4th of July eats, Part 2 - Summer Barbecue

My uncle retired last week after 45 years on the job and last Saturday, we drove to Central California to help him celebrate.  In Filipino families, that means food.  Lots of food.  His son, my cousin Chris, is a professionally trained chef and worked in the restaurant industry for some years so you know the food was going to be good.  And even with expectations that high, he went over and above that - all the eats were amazing. What was even more amazing is Chris pulled this off in triple digit heat, barbecuing over a hot grill (actually 2 grills) so we could descend like ravening wolves on the spread (which we did).  It was all his cooking so I don't have any recipes to share but even if I did, I probably wouldn't as we (the cousins) kept urging him to take his recipes and open his own catering business or start up his own food truck business - food this good is made to be shared with the general public.

Shrimp and Scallop Cocktails

Shrimp Curry Finger Sandwiches

Barbecue Beef Skewers and Sriracha Chicken Skewers

Fresh oysters - from my cousin Ellen

 By the way, when I say "amazing", that includes the barbecued dishes not only being flavorful but also grilled to perfection, moist and tender, not dry as some barbecues end up being.  The beef skewers were one of my favorites as they were both delicious and so tender you didn't need a knife or even a fork to cut it; your teeth could do the job easily. I tested it out myself on 2 beef skewers just to be sure and yup, both times, tender, juicy and full of flavor.

Coconut Shrimp with peanut dipping sauce (sauce not pictured)

Barbecue Chicken Wings - no barbecue sauce needed for flavor, just marinade

My other favorite was the pork tenderloin; I don't know if I've ever had pork be so tender or so flavorful.

Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin, sliced

Honey Dijon Chicken

Sushi Bake, made by my cousin Christine

Not pictured because I forgot to take pictures of them: Potato Salad and Asparagus Risotto.  The bounty just kept on coming!

Dessert from bottom to top: Chocolate chip cookies, White Chocolate Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies, Apricot Bowties, Blueberry Hand Pies

Cookie Assortment - he makes dessert too!