12 posts tagged “grill”
There are dozens of great flavor combinations that I just love to use over and over, either because they complement one another so nicely or they are ingredients I always have around (or both)! One of my favorite combinations is garlic and ginger. I think these two flavors marry exceptionally well together and they taste so, so good. Am I right or am I right?
With that in mind, I set out to make an Asian-spiced pork burger. Ginger and garlic can be used in many dishes and in different cuisines, but my favorite application of the two ingredients is in Asian cooking. I topped these with a really simple warm slaw of sorts. We don't eat burgers a lot (and I have no idea why), so this was a nice change of pace. Plus, did you know that May is National Hamburger Month? I couldn't let that go by without celebrating!
And if all those reasons weren't already enough to tempt me into making burgers, while I am marrying ginger and garlic, my friend Joelen is marrying her real-life cooking group with her online cooking followers. If you haven't already seen Joelen's blog, you should definitely check out all the great things she does! Be sure to visit her blog on June 30 for the roundup of burgers, both from the burger cooking class she is holding on June 29 and the submissions she gets from blogs.
Asian Pork Burgers
1 lb. ground pork
1.5 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
2 scallions (whites and greens), sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 knob ginger, peeled and minced or grated
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt (not a lot since you have the soy sauce) and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients together (being careful not to overmix) and form into patties. Grill until done, about 6 minutes per side.
For the slaw, I don't have a real recipe. All I did was stir fry some veggies (shredded cabbage and carrots, bean sprouts, and mushrooms) and then stirred in a little soy sauce and fish sauce at the end).
Everyone falls into this trap at one point or another, don't they? You see something on sale and you buy it--because it's on sale. You probably don't need it, you may not even know what to do with it, but there it is with you in the checkout lane. Or so is the case with my package of ground chicken. It was on sale and I bought it. I had no idea what to do with it, so I stuck it in my freezer. When it eventually came out of the depths of my freezer, I had to figure out what I was going to make with this (frankly, extremely unappetizing looking) stuff that has never been in my fridge before.
We eat fairly healthily but if there is one thing I can't do, it's ground turkey. I don't know. I should probably try it again since there are so many great blogs with ground turkey recipes that actually look pretty good. But, what can I say? It's just not my thing. I'm a beef lover. Even at Thanksgiving, my dad and I often sulk over the lack of red meat. I don't eat red meat that often and when I eat it in ground form, I just make sure it's really lean and then I don't feel at all bad eating it. So really, why bother with the alternative? Well, to that point, why bother with the ground chicken!? I am telling you, it truly is because it was on sale! I am a SUCKER! Okay, that and I remembered seeing this chicken pesto burger Nikki made that looked pretty tasty. Originally, I was going to make the same burger since I have some pesto in my freezer from the last batch I made. But, I decided to go a different route (while still keeping the Mediterranean flair) and keep this Greek-inspired. I seasoned the burgers fairly simply and added some cheese (which, as you already know, makes everything better) and then topped them with a chunky tapenade of sorts made from kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes. The result was a juicy, flavorful burger. We liked it, we really liked it! Who knew?! I mean, okay, we obviously like chicken, but like I said, I am not normally one to use it where beef belongs :)
Mediterranean Chicken Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
1 lb. ground chicken (alright, alright...or turkey)
3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1.5 tsp. dried oregano
12 kalamata olives, pitted
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or oil from the tomatoes)
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
Mix the chicken, feta, parsley, oregano and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Shape into 4 patties. Lightly spray a grill/grill pan with oil and cook the burgers until done, about 5-6 minutes per side.
Meanwhile, make the tapenade by putting the olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and a little ground pepper in a food processor, pulsing until combined. While pulsing, drizzle in the oil. Top the burgers with the tapenade.
Nutrition Information (this is just for the burgers and topping, not the bun as those will vary greatly): Calories: 212 / Fat: 12.3g / Carbs: 3.1g / Protein: 28g
Tonight was pretty easy as far as dinner goes, thanks to the box of burger patties in my freezer. The last time I was at Trader Joe's I picked up some chile lime chicken burgers that my friend Julie recommended. I don't usually get pre-mixed/seasoned things like that but at about $3.50/box (there are 4 1/4 lb. patties) it was actually cheaper than buying ground chicken and making the patties myself.
Originally my plan was to grill the burgers and then wrap them completely in a whole wheat tortilla with some cheese, and then grill that whole thing. Shamefully, this is an idea I totally ripped off fromTaco Bell (grilled, TO GO!). But, I didn't realize the patties were so wide and they definitely didn't fit in my tortillas that way, so I ended up halving them after I cooked them, and just using them as a taco filling. So, they aren't quite as pretty, but they tasted good :) I added cheese, salsa verde and tomatoes, but this would definitely benefit from some avacado/guacamole or sour cream, neither of which I had on hand.
We had this with a corn salad. I absolutely love corn salad, and the grilling in this salad makes it even more flavorful.
Grilled corn salad with cumin-lime vinaigrette
4 ears corn, husked/cleaned
1 red pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh minced parsley or cilantro
Olive oil, for grilling
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp. lime juice
1.5 Tbsp. olive or canola oil
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
small pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Make vinaigrette by combining the last 5 ingredients.
Boil corn for approximately 2-3 minutes (as a sidenote, I usually flavor my water with both salt and sugar when I am boiling corn on the cob). When it's cool enough to handle, rub it with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Rub pepper and tomatoes with EVOO and salt/pepper. If you are doing this on an outdoor grill, skewer the tomatoes so they don't fall through the grates.
Grill corn, peppers and tomatoes until they get char marks. Set aside to cool slightly.
Once cool, cut corn off cob and slice red pepper.
Toss corn, red pepper, tomatoes, green onion, black beans, cilantro/parsley with the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Since I really liked Bobby Flay's German Potato Salad recipe I thought I would try another (my second) Bobby Flay recipe tonight, so I tried his ginger-soy-lime marinated shrimp. Yum! I did use peeled shrimp, though. I skewered them with peapods before grilling, and they were delicious.
One of the best things about our new neighborhood is that we are a stone's throw from a great butcher. On Saturday, Tom went to the Paulina Meat Market to pick up some steaks to grill and I asked him to get some freshly ground lamb while he was there.
So tonight, I decided to make some lamburgers. Usually, I use mini pitas as "buns" but the store didn't have any, so we just used whole wheat pita halves. I also typically top these with tzatziki but since we are leaving town on Wednesday, I didn't really want to make a whole batch of tzatziki, so we just had them with some feta instead. If you want, you can mix crumbled feta into the lamb mixture or stuff the patties with feta instead of just putting it on top.
We ate these with a simple Greek village salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, red onion, red wine vinegar, drizzle of olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper).
Lamburgers
1 lb. ground lamb
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 Tbsp oregano
1/4 cup onion, finely minced or grated
2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
ground pepper to taste
2 pitas, halved
olive oil
Mix all ingredients together and shape into four patties. (I actually made mine in half moons since we were eating them on pita halves).
Lightly grease and heat grill. Grill burgers approximately 4 minutes per side or until desired degree of doneness.
Brush or spray pita halves with olive oil and toss on the grill for about 30-60 seconds. Stuff pitas with patties and top with whatever you like!
July is such a busy month for us. I think we will actually be in town for 17 out of the 31 days and we have events/dinners a few of those days we are in town. So, I won't be doing a whole lot of cooking this month. In fact, I am trying to cook from the freezer/pantry with *maybe* a trip or two to the grocery store for a little fresh produce. So, I don't expect the blog to be updated too frequently, unfortunately.
Tonight, we had grilled Cuban-flavored pork tenderloin with some stuffed portabello mushrooms. Really tasty, and healthy to boot!
Cuban Marinade (for 1 tenderloin, about 1 lb.)
1/4 cup orange juice (about 1 orange)
2 Tbsp lime juice (about 1 lime)
3 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
2 bay leaves
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and pour into a resealable bag with the pork tenderloin. Marinate several hours.
Grill tenderloin, basting with the marinade as you grill, until internal temperature reaches 140.
Set aside to rest for 7-10 minutes, underneath an aluminum foil tent. Slice.
This is the first time I have grilled pork tenderloin. Why have I never done this before? Typically I sear and roast or sometimes cook medallions on the stove. The grilling gave this a nice crust and the pork was incredibly tender. I'm definitely going to do this a lot more frequently.
To accompany the pork, I decided to make poblano and cheddar stuffed portobello mushrooms from Food and Wine. These turned out great. My portobellos were definitely smaller than 6 oz. (I weighed them. Have I mentioned I LOVE my kitchen scale? If not, let me just say here that I love the convenience of a kitchen scale) so I decided to decrease the filling a little. I kind of wish I hadn't, so if your mushrooms are 6 oz. or so, I would suggest maybe increasing the filling slightly. I used red poblanos instead of green and added a garlic clove to the onion/spinach mixture. Also, to lighten them up, I used my Misto filled with olive oil to spray the portobellos rather than brushing them with oil. Almost a tablespoon of oil per mushroom is overkill otherwise (well, if you are trying not to eat too many calories, that is).
Poblanos have a great flavor and are not very hot. They are earthy and go so well with the portobellos, also earthy. These actually seem like they would be a good vegetarian meal option (especially if you do find the larger 'shrooms) since the portobellos are meaty, there is a carb and there is cheese :)
Tonight I had a night off from cooking because Tom decided to bust out his new grill. I love grilling and I am so happy the pesky midwestern weather is finally cooperating. Everything was delicious!
Tom grilled ribeye steaks, seasoned simply with salt and some coarsely ground pepper.
He tossed asparagus and portabella mushrooms in a olive oil-balsamic vinegar-salt and pepper mixture and grilled those.
He made potatoes in foil packets with a little oil, some chunks of bacon (which, as I'm sure you know, makes everything better), red peppers, onion, garlic and salt and pepper.
You know we are low on groceries when the pork chops come out. Like I said in a previous post I really am not all that crazy about pork chops. Clearly, we are in need of a trip to the grocery store :) I decided to just do a rub and grill the pork chops. To make matters even easier, I didn't even use my own rub!
This is not really much of a recipe, but I thought I would post it anyway in case people needed ideas for a quick and easy (but still flavorful) meal.
I used a jerk rub for the chops. Obviously you could make your own jerk rub but I had some leftover from a trip to St. Martin, so I decided to use it. I just patted the pork chops with a paper towel, and then rubbed the seasoning into both sides. Put them on an oil-sprayed grill, cooked till internal temp was about 140.
I also decided to make some potato/veggie skewers. These didn't turn out too visually appealing since they didn't have much color. I thought I had some grape tomatoes, but it turns out they didn't look so hot. For these, I blitzed a clove of garlic with some fresh lemon juice (about a tablespoon; lime or orange juice would work!), oil, honey (about 2 Tbsp), oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. In the meantime, I halved some baby yukon potatoes and boiled them until *just* fork tender. Tossed those with some green peppers, mushrooms and pinapple chunks into the honey mixture. Threaded them on skewers, and tossed those on the grill, too, brushing with the marinade a couple times.
You know, it's funny. It's like the emptier my fridge/freezer/pantry get, the more recipes I follow instead of just making up my own. You'd think it would be the other way around, but I guess I must cook with more ingredients when I'm winging it. I feel so limited in the kitchen before this move, yet I am managing to find a million and one recipes/ideas for which I have all the ingredients.
Today I made Cooking Light's Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs. I was short one ingredient, however--cider vinegar. I decided to use balsamic instead. I used bone-in thighs (still skinless) and ended up broiling them about 9 minutes per side. These were great!
We had this with grilled potatoes. I processed a clove of garlic with some salt, pepper, a little rosemary, and olive oil. Tossed the skin-on potato slices in the mixture, and grilled about 8 minutes per side.
I also sauteed some asparagus in a touch of butter, some balsamic vinegar (which I am now officially out of), garlic, salt and pepper, and a tiny bit of thyme.
The pictures didn't turn out well, but here is one of the least crappy pics. Canarygirl, will you please come take pictures for me next time? :)
Tonight we had steak fajitas and southwest corn salad. YUM.
Tequila-lime steak fajitas
Note: I used a piece of flank steak that was about 8 or 9 oz. so if you use a whole piece, you should probably double or triple the marinade.
8-10oz. flank steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon tequila
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and marinate for an hour or longer. Grill along with your favorite veggies. I used yellow and red peppers, and onions (the onions were for the hubby, since I don't particulary like them).
Roll into a tortilla with your favorite toppings.
The corn salad was basically a (completely unmeasured) mixture of corn, black beans, green peppers, green onions, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, a pinch of cumin, and a splash each of vinegar and oil.
A random hint: I was always throwing away tortillas because they tend to come in packs of 10 or 12 and we never use them. Now what I do is wrap them in twos using saran wrap, then put those in a ziploc bag and freeze. This way you can thaw as many as you want at a time. If you freeze a whole pack, you will probably have to thaw the whole thing to get them to pull apart from one another, so this works great.
