Portobello Burgers

Jack discovered and prepared this tasty burger for us this summer. It has become a meatless favorite.

Portobello Burgers
Recipe courtesy Sandra Lee via Foodnetwork.com 

Prep Time:10 minInactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:10 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
4 serving

Ingredients
4 portobello mushrooms, stems on
2 teaspoons grill seasoning
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup grated Cheddar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
4 hamburger buns, toasted
4 leaves romaine lettuce
1 tomato, sliced
Directions
Rub the mushroom caps with a damp cloth to clean. Remove stems and reserve for Round 2 recipe "Stuffed Zucchini".

In a small bowl combine the grill seasoning, oil, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Brush over the mushrooms making sure to coat completely. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade for the aioli.

Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill on medium heat. Put the mushrooms, gill side down, onto the grill and grill about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. After you flip the mushrooms top each with 2 tablespoons of Cheddar.

While the mushrooms are grilling, make the aioli sauce by combining the remaining 2 tablespoons of the marinade with the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Spread each hamburger bun with aioli sauce. Remove mushrooms from the grill and serve on the toasted buns with lettuce and tomato slices.



Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon

This recipe is one inspired from my recent Turbo Fire program menus. This marinated fish with a homemade Teriyaki sauce was to die for fish! This like all the fish we grill at home beats most fish dishes we have had at most restaurant for the fraction of the price!

If you enjoy fish. You are going to LOVE this recipe! It was worth standing in the snow and the dark to enjoy this healthy and tasty fish. The marinade is not over powering and gives the fish a well balanced dose of Teriyaki. (Sometimes Teriyaki dishes can be to sweet for me, but this was perfect.  I am going to try it on other meats as well.)


Grilled Teriyaki Salmon

Salmon fillets (fresh or frozen)
If fish is frozen thaw prior to placing in marinade

For the Marinade (from allrecipes.com)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons white sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon dried onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon grated (or minced if you hate cleaning the grater ;-) ) fresh ginger

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together until sugar dissolved. ( It was taking to long for me to dissolve that sugar so I put it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds to heat it up a little. This did the trick.)
Voila- homemade marinade!

I used half the marinade and poured it into a gallon ziplock bag over my thawed fish.  (I used 3 frozen salmon fillets from Costco). Let fish marinade at least 1 hour. (You can let it marinade over night too.)

Grill the fish for 5 minutes on each side.

Grill canned, drained pineapple rings for two minutes and sear.

Serve grilled fish and pineapple with your favorite side of rice and vegetable.

 **Again no picture! Keeping up with my new business jillcarpenter.myitworks.com, my four darling munchkins and my handsome hubby. I am finding less and less time to take my pictures and blog about our good eats. (Which seem to be random at best lately too. Enjoying the season of life which I am in is my goal at this point and time in my life.)

Beef Fajitas

This recipe came to me by way of the butcher at Roger Meats. I really enjoyed the flavor as did our company. My kids aren't crazy about the stripes of meat, so next time I will have to mince or cube their pieces to make it easier for them to eat. I am excited to have this recipe to use up some more of our fajita meats in the freezer.

For: 1 lb. Skirt or flank steak

Marinade:

Juice of 1 lime

2 Tablespoons Oil

2 Gloves of garlic (I pressed mine)

1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Blend marinade ingredient in a food processor or blender. Marinade meat for 30 minutes. (I did mine longer-for a few hours, and it turn out fine.

Grill or pan fry the steak over high heat for 3 minutes per side or to desired doneness. (I did mine closer to 5 minutes on first side and 3 on the other. The meat was cooked to a medium doneness.)

Slice the meat across the grain into thin pieces. Serve with cheese, tomatoes, grilled onions (I made our favorite grilled onions and mushrooms), avocado, sour cream, and cilantro

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo

This sandwich was nice for a quick weeknight family meal. Its a good mix-up to an original ordinary sandwich. Jack thought that they were hard to eat on the Ciabatta. He thinks they would be easier for kids to eat on a softer style roll. I liked the Ciabatta flavor and texture, but agreed with Jack it is quiet the mouthful. The one perk of buying Ciabatta bulk par-baked at Costco is that I can under bake them slightly so the crust isn't so crisp.

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo

1/4 cup Basil Pesto (I buy mine in bulk at Costco and then divide it up into 1/4 cup baggies and freeze them. We use it for a pasta sauce too.)

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (or 8-10 tenders depending on how many sandwiches you need)

4 Ciabatta rolls or French rolls, split horizontally (I buy my Ciabatta by the case at Costco too and split it with some one)

8 Thin slices provolone or other Italian cheese

Preheat grill or broiler. Spread 3 Tablespoons pest over chicken breast. Place remaining pesto and mayo in small bowl and combine until smooth. Chill until ready to use. Grill the chicken for 5 minutes over medium high heat; turn over. Grill for an additional 3-5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Spread pesto mayo over bread and top with chicken and cheese. Add lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and onions if desired.

Serves 4-6 depending on the size of your eaters! :-)

Easy Chicken Kabob's

I got this recipe from my friend Melissa W. who said she got it a while back from the gal that is teaching our little community cooking class at my home. They were a hit with the kids! They were super easy to make. The grill should have been a little more oiled and my skewers a soaked a little longer, but it all turned out in the end. I love that the marinade is so simple and that I have all the ingredients on hand all the time. Thanks Melissa for sharing this treasured recipe of yours with our family.

Easy Chicken Kabob's

Marinate Chicken of choice in:

1/4 cup Canola Oil

1/3 cup Honey

1/3 cup Soy Sauce

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

Marinate Chicken for at least 1 hour or longer. Put on Skewer if desired and grill until done.

We served ours with rice and a side salad with Asian flavored dressing.

Balsamic-Glazed Strip Steaks

 This was tasty. The Grilled Mushrooms and Onions were AWESOME! I think I would make them all by themselves. I even thought they would be great on top of a hamburger with a slice of swiss cheese for something to mix up the old burger.

AnyHOO on with the recipe! I got this recipe out of my "Grill it Quick!" Pampered Chef book. It takes about 15 minutes to prep it and 30 minute start to finish.

BALSAMIC GLAZE:

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, pressed

MUSHROOM MIXTURE:

1 lb mushrooms, halved (I used white button mushrooms--its on one of two options I have here at our little grocery store and the most economical of the two.)

2 Medium onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon smoked or regular paprika (mine was good old regular)

1 teaspoon salt

STEAKS AND GARNISH:

2 beef strip steaks, cut 1-inch thick (just choose a tender steak cut!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 beefsteak tomatoes, thickly sliced

1/4 crumbled blue cheese (no one in my family will touch the stuff!! Including me! I hate the smell of blue cheese--my pallet still has some learning to do I guess!)

Prepare grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat. For GLAZE, whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on High for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thick, syrupy and reduced to about 1/4 cup. (Be prepared to have your nose burn while this is going on! I was shocked that I felt it as much as I did. Mine took 6 minutes.)

For MUSHROOM MIXTURE, combine the mushrooms, onions, oil, paprika and salt; mix well. Preheat a BBQ Grill Basket on grill for 3 minutes. Grill mushroom mixture, undisturbed, 7 minutes. Shake basket then grill additional 8-9 minutes or until mushrooms are browned and onions begin to caramelize. Remove basket from grill and keep mixture warm.

Set aside 2 Tablespoons glaze for serving. Season steaks with salt and black pepper; brush remaining glaze over both sides of steaks. Grill steaks, covered, 4 minutes or until grill marks appear.  Turn with tongs and grill 4-6 minutes or until thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium-rare or 150 for medium doneness. Transfer steaks from grill to cutting board; tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes.

Slice steaks against grain and serve with tomatoes, mushroom mixture and blue cheese if you like it. Drizzle reserved glaze over steaks.

Yeilds: 4 servings

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

It was a warm winter day today--high 40's/low 50's so what do you do...Get and itch to Grill!! is a food network--Bobby Flay recipe. Every time I make it Jack can't get enough. My boys love it too. Tonight Cameron said, "Mommy, this is very NUMMY!" Everyone cleaned their plates and asked for seconds. This is definitely a keeper!

3 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoons butter

Melt together in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and whisk in 

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon finely grated ginger

Salmon 8 salmon fillets, 6 oz each (I buy frozen Salmon at Costco which is skinless or I buy their fresh fillets if I can swing it right.  We use three of the prepackaged fillets)

Vegetable oil (I use olive)

salt and pepper

I lightly coat the salmon with oil, then salt and pepper on one side. 

Preheat your grill to medium heat (10-15 minutes). Place the salmon skin side down (I just look at the fillet and try to pick which side I thought the skin was on ;-) ) Coat the flesh of the salmon fillets with the brown sugar mixture. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes to medium doneness, turning once, then cook 5 to 6 minutes more. 

I like to serve this with green beans, and wild rice.

Fudderuckers Hamburger Seasoning copy-cat

Okay I love Todd Wilbur and his website TopSecretRecipes.com I have many favorite recipes from his free recipes on his site. We were pleased when we tried his seasoning for Fuddruckers Hamburgers. If you haven't ever been to his site and you love certain foods at a particular resturant check out his site and see if he has your favorite in a copy-cat recipe.

2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper.

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle on hamburger patties before cooking.
Makes 2 Tablespoons

*After making hamburgers with this a couple of times. Jack and I want to try actually mixing it in the meet directly before pounding them into patties. We used 1 Tablespoon per pound (or more depending on how strong you like your flavor).