Conference turris::cooks

    One very nice thing for a "deck party" are "k-bobs". You can make up
    the k-bobs ahead of time, place them on the grill to cook slow, and as
    your guests desire one.... they pick one off the grill. If they begin
    to overcook, pull them off, onto a plate and set them on your table.
    Most are great cold as well as hot.
    
    I have done beef k-bobs with veges. Shrimp k-bobs with veges. Vege
    k-bobs with (Ha thought I was going to say veges) no meat. The sky is
    the limit as to what you can put on a stick. I usually use the bamboo,
    throw-away skewers too... they work great.
    
    For BBQ sauce to go with the k-bobs, I placed a great/simple one into
    the "sauces" topic (somewhere in COOKS).
    
    Hope this helps..!!
    
    Bob G.
    

	    Grilled sausage is great at barbeques.  You can use
	    any type of sausage from italian to portuguese.  I prefer
	    linguicia.

	    You could do barbeque chicken!

	    Instead of taco salad, how about a layered mexican dip.

	

	    You could even do away with the Barbeque idea and serve
	    something like a build your own taco....

	Karen

    Try barbequing a dec turkey (not the manager...the xmas "bonus").  It
    is especially good if you use Mesquite chips, hickory bark, or apple
    branches on the fire to give it a smoky flavor (this works fine on gas
    or charcoal).
    
    For a salad, mix cooked tortellini, blanched broccoli, and halved
    cherry tomatoes with creamy ranch dressing.
    
    Add some zing to the baked beans by poking a few slits in 2-3 jalapeno
    peppers, and laying them on top of the beans while they bake.  The
    beans closer to the peppers get the hottest, and real heat lovers can
    take a pepper and mix it in with their serving.
    
    

    Smoke a turkey in a Weber grill.  It's really good and people like it.
    
    	You need a Weber kettle grill, a foil baking dish (about 8x8 or
    so),
    	charcoal, hickory chips or whatever kind you like.
    
    	Start a moderate amt of charcoal.  Soak several hours worth of 
    	wood chips in water.  When carcoal is ready to cook, push it 
    	away from the center of the grill and place the foil baking disth
    	in center to catch drips.  Add some wet wood chips to charcoal.
    	Place turkey in center of grill and cover.
    
    	I don't stuff the turkey.  Just truss it up and brush with melted
    	butter with salt, pepper, and cajun spices added.  As I recall
    	this takes less time than roasting a turkey in the oven.  I user
    	a meat thermometer and check the turkey ever 20 min or so.  I add
    	charcoal and wood chips as needed.  
    	
    	When it is done, slice it up and serve it on a platter buffet
    style.
    
    This is very easy to do.  It's different - and it's very good.
    
    

One of the neat things about using linguica is that you can put it way
back on the grill and leave it there for the whole party so people can
socialize and still drop by the grill and grab a hunk, wrap it in a
roll, and enjoy. Strictly speaking, it's cooked when you buy it. You need
to heat it. If stuff drips down to the coals or lava rock and makes
smoke, so much the better for the taste.

In contrast, Italian sausage needs to be cooked, and yet can be over
cooked.  The same situation exists with hamburgers and chicken.

Art

    
    Even though it sounds too simple, I find at parties that people love
    crudites - simple raw or blanched cut up vegetables with dip(s). 
    Mostly they want to gab a lot anyway, so they can munch and talk
    without fork, plate, or even napkin.
    
    Very popular - carrot sticks, celery sticks, pepper rings, cherry
    tomatoes, blanched (briefly boiled) broccoli, cauliflower, also green
    onions, etc. etc.  Wash, blanch, cut up several days in advance and
    store in tightly sealed plastic bags - one per veg type.  Morning of
    party, arrange into gorgeous, colorful platters and place around room
    and deck.  If platters are big enough, put dip in bowl in the middle.
    
    I make a dip in the blender (also several days ahead) out of lo-fat
    cottage cheese and yogurt, frozen chopped spinach which has been
    defrosted and squeezed dry, and green onions.  Or any vegetable/ herb/
    spice comibination with the cottage cheese and yogurt.
    
    The crudites and dip above are ALWAYS very popular, inexpensive, easy
    to make and store ahead of time, and are as lo-cal as possible.  People
    love to eat the dip, especially when they're amazed that its so lo-cal.
    You can also put out whole-wheat crackers if you want.
    
    I've tried fancier stuff, but this always gets gobbled up first.
    
    Set up a table with a vinyl tablecloth as a do-it-yourself bar with
    plastic cups, napkins, soda, ice, etc.  More casually, put beverage
    cans in plastic garbage cans filled with ice.
    
    Sounds like you've got a lovely home for entertaining.  Can't wait for
    summer. . . (I'm planning a July barbecue now.)  
    
    Laura                                          

    I second the turkey, and for those who don't like turkey, cook a
    ham on a second Weber grill.  Cook either a bone less or with bone.
    I score mine and put whole cloves in the intersections of the scoring.
    After its almost done, you may baste with a sauce if you want, I
    never do.  
    You will have two beautiful meats that will cook with minium effort
    on your part and leave you time with your guest.  
    
    BTW...If you have fruit trees available to you, cut fresh branches
    and put them on the charcol for the smokey flavor, makes no difference
    which kind of fruit.

    
    
    	RE:.1
    
    	A nice couple of nice variations are:
    
    		Keilbasa Kabobs
    
    	and
    
    		Chicken Kabobs
    
    		(Marinate the chicken and Veggies in Italian dressing)
    
    
    			-KG
    
    	

    If your looking for a great pasta salad try this. I got the recipe
    from my mother. No I don't know where she got it. I don't ask, I
    just eat. :^)
    
    2/3 cup	olive oil
    3   tbs	red-wine vinegar
    1/4 cup	chopped up basil
    2   tbs	parmesan cheese
    1 1/4 tsp	salt
    1/4   tsp	ground black pepper
    12  oz.	rotelle pasta, freshly cooked and drained
    1   ea.	small red, green and yellow bell pepper halved lengthwise
    		and cut into strips.
    1   med.	tomato cut in wedges
    1/4 cup	pitted ripe black olives
    8   oz.	feta cheese cut in about 1/2" cubes (sometimes I crumble
    		it up and throw it in like that. It's not as strong.)
    1/4 tsp	crumbled dried oregano
    
    Process oil, vinegar, 2 tablespoons basil, parmesan cheese, salt
    and pepper in a blender or food processor until smooth. Put pasta,
    bell pepper strips, tomato wedges and olives in a LARGE bowl. Pour
    in dressing and toss to mix. Roll cheese cubes in the remaining
    2 tablespoons basil to coat. Add chees cubes to salad, sprinkle
    with crushed oregano and toss lightly. Serve at room temperature.
                

    Since it is around the pool you really want to minimize the stuff like
    glass-ware, etc. If you want to enjoy the party, I highly recommend
    that you make all sorts of salads (pasta, veggie, etc) and only have 1
    or 2 things to go on the grill. When the guests arrive tell them that
    it's "self serve" and that they can put X on the grill as they are
    hungry. It took me to put the first thing on the grill to "break the
    ice" over using the grill. This way people also get it cooked the way
    they want it. (I'd not eat versus eating a well-done burger)
    
    We had a barbeque with 75 people and this worked out the best because
    some folks came hungry and wanted to eat immediatley, and other wanted
    to hang out and eat later. We did just hamburgers, hot dogs, par-cooked
    chicken and par-cooked sausages. Everyone was happy. Just put
    everything out thay you think they would need and let them all help
    them selves. Remember to have ice chests and plenty of ice.  

    well, my small party is now up to 50+... how those things happen i will
    never know... but anyways... we have decided to make our dec turkey
    (not my manager; but our x-mass bonus) in the oven the night before.  i
    know that it would be better on a grill but we don't have the space and
    it looks like i'll be too busy to worry about that item too.  so, we
    will make it then and serve it cold with cranberry sauce on a platter
    and let the people do what they want with it.  the other main items
    will be the burgers, dogs and sausages.  i looked up the variety of
    sausage that karen luby recommended but believe they are a blood
    sausage and don't know how many people would want that.  if i am wrong;
    please correct me.  other items are crab/pasta salad, tossed salad,
    potato salad, taco salad and baked beans.  maybe even spinach balls..
    the recipe recently put in sure looked good and i could freeze them
    ahead of time and serve them right away.  so that is the food.
    
    the idea about serving yourself at the grill is a good one.  thanks! 
    i'm definately doing that.  and the beverages will be the same.  beer
    and wine in the frig.. help yourself to that... and vodka with mixers
    and softdrinks on another table for help yourself.  ice will be in
    buckets; somewhere close to the beverages. 
    
    
    and other than that.. i'm just hoping for nice weather.  i don't want
    to jinx it though so i'll be going now.  thanks for all the help; if
    you think of anything.. please let me know.  
    
    happy monday
    
    cj

>     i looked up the variety of
>    sausage that karen luby recommended but believe they are a blood
>    sausage and don't know how many people would want that.  

	I really do now know if they are a blood sausage (what is a
	blood sausage).  Regardless, they are hot (spicy) and taste
	great.  They are a Portuguese sausage similar to chorizo
	of chaurice but a little hotter.  

	They do tend to be expensive (about 50c a patty).  

	Karen

    that is a very good question... and why i wasn't sure what they were. 
    i forget who used that term but i thought it would be similar to
    'kosher' (sp?) ... anyhoo, i think i'm going to try a few and get
    the italian ones too.  who knows; maybe they will be the hit of the
    party... i know some people like spicy.. me for one!
    
    

 Blood sausage is a sausage made from coagulated pig blood.

    If you get Italian sausage, their better if you cook them inside in a
    pan with just enough water to cover them for about 10 minutes (5 on
    each side).  This will cook a lot of the oil out of them and they will
    cook on the grill (just need browning) without splattering everything
    and still stay juicy.
    
    marianne

    It also helps to puncture them in a few places with a fork before
    adding to the water.  This allows some of the fats to escape.
    
    Flo
    

    I'm pretty sure that linguica is *not* a blood sausage, because my
    mother would *never* touch a blood sausage and she eats linguica! 
    Anybody who knows for sure?  I don't like sausage, myself, but linguica
    always goes over big with everyone else.  So does Italian sweet and 
    hot sausage, and grilled kielbasa (now *that* I'll eat - and enjoy!).
    
    Susan
    
    PS:  What time should we show up?  ;-)

    
    Portuguese blood sausage is Morcella (pronounced moh-salla); it's
    black, about 1" diameter, smooth-skinned and delicious!!
    
    dave
    

Linguica definitely is NOT a blood sausage.

--PSW

    The best bar-b-que's aren't bar-b-que's at all.  In the Plain states
    and parts of Texas, we use a smoker (in the South the best are in S.
    Carolina.  There shredded smoked pork, hot sauce and cole slaw, on a
    bun is a 'bobby-cue'!).  It takes over 4-5 hours to do
    a brisket or a roastbeef.  You can do the same for pork as well but
    never, never par-boil anything.  The secret is to slowly cook the food
    and add the sauce at the very end. Since there's alot of sugar (brown
    usually, depending on what type of sauce you use) in the sauce, you'll
    turn it black and then burn it.  
    
    Stay away from just 'mesquite' since it's a terribly overused wood.
    Try to find a different types of wood to smoke the food.  If you
    can find whole wood, do it that way.  If you can find only chips
    then try and add some whole, uncut wood with it continually doing 
    so during the cooking process.  That wonderful taste is not 
    necessarily from the sauce - the right type of wood and cooking process 
    makes as whole lot of difference!
    
    
    /gail

    re:.14:  You should be able to find blood sausage made from beef blood
    also.  I distinctly remember being told that that was what it was being
    collected for.
    
    ed

    
     Hello,
    
      How about those famous " Hot links " can't forget those....
    
    We make K-bobs by boiling a couple lbs. of chicken breast
    
    and cutting into good portion squares after being boiled
    
    then them on the K-bob sticks with red onions, bell pepper,
    
    cherry tomatoes, potatoes, red peppers, and forget the
    
    boiled bird! And grill it up till the tomatoes still getting
    
    soft.................