Barbeque Nirvana: Bacon Cheeseburgers and Fruit Kabobs!

Our Labor Day barbecue this year consisted of Bacon Cheeseburgers and Fruit Kabobs. Kokopelli's Kitchen choose these mouth-drooling recipes from "The Secrets of Caveman Cooking" by Rick Snider. Permission to print granted by Golden West Publishers in Phoenix, AZ.

BACON CHEESEBURGERS
Anyone can just put the toppings on a burger. Let's include them inside the meat. When you get to the cheesy bacon middle, it is pure nirvana!

• 2 pounds lean HAMBURGER
  
• 8 slices cooked BACON
  
• 1 cup shredded CHEESE
  
• SALT and PEPPER to taste
  

1. Preheat gas grill for 10 minutes with burners on high.
   
2. Make 8 burgers that are thin and wide. Place a slice of bacon in the center of each burger and sprinkle with cheese, add salt and pepper. Fold edges in to seal the center.
   
3. Turn burners to medium. While it seems ironic to use lean hamburgers, it has less fat so the drippings don't increase the flames and burn the meat.
   
4. Place burgers on grill. Close grill lid. Cook 3 minutes per side for rare, 5 minutes for medium and 7 minutes for well done. Remember, they'll take a little longer than usual because they're thicker.
   
5. Don't forget to toast the buns on the grill
   

Serves 8.
FRUIT KABOBS Choose your favorite fruits because you can use them all. However, apples, pineapples, plums, bananas and pears work best.

• 1-inch CHUNKS OF FRUIT (apples, pineapples, pears, etc.)
  
• 1 tsp. SUGAR
  
• 1/2 cup WATER
  

1. Preheat gas grill for 10 minutes with burners on high.
   
2. Alternate fruit on skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak for 20 minutes before using).
   
3. Turn burners to low. Place skewers on burners. Close lid. Cook 4 minutes.
   
4. Turn skewers and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
   
5. Mix sugar with water. Place in a sprayer bottle. After removing fruit from grill, spray with sugar water to moisten.
   
6. Serve in bowls.
   

Kokopelli Chile Cornbread

Kokopelli's Kitchen has some really exciting news to announce to all of the Kokopelli lovers out there. "Kokopelli's Stories and Recipes" has just been published this past month. This book, created by Bruce Fischer, provides the story of Kokopelli, the Southwest's most colorful character. The book also provides twenty-nine southwestern recipes - appetizers, side dishes and main dishes.

To introduce this book to the public, we are sharing the recipe for Kokopelli Chile Cornbread. Permission to print granted by Phoenix Publishing Group(www.phoenixpublishinggroup.net).

KOKOPELLI CHILE CORNBREAD

• 1 cup CORNMEAL
  
• 1 cup FLOUR
  
• 1 Tbsp. BAKING POWDER
  
• 1 tsp. SEA SALT
  
• 1 cup SKIM MILK
  
• 2 EGGS, slightly beaten
  
• 1 can (4 oz.) diced GREEN CHILES
  
• 1 can (15 oz.) creamed CORN
  
• ½ cup SALSA
  
• 1 cup shredded CHEDDAR CHEESE
  

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour into a nonstick 9x13 inches baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or allow to cool.

Southwest Recipes for July 4th Picnics

Happy Independence Day from Kokopelli’s Kitchen! On July 4th, 1776, a great nation was born declaring its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It is now known as the United States of America. Enjoy the neighborhood parades and colorful fireworks, as well as your family picnics and barbeques.

Want to add a taste of the southwest to your table this year? Then, check out these contest winning recipes we found in "From the Queen's Cookbook". Permission to reprint the recipes has been granted by Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, Colorado.

LAYERED ANASAZI BEAN SALAD (White Ribbon 1989 by Genevieve Wells)

• 6 cups shredded LETTUCE
  
• 2 cups cooked, drained ANASAZI BEANS
  
• 1 (8 oz) can drained WATER CHESTNUTS
  
• ½ cup thin sliced GREEN ONION
  
• ½ cup thin sliced CELERY
  
• 1 (10 oz) package GREEN PEAS
  
• 2 cups MAYONNAISE
  
• ¼ cup PARMESAN CHEESE
  
• 1 Tbsp. LEMON JUICE
  
• 1 tsp. SEASON SALT
  
• ¼ tsp. GARLIC POWDER
  
• PEPPER to taste
  
• 1 cup grated CHEDDAR CHEESE
  
• 1 lb. cooked crisp BACON
  
• 4 chopped boiled EGGS
  
• 2 to 8 TOMATO wedges
  

Layer the first six ingredients in a shallow 3 to 4 quart baking dish. Combine mayonnaise, cheese, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder and pepper in medium size bowl. Spread mixture over top of vegetables. Marinate and cover overnight. Garnish with eggs, bacon, cheese and tomato wedges.
SOUTHWESTERN DIP (Red Ribbon 1982 by Lu Millican)
--Red Ring (bean dip)

• 2 (10½ oz) cans JALAPENO BEAN DIP

--White Ring (sour cream dip)

• 16 oz carton SOUR CREAM
  
• 1 (¼ oz) can MILD GREEN CHILIES

--Green Center (guacamole)

• 3 medium ripe AVOCADOS
  
• 1 medium ripe TOMATO

--TORTILLA CHIPS
--Ripe OLIVES
--¼ cup chopped ONION or GREEN ONION
--1 Tbsp. LEMON JUICE
--SALT and PEPPER to taste
--Garnish with: GREEN ONION TOPS, chopped fine Ripe TOMATO Ripe OLIVES ONION TOPS.
Chill the bean dip. Combine sour cream and green chilies and add salt to taste. Mash avocados, tomato and chopped onion with a fork to a fine paste. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Put 1 pit in a bowl to prevent darkening until serving. Just before serving, put the Bean Dip (red ring) in a ring around a nice serving plate. Put the Sour Cream Dip (white ring) inside the Bean Dip; place the Guacamole (green center) in the center. Garnish and serve with tortilla chips. Variations:

• Use taco seasonings in sour cream dip.
  
• Make your own jalapeno bean dip! Mash cooked and drained pinto beans, add chile powder and jalapeno pepper to taste.

Happy Father's Day!

HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY: Father’s Day is held on the third Sunday of June in the United States. It’s a day when young and old honor their fathers in a variety of ways. This year, in 2010, it will be celebrated on June 20th.

According to historians, the earliest Father's Day traditions can be traced back to the ruins of Babylon nearly 4,000 years ago. They recorded that a young boy named Elmesu carved a message on a clay card to his father, wishing him a long and healthy life. There is no knowledge as to what happened to Elmesu & his father but the tradition of celebrating Father’s Day remains in several countries all over the world.

The tradition of celebrating Father's Day in the United States as we do today originated slightly more than a century ago by Ms. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd; the idea occured to her as she was listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. A doting daughter from Spokane, Washington, Ms. Dodd is recognized as the Founder of the Father's Day Festival.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran. She was 27 at the time, and had begun to recognize the hardships her father must have gone through while solely bringing up his six children (including the newborn). Her mother had died during childbirth when Sonora was sixteen.

A day in June was chosen for the first Father's Day celebration — June 19, 1910, proclaimed as such by Spokane's mayor because it was the month of Smart's birth. The idea of celebrating Father's Day became so popular in the United States that President Woodrow Wilson approved of the festival in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge also supported the idea but it was President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 who signed a Presidential Proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance that Father's Day be held on the third Sunday of June.

ANIMAL DADS: Many animals never meet their fathers and some never meet their mothers. Some insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles hatch from fertilized eggs and face life completely alone. When animals are raised by parents, it's most often the mother who does the rearing. But there are some unusual dads out there in the animal kingdom.

Catfish: A father sea catfish keeps the eggs of his young in his mouth until they are ready to hatch. He will not eat until his young are born, which may take several weeks.

Cockroach: A father cockroach eats bird droppings to obtain precious nitrogen, which he carries back to feed his young.

Frog: The male Darwin frog hatches his eggs in a pouch in his mouth. He can eat and continue about his business until his tadpoles lose their tails, become tiny frogs, and jump out of his mouth!

Monkey: Marmosets are tiny South American monkeys. The father marmosets take care of their babies from birth. When the marmoset is born, the father cleans it, then carries it to the mother only when it needs to be nursed. When the baby can eat solid food, the father will feed it.

Penguin: A father Emperor penguin withstands the Antarctic cold for 60 days or more to protect his eggs, which he keeps on his feet, covered with his feathered flap. During this entire time he doesn't eat a thing. Most father penguins lose about 25 pounds while they wait for their babies to hatch. Afterward, they feed the chicks a special liquid from their throats. When the mother penguins return to care for their young, the fathers go to sea to eat and rest.

Sea horse: The male sea horse has a pouch in which the mother lays her eggs. The father then looks after the eggs for about two months, until they hatch and leave the pouch. He continues to protect the young until they are able to live on their own.

Wolf: When the mother wolf gives birth to pups, the father stands guard outside their den and brings food to the mother and pups. As they grow, he not only plays with them but also teaches them how to survive. Wolves continue to live together much as human families do.

(Sources: www.fathersdaycelebration.com/fathers-day-history.html,
www.infoplease.com/spot/fathersdayhist.html)



We’ve selected a recipe for grilled stuffed pork chops this month that will be great for your Father’s Day Dinner! The recipe is from one of our favorite cookbooks, "Secrets of Caveman Cooking" by Rick Snider. Permission to print granted by Golden West Publishers, 4113 N. Longview, Phoenix, AZ 85014.

STUFFED PORK CHOPS
Sometimes, one meat just isn’t enough for a hungry caveman. He wants pork and chicken or sausage and beef. If you can stuff a turkey, you can stuff a pork chop. Just buy the special thick ones!

• 6 (6 ounce) butterfly cut PORK CHOPS
  
• 12 ounces CHICKEN FILETS
  
• ½ cup HONEY
  
• 2 Tbsp. BROWN SUGAR
  
• ½ cup SESAME SEEDS
  
• ½ cup BARBECUE SAUCE (recipe provided below)
  

1. Preheat gas grill for 10 minutes with burners on high. 2. Wash chicken fillets. Grill over high flames for 4 minutes per side. Leave grill lid open. Remove & return to preparation area. 3. Wash pork under cold running water & rinse out pocket. Combine honey, brown sugar & sesame seeds and coat chicken. Place chicken inside pocket of pork chop. Baste chop with barbecue sauce. 4. Turn burners to medium & leave grill lid open. Cook chops 6 minutes per side, basting with barbecue sauce after turning & again after removing from grill. Remember, do not eat pink pork. Serves 6. Barbecue Sauces: Some believe the secret of great barbecue is the cooking method. Others believe it’s the sauce. Several recipes for barbecue sauce are provided in “Secrets of Caveman Cooking”. Following is one example. Remember, when preparing a sauce or marinade that contains an acid ingredient (vinegar, lemon juice or wine) be sure to use a glass, ceramic or stainless steel container, never aluminum.

SWEET SAUCE

• 2 cups KETCHUP
  
• 2 cups SUGAR
  
• ½ cup WATER
  
• 1 cup LEMON JUICE
  
• 3 tsp. BUTTER
  
• 2 tsp. MOLASSES
  
• 1 tsp. HONEY
  
• 1 tsp. HOT SAUCE
  
• 1 tsp. STEAK SAUCE
  

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover and let cool for several hours until thickened. Makes 3 cups.