Grilled Steak and Radishes with Black Pepper Butter

 

Right out of the new Bon Appetit! Grilled Steak and Radishes with Black Pepper Butter. Okay my favorite part was the radishes. I just love them grilled. I also made a Shaved Zucchini Salad. It was a perfect match for the meat and radishes. As much as I liked this steak recipe I think I still like the dry rub better!
And for dessert I picked up something new at the store. Roba Dolce Ocean Spray Lemon Blueberry Sorbet. I love the lemon blueberry combination. Heck I made Lemon Blueberry Scones today for tomorrow's breakfast! This sorbet is wonderful.  It is 110 calories for half a cup so I did not eat the whole carton but I do believe I could have! I  also picked up the Hazelnut Truffle Gelato (they were on sale 2 for $6), but I have not tried that on yet... stay tuned...

Grilled Pizza! Amazing!

I just love grilling pizza. The crust is so crisp. We brush one side of the crust with olive oil and put the oiled side down on the grill. Once it is done we remove the crust, brush oil on the uncooked side and put our toppings on the cooked side. Back on the grill until the underside is crisp and the cheese on top is melted. The aroma of the grilling dough is wonderful. It reminds me of the school carnival when I was in grade school. Zuppardi's use to run the fried dough stand. Talk about food memories!

For toppings we cleaned out the fridge. The grilled eggplant and grilled yellow squash were from the other night. I did not do a post for that dinner. And the zucchini flowers I picked up at Bishop's Orchards. Goat cheese, shredded Mozzarella and of course Parmesan.

And speaking of the school carnival, I found a photo of my Mom at the St. Lawrence School Carnival with my brother's three children. The year was 1979!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

I came home and Chris had dinner well under way. He cubed a pork tenderloin. He marinated the pork in olive oil, cholula hot sauce, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and fresh sage. Then he skewered the meat and grilled it along with some zucchini spears. The pork was delicious. The flavors were perfect.

Happy Wednesday!

Grilled Meatball Subs & Barley Salad with Tomato & Herbs

That was one tasty meatball! I started out with a pound of grass feed ground beef. To that I added 2 slices of Italian bread that was soaked in milk, 1/4 cup of minced yellow onion, 2 tablespoons fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoons of salt and pepper. I combined all the ingredients and shaped them into 1 inch meatballs. They were refrigerated over night. Chris grilled them and the rolls and we heated up some sauce. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese (was sure I had mozzarella!!). Fantastic. The flavors were perfect.

Now about that Barley Salad with Tomato and Herbs, it was suppose to be made with Farro. But I did not have Farro in the house so I substituted Pearl Barley. Another hit! The Farro Salad recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis.

The tomato was our first tomato from our plant on the deck! 

Barley Salad with Tomato and Herbs, adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients -

3 cups water *

1 cup Pearl Barley
1 pound tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 sweet onion (recommended: Walla Walla) chopped
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Method -

Combine the water and barley in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce heat; cook 50-60 minutes. Drain well, and then transfer to a large bowl to cool. Freeze or refrigerate half of the barley for another time.

Add the tomatoes, onion, chives, and parsley to the barley, and toss to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Add the vinaigrette to the salad and toss to coat.

The salad can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Note - * This amount of water and barley make double what you need for this salad,  but the barley freezes perfectly.

New Haven Apizza & Bakery

I had a lot of little things going on today so I opted for getting dinner to go. I called New Haven Apizza & Bakery and ordered 2 Daily Specials. Broccoli over Rigatoni for me and Braciole with Meatball & Sausage over Rigatoni for Chris. We had not had pasta since June 8! Our dinners were delicious. I requested light on the garlic and glad I did. I tasted the Meatball and Braciole. So good! Loved it and really needed a dish of pasta.... Now if I could just get my hands on an Almond Joy....

Grilled Shrimp Panzanella

Again we have a recipe from Better Homes and Garden. An amazing recipe. A delicious recipe. A dish that I can't wait to share the leftovers with my sister and brother tomorrow as we spend one of our last Saturdays cleaning out my parent's house. Grilled Shrimp Panzanella. Panzanella is a bread salad. I love bread so of course I would love a bread salad. The dressing was spot on. Just the right taste of balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. 

And we skewered the shrimp using 2 skewers so flipping them was a lot easier. We served the Grilled Shrimp Panzanella on a bed of lettuce, we had some leftover from this week. Definitely a meal we will make again.

Ingredients -

1 1/2 pound large fresh or frozen shrimp with tails, peeled and deveined
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar or balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 larger and/or yellow sweet peppers, halved and seeded
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 1 pound loaf ciabatta bread, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
4 roma tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved (optional)

Method -

Thaw shrimp, if frozen. In a medium bowl combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Thread shrimp onto skewers. Brush shrimp with about 3 tablespoons of the oil mixture, reserving the remaining mixture.

For a charcoal or gas grill, grease grill rack. Place skewers on the grill rack directly over medium heat. Cover and grill for 4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque, turning once halfway through grilling. Remove from grill; set aside on a large baking sheet.

Brush sweet peppers and zucchini with oil mixture. Add to grill. Cover and grill about 8 minutes or until crisp-tender and lightly charred, turning once halfway through grilling. Remove from grill; set aside on a large baking sheet.

Brush bread slices and tomatoes with some of the reserved oil mixture. Add to grill. Cover and grill about 2 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted and tomatoes are softened, turning once halfway through grilling.

Remove shrimp from skewers and transfer to a very large bowl. Cut sweet peppers, zucchini, and bread into 1-inch pieces; add to bowl. Drizzle with any remaining oil mixture. If desired, add basil, parsley, and olives; toss to combine.

Serve salad immediately or chill for up to 2 hours.

Spinach, Bacon, Onion, Goat Cheese and Feta Pizza

Wow! Best Pizza Ever!

I sauteed sliced onions, added pre-cooked bacon to the pan (yeah I know it is not the best thing to eat but I was in traffic for an hour and 20 minutes) and some spinach until it was wilted. A bit of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Chris took care of the crust on the grill. He grilled one side. Then we added the tomatoes and the toppings and the cheeses and some mozzarella to the grilled side of the pizza. Back on the grill, un-grilled side down. The crust was so thin and crisp. We brushed the crust with olive oil so it would not stick to the grill. We loved it! It was so good I forgot how bad the drive home was...
Where did the crust come from? The freezer! I had made the Jim Lahey recipe a couple of weeks ago and froze half of the dough. Perfect!

Grilled Chicken with Lemon-Cucumber Relish

Tonight's recipe is from Better Homes and Garden. My Mom use to subscribe to the magazine and couple of years ago my Dad got me a subscription for Christmas.

The chicken was delicious. And the relish was excellent. Not our usual dinner fare. It was perfect for a hot day like today. The cumin was the perfect rub for the chicken, just enough spice. And the relish cooled it down perfectly.

We had a green salad as the side dish.

From Better Homes and Garden, Grilled Chicken with Lemon-Cucumber Relish -

Ingredients -
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 medium seedless cucumber, chopped (2 1/2 cups)
1 large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon milk

Method -
Brush chicken breast halves with olive oil; sprinkle with ground cumin, salt, and pepper. Grill on a covered grill directly over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, until done (170 degrees F), turning once.

Meanwhile, for Lemon-Cucumber Relish, in a medium bowl combine cucumber, tomato, onion, lemon peel, lemon juice, and garlic; stir to combine. In a small bowl combine yogurt, honey, and milk; stir to combine.

To serve, top chicken with Lemon-Cucumber Relish. Drizzle with yogurt sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Grilled Chicken Sausages and Not Really Roasted Vegetable Salad

Funny how things work out...
I had Monday off and as I was resting from the long drive home, Chris drove but I was exhausted, I found this recipe online - Roasted Vegetable Chickpea Salad. I went to the store and got everything except, because I was so sure I had them at home, Chickpeas.

After my total amazement of not knowing what I have and do not have in the pantry I proceeded with the recipe, planning on just omitting the Chickpeas. I turned the oven on and set it to 375 degrees. I popped the pan in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes, planning on stirring at the 10 minute mark. The timer goes off. I open the oven and thought to myself that the oven did not seem that hot. But I stir the veggies. 10 minutes later I open the oven and darn the oven still did not seem hot. Sigh... The top burners are working, I had made a double batch of brown rice to freeze. Obviously something was wrong. But I baked cookies on Wednesday night and they came out perfect.

I tried the broiler and that worked. I put the Not Roasted Vegetable No Chickpea Salad in a dish and waited until today to deal with it.

We put the Roasted Vegetable Chickpea Salad without Chickpeas in the grill basket and Chris took over. He grilled up some Chicken Sausages and some Italian bread. A perfect meal. Thank you Chris!

The Baptism

Let me start out by saying I am not a fan of flying. 

But I will fly as long as I can prep for the flight...

Pre-Flight Grey Goose Bloody Mary

Pre-Flight Grey Goose and Soda

This weekend Chris and I traveled to visit my nephew Nicholas and his family. 

We were asked to be Elenora's Godparents.

For dinner on Friday night we had a fantastic Antipasto at my nephew's house. There were so many things on the table I am sure I will not remember all of them. Stuffed Grape Leaves, Tomato Bruschetta, Cheeses, Prosciutto, Soppressata, Olives, Tuna, Italian Bread, Artichoke Hummus, Hot Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella... it went on forever.

 

Then there was the Baptism.

Chris and I and my nephew's children.

Check out the shoes!

 

We had brunch after the ceremony at Matchbox. I had the Veggie Frittatta. It was so good, and I know my frittattas. The mushrooms were something I do not usually add but they were the perfect texture and the pesto was nice addition. Chris had the Bloody Mary Burger. It had a fried egg on top. I have seen burgers with fried eggs in magazines and online. I have been wanting to try it. Chris gave it two thumbs up... perhaps we can try it at home!

We spent Saturday playing with the kids and we had a cook-out Saturday night, sorry no photos but the turkey burger was grilled perfectly (Ralph was on the grill!). But I took some photos of the hydrangea plants at my nephew's house. There are so many of them!

We flew, oh wait we drove home. Our flight was cancelled!!!! So for dinner on Sunday we had MacDonald's Coffee and Bagel Chips. Sorry but I was not going to break down and eat reststop food. I am sure reststop food is good but I could not bring my self to order anything.