Fourth of July Eats

We decided to let our friends at Vintage78 take over the cooking duties for the fourth of July festivities. With a great roof deck, they have the perfect spot for a nice summer evening. We dined on the usual meat, meat, and more meat with a few side dishes. The meal was accompanied by a delicious white sangria made with champagne, cointreau, peaches, green grapes, apples, and maybe some mangoes. Three of us polished of a pitcher pretty quickly....

The meal was great and perfect for the holiday celebration! Unfortunately we couldn't see the fireworks from the roof (though we did try). Here's a rundown of the menu and some photos.

Turkey Tenderloin, petit filets, mesquite chicken breast, teriyaki chicken and pineapple skewers.

The delicious sangria. For the veggies - a salad with romaine, cucumbers, toasted almonds, and tomatoes. Homemade ice wine vinaigrette (from Niagra Ice wine) and a dijon vinaigrette.

Smoked Meats - Next Edition

With the success of smoking the beef ribs, I decided that it was time to try out some other meats. I picked up some beef short ribs and brisket at the store and headed home to fire up the grill.

The grill set up was the same, except the meat went directly on the grill grates this time. I consulted an assortment of grilling websites to get an estimate on how long to cook, if a mop sauce needed, and other tips for tender meat. When I cooked the ribs the first time, I split the cooking between the grill and the oven. For these short ribs, I only used the grill. I did finish off the brisket in the oven with some onions. The cook time is 4 hours plus, so I got everything set up and then mowed the lawn (keeping an eye on the grill). I had more time to spare, so I made egg salad for the week's lunch and chopped up all the veggies we had to save time during the week.

For the meats, I used the same coffee rub that I had leftover. I put on the rub and refrigerated the meat for about an hour before cooking. You could leave it overnight for even more flavor. Here's a summary of the two different meals.

Smoked Beef Short Ribs
Almost every grocery store carries beef short ribs now. They are often on sale and make a nice hearty meal. They come about 4-5 per pack - perfect for two people. These went down directly on the grill rack (not over the heat). They cooked for about 3 hours, flipping about halfway, until the meat shrinks up from the bone.

I did use a Mop Sauce to keep the meat moist, basting after about 2 hours, and then once every 45 minutes or so. It was an easy recipe - I can't remember which website I pulled it from:

Mop Sauce
1 cup beer (I used Newcastle)
1 cup apple cider (didn't have any - so I used apple juice)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup coffee
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

I served the short ribs with couscous and was too lazy to make a vegetable. I did use fruit in the dessert (I'll post that at the end).

Smoked Brisket
I love brisket - it is one of my favorite things to cook. Most of my recipes involve searing the meat and then putting it in the oven for 2-3 hours until its done. What could be easier? Smoking on the grill was just as easy. After about 2 hours I basted with the mop sauce and flipped it over. I basted every 45 minutes or so for another 2ish hours. To finish it off, I put it in the oven in a covered roasting pan filled with one bottle of Newcastle beer (to keep some moisture in there). I added some sweet vidalia onions and let it cook for another our. Since we weren't planning to have it that night, I let it cool and then put it in the fridge.

Quick note - the cook time is about 1 hour per pound of brisket. We had a 4 pound brisket.

For the onions:
Cut one vidalia onion into 1/4 inch rings
Brown in butter or olive oil in a medium skillet
Add browned onions to the brisket in the oven and let cook with the meat

On the day we wanted to eat it, I put it back in the oven for 2 hours so it would get even more tender. We sliced it and served it with some canned green beans (I had a craving for them) and some good old canned baked beans. It was a definite comfort meal. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Dessert!
This was one of those meals that called for dessert. I had some cherry pie filling and canned pineapple in the pantry and decided to make a semi-upside down cake. It was delicious - I had a hard time not eating the entire cake!

Cherry Pineapple Semi-Upside Down Cake
1 can cherry pie filling (the kind with no whole cherries in it)
1/4 of a can of pineapple chunks, drained
Batter prepared from Jiffy baking mix recipe for fruit cobbler

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Dump the cherry pie filling and pineapple into the bottom of a greased 2 qt. casserole dish
Pour batter evenly over the top
Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees
Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for another 10 minutes

You can either flip the cake over onto a plate, or just cut slices and scoop it out. I'm off to the kitchen to get a piece right now!!

Farmer's Market Finds - Part 1

One of my favorite things about working on Fridays in the summer is my trip to the Copley Square farmer's market. I bring my reusable bags and head out (rain or shine) to see what interesting things are for sale each week. It's fun, but a little slow, to go without a plan and just pick up whatever catches my eye. I usually pick up something for lunch and then take about four laps around the market before committing to any purchases.

This week's finds included one of my new favorite spring finds - English peas. They are bigger than the standard frozen peas and have a great flavor. I also picked up some rainbow carrots and garlic scapes. I had never heard of a garlic scape, but for $1 I figured that they were worth a try! They are a curly green shoot that grows out of the garlic. The sign on the basket said that they could be cut and sauteed like green beans and that they have milder garlic flavor.

Another bonus at this market is that there is a stand that sells steaks, ribs, and other meats. I picked up a nice sirloin steak for us to eat along with all the new vegetables.

Here's what I came up with for Friday night dinner with the farmer's market finds. Stay tuned for the Saturday morning breakfast post and more fun with the farmer's market finds.

This was a quick meal - the veggies take 5 minutes and the steak takes about 20-25 minutes or so to cook.

Grilled Sirloin Steak
Sirloin Steak
Your favorite seasoning (we used more of the leftover coffee rub from the BBQ)

Heat the grill for about 5-10 minutes to medium-high (like 400-450 degrees)
Rub the seasonings on the steak and let it sit while the grill is heating
Grill for 5ish minutes per side (depending on thickness)
Remove the steak and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting it (this lets the juices redistribute)

Sauteed Farmer's Market Veggies
About 1/2 cup of fresh shelled peas
4 garlic scapes, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup baby rainbow carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash of salt and pepper

Heat the oil to medium in a small skillet
Rinse and pat the veggies dry
Add to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
The veggies will still have a little crunch (I hate mushy cooked carrots)

Serve with your favorite rice or couscous and a nice glass of wine!

Backyard BBQ Part 2 - Smoked Ribs

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First up in the Backyard BBQ series is smoked ribs. My brother in Indy has a smoker and is always turning out things like brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and more. I decided that just because I don't own a smoker doesn't mean I can't do it too! After consulting numerous cookbooks and barbecue expert websites, I was all set for a great rack of ribs.

According to the BBQ gurus - the preferred equipment is obviously a dedicated smoker. Next on the list is a charcoal grill, and last on the list is a gas grill (that's what we own). The basic premise for smoking meat is to cook over indirect heat. In order to set up the grill, a few new accessories were needed. I bought some hickory wood chips, a small cast iron smoker box, and some shallow disposable aluminum pans. Instead of buying a fancy rib rack to cook the ribs in, I used the roasting rack from my turkey pan. Turning it upside down worked perfectly.

Next, for the type of ribs. There are many different kinds out there. The most popular summer ribs are typically pork ribs, something we don't cook at home. We set out to find beef ribs and were pleasantly surprised to find them on sale at the regular grocery store. We used 3.5 racks, each with 4-5 ribs per rack. They were split into half racks (there are 7 half-racks in the photo above). Note - these are not short ribs.

There are quite a few different opinions on the way to prepare ribs for cooking. Some profess that the only way to go is with sauce, some swear by a combination of a rub and a mop sauce. I decided to stick with a dry rub and let everyone decide if they wanted to add sauce.

On one of my frequent trips to Whole Foods, I picked up a summer recipe booklet along with my usual free samples. There was a recipe for "Chef Lou Lambert's Famous Coffee Dry Rub". It's written up as a rub for smoked brisket, but sounded so good that I had to try it. A few notes - this made more than enough for the ribs we made. We have plenty of rub leftover to add to other dishes. I added it to some burgers tonight and they turned out great.

Without further delay - the rub recipe and cooking instructions:

Coffee Dry Rub (courtesy of Whole Foods Fire Up the Grill flyer)
2 cups light brown sugar (I used dark brown, it's all we had)
1 cup chili powder
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup medium ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely ground dark roast coffee

Dump all ingredients in a medium bowl
Stir to combine well
Rub over all surfaces of the ribs and place ribs in a large disposable aluminum pan
Refrigerate for up to 24 hours (I only put them in the fridge for about an hour)

Cooking Instructions
Soak a few handfuls of wood chips in water for 15 minutes or more
Open up the grill and remove the grill grate
Place the smoker box over the burner you plan to turn on for cooking
Place two shallow aluminum trays over the burner(s) that you do not plan to turn on and fill them with water
Replace the grill grate on the top
Light the grill and turn all the burners to high
Close the lid and wait for about 10-15 minutes or until a lot of smoke is visible from the grill
Turn off all the burners except the one under the wood chips - turning that to medium (about 275-300 degrees)
Open the grill and place the roasting rack on the grate over the pans of water
Place the ribs into the rack
Close the lid and let cook for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure nothing is on fire

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
Turn off the burners on the grill and remove the ribs (still on the roasting rack) and place into the roasting pan
Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan
Cover tightly with aluminum foil and cook for about 1.5 - 2 hours or until tender
Transfer to a serving platter, tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

I served them with homemade barbecue sauce, recipe previously posted. I used maple syrup (not honey) and threw in a roasted jalapeno for some heat. The ribs were really tasty as is, so hardly any sauce was used.

Sadly, we didn't have any leftovers of this for the next day. Guess I'll have to fire up the grill again soon!

Backyard BBQ - Part 1

Inspired by the summer season, assorted cooking shows, and my brother's pictures of his BBQ goodness, we decided to try some new recipes for our summer get together. You can stop by any party this time of year for burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and traditional cole slaw - not here! We had a delicious spread of food and I can't imagine that anyone went home hungry.

While this might seem like an intimidating list of foods to prepare, it is easy for you to do at home. There are some shortcuts that you could take (i.e pre-chopped veggies) to save time or you could enlist a few friends to help out. Most things can be prepared a day or two in advance and stored in the fridge until the guests arrive. I used a few recipes that I've posted previously (links to posts are included below).

Here's the menu for the party - descriptions of the new recipes will follow shortly. I've got a lot of writing to do!

Appetizers
Tortilla Chips (yellow and blue)
Pita Chips
Carrots, broccoli, and celery
Fresh tomato salsa
Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

Main Course
Smoked BBQ Ribs with a coffee rub
Sirloin burgers with sharp cheddar
Grilled Honey Mustard chicken breasts
Tangy Apple-Cabbage Slaw
Couscous Salad with sundried tomatoes, arugula, and kalamata olives
Grilled mini-peppers (orange, red, yellow)
Grilled vidalia onions
Smoky baked beans
Cornbread
Homemade BBQ Sauce

Dessert
Regular and double chocolate chip cookies
Delicious Party Favors marble sheet cake
Assorted cookies and brownies

Beverages
Sparkling Limeade
Orange Cream Soda and Root beer
Assorted Beer (with plenty of leftovers!)

Here's a Preview - more to come

I'm still recovering from the whirlwind weekend in St. Louis. Here's a photo of the smoked ribs - recipe and story to follow!

I hope that you are enjoying the blog and are creating fun meals in your kitchen too! If you have a minute, leave a comment and say hello. It's fun to see where all the readers are from and hear what you think!

Burgers - Two Ways

Our electric bill typically goes down by $20/month in the summer because we are out back grilling instead of baking. Here are two different delicious burger recipes to help you save some money this summer (or really, year round). First up, a twist on the turkey burger. Second, a twist on a cheeseburger.

First up is a Southwest inspired turkey burger served with guacamole and a coucous, quinoa, and orzo blend. As I've mentioned before, we're trying to add more variety into our diet and this is a great addition. One thing to note about the healthiest choice when you are choosing ground turkey: when you go to the store, the healthier choice is ground turkey breast, not just ground turkey. Ground turkey contains both white and dark meat and is not as low cal/low fat as the ground turkey breast.

A few recipe tips: The onions in the burgers help to keep them moist. I tried out a new trick I saw Bobby Flay do - after you form the burger patty, press down in the middle to give it a little indent. When the burgers cook, they usually puff up in the middle. By starting with the indent they will end up flat - not like a baseball. I'm happy to report that this worked. Check out the photo! Now on to the recipe:

Southwest Inspired Turkey Burger
1 lb. ground turkey breast
1/4 of a vidalia onion (helps keep burgers moist)
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chili powder
A few shakes of green (jalapeno) Tabasco sauce
Salt and Pepper

Fire up the grill to medium-high heat
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together by hand
Split the mixture into four equal portions
Form four burger patties, pressing down in the middle to give them a little dent
Grill for a few minutes on each side

I toasted our whole wheat hamburger buns on the grill before serving
Top with guacamole and burgers and enjoy!

Summary:
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Cutting board and knife, bowl, plates, grill spatula, grill, and serving dishes

Makes 4 quarter-pound patties


Next up, a Non-Traditional Cheeseburger and Fries

Using another idea from one of the endless food shows I watch on TV, I decided to make a cheeseburger with the cheese inside the burger. We had some leftover mozzarella from the caprese sandwiches that I had for lunch during the week. Using my regular burger recipe, I added the cheese and voila! - a gourmet dinner at home. On the side, I made a delicious batch of no-fry fries. The recipe comes from an issue of a Better Homes and Gardens, "Simply Perfect Dinners" that I've had for a while (I just checked the magazine and the date is Spring 2000). There are 4-5 recipes in there that I always go back to - a great investment for $5.99! Here's the recipe.

Start the fries first, since they take longer than the burgers.

No-Fry Fries (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
Non-stick cooking spray
2 large baking potatoes (1 lb. total)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Lightly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray
Cut potatoes lengthwise into thin wedges (I cut these in half again to make shorter fries)
Place the wedges into a ziplock bag and spray them with the non-stick cooking spray
In a small bowl, mix the cheese, paprika, and pepper
Pour the mixture into the ziplock bag, close bag, and toss until potatoes are well-coated
Pour out potatoes onto the baking sheet and arrange them in a single layer
Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the fries over
Bake for another 15 minutes until crisp and fork-tender

Summary:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Cutting board and knife, ziplock bag, baking sheet, spatula

Nutrition info per serving: 155 calories, 3g total fat, 4mg cholesterol, 103mg sodium, 29g carbohydrates, 3g dietary fiber, 5g protein

Inside-out Sirloin Cheeseburgers
1/2 lb. ground sirloin
About 1 tablespoon diced vidalia onions
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Montreal grill seasoning
2 1-inch squares of mozzarella cheese

Fire up the grill to medium-high
In a bowl, mix the sirloin, onions, Worcestershire, and grill seasoning by hand
Split into two even portions
Take one portion and split into to even pieces
Form each of the two pieces into a patty
Take one patty in your hand, place the mozzarella square in the middle, and top with the second patty
Crimp the edges to seal around the cheese
Repeat with the second portion of meat
You will have 2 quarter-pound burgers to grill
Grill for a few minutes on each side until desired doneness

We served ours with ketchup and mustard, lettuce, and tomato.

Summary:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Cutting board and knife, bowl, grill, and grilling utensils

When He Fends for Himself -- Mixed Grill

Yesterday was Tuesday, which means the regular cook was playing golf. So that leads to another edition of "When he fends for himself."

Because I've agreed to share my loner meals in this forum, I have begun to feel pressure to produce something of value. I don't want to waste this space with dribble. Therefore, I came home Tuesday with a plan. I knew we had marinated steak tips, half of an uncooked chicken kabob, and some asparagus waiting for me in the fridge. When I got home, I fired up the grill and started my prep.

I carefully placed the steak tips and chicken kabobs on a platter to bring out to the grill. On a separate plate, I drizzled olive oil and added some salt and pepper to the asparagus. I brilliantly balanced both plates as I carried them through a storm door as well as a screen door on the way out to the grill.

On the grill, I like to place the meat on the left and the veggies on the right. I have no idea why, but it makes me feel good and calm when that's the order. My mother always says I'm the messiest engineer she's ever met, but I can be particular about some things, apparently. (note from editor, i.e. doris: this does not necessarily mean that this type of organization is practiced "off the grill")

Once placed on the grill I did what I do best. I went inside and went horizontal. Five minutes later, I went back out, flipped the meat and took off the asparagus. Then, back to the couch. Again, once 4-5 minutes passed I went back out and collected my dinner.

I quickly plated my food and sat down in front of the TV to enjoy my impromptu mixed grill. I also added some leftover pasta salad (not pictured) to complete the meal.

All in all, I am quite proud of the dinner I prepared for myself. I know some of you might have been expecting a lot less from me. To that I will ask you not to lose faith. I will lose my motivation about trying to impress in this space, and I am sure to be writing about cereal and "snack dinners" soon enough. The ingredients to this meal were in place and I took advantage.

In the future, I promise you, that will not be the case...

New Treats for the Grill

It's easy to get into a routine and eat the same foods each week. In the spirit of grilling diversity, we're trying to add new items to our stable of grill friendly meals. I've posted about grilled portobellos before - this post is more about what went with the grilled portobellos. I get a weekly email from Whole Foods and they always have interesting recipe ideas. The latest edition had a recipe for portobello and pineapple grilled veggie burgers. I printed out the recipe, miraculously found almost the ingredients in our pantry, and got to work! Our burgers were served without buns (I think they were better that way!)

The teriyaki sauce was really tasty. I'd put it up against any bottled sauce at the store. When you can control the amount of salt in your sauces they always taste much better. For an easy meal, I served this on a nice green salad with carrots and green onions. No need for dressing - I just drizzled a little extra teriyaki on it.

I'll write up the teriyaki sauce here. For the full recipe and instructions, click on the link above. I marinated the pineapples and portobellos for about 30 minutes before grilling (we wanted to eat before 10 p.m.). Throw them on the grill and within a short amount of time you are ready to eat. Drizzle with extra sauce and enjoy!

Quick Homemade Teriyaki Sauce (courtesy of Whole Foods' recipe, with a few tweaks)

Juice from 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings
3 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I only had dark)
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (I didn't have any, so I added some toasted sesame seeds instead)
Canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Put 3/4 cup of the pineapple juice (save remaining for another use), soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil into a small bowl and whisk together to make a marinade

After you put the mushrooms and pineapples on the grill, drain the leftover marinade into a small saucepan
Bring to a boil over medium high heat
In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch
Then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the marinade in the saucepan and boil until thickened, about 1-2 minutes
Pour into a serving bowl
Serve with cooked mushrooms and pineapple

Summary:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: Sauce - 5 minutes; Full meal - 10-15 minutes
Mixing bowl, bowl to marinate, small saucepan, serving bowl, spoon, whisk

We had more than enough sauce for our dinner. I put the extra in the fridge to save for another use. The next night we grilled some mahi-mahi and the sauce was delicious on top. On the side I made some snap peas and red peppers on the grill. I wrapped the veggies in a foil pack and seasoned them with ground ginger, garlic powder, and a little sesame oil. They only need about 5 minutes on the grill and they come out cooked with a nice crunch.

Soy Ginger Flank Steak with Lime-Cilantro Rice

Flank steak was on sale at the store and it makes for a very quick and easy dinner. We paired it with a 90-second rice mix (from Trader Joe's) and some fresh peas. Josh picked up the peas at the store, they were so much better than the frozen peas.

The glaze for the steak was soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ground ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. The whole meal was topped with toasted sesame seeds. I cooked the steak on our indoor grill pan. It is a cast iron pan - smooth on one side and grill lines on the other. It fits across two burners on the stove. Quick and easy to clean - Josh's favorite feature.