You may have noticed my attempt at culinary humor with my Reluctant Gourmet™ Cooking Cartoons. I thought it would be fun to look at various situations I’ve experienced or imagined I might experience in my kitchen and offer you a glimpse in the form of a cartoon. It’s great fun but not as easy as you might think to come up with funny captions.

Try Your Hand at Some Cooking Humor

I thought you might enjoy adding some of your own humor to one of my cartoons so I’m asking you to help me caption the cartoon below. All you have to do is go to the bottom of the page and “Leave a reply”.  You can add as many captions as you like. All I ask is that you keep them clean and be respectful of your fellow readers. Any caption that I feel is not appropriate will be deleted.

Not a Contest But…

This is not a contest but I will choose what I think is the funniest caption and make the cartoon available on a tee shirt at Café Press. I may even be able to send the author of the caption a free tee shirt with their caption printed on it. That means all entries become the property of The Reluctant Gourmet™. Please read Small Print below.

To see my two favorite captions for this cartoon, click here

Small Print

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For those of you who are barbecuing today, here is a special treat from Chef Terrell Garrett. It is his very popular barbecue sauce that has been ten years in the making and according to Chef Terrell is close to perfection. This bbq sauce starts with a dry rub that Chef says is an integral part of the recipe

As you can see from the ingredient list, this is going to make a large amount of sauce. Chef Terrell says it needs to be refrigerated and depending on how much barbecuing you do, you may consider cutting the recipe in half. Alternatively, if you have the equipment and experience, you can always bottle some for better storage or even gifts.

I think you are going to enjoy this sauce and would love to hear your comments. If you have your own special barbecue sauce, please tell us about it in the comments section below.

Chef Terrell Garrett’s Barbeuce Sauce Recipe© 2007

The dry rub is listed first.

• 1/2 cup chile powder
• 1/4 cup hickory flavored salt
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Mix thoroughly and save in a glass jar or zip-lock bag.

Barbeque Sauce Recipe

• 4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 6 cups water
• 6 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup prepared yellow mustard
• 1 1/3 tablespoons  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup spice rub,(see previous recipe)
• 4 each lemons (juice of)
• 8 cloves minced garlic
• 3 cups chopped white onion
• 1/4 lb. unsalted butter

Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Turn heat to medium and stir well to melt sugar and dissolve mustard.  Bring to a boil carefully (stirring often), reduce heat to medium low and allow mixture to simmer until onions are done stirring frequently. (approximately 20 minutes.)

Then add:

• 10 cups ketchup
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup liquid smoke

Stir mixture well and bring back to a simmer for approximately 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Let stand to cool, overnight is best.

Caution!

1. Always cook this recipe in a well-ventilated area.  The smell can be overwhelming.

2. Stirring is very important to prevent the sugar from scorching or burning.

3.NEVER substitute another vinegar for apple cider vinegar.

4. Don’t spend a lot of money on ketchup, the cheaper the better.

5. To add heat add 1-1/2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes.

6. The sauce can be bottled for longer life but must be processed in a canner, which gives it an indefinite shelf life.  However, when opened, the sauce must be refrigerated.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend.

A lot of you may be grilling and barbecuing this weekend so I wanted to tell you about an award winning barbecue sauce.

I’m not sure if he was trying to send a message, but it’s called Grumpy’s and as you can see by the label, the company who makes it, is having a lot of fun. This stuff is good. It won 1st Place at the 2007 Scovie Awards and was a 2nd place winner at the America’s Zesty Best Food Contest.

What I like about it is the name and the packaging. I know a whole bunch of people I want to send a bottle to including my Grumpy older brother and my buddy Barbecue Bob.

It comes in four different “heats” including Not So Bold, Bold XX, Goodnight Irene and Black Label. I only have tried Not So Bold and Bold XX and they are both excellent. You can read more about them at their web site.

This is a really good price plus you can pick up some highly acclaimed More Than Gourmet stock reductions for $5 bucks a piece too including one of my favorites, Glace de Fruits de Mer (Lobster Stock) normally $7.50.  A really good deal.  The sale ends midnight Sunday, June 10, 2007.

Grumpy’s Shrimp
Serves 4.

I borrowed this recipe from their web site. It’s from Chef Lezlie L. Ringland and features Grumpy’s Barbeque Sauce but I’m sure you can substitute your own favorite commercial sauce or your own homemade bbq sauce but I would definitely give Grumpy’s a try.

Ingredients

1/3 cup of Grumpy’s Barbeque Sauce® (your favorite flavor)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
1 clove of garlic minced fine
2 teaspoons of honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
1 lb. peeled & de-veined medium to large shrimp
2 to 3 scallions chopped

How to Prepare

Mix all ingredients except shrimp in a bowl.

Heat pan on medium heat with a tablespoon of oil, cook shrimp.

When shrimp become pink (about 3 to 5 minutes) lower the heat & add the sauce.
Heat long enough for all the shrimp to becomes coated in the sauce.

Serve over Jasmine Rice.