There are two ways that you can cook corn on the cob on your grill – with the husks or wrapped in foil.  Whichever way you cook your corn, make sure you buy the freshest ears you can find for grilling.  Yellow, white or yellow-white corn is excellent for cooking on the grill.  I like the Zesty Original BBQ sauce in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 fresh ears of corn (with husks)
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Original or Zesty Original)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions
Combine butter, cream cheese, and Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce.  Turn back husks of corn, but do not remove.  Remove and discard the silk.  Rinse corn and soak in cold water for 25-30 minutes.  Remove the corn from the water and pat dry.  Spread the butter, cream cheese and BBQ sauce mixture over each ear of corn.  Carefully fold husks back around the cobs and tie the top with a string.  Place corn on your grill (medium heat) for 20-30 minutes or until corn is tender.  Remove from the heat, peel back the husks and salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe is a great way to cook a whole chicken.  Make sure you use a beer that tastes good to you and experiment with your dry rubs.  There are several varieties of dry rubs that are available in your local markets, but it is very easy to make your own.  Prior to placing the chicken on the grill it is important that you thoroughly rub you mixture onto the chicken, inside and out.

Ingredients

Rub:  Combine all ingredients in a bowl

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt or fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds
• Vegetable oil
• 1 can of your favorite beer (16 ounces)
• Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Original or Zesty Original)

Directions
Remove and discard the neck, giblets, and trim off any excess fat from the chicken. Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly spray or brush the chicken with the vegetable oil and season, inside and out, with the rub.

Open the beer can and pour half of it into a mug (this half is for the chef) and leave the other half in the can. Set the half-full can on a flat surface, such as a pie pan, and slide the chicken over the top so the can fits inside the cavity.  Cover the leg bone ends with aluminum foil to prevent them from burning.  Transfer the bird to the grill, keeping the can upright. Carefully balance the bird on its two legs and the can – leave the pie pan under the bird to catch the juices. Grill over an Indirect Medium heat until the juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches 170°F in the breast and 180°F in the thickest part of the thigh, approximately 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours.

If you have ever tried to BBQ chicken, you soon discovered how easy it was to overcook.  Often time’s the backyard cook will use too high a heat to cook their chicken – DO NOT RUSH!

Ingredients

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Original or Zesty Original)
• Salt and pepper

A great side dish to any BBQ or make it for a great side dish for any meal.

Ingredients

• 5 cups cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded (approx 1 head – you can mix green and red cabbage)
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup of Original BBQ Sauce (use the Zesty Original BBQ sauce if you want your coleslaw to have a little kick)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sugar or Splenda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice or lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Optional: 1/2 of a green or red sweet pepper, finely chopped

Directions
In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage, carrots and optional sweet pepper.

For the dressing, combine the remaining ingredients.

Add dressing to cabbage mixture, stirring well. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Makes 6 to 8 side-dish servings.

Prep: 15 minutes

You can make baked beans from scratch or you can use pre-cooked beans.  If you make your beans from scratch, you will have to soak them overnight or bring them to a boil and let them sit for an hour.  Either way you will end up with some pretty good beans.  I like to use the Zesty Original BBQ sauce in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 32 ounce can of Pork and Beans (drain off a little bit of the sauce)
• 1 16 ounce can of red kidney beans or navy beans, drained
• 1 32 ounce can of Baked beans
• 1 whole Polska Kielbasa Sausage cut into small slices (optional)
• 5 slices of cooked bacon (cooked crisp and broken into pieces)
• 1/2 cup of chopped onion
• 1 small bell pepper, diced (optional)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Original or Zesty Original)
• 1 tablespoon mustard

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or cook in crock-pot on high for 4 to 5 hours.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs skinless, boneless salmon (can be roughly chopped or placed in a food processor)
• 4 slices red onion
• 4 slices tomato
• 4 to 8 slices cooked bacon (optional)
• 1/2 stick of cream cheese, softened (to soften – leave it out of your refrigerator)
• 1/4 cup of Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Original or Zesty)
• 4 slices of smoked Gouda cheese (or your favorite type)
• 4 hamburger buns
• Lettuce
• Mayo
• Salt
• Pepper
• Canola Oil (use this if you are going to cook the burgers in a pan, otherwise brush a little on your grill or on the patties to prevent them from sticking to your grill)

Directions
Mix the cream cheese and BBQ sauce until well combined and add to salmon or place all items into a food processor or blender and pulse for 10-15 seconds until coarsely ground (do not blend).  Mold the salmon mixture into patties and salt and pepper.  Place the patties onto a piece of waxed paper and place in refrigerator for 5 minutes.  Heat and prepare your grill by brushing the grates with vegetable oil and wipe off any excess oil.  Place the burgers onto your grill (medium to medium low heat) and cook for 3-4 minutes on one side, flip over and continue grilling for 3-4 minutes until desired doneness (grilling times are estimations only).  Remove the patties from the grill, place them into a container, brush them with some more BBQ sauce and cover (allow the patties to rest for 5-10 minutes in covered container).  Place rolls onto the grill and toast lightly.  Once the rolls are toasted, assemble burgers with cheese, onion, bacon and garnish with tomato, lettuce and mayo.

If you are going to cook the burgers in a pan, add canola oil to the pan and heat.  When oil is heated, place the patties into the oil and cook for 3-5 minutes each side or until they are a golden brown.  Remove from pan, brush on some more BBQ sauce, place burgers onto the buns and garnish.

This simple recipe tastes great.  Pork Loin is a dense cut of meat so it has to marinade a bit longer than other meats.

Ingredients:

• 4 lb. boneless pork loin, tied
• Richie’s Tropical Kitchen Spicy Marinade

Directions:
Rinse pork loin, pat dry and place in a sealable container (plastic container or sealable plastic bag).  Pour Richie’s Tropical Kitchen Spicy Marinade over the pork loin; cover and marinate 2 hours or more in the refrigerator, turning the meat occasionally.

TO GRILL: Prepare grill for indirect cooking. Place loin on grill 6 to 8 inches above low coals. Grill 1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning every 15 minutes until meat thermometer reaches 155ºF (approximately 1 hour).  Remove from heat and let it stand for 10-15 minutes.  The pork loin will continue to cook to an internal temperature of 160ºF.

TO ROAST: Brown in olive oil. Roast in oven at 350ºF approximately 1 hour or until meat thermometer reaches 155ºF.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.  The pork loin will continue to cook to an internal temperature of 160ºF.

To serve, cut in thin slices. Serve with applesauce, hot mustard, gravy or Horseradish sauce (see quick recipe below), if desired.

HORSERADISH SAUCE 

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
• 1 tbsp. sugar (optional – taste first)
• 2-3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Soften the cream cheese. Blend in sugar, horseradish, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Fold in whipping cream.  Some of your favorite mustard can be added to this to make a Mustard/Horseradish sauce.

This recipe works best if you use ground sirloin and ground chuck.  If you cannot find ground sirloin or ground chuck, you can use regular ground beef.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1 pound ground chuck
• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion (optional)
• 1/2 cup of Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce (Zesty Original or Original)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 6 soft hamburger buns, split (Kaiser Rolls work best)
• 6 tomato slices
• 6-12 avocado slices (season with salt and pepper)
• Lettuce
• Mayo
• 6-12 slices of cooked bacon (optional)
• 6 slices of Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack (or your favorite cheese)
• Canola or Vegetable oil, for brushing onto grill rack

Directions
Combine ground beef, onion and Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce into a large bowl and mix gently (add more BBQ sauce if it is dry).  Shape beef mixture into 6 patties and season with salt and pepper.  Brush grill rack with oil and place patties on the grill rack (medium to medium low heat), cook for approximately 4 to 8 minutes.  Turn and continue cooking until desired doneness.  Take patties off the grill and place in a container that has a lid.  Brush hamburger patties with some more BBQ sauce and cover (allow the patties to rest for 5-10 minutes in covered container – if you want to melt the cheese on top of the patties, you can place the cheese on them now). 

Trim off the excess fat.

Depending on the thickness of the meat I usually butterfly the meat so it cooks evenly and gets more of the marinade in the fibers of the meat

Salt and Pepper the Tri-Tip (lightly)

Place the Tri-Tip in a container.  I use one with a lid so I can shake it around every few hours.

Add 1/2 bottle of “Wish Bone” Italian dressing and 1/4 bottle of Richie’s Zesty Original BBQ Sauce.

Lift the meat up to make sure the marinade coats the underside.

Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least a few hours (overnight is better).

Fire up your BBQ or gas grill and get it hot.

Put some oil (vegetable oil or similar oil) on the grates of your grill using a paper towel and wipe off the excess (this keeps any type of meat from sticking to your grill)

Make sure you have a medium heat and place the Tri-Tip on the grill and close the cover.

Let the meat cook slowly – do not rush it!

You can brush some BBQ sauce on the meat as you turn it but the BBQ sauce will get black due to the sugars in the sauce (I don’t mind it but some people don’t like the way it looks)

After the Tri-Tip is cooked to your preference (usually Tri-Tip is cooked to medium rare), take it off the grill and place it into a container that has a lid.

Coat both sides of the meat with BBQ sauce and seal up the container.

Let the meat sit in the container for at least 10 minutes (it will stay warm due to the steam) – this allows the juices to stay in the meat.  If you cut it right away, most of the juice runs out.

After 10 minutes has passed, cut the meat (against the grain) and serve with more BBQ sauce

Enjoy!

Use the Spicy Marinade on Pork Loin, Beef, Chicken, Shrimp, Fish – the average person likes the taste after it marinades for 5 minutes (10-15 if you want it more spicy).  Pork needs to marinade a bit longer because it is a dense cut of meat.  You can marinade Tri-tip, Beef Brisket or any other meat without having to cut it up.

Put some salt and pepper on your shrimp and cook in a pan (with a little bit of Butter/Oil and garlic)

When the shrimp is almost done, add 1 or 2 cups of cream or half and half.

Add the desired amount of BBQ sauce (taste it) and a small piece of butter

Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes

Use the Firm Tofu and put it in a container (with a lid).

Cover the Tofu with the Spicy Marinade and place it in the refrigerator

Let it marinade for a few hours (overnight is better)

Fire up your BBQ or heat up your pan

Place the tofu on the grill (medium heat) and let it cook (it will get firmer as it cooks)

As you turn it, you can brush some BBQ sauce on it for extra flavor

This is a very simple, easy recipe.

Cut the chicken into chunks (stir fry size – 1 inch pieces)

Cut up some Bell Peppers or other vegetable(same size)

Heat up your wok or other pan and add the chicken.

As the chicken is cooking, add some of the Spicy Marinade to your desired heat level (taste it!)

Add cashew nuts and the Bell Pepper

Serve over steamed rice

These make a great appetizer and are easy to make (or you can marinade a whole piece of meat this way)

Cut up some chicken and/or beef into strips (If you are using beef – make sure you cut it against the grain so it is not chewy)

Place meat into a plastic zip-lock type bag or a plastic container and pour in some Spicy Marinade.

Allow to marinade for 5 to 15 minutes (depending on how hot you want it)

After it has marinated, skewer meat onto bamboo skewers (soak them in water first so they don’t burn) or onto metal skewers.

Place meat onto the grill (low heat)

Turn occasionally until done

Serve with cold drinks!!

This recipe makes a great appetizer that will be a sure hit at your next gathering.  Make sure you serve it warm.  Serve with tortilla chips, potato chips or bread.  Makes 6 cups.

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup of Richie’s Tropical Kitchen Zesty Original BBQ sauce
• 1 to 2 large whole Jalapeno Pepper (if you want it hotter, use two to three)
• 1 medium size Onion
• 1 can (14 ounce) of Artichoke Hearts, roughly chopped (drain liquid)
• 1 can of chopped green chili’s (4 ounce can)
• 2 medium sized Tomato’s
• 1 package of frozen spinach (10 ounce package)
• 2 1/2 cups of grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 1/2 cups of grated Mexican-blend cheese (sold in most supermarkets – can substitute with queso cheese and cheddar cheese blend)
• 1 package of Philadelphia brand cream cheese (8 ounce package)
• 1 cup of half & half
• 2 teaspoons of Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Vegetable oil

Optional: Paprika to sprinkle on top prior to being cooked.

Directions:
This can be baked in an oven or placed into a crook pot.  If you are going to use an oven, pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

Thaw package of frozen spinach and squeeze off excess water by pressing between two paper towels and set aside. 

Chop Jalapeno pepper(s), onion and tomato.  In a medium size pot, sauté the chopped Jalapeno pepper and onion in the vegetable oil until they are soft.  Add green chilis and tomato to the pan and cook until they are soft.  Add red wine vinegar, cream cheese and 1/2 & 1/2.  After the cream cheese has started to soften, add spinach and remaining ingredients.  Remove from heat and pour mixture into a greased 10 inch baking dish, sprinkle with paprika and bake for 20-25 minutes or until it is hot and bubbly.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2-3 links of Mild Italian Sausage (cut the casing off the sausage, combine with the other meat)
• 1 cup finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 to 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup Richie’s Tropical Kitchen Original BBQ sauce (set aside 1/4 cup for basting the top of meatloaf as it cooks).
• Vegetable oil

Directions
Preheat the grill, or an oven to 350º F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the beef, pork, sausage, onion, bell pepper, garlic, eggs, cream, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, Richie’s Tropical Kitchen Original BBQ sauce and stir with a wooden spoon to blend thoroughly.

Cooking in the oven:
Brush a 9-inch loaf pan with the Vegetable oil and pack the combined mixture into the pan.  Place the loaf pan in the middle of a preheated 350ºF oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the center of the meat loaf reaches 170ºF.  As the meatloaf is cooking, you can occasionally brush the top with the remaining BBQ sauce.  After removing the meatloaf from the oven, let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.  Serve with garlic mashed potatoes. 

Cooking on the grill:
Divide the meat into two portions and form into two oblong loaves.  Rub the entire surface of the meatloaf with vegetable oil and make sure the grill is well oiled.  Place on the hot grill and brown on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning with spatulas.  Transfer to the rack above the grill, and brush each meatloaf with Richie’s Tropical Kitchen BBQ sauce. Close the grill lid and cook until the meatloaves reach an internal temperature of 160ºF, about 45 minutes.

Remove from the grill and transfer to a cutting board or serving platter.  Brush the loaves with the remaining BBQ sauce and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with garlic mashed potatoes. 

If you want your meatloaf to be spicy, you can use the Zesty Original BBQ sauce instead of the Original BBQ sauce or add 1/4 cup of Spicy Marinade to the recipe above.