5 Ingredients or Fewer

When barbecuing chicken outdoors, it is sometimes easy to focus on the main course and forget about the side dishes. Bell pepper bundles are an easy side dish that can be dropped on the cooker right along with the birds. Hobo packs—simple aluminum-foil pouches—are a great way to steam vegetables when cooking outdoors. Any vegetables will work with this type of cooking. This red bell pepper, green cabbage, and sweet onion combination not only packs a delicious flavor punch but makes a beautiful presentation. Serve the vegetables right out of the foil for a more rustic look or arrange them on a serving platter.

Just like barbecue, the art of making something as simple as pound cake is often forgotten as we are always looking to make things better through the sheer volume of ingredients. Sometimes foods don’t need to dazzle to make an impression. Pound cake is best when it acts as a counterbalance to a meal made up of rich flavors. Big Mama’s pound cake supports the “keep it simple, cook it right” approach. How can you go wrong with butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and vanilla? The most important attributes of perfect pound cake are flavor, density, and moisture. Too dense and you sacrifice moisture, too moist and you might as well frost it and break out the candles. Let Big Mama show you how it’s done!

Sometimes, “simple” and “expected” trump “gourmet” and “unusual.” There are many recipes floating around that try to dress up this annual dish. The results are flavors that are foreign to both the meat and the occasion. The most unique thing about this recipe is the technique, which involves wrapping the bird in aluminum foil with a hole cut in the top. This step is beneficial in two ways: First, it helps to trap moisture and increases the humidity in the air around the turkey. Second, the hole in the foil allows in just enough true smoke to flavor the turkey so you don’t run the risk of ruining your feast with the harsh bitter flavor of an oversmoked turkey.

For years Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q customers have wondered why their chicken breasts were sometimes served without a portion of the wing. Usually it’s because at some point during the process of flipping, basting, and moving the whole chickens around, the wing tips get caught in the cooking grate and break off. That being said, Big Bob loved chicken wings. While a skin-on chicken breast with only the drumette of the wing attached was called a “taster” in the early days of the restaurant, in the 1960s, back when commercial airlines still served real meals, they became known as “airline chicken.” Leaving a portion of the wing attached to a small chicken breast made the serving look larger while still allowing it to fit nicely into an airline food tray. The airline chicken breast is a perfect cut for the outdoor grill if cooked correctly. The best method is a combination of both direct and indirect cooking. With a portion of the wing removed, the skin covering the breast is exposed so it can become thin and crispy while acting as a protective barrier to the lean meat. Finishing the chicken in a pan over indirect heat protects the exposed breast meat.

This is one of the most popular menu items at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q and has been a staple in Decatur, Alabama, since Big Bob first started selling his ’Q in 1925. Most folks raised in North Alabama have firmly believed since childhood that barbecue sauce is white. Where did the rest of the country go wrong? The simple technique for cooking the chickens has not changed for more than eighty years, and the ingredients can be listed on one hand: salt, pepper, basting oil, and, of course, that creamy, tangy, peppery white sauce. An all-hickory fire on a closed brick pit is the only other necessity for duplicating the authentic Big Bob flavors. The type of oil used for basting has changed through the years. Big Bob used whatever oil was most easily available to baste the chickens as they cooked, including rendered lard. Excess fat was cut off the pork shoulders and heated in a pot until the lard liquefied. The rendered lard was stored in metal “lard buckets” until needed. No matter what type of oil is used, the chickens still taste fantastic.

Burnt ends are the charred end pieces and flavorful crumbles that are left in the pooled juices and drippings after a beef brisket has been sliced. I consider them the most flavorful part of the brisket. Usually it’s the early bird who gets the worm, but in the case of brisket, it is the last person in line who gets to scrape the cutting board. Burnt ends have become so popular that people have come up with ways to make more of these flavorful brisket bits.

Sautéed on the stovetop or baked in the oven, these cinnamony apples add a sweet note to any meal. If you’re already baking something for dinner, pop some apples into the oven too, and if the oven temperature is hotter or cooler, don’t worry —just adjust the baking time.

Canned chipotle peppers add smoky, spicy heat.

Mild and mellow garlic flavor.

Whip up one of these pretty pastel shakes for a casual dessert or any time you finish supper wishing you had made dessert. We suggest Chai Shake after a curry, Vanilla Rum Milkshake after West Indian Red Beans & Coconut Rice (page 69), Pineapple Ginger Shake after Asian Braised Fish with Greens (page 160)—you get the picture.

Whip up one of these pretty pastel shakes for a casual dessert or any time you finish supper wishing you had made dessert. We suggest Chai Shake after a curry, Vanilla Rum Milkshake after West Indian Red Beans & Coconut Rice (page 69), Pineapple Ginger Shake after Asian Braised Fish with Greens (page 160)—you get the picture.

The bright flavor of ginger, especially good with seafood.

Fresh herb flavor any time of year. Delicious with just one herb, or mix and match.

An Italian classic, fragrant with lemon.

Whip up one of these pretty pastel shakes for a casual dessert or any time you finish supper wishing you had made dessert. We suggest Chai Shake after a curry, Vanilla Rum Milkshake after West Indian Red Beans & Coconut Rice (page 69), Pineapple Ginger Shake after Asian Braised Fish with Greens (page 160)—you get the picture.

This twilight-blue sweet-tart sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Made in a food processor, it’s thicker than when made in the blender.