When my father was visiting he discovered a grill in a pile of trash in my backyard. Except for the fact that the grill was poorly assembled, and therefore wobbles, it works great. After being cleaned with a grill brush and a roaring fire it was ready for its BBQ debut.
One of the best parts of working in a restaurant is that almost everyone working there loves food. We talk about food constantly and share it occasionally. Because we spend all of our time in the kitchen serving the people, throwing parties is natural. My manager, Nicole, is a young and talented culinary school grad and my favorite cooking partner. With similar tastes, style, and speed, cooking with her is like dancing. Kylie, a co-worker and friend, is also becoming a sommelier and is my favorite drinking buddy. Possessing an impressive tolerance for tequila, Kylie could probably drink me under the table. Her bubbly personality, approachability, and sensitive palate will make her a fine sommelier. This is my dream team.
Attending the BBQ were more work-friends and fellow service professionals from the market across the street from our cafe. It was great fun.
Honey Chipotle Whiskey BBQ Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup honey
few shots whiskey
four chipotle peppers in adobo, diced
1 tbs adobo sauce
1 garlic clove
1/2 red onion
few tbs white vinegar
chili powder
canola oil
salt & pepper
Preparation: saute onion and garlic with oil in a medium-sized pot and cook until tender. Add chipotles and adobo. Add everything else and cook over medium-low heat for about 2o minutes. You just want all the flavors to come together and for it to be a thick and sticky consistency. Puree with blender, food processor, or immersion blender. If you don’t have a way to blend the sauce then I guess you could use onion and garlic powder.
Coconut Milk Ice Cream
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
Preparation: heat the milk, cream, coconut milk, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar. Whisk egg yolks. Slowly add the heated milk mixture to the egg yolks, beating constantly. Put mixture back into the pot over medium-low heat and add sugar. Cook until it coats the back of a spoon. Add extract. Chill in ice bath and run it through the magical ice cream machine.
Note: this is not a sweet ice cream so feel free to increase the sugar.
Grilled Pineapple
pineapple, cut into chunks
brown sugar
Preparation: coat pineapple in brown sugar. Skewer and grill. Serve with ice cream.
Kylie was instrumental in preparing the fire.
My beautiful sous chef of the evening, Nicole.
New and exciting product- solo cups that you can scratch your name onto!