There is something about making a salsa in a molcajete that makes it taste better. I swear that something magical happens when you crush chiles between two pieces of stone that no blender will ever replicate. We like to bust out the molcajete to make a salsa as regularly as we can to remind us of this magic and continue this ancient tradition with my children.
This Food IQ recipe for ribs in the oven, the Rodbard way, comes from Matt Rodbard's mom, Cheryl. With the absence of a smoker, the oven is the next best bet for preparing moist, succulent ribs. These ribs utilize a dry rub that adds flavor to the meat before a low-and-slow steam roast, thanks to plastic wrap, that gets the meat to fall-off-the-bone status. This recipe calls for the use of your favorite barbecue sauce, be it homemade or a bottle pulled from the grocery store shelf. Bulls-Eye is the Rodbard family favorite.
When you cook a turkey on the pit the way we do, you don’t end up with a pretty, gold bird like the ones you see on the covers of the Thanksgiving issues of all the food magazines, But I don’t think most of those pretty birds taste as good as the one that’s been smoked on the pit or grill and seasoned the way we do. Spatchcocking the turkey allows us to cook it more evenly and get seasoning throughout the bird. You be the judge.
Kebabs
This is a summer essential: sticky, crispy barbecued chicken that comes together in less than 20 minutes. An ideal lazy-man’s recipe, here’s a technique that puts to rest once and for all the ornery side of grilling cutup chicken: one piece is raw at the center while another piece is turning to cinders. Instead, oven-roast the chicken ahead, so when it hits the grill all it needs is warming and anointing with a good BBQ sauce. While any will do, we recommend you give our Sweet-Tart BBQ Sauce a try. It is well worth the additional effort. Serve this chicken with Tijuana Cole Slaw and a pile of napkins.
Once you have tasted a homemade version of classic American BBQ sauce, you will never go back. Most BBQ sauces are essentially a simmered tomato sauce, redolent with spices and vinegar and given the sticky lip-smacking addition of something sweet. A small amount of prep brings this sauce together in a snap. Riff off it however you please. Maybe you’ll end up bottling your own.