Just a Note About The BBQ Throw Down Sides

Along with the BBQ ribs that I prepared for the Throw Down, my friends and I enjoyed some tasty sides that are traditional favorites with ribs. (See yesterday's post!)

Now I started cooking when I was 9 and pretty much learned the method of a little of this, a dab of that and a handful of this over here. I prepared the sides that went with the ribs pretty much the same way and you can too.

Get your base item and figure out how much you want. For example, if it is potato salad, first figure out how many potatoes you would want per person. If it is coleslaw, cut up enough cabbage for each serving you are planning. Then put in the other ingredients to personal taste. Take a little sample of the dish as you go along being careful not to double dip. No one likes a double dipper.

Here are the ingredients and seasonings for the sides:

Potato Salad: Boiled red new potatoes. Boil with the jackets on, chill and cut up. Then add: mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, celery, sweet relish, dijon mustard, celery seed, salt and pepper.

Coleslaw: Shred some green cabbage. Then add: chopped napa cabbage, chopped dill pickles, chopped pickled pepper slices , honey, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.

Ranch-style Black Beans: I used canned black beans. Then add: brown sugar, chopped onions, bacon slices, powdered mustard, ketchup and pepper sauce.

We also enjoyed fresh baked gluten-free Buttermilk Biscuits. Since these had not been tried out on my non-gluten-free friends, I was curious to see what they thought. The guests were packing up extra biscuits to take home, I am guessing they turned out just fine. The recipe I used for the biscuits can be found in the Culinary Institute of America's gluten-free cookbook.

To top off the menu were my attempt at gluten-free Fried Apple Pies. They worked and didn't taste all that bad, but they just are not there yet. When I get them a little closer to the real thing, I will be sure to let everyone know. That is one thing I have yet to find in the world of gluten-free...fried pies.

A Virtual Throw Down Is A Brewin'

So here I am, a 50 year old woman on Twitter (okay, that is NOT me in the pic.) I was told it was one of the places I needed to be since I was laid off from my job. I have found it is like being sucked slowly down by quicksand. Everytime I move there is something else grabbing me.

Then came the announcement from one of my fellow tweets, @LifeByChocolate, that he and some of his tweets were going to have the very first annual Virtual Throw Down (minus Mr. Flay...sorry Bobby.) I tried to resist, but there was something said about barbecue ribs. So I moved and twitched in my chair. And I got sucked right down a little more into the land of Twitterers.

Barbecue, you see, has been in my life since I can remember. My grandfather, Walter Jetton, or Grandy as I called him, was well known in Texas for some pretty good ribs. He cooked for the likes of Lyndon B. Johnson, Eisenhower, Jim Nabors (aka Gomer Pyle) and Steve Allen. He had an old chuck wagon that he carted around and set up to make it look like he was using it to cook from.

What I remember though is the rib he would stick in my mouth as a kid when I walked into his office at Jetton's Cafeteria in Fort Worth, TX. He would be trying a new recipe and knew that I, at the ripe old age of 5, would tell him the truth without even understanding the possibility of hurting his feelings. He also kept silver dollars in his desk and he would slip me one as my treat. If only Mom hadn't put those in the bank....

I was 8 when Grandy passed so I don't have years of memories, but what I do have are many, many memories of his love of people and of food. He served on the city council, gave to local charities and was an active church member. I don't think he ever met a person that he didn't like.

So here I go, venturing into territory that he never imagined but one, I am sure, he would have whole heartedly approved. I will take his recipes and add some modern twists of my own creation. And, of course, they will be gluten free. The biggest challenge will be coming up with a fried apple pie that is gf and that he would approve of.

If you want to join in with your own rib fixn' or fried chicken, you can find the rules here: http://lifebychocolates.blogspot.com/2009/06/virtual-throw-down-twitter-and-blog.html

Guess I better get to workin' on it. Happy eating, ya'll!

Grandy - I hope to do you proud! :)