Time to grill!

I took some time off. Sue me. I needed to change jobs, move and finish a class on assassination. My plate was somewhat full, no pun intended. So to make up for it I am giving you a fist full of recipes that make for some awesome grilling. Sadly I only have minimal pictures of the eats as they were being eaten right off the grill… there were some hungry people running around with food stuffed in their mouth mumbling/slurring the word Hot, as they were trying to chow down.

1.Grilled squash

It is summer. There should be more squash running around than you can shake a stick at. Or at least that is how it seems to go for anyone with a squash plant in their garden. Here is a way to get rid of some of it while you are hanging out by the grill.

Ingredients

2 – 3 squish (a mix of green and yellow)

Garlic infused olive oil (the regular stuff will work but this is so much better)

Oregano

Red Pepper flakes

Equipment

Grill  

Grilling basket

Cut the squish in half and then cut it in half length wise. Chop squish into little ¼ inch half medallions. Throw the squish in a ziplock bag. Add a liberal splash of olive oil, a few healthy pinches of some dried oregano and as much red pepper as your dinner guests can stand. Mix every thing up in the bag. Seal the bag up and let the squish soak up some goodness.

Throw the grilling basket on the grill when you start some of your longer cooking meats so that it can get nice and hot. Once the basket is hot throw the squish in. Stir the squash around every few minutes so any one side does not get overly done. It should take about 10 minutes on a nice hot grill for it to get nice and fork tender.

Once it is done, dump it on a serving plate or platter and send it on its way to table of doom.

2. BBQ Chicken

What cook out is complete with out BBQ chicken? The only problem is it is so damn messy. Seriously, have you ever tried to remove carbonized BBQ sauce from a grill? It is a pain in the ass. That is why I quit making the stuff. Well The girlfriend and I stumbled across something the other day and we thought we would give it a go. Lets just say that the results were awesome so we reloaded and tried again with some chicken…

Ingredients

Boneless Skinless Chicken thighs

Bone Sucking Dry Rub

You can choose to rinse or not to rinse your chicken. I do not because of the increased splash risk of cross contamination. Lay the chicken out flat, what would have been, skin side up. Give it a nice liberal coating of dry rub. Flip and repeat. Roll the chicken up into tight little rolls. Store in a tightly sealed container and let it sit overnight. Take these guys out of your container and lay flat on the grill. I recommend a nice spot where they can cook with some indirect heat. If that is not possible then keep a real good eye on them so they do not char. These should be one of the first things on the grill as it can take a little bit of time to get chicken up to 165 degrees using internal temperature. Flip occasionally to avoid over cooking on any one side. When they hit the magic temp, put them on a plate and send them to their doom.

3. Tiger tips

No, it is not real tiger, but I bet it would taste pretty good if they were. I found this stuff a long time ago called tiger sauce. I think my mom first exposed me to it when she was marinating the hindquarter of a deer roast… It was years later before I discovered it again. I am pretty sure it was my friend Kyle that sent me a bottle for my birthday (thanks man) and I rediscovered the wonders of Tiger Sauce. The stuff is awesome. You can put it on anything or in anything. My favorite is getting some good steak tips and cutting them into bite sized chunks, and soaking them in Tiger Sauce overnight. Throw those bad boys on a skewer and cook till desired doneness. If you want to go over the top with them you can wrap them in with a good thick cut bacon and soak them in tiger sauce and then grill them. If that is the plan then keep in mind you will need to not pack them so tight on the skewers so that the bacon can get cooked all around. These are a crowd pleaser. Hell I think people were trying to pluck them off the grill and put them into their mouth once they knew what I had. I am not including an ingredients list or method because if you read what I wrote it is pretty self explanatory. 

4. Fruit murder al la peaches and pineapple.

The final thing that I made was this awesomeness that I have not come up with a name for so I will be working with fruit murder al la peaches and pineapple for now. I have been playing around with grilled pineapple for a few years now and I think I have finally perfected it. All I can say is that this stuff was divine. People were eating it before it even hit the grill. It almost didn’t even make it to the grill.

Ingredients:

1 pineapple

2 cinnamon sticks broken into thirds

1 Tbls Ground cinnamon

1 ¼ C Meyers dark rum

¼ C Meyers dark rum

1 shot of rum

2 very ripe peaches

1 shot of rum

Method:

1. Core the pineapple, cut the skin off and chop it into bite sized pieces. Put into a container that is big enough to hold it with some room left over.

2. Take a shot of rum.

3. Wash the peaches. Remove the pits. Throw into a food processor with the ¼ C rum and the ground cinnamon. Hit the grind button and teach those peaches who is boss. Keep pulsing the grind button until the peaches have been reduced to a pulpy, rummy paste. Then hit the grind button a few more times for good measure.

4. Drink a shot of rum in celebration of peach death.

5. Take the dead peaches and mix with the rest of the rum.

6. Pour the rum/peach murder concoction over the pineapple. Let it soak overnight.

7. Right before it is time to grill, put the pineapple on some skewers. Grill over a medium heat until it gets hot with some grill marks on it.

8. Serve.

9. Drink another shot of rum for the hell of it. 

Here is the feast in mid grill... the eaters were circling.... 

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

Looking back at my recipes I have noticed that I have done very little that is a vegetarian dish. So over the past week or so I have made a few vegetarian meals and now have some on hot standby to post. The first up is some Cuban Black Beans and Rice. I kind of screwed up and put too much chipotle chilies in it… My girlfriend’s mouth was not impressed with the level of heat. It even made me sweat a little but was far from unbearable. Otherwise it turned out spectacular. I was hesitant about putting coconut milk in with the black beans but the proof is in the pudding.

Cuban Black Beans

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves of garlic pressed

2-3 tsp cumin

2 bay leaves

1 Tbl canned chipotle chilies, minced

2 (15 oz) cans black beans, mostly drained

1 c water

1 c Light coconut milk

1 tsp lime juice

2 finely chopped green onions

1/2 c finely chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium sauce pan sauté the onions in olive oil until they start to turn golden brown.

Add the peppers and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes

Add your spices, black beans, water and coconut milk.

Simmer beans for 30 minutes. Add lime juice and serve.

Top with the scallions and cilantro.

Cilantro Rice

2 c water

1 c jasmine rice (any white rice will work but jasmine is my favorite)

Olive oil

3 -4 cloves pressed garlic (my Zyliss got a work out today)

2 tsp lime juice

1 handful of chopped cilantro

2 hands full chopped spinach

3 chopped green onions

Bring water to boil

Add rice, oil, garlic, lime juice

Reduce heat and simmer

Cook until done (20 – 25 minutes)

Transfer rice to a bowl and mix in the cilantro, spinach and onions

 

You can serve the beans over the rice, beside the rice or just eat the beans from the pot with a spoon and eat the rice from the bowl with a spoon. What ever floats your boat. 

 

This will go nicely with a nice lighter body beer. My personal recommendation is the Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale but I just really like their beer.

White Bean Chili

We got a little cool snap this weekend that will be stretching into this week so I decided I would crank out one more pot of white chili before the soup season closes. In my mind soup is not a summer food, which is why it drives me up the wall that  the local chowder cook off is in the middle of summer. Who wants to eat chowder in 90 degree weather? Not me but then I just don’t want to even exist in 90 degree weather.

Some notes on this recipe before we get to it. This is chili not rocket science. Unless you do something really, really bad you cannot mess this up. I have never followed a recipe exactly for this, and i don't expect you to follow this exactly, so I will just give you a good frame work to work off of. I always add way more spices than what is listed here, I call it adjusting for taste. Just remember you can always add more but it is difficult to remove what you have added.  

One final thing, I usually make some cornbread to go with this recipe. Nothing like chili and some cornbread made from scratch but I tried something different this time. We were over by a very good local bakery, that makes an olive bread to die for, so we decided to pop in and pick up a good loaf of bread. Instead of the olive bread we got a cheddar cheese loaf, which kicked off the idea of white chili. The bread was amazing and went with the chili very well. I am surprised that the bread survived the night but I guarantee that it will not survive tonight. ; )

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped (optional, I just had one laying around)

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed

4-10 cloves of garlic, pressed (in your Zyliss garlic press)

 1 fresh pepper (cayenne, Anaheim, jalapeno) chopped (optional depending on tolerance for heat)

30 oz of chicken broth

1 can chopped green chilies

1 ½ Tbl. Cumin (roasted)

2 tsp oregano

1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper (I used a dash of African cayenne)

1 tsp crushed red pepper

White pepper to taste

2 cans of white beans, undrained (Navy, great northern, cannellini, etc. mix them if you want)

Toppings:

Shredded cheese, Monterey jack works well but anything will do

Fresh Cilantro (optional if you think cilantro tastes like soap)

Wedge of cornbread or artisanal bread

1.      

1. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and sauté onions (and shallot) until tender, remove from pan.

2. In the same pan cook the chicken until done. Drain the excess fat off of the chicken.

3. Add onions and chicken to a large stock pot.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the stock pot and heat almost to a boil then reduce heat and simmer.

5. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes, then serve.

6. After you put the chili in a bowl sprinkle with the shredded cheese and cilantro.

As an alternative you can cook it in a crock pot on a high heat for 3 - 4 hours. That is what I did and it turned out very well. Just remember to stir it before you serve it because your seasonings will settle on the bottom of the pot and who ever gets the last bowl is in for a kick.

Serve with your favorite beer, I think I had a Flying Dog

Linguini & Clams with a Red Sauce & More

Very rarely do I make anything Italian but I had a thing of shredded Parmesan cheese in my fridge that needed to get used.

Olive oil

1/2 c. Chopped onion

1 Chopped shallot
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1/4 c. Dry white wine
1/4 c. Tomato sauce
1 tsp. Dried whole basil

1 tsp. Dried Oregano
Fresh pressed garlic to taste (I used lots)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 (6.5 oz) cans whole baby clams, drained
8 oz. Whole wheat linguine (Follow the cooking directions on the package, that is what they are there for)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Coat a large pan with some olive oil and put it on a medium heat. Sautee the shallots and onions until tender. Add the next 8 ingredients. Bring to a low boil and reduce heat. Simmer this uncovered (I recommend using a splatter screen) for about 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to cook off some of the liquids so your sauce thickens and will stick to your linguini. Once the sauce has reached a desired consistency, add the clams. Simmer for a few more minutes. Serve over cooked linguini and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. 

This is like a 3 for one today. I served the linguini with a kind of a Capri salad and garlic Focaccia bread.

Capri (but not really)Salad

1 Package baby spinach (rinsed and drained)

1 Package cherry tomatoes

1 Ball of Mozzarella (cut or ripped into bite sized pieces)

Dried or fresh basil

Dried oregano

Balsamic reduction (store bought unless you want to make it…)

Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a big bowl. Serve in salad bowls. After salad is plated add some basil and oregano and drizzle with the Balsamic reduction.

Garlic Focaccia Bread

1 small loaf of Garlic Focaccia Bread

Lots of fresh pressed garlic (my Zyliss was getting some use yesterday)

Butter

Slice the Focaccia into 3rds lengthwise. Spread the pressed garlic onto the bread like butter. I like garlic so I went a little bit heavy handed. Add a few little pats of butter to the bread. Toast in a toaster oven until the bread/garlic starts to toast and turn brown. Serve with linguini.

Notes on all of this.

Next time I will make a few changes to this recipe. It is good but I can do better. First my herb garden is not ready yet. Hopefully next time it will be so I can use fresh herbs. Second thing I would change is to add more wine and reduce more. I think the wine got hidden in there. I may even try some Sherry to really get that flavor to come out. Finally I would add about half as many more clams. I like clams and there just were not enough for me.  But like I say about any of my recipes, have some fun, play with it and make it yours.

I also paired this with Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch beer. It is not so much that it goes with this, I mean it is a pretty stand up beer that can handle a red sauce, it is just that it is one of my favorite beers.