over wood or charcoal. In America, barbecue (or BBQ) originated in the late 1800's during Western cattle drives. 

Blue Cheese Burgers make an easy July 4 treat.  The good thing is this recipe requires only minutes to prepare.  I was craving something different, something unique, I finally found it when a co-worker described a way of making burgers with crunched up potato chips, I was all ears. The chips are supposed to keep the meat moist when it cooks.  I only had salt and vinegar chips on hand.  Believe it or not the burgers were fantastic, and the flavor was incredible. Burger lovers will love these burgers.

Hot Rodster Dog dresses up your hot dogs for the kids with this creative and cool theme.  This recipe is an adaptation of a Kraft Food recipe.  I asked people at work what their Top 3 grilled foods were, and all said hot dogs.  The kids will love these.

Baked Beans are believed to be based on a Native American dish in which beans were cooked with fat and maple syrup. European settlers are thought to have adapted the recipe using pork and molasses.  I'm going to share my friend Annette’s recipe and it is my all time favorite baked beans recipe.  Hopefully it will become your favorite recipe as well.

Barbeque Ribs                                                   

Ingredients

• 4 pounds pork baby back ribs, cut into serving-size pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons each salt, pepper, chili powder and ground cumin

Barbeque Sauce

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

Par boil ribs for 30 minutes. Rub ribs with garlic. Combine ribs and soy sauce in a bowl and marinate for 40 minutes.

In a small saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside 3/4 cup. Brush ribs with some of the remaining sauce.  Grill, covered, over medium heat for 12 minutes, turning and basting with sauce. Serve with reserved sauce. Great served with corn on the cob.

Blue Cheese Burgers                                    

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or ground chuck (96% lean)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Potato chips, crunched into very small pieces (1/8 cup per burger)
• 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese (reduced-fat)
• 4 leaves romaine lettuce
• 2 tomotoes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 soft rolls, split
  
  

Preparation

In a medium bowl, mash together ground beef, pepper (to taste) and garlic. Divide ground beef into 4 equal portions and mix chips into each patty. Cook on hot grill to desired doneness, add cheese.  Grilled veggies or baked beans make excellent sides.  Add bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles to your burger and enjoy.

 Hot Rodster Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 bun length Beef hot dog
• 1 hot dog bun
• 2 pretzel sticks
• 4 Bread’N Butter Pickle Chips
• 2 teaspoon ketchup, optional
• 1 teaspoon mustard, optional

 Preparation

Grill hot dogs to desired doneness.  Place hot dog in bun.  Gently insert 1 pretzel stick, 1 inch from each end of bun, through both bun and hot dog for each tire axle, leaving both ends of each pretzel exposed.  Attach pickles to the ends for the wheels.  Use ketchup and mustard to add racing stripes.

Crowd-Pleasing Grilling Sides

Famous Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 2 cans (28 oz) Bush's Vegetarian baked beans
• 4  tablespoons molasses
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoon mustard (any type)
• 2 medium onions, chopped

 Preparation

Mix all ingredients. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees.  Cook at 350 in oven for 1 hr. Cover for first 1/2 hour, and than uncover for second1/2 hour.  Cook in small deep pan to keep moist.