Blogs / Food & Drink / Spring 2011 / Local Bounty: 3 Great Ingredients for Your Labor Day Barbecue

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Local Bounty: 3 Great Ingredients for Your Labor Day Barbecue

Formally, Labor Day was launched as a time to celebrate the hard work and achievements of our country’s trade unions, with parades and festivals for workers and their families. Now, Labor Day has evolved into is a national holiday that notes the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. In SoCal, that translates into glorious picnics and barbecues.

We’re all about outdoor dining in San Diego. And here barbecue is more a noun than a verb. It’s a party. Usually in someone’s backyard. With beer and a whole lot of grilling going on. Now everyone has their favorite ingredients to create a great barbecue. Here are my top three picks for your Labor Day Barbeque:

Stone Brewing Levitation BBQ Sauce

Recently I was at a beer-pairing event at Fixtures Living that featured Stone Brewing Company. Their chefs Alex Carballo and Andy Halvorsen served up the most stunning smoked duck tostada with pickled carrot and padron pepper slaw. And, then I remembered that Stone collaborates with Carlsbad Gourmet on barbecue sauces. I picked up a 64-ounce bottle of their Stone Levitation BBQ Sauce—made with Stone Levitation Ale—at Costco (also available at Stone’s stores in Escondido and South Park as well as online at both Stone and Carlsbad Gourmet at $7 for a 12-ounce bottle). This week I fixed up a quick grilled chicken with the sauce. I love the way the big hops of the amber ale—and their citrusy tonality—blend with the spiciness of the chile de arbol in the sauce. You really don’t need to do anything to the chicken before grilling other than add a little salt and pepper. Don’t sauce it until the chicken is cooked through—then keep it on the heat for just a few minutes to caramelize.

Chino Farms Corn

How popular is Chino Farms corn? Go there on any summer morning and see how fast the pile of bags ($7.50/6) stacked behind and inside the farm stand thin out as customers load up their cars. Honestly, you don’t even need to cook the corn if you eat it the same day you buy it. The Chinos grow yellow, white, and bi-color varieties—all sweet and crunchy. If you must cook it, put it on the grill for just a few minutes and give it some color. Then rub it down with sweet butter and a good sprinkling of Tajin seasoning (a combination of dehydrated chiles, lime, and salt). Or, go exotic and pick up a bag of Chinese Wing Beans from Chino Farms ($8/pound) and sauté them in butter with the corn kernels.

Middle Eastern-Style Ice Cream

As I got to thinking about the perfect Labor Day dessert, ice cream of course came to mind. And, I realized that there’s a market opportunity for some creative food artisan in San Diego. We don’t have much in the way of ice cream makers here. Yes, there’s Gelato Vero in Mission Hills, Niederfrank’s in National City and Lisa Altmann’s Viva Pops, who makes the most splendid and unusual paletas, but where is the San Diego equivalent of house-made Bi-Rite Creamery or Humphry Slocumbe in San Francisco, where a pint of the good stuff is like edible art?

If you’re looking for unique ice cream flavors for your barbecue, how about trying these creamy Middle Eastern-style sweets? I picked up a few different containers of ice cream at Balboa International Market. Laleh Ice Cream makes one of my favorite flavors, pomegranate with chocolate chips ($5.29 for a pint). The luscious texture has a great mouth feel and I love the tart/sweet combination of the pomegranate with the pops of dark chocolate. Then there’s their unusual Peeps yellow saffron ice cream that’s infused with rose water ($5.29 a pint)—a very traditional and distinctive Middle Eastern flavoring that you’ll find in a lot of desserts. A friend who works at Balboa International Market insisted I try yet a different brand, Ashta, which like Laleh is produced in Los Angeles. The Sweet Dreams flavor ($6.99 for a quart) is a lovely blend of rose water and orange blossom with a little pistachio thrown in.

So, what are your favorite ingredients for the perfect Labor Day barbecue?

Photos by Caron Golden

About the Author: There's not much that award-winning food writer Caron Golden enjoys more than discovering unique edibles at the markets--and then turning them into memorable meals for friends and family. The official journey began with her blog, San Diego Foodstuff, and has expanded to include writing for national publications like Saveur  and culinate.com as well as appearances on KPBS radio. Unofficially, it began with Mom and Dad, who still think hanging out at 99 Ranch is the world's best entertainment. Follow Caron on Twitter at @carondg.