Invitation to a BBQ

Last week I walked you through hosting the perfect summer BBQ.  Today I thought it would be fun to give you some ideas on what to bring if someone invites you to their summer BBQ.  Because here's the deal, if you get an invite to someone's house, chances are they have spent a lot of time and money on food, cleaned their house, mowed their lawn, and threatened their minis to be on their best behavior....all so that you can have a great time at their house.  So you best not be showing up with a bag of chips and a jar of salsa.


Last week my sister brought these antipasto kabobs to our BBQ.  Now, my sister always claims to be a terrible cook, but since this is the 3rd recipe of hers I have blogged about, we all know otherwise.  She just likes to use that excuse because she'd rather be shopping than cooking.  And I can totally respect that.


*sidenote* I realized these have processed foods in them.  The McGhee's devoured them anyway.  It would be rude not to.


Sister McGhee's AntiPasto Kabobs

• 1  9 oz package of Three Cheese Tortellini ,(like Buitoni )cooked to package directions
• 1 can Medium or Large pitted Black Olives
• 1 5.75 oz jar Green Olives
• 2 12 oz containers of marinated mozzarella balls
• 30 slices of Salami, cut in half (I recommend Boar's Head, or a local organic)
• 60 pieces of pepperoni (again, Boar's Head, or a local organic)
• 1 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing (store bought or homemade), 

1.  Place the cooked tortellini in a bowl or large gallon freeze bag. Pour the salad dressing over the top and marinade in the fridge for a few hours.

2.  Drain the pasta.

3.  Place each item onto the skewer using the pointy side.

4.  Can be made a few hours ahead and placed in the refrigerator covered.

These babies lasted maybe 5 minutes at our BBQ.  So, make a lot, at least 3-4 per person.  My minis loved them.  

I am not sure if you guys know this, but I am famous.  Seriously, in my circle of friends, I am totally famous for my guacamole.  And I have debated sharing this recipe with you because of several reasons.  1.  My fame will diminish.  2.  I don't actually follow a recipe and I make it a different way each time.  3.  Everyone will see how ridiculously easy it is to make my famous guacamole and I will lose all credibility that I have.  

But, then I realized....you may now know my guacamole recipe.  But you will never be able to outdo me when it comes to guacamole presentation.  

Heids McGhee's Famous (better to be famous than infamous) Guacamole

• 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

1.  Mash avocado.  

2.  Add lime, salt, onion, cilantro, tomato and garlic.

3.  Taste.  Add more of what you think is missing.  (I find that popping open a Corona helps with this step).

Now, if you think the skewers and guacamole seem like too much work, then I do have a simpler, less time-consuming idea for you to bring to your friends' BBQ.  This is something you can bring to your friends' fancy schmancy dinner party too.  It's called cheese and fig spread.

Fig Spread is fancy jelly.  Most fancy people love fig spread.  Some unfancy people like myself love it as well.  Go to your grocery store or market and buy several kinds of cheese.  Now, you're going to have to spend some money on the cheese because fig spread does not go well with Cheez Whiz.  I always buy an aged goat cheese, an italian cheese (like an aged parmesan), and a striped monterey jack cheese.  Serve with baguettes.  Be fancy.  But know that the fun people are eating antipasto skewers and guacamole out of a puking Jack O' Lantern.  

Super Bowl!

WOOT WOOT!  Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and you know what that means.....MADONNA!!!!  I personally feel like this is Madge's last chance to prove she can do Madonna better than Gaga can do Madonna.  Tomorrow, like everyone else in America, I will be cooking up some snacks for the day.  Here's my line-up (haha, get it line-up).....

I found blue tortilla chips at Trader Joes that only have 5 ingredients, and even though I consider them 100% junk food, I am serving them tomorrow with guacamole and salsa.  I loosely follow this recipe when making guacamole, but I am a big fan of tasting as I go and adding what I think is needed.

• 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

If you don't want to make homemade salsa, look around in the deli section of your grocery store.  I found a salsa at Costco that is 100% fresh ingredients and nothing else added.  So, I cheated and bought some.  However, I LOVE making my own salsa.  It's simple....tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, lime juice, salt.  Mix, blend, taste and tweak.

I am serving veggies (cucumber, carrots, celery, and yellow grape tomatoes) with hummus. 

1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, half the liquid reserved

1 clove garlic

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons tahini

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a blender, chop the garlic. Pour garbanzo beans into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish. Place lemon juice, tahini, chopped garlic and salt in blender. Blend until creamy and well mixed.
2. Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and pour olive oil over the top. Garnish with reserved garbanzo beans.

My favorite appetizer is stuffed mini sweet peppers.  I will make stuffing tonight, I find that they are better that way.

• 15-20 mini sweet peppers
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup goat cheese (you can substitute mozzerella, but I don't know why you would want to)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp diced sundried tomatoes
• salt and pepper

1.  Cut the tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds.
2.  In a bowl, mix cream cheese and goat cheese.
3.  Add garlic, basil, sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper.
4.  Using a small spoon, fill the mini pepper with the mixture.
5.  OPTIONAL:  bake/broil for 5-10 minutes until pepper is soft

And, Mr. McGhee's absolute favorite bacon wrapped jalapenos.

20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size

2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened

1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

1.  Put on latex gloves.
2.  Split jalapenos in half-lengthwise. 
3.  Remove seeds and little white membrane. 
4.  Smear cream cheese into pepper.
5.  Wrap with a piece of bacon.
6.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

No pictures right now, I will update tomorrow!  Enjoy the halftime show game.

Mexican Challenge

I got an email from a reader asking me if I take requests.  Well, sure I do!  Her email read something like this, "Heids McGhee, my family's favorite dinner is tacos and beans.  Can you walk me through how to make this dinner from scratch?  Thanks so much!"  I interpreted her email as this, "Heids McGhee, I have a challenge for you.  Iron Chef style.  Tacos and beans."  Well, I dove into this challenge the way I do everything, head-first with my eyes closed.

I got a crockpot refried bean recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
• 9 cups of water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.               

*sidenote* In our family, some like mashed, some don't.  So, I only mashed half the batch.  Everyone wins.

Now, tacos are easy!  Remember these tortillas?  If not, here's a picture to refresh your memory. 

Or, if you want to get really crazy, you can do what I do...use a huge lettuce leaf as your tortilla shell. 

You can fill your tacos with whatever you chose.  Mr. McGhee and I are going to use leftover italian beef, but the minis prefer ground beef.  If you want to get a little crazy, you can add some cooked quinoa to your ground beef.  Tonight was not a crazy night in our house.  Ground beef, straight up, with these taco seasonings.

• tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

1.  In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.                
2.  When ground beef is done cooking, add spices (use amount that suits your preference).

And, if you're one of those people that catches on quickly, you're probably thinking, "hey, I should make a large batch of that and store it in an airtight container".  Brilliant!

Once you have your meat on your taco/lettuce shell, add whichever toppings you choose....cheese, lettuce, tomato, green bell peppers, black olives, and guacamole.  "Guacamole?!?!" you say.  I get requests from people to bring my guac to parties.  And, I totally planned on sharing the recipe with you, except I don't follow a recipe.  I add ingredients and taste test as I go.  Here's what you need.

• Avocados, mashed with a fork....DO NOT puree or overmash
• tomato, diced
• fresh squeezed lime juice
• fresh cilantro
• salt

After your avocados are mashed add in your tomato.  Add lime juice, cilantro, and salt as suits your taste buds.

This meal was a HIT tonight.  The pickiest kids in America McGhee minis loved it!

So there you have it!  My first challenge from a reader successfully accomplished.  Easy peasy.  What's next?  Give me another dinner, I'm up for the challenge!