Since I've been writing a lot of barbecue recipes for the weekend, I did a little bit of research on the history of BBQ. And there's a lot of stuff out there!

A lot of folks are concerned about their health and the safety of smoke and eating food with smoke in it. If you have concerns you should really check out BBQ Myth Busters. It's an educational read. Make sure you also check out How to BBQ section also to get some tips and pointers.

While I was reading about the history of BBQ I read about Pig Pickin'. I didn't know much about it before. But apparently Pig Pickin' is almost like a ritual down south. BBQ became popular because people used to hunt wild hogs and BBQ the whole hog and invite neighbors and friends for a big celebration. It's still really popular in the Carolinas. Check out What's Cooking America to read and get recipes on Pig Pickin'.

I didn't find a video on barbecuing the whole hog but I did find a video on Smoked Barbecue Pork Ribs -- I'm thinking small here because I don't think I can handle a whole hog.


VideoJug: How To Make Smoked Barbecue Pork Ribs
The interesting thing about this video is that it's cooking with beer. You can also check out my post on Cooking With Beer. Whatever you do, make sure you have fun this weekend. And don't forget to invite others! Here's an ecard you can send so people come to relish your great BBQs!



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Some people think that vegetarians won't be able to enjoy barbeque since it's a traditionally an all meat affair. But that's wrong because there's plenty of veggies that you can grill and they'll taste just as good. And I'm not talking just the regular veggie burgers. There's plenty of other stuff.

To get started on your vegetarian barbeque journey, the best place is to start at Veggo BBQ brought to you by our friends from down under! Check out Veg Kitchen's vegetarian barbeque section too.

Here's a great Mediterranean barbeque recipe. Something somewhat exotic for a change that you might want to try out.


VideoJug: How To Make BBQ Vegetable Antipasti


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Labor Day BBQs are known for beer and the delicious hot dogs, buffalo wings and hamburgers. So why not have your beer and eat it too???

Say what?

Yes, that's right! We're cooking with beer on Cyber Holidays today. I really didn't know about it until I read a story on NPR - Cheers to Cooking with Beer. Apparently it's a traditional way of cooking in some parts of the world, whereas I only thought of wine to cook with. So this labor day I'm taking it upon myself to educate me on how to cook with beer. (YUMMY!) Here's a recipe you can use for your hamburgers it serves four.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs. ground beef (1/4 lbs. per burger)
• 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoisin_sauce)
• 3 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons onion, minced
• 1/2 cup of Stout Beer (You can use Guinness Stout or Sam Adams Cream Stout)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
• 4 hamburger rolls - toasted or lightly grilled
• 12 cucumber slices - thinly sliced
• 4 leaves of lettuce

Directions:
1. Prepare the grill. (If you're using a charcoal grill, light it 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to cook and wait until the charcoal has turned white. Make sure there are no more flames. If you are using a gas grill, turn to high and leave it for 20 minutes to heat up.)
2. Knead together the ground beef, hoisin sauce, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Form into 4 patties.
3. Make the sauce:

• Use a small saucepan to warm sesame oil over a low heat.
• Put the minced garlic and onion pieces and stir.
• You'd be able to smell the aromas (should be about 2 minutes).
• Put 3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce, soy sauce and the beer and stir
• Dissolve the cornstarch in rice wine vinegar in a small bowl. Then stir the mixture into the beer sauce.
• Increase the heat to medium to bring the sauce to a simmer.
• After it bubbles for about 2 minutes it should become thick. Set it aside until the burgers are ready.

4. Grill the burgers as you desire.
5. Place them on the rolls and brush with the sauce - top with cucumbers and lettuce leaves. Serve!

You can also serve the rest of the sauce on the side if you want. If you're going to a park and grilling it, I suggest you do the sauce first. Or if you're going to grill ready made patties you can just do the sauce and use it. I'm sure they'd taste better than bottled ready made BBQ sauce!

For more tips and recipes on cooking with beer you can check out National Beer Wholesalers Association's Cooking Tips with Beer, Jim Curtis's Page, and Beer Cook's Brown Ale Brined Chicken Wings -- sounds 'finger lickin' good'!



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Labels: BBQ, Labor Day