Indoor Barbecue Part II

Got another indoor bbq planned.  Got Beatriz’s mom and my folks coming over for lunch.  I’ve got the following on tap:  My patented Beer Can Chicken, some barbecue ribs, a tomato and cucumber salad with buttermilk dressing, raw corn salad with cilantro and lime, steamed squash, and key lime pie for dessert.  For good measure, my mother is also bringing over some Haitian-style rice and beans.

My folks are due over in about 3 minutes and everything is more or less set.  I’m a big fan of the indoor bbq concept because of the inactive cooking time component.  Yesterday afternoon after lunch I applied the spice rub to the chicken and ribs, and made the key lime pie.  This morning at 7am I got up and put the chicken and ribs in the oven and roasted the meat at 245 degrees for 4 hours.  I also prepared the the corn salad and buttermilk dressing for the tomato and cucumber salad.  While the food was chilling out, Beatriz and I went out for a bike ride.

Corn Salad with Cilantro and Lime:

4 ears of fresh corn
Juice of 3 limes
3-4 tbs olive oil
fresh cilantro to taste
1/2 medium red onion chopped fine
1 seeded jalapeno, chopped (optional, left this out on this occasion)

Method:
shuck corn and cut kernels off and reserve in a bowl.  Add onion and cilantro to corn.  Mix olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper and add vinaigrette to corn.  Mix and allow to rest 3 or 4 hours before serving.

For the Tomato and Cucumber Salad you need a simple buttermilk dressing. I used an English cucumber and a pint of grape tomatoes.  I cut the cucumber in medium-thick slices and cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise.   About 30 minutes ago, I dressed the salad.

Buttermilk Dressing:

1 cup of Buttermilk
2 tbs of mayonnaise
3-4 tbs of chopped chives
1/2 red onion minced
3-4 tbs apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Method: Combine ingredients and add to tomato and cucumber mixture.

I ended up taking the meat out of the oven at around 11:30a.  I sliced the ribs and took apart the chicken.  My folks are characteristically 30 minutes late, so I placed the meat on a platter covered with foil and placed it in a warm oven.

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