DC Is Where The Heart Is... Backyard Cookout Chumpy...... BBQ Chicken, German Tomato Salad

BBQ Chicken w/ Mustard, Chili BBQ Sauce

The DC Metropolitan area has a language and culture that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the world. I am well aware that as you read this a bunch of you are saying or at least thinking to yourselves, "Ahh - don't you mean the DMV bruh?" No, I mean the DC Metropolitan Area! Original folks from the Urea (area) never approved that change so why should I embrace that joint? When I grew up you were either from Murland (Maryland), DC or Across the bridge (Va.) there was no way you were claiming all three or any combination of two. Besides the DMV stands for the place you get your license from anyway!

I grew up in Fort Washington and moved to DC as a young adult, at some point I moved Oakland and loved it tremendously but still nothing compares to DC to me. The people are so unique here, not too friendly and definitely not standoffish, kinda the personification of a proper greeting; you know like when you ask a person how they are doing and their response is "Great", and then they keep it moving.  

If you've ever been here you also have heard about Go-Go music, I heard plenty of attempts to describe  it but they were all horrible so I'll spare you my musings and just ask you to listen to the playlist of some of  DCs finest that's on the blog, I also attached a video of Junk Yard Band. I can still remember playing the "congo's" my desk @ DeMatha, with Fairfax (Fax), Devin Ward, Mike, Joe Artist and a bunch of others. Those where the days, we even had a Go Go in the Stag Room thanks to Keith Johnson & the BSU.

When I was in Oakland me and my boy Rob Summer, also a DC native transplanted for a minute like me, would sit back and speak to each other in ways that only those from DC understood, we still do it to this day and in fact I'm speaking with him now as I write this joint!  With his help I decided to leave a glossary of some frequently and some not so frequently  used terms to help you out with the lingo.

• Chumpy - Thing! Can refer to a party, a car, cookout, shoes etc.
• Shorty - Pronounced (shore - tee) not  (shawty) this ain't the ATL.
• Young - Man, Girl, - used as a greeting. ie What's up Young?
• Joe - Takes the place of young so there's no need to be redundant. 
• Slim - Only used by and old head so never mind the definition 
• Rock - Wear, put on.
• Old Head - OG, old dude stuck in a time warp. ie Chuck Taylor's on the court used to play in the 70's but the old head will try to rock them joints and break his own damn ankles.
• Bamma - Corny or dated, less than trendy. ie "Look at the shoes this Bamma got on, young!"
• Carried - (pronounced curried) Taken advantage of or disrespected.
• Blown - Pissed off, mad, really upset. ie.
• Bun - Girlfriend, boyfriend love interest. ie "Y'all was all bunned up at the movies, girl!"
• Crush / Punish - obliterate or ravish. can have a sexual meaning too. ie. "I'm crushing that, Joe!"
• Sice - Exaggerate or over blow a story. "I was there too, you sicing that joint up, young!"
• Kirk Out - flipped out,  going crazy, extremely mad. "He caught her bunned up with the next man and Kirked the *^$# out". 
• Joints - (Pronounced Joentz) Things- similar to chumpy, like- "that JayZ joint is on hit!"
• Book - Meet, exchange numbers or info in order to date. "I booked her at the mall yesterday"
• Lunchin' - spacey, not in your right state of mind. "I can't believe I didn't book shorty, I had to be lunchin!"
• Steal - Punch or hit . "I'mma steal one of these bammas if they step on my Jordans I'm rockin'!"
• On Hit - Great, off the chain.  
• I Got That P.A. Essence Joint! - I got a Rare Essence Tape. (nobody really knows what the hell P.A. stood for. lol)

Junkyard 2010 Va.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post of Wings with Mambo Sauce on August 28th, right in time for the start of Football Season....

On the menu today: BBQ Chicken, Creamy Tomato Salad & Grilled Watermelon with Grand Marnier Glaze.

Creamy Tomato Salad 

BBQ Chicken Mustard and Chili Pepper BBQ Sauce

Grilled Water Melon w/ Grand Marnier Glaze

For the chicken we will need the following:

• Chicken (broken down into 1/2 or 1/4)
• Garlic (2 Tbs)
• Olive Oil (1 tsp)
• Yellow Mustard (1/2 cup)
• Chili Flake (1/4 cup)
• Apple Cider Vinegar (1/8 cup)
• Brown Sugar (2 cups)
• Salt (T T)

Once May hits in DC, BBQ grills are fired up throughout the area, as a matter of fact I grill all year round. One of my favorite things to do is experiment with my BBQ sauce and throw it on some chicken. 

Grill the chicken by placing directly on the grill with salt and pepper. Make the sauce by adding the garlic to a sauce pot with the olive oil and brown slightly brown add the other ingredients and cook until sauce thickens. Add the sauce onto the chicken once the chicken is cooked throughly then grill for 3-5 minutes until the sauce adheres to the skin.

BBQ  Chicken 

I've tried many things on the grill to see if they were made better by the grill or if they are better left to more conventional ways of preparation. I have a friend and colleague in San Francisco , that does a grilled watermelon dish, that looks quite good, Dontaye Ball - owner of Good Food Catering, so I figured I'd try it. Turns out it wash quite good, the addition of the glaze was my addition for the BBQ and to tweak it just a bit. 

For the watermelon we need:

• Watermelon Half Slices
• Grand Marnier (1 cup)
• Brown Sugar (1/2 cup)
• Mint (3-7 leaves)

Cut the watermelon on to 2 inch halves as seen below and grill for 3 minutes or until you see grill marks, making sure only to grill one side. Once grilled place the watermelon in the refrigerator to get it cold again. Add the Grand Marnier, mint and sugar in a sauce pot and cook until thick or syrupy. Place the glaze on the watermelon before serving.

 

Instead of eating heavy potato salad sometimes I switch it up to tomatoes in the summer. When I was a kid I love tomato, mayo, salt, & pepper sandwiches, so it kinda the same idea without the bread.

For the Tomato Salad we will need:

• Tomatoes (4-6 ea)
• Cucumbers (1-2 ea)
• Red Onions (1/2 Ea)
• Basil (1/4 bunch)
• Mayo (1/2 cup)
• Yellow Mustard (1/8 cup)
• Vinegar (1 Tbs)
• Sugar (3 Tbs)
• Kosher Salt (TT)
• Pepper (TT)

Cut the tomatoes into wedges as seen below. Slice the cucumbers and cut in half and julienne the onions. Add the other ingredients together to make the dressing and pour over the tomatoes, cukes and onions and refrigerate until service.

Wings No Mambo Sauce.