Barbecues are the best thing about summer cooking.
Stoking the grill and prepping food, while enjoying the great outdoors brings our appreciation for food and fire another level higher.
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| Grilled Pinapple |
We started our event by moving indoors! A tremendous thunderstorm rushed through the valley at the precise moment our BBQ began. With the Local 1000 Union Hall as an inclement weather standby, we had the comfort of cool air and dry hair, while our food cooked on the grill outside in the rain.
Grilled Pineapple was a fun and easy recipe to start the event. It cooked quickly and excited the crew. “Ooh! I’ve never tried grilling fruit before,” said several participants. The recipe is vegan and very yummy, but we skipped the coconut milk and went right for the whipped cream from the can. Sometimes shortcuts are necessary.
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| “Baked” Potato Bar |
Speaking of shortcuts…
We had a “Baked” Potato Bar, but they were really boiled salt potatoes, following the bag instructions and provided a row of yummy toppings to smother the tubers.
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| Vegan Satay Skewers |
There were a few vegetarians who signed up for this program, so I decided to attempt some unusual BBQ fair for all to try. The recipe I sourced needed translation, but was easy to accomplish. Vegan Satay Skewers are delicious, especially when you follow the dip recipe precisely. Along with vegetarian needs, I also balance nut allergies, so the peanut butter required for the skewer sauce was replaced with sunflower butter.
That sauce was an EPIC FAIL!
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| Blueberry Chia Pudding |
Sticking to the vegan fare, I sourced a recipe for Blueberry Chia Pudding. I mentioned how chia seeds are a super food and the hot food item at the moment. Seeing a bag of black seeds did not impress my group. When I teased that chia seeds are the same product used on Chia Pets, the group was less enthused to taste test this recipe. “So, you’re basically giving us grass seed to eat,” was the resounding sentiment. Despite hesitation, the team that made this pudding took it seriously and several students truly enjoyed the unusual texture. No left overs always proves a recipe’s success.
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| Mexican Street Corn |
The last menu item was Mexican Street Corn. This was a top favorite along with the potatoes. Spicy tang and creamy spread made these cobs major menu competitors.
Corn cooks quickly and the topping was a simple addition to move this grain from
corny to crazy cool!
Despite rain, we had fun in our indoor picnic/ barbecue. We were busy as usual, but left with a little more cooking knowledge than when we started. That is the goal.
Extra special THANKS goes to Wegmans Food Market in Corning for their generous gift card donation, which helped purchase all of the food used in this program.
Teen Cooking Club will be on hiatus until October. This seems like forever away, but the cool weather creeps in quickly in Upstate New York, school starts soon and foliage will be falling before you can say Autumn.
Thanks for visiting!
~erica