Quick Grilled Potato Salad

• 2 lbs thin skinned potatoes, new potatoes, fingerlings or Yukon golds
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup white wine, good enough to drink
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbs spicy brown mustard
• 2 tbs fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tbs fresh chives, minced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Par-Boil the Potaotes - Can be done the day before.

Select and clean about 2 pounds of thin skinned potatoes.  These consist of red/new potatoes, fingerlings or Yukon golds.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Boil on medium/high for 10 minutes to partially cook the potatoes.

Drain the potatoes and add them to a large bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of your favorite white wine to the potatoes.  Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature.  Stirring the potatoes every couple of minutes until cooled.

At this time you can cover and refrigerate for up to a day, or you can use them right away.

Prepping the Dressing - Can be done the day before.

In a small bowl stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, chives, parsley and 2 tbs of white wine.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and let sit in the refrigerator till needed.

Once again, this can be made up to a day in advance.

Prepping the potatoes for the grill

Preheat your grill to medium/high heat.

Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then toss in 2 tbs of olive oil. Toss the potatoes so that they are evenly covered with the olive oil.

Place the potatoes flesh side down and grill for roughly 5 minutes or until there are nice grill marks on the bottom of the potatoes.

Flip the potatoes skin side down and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remember these times are just suggestions but may differ based on your grill and if you have any hot spots.  I have about 4 different hot and cool zones on my grill.  If you find yourself with these varying hot spots, just shuffle your potatoes around so that they do not burn.

When fully cooked, remove the potatoes from the grill to a large bowl.

Cover the potatoes with the dressing and fold everything together.

Eat right away or refrigerate and serve cold.  I tried these potatoes both hot and cold and they were delicious both ways.

This is a great dish as you can do all of the prep work before your guests arrive and then cook and assemble the salad right before their eyes.  Guests will love this.

Lemon Garlic Chicken – (Adapted from Bon Appetit)

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 8 sprigs of rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1 lemon zested and then juiced
• 8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated black pepper
• pinch salt, optional

The key to getting great flavor in a marinade is to layer the flavors.  To do this you need to cover all or most of the taste buds.  A major player in that is fresh garlic.  You can buy garlic powder but it doesn’t give the same bite as real garlic.

In a gallon zip top bag add the chicken, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon  juice, rosemary, garlic, pepper, smoked paprika and salt (optional).

Allow the mixture to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.  Any longer and the acid will start to toughen the chicken.

Preheat your grill to medium/high heat along with a zone set up for indirect cooking.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and gently wipe off the rosemary sprigs before grilling.  You may not get them all, but try to get as many as possible.  They will start to burn during cooking and that is not good at all.

Place the chicken directly over the heat and cook for 6-8 minutes.  When the chicken freely releases from the grates, flip and continue cooking for 6-8 minutes.  When the other side freely releases move the chicken to an indirect cooking part of the grill.  Close the lid and continue to cook until the chicken reaches 165 degree Fahrenheit.  By moving the chicken to the indirect portion of the grill you will end up with juicier chicken that is not dried out.

Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Serve with you favorite sides and enjoy!

Balsamic and Honey Glazed Nectarines – (adapted from Epicurious)

• 3 ripe nectarines
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• pinch salt
• 2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream

In a small bowl whisk together the honey, vinegar, vanilla and salt.

Cut the nectarines in half and remove the pit.

Preheat a grill to medium/high heat.

Brush the nectarines in the glaze.

Place the glazed nectarines flesh side down on the grill for 3-4 minutes.  Brush the backs of the nectarines and then flip.

Brush the flesh side again with the glaze.  Continue to grill for another 3-4 minutes or until the nectarines are heated all the way through.

Plate 2-3 nectarine halves flesh side up on a plate.  Top with a scoop of ice cream.  Drizzle with a little of the glaze and serve.

These were amazing!  The nectarines were perfectly cooked and the glaze was to die for.  I was not joking when I said honey and balsamic vinegar go together.

Orange and Honey Grilled Chicken – (adapted from pleclare)- Serves 4

• 1-1.5 pounds chicken, roughly 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups sauce
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 oranges zested, roughly 2-3 tbs
  • 1/2 cup clover or wildflower honey
  • 2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • pinch to 1 tsp red pepper flake, depends on the heat you like
  • pinch salt, kosher
  • pinch pepper, freshly cracked

Making the Sauce

Make sure to zest the oranges before juicing them.

In a medium saucepan whisk together the sauce ingredients.

Bring to a boil and then reduce and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the sauce from the stove and let cool completely before pouring over the chicken.  The quickest way to cool the sauce is to place the pan/bowl in ice water.  Use a large bowl or your sink.  Make sure not to let the ice water go over the top of your pan/bowl.  As you can see I transferred the sauce to a measuring cup and then chilled it in my sink. Stirring the sauce will help it cool faster as the outer edges of the bowl/pan will cool faster.

Time to Marinate

Place the chicken in a zip top bag.  Then once the sauce is cooled pour 3/4 of it over the chicken.  Zip the bag up and place it in the refrigerator.  Let the chicken marinate for at least 3 hours.  Feel free to let this go over night.

Place the remainder of the sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Grilling the Chicken

Set up your grill for medium/high direct cooking, with a portion of the grill set up for indirect cooking.  Basically place the coals to one side of your charcoal grill or turn on all of your burners except for one on a gas grill.

Place the chicken on the grates directly over the heat and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side.  Making sure to brush the chicken with the reserved sauce.

Once you have nice grill lines on each side of the chicken, move the chicken to the indirect part of the grill.  Close the lid and let cook for 10-15 minutes or until the juices run clear and the chicken is no longer pink.

Remove and serve.

I find that this goes great over rice.

This chicken was fantastic.  It had a nice Smokey/Sweet flavor that was a hit.

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce – (Adapted from Tyler Florence)

• 3-4 pounds skirt steak(s)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 jalapenos
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 handful fresh oregano
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Chimichurri Sauce

The first step is to make the chimichurri sauce.  The steaks are going to be marinating in this sauce, so it must be made first.

Place the cloves, jalapenos and red wine vinegar into a food processor.  Process until finely diced.

Next add the parsley, oregano, lime juice and seasoning.  Process until finely chopped.

Turn the processor on and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture.  Once all of the olive oil is incorporated the sauce is ready.

Skirt Steak(s)

Place the skirt steak(s) into a gallon plastic bag.  Then cover the steak with 3/4 of the chimichurri sauce.  Let the steak marinate for 1-4 hours.  The longer it marinates the better the flavor.  However, you do not want this to marinate too long as it contains a lot of acid from the lime juice and it will start cooking the steak.  Reserve the remaining chimichurri sauce to serve over the grilled steak.

Preheat the grill to high.  Remove the steak(s) from the bag and place directly on the grill.

Grill the steaks for about 4-5 minutes per side or until nice grill marks occur.

Once grilled to the desired doneness, remove the steaks from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes.  Then slice the meat across the grain and place onto a platter.

Spoon the reserved chimichurri sauce over the meat and enjoy!

This steak was to die for.  It was amazing and juicy.  The perfect fresh dish for the summer.

Side Note – At the store I could not find skirt steaks for the life of me.  So I asked the butcher for some assistance.  I felt like and idiot when I asked the butcher for a skirt steak and he came out and pointed at the black package right underneath me.  Oops.  The store by me only carries skirt steaks that are pre-packaged and vacuumed sealed.  So that is why I could not find them.  Their packaging was totally off from the rest of the steaks.  I guess I passed right over them.  Keep that in mind when you do your shopping.

Served over steamed rice, this was the perfect meal.

Asian Beef Kabobs

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 red or green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can whole water chestnuts, drained
  
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 pound beef sirloin, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Steamed rice
• 8 bamboo skewers (soaked) or 6 metal skewers
  

Cut all of the meat and vegetables into 1-inch pieces.  Leave the water chestnuts whole.

In a medium bowl, combine the hoisin, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic and crushed red pepper.  Mix until combined and then set aside.

Now it is time to skewer.  If you are using bamboo skewers you need to soak them for at least 30 minutes.  If you are using metal skewers they are good to go.  I prefer wide metal skewers as they prevent the meat from spinning when you flip them.  However, in this instance the wide skewers were too wide for the water chestnuts and just split them in two.  The small metal skewers worked perfectly.

Skewer the meat by alternately adding the meat and veggies.  Be careful when skewering the water chestnuts.  If you do not skewer them at a perfect 90 degree angle they break.  It may take a few tries to get this right.  Once you get it, you will be set.

Once all of the skewers are made, place them on a tray and slather them with the marinade.  Make sure to rotate the skewers to fully coat the meat and veggies.

Side note - Cover the sheet pan/tray with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and then slather the skewers.  That way you can take the meat to the grill.  Remove the aluminum foil and carry the cooked meat back to the house.  This gets around the raw meat on the tray and further makes your grilling life easier as you only need one tray.  This tip works for raw meat every time you grill.

Place the meat on a grill preheated to high heat.

Rotate the meat and grill for roughly 3-4 minutes a side.  This varies based on the thickness of your steak pieces, but as always cook to the doneness that you desire.  I found that 3-4 minutes per side cooked the steak perfectly and allowed the veggies to get nice grill lines.

Remove from the grill and let sit for a couple minutes before serving.

Serve over steamed rice for a great meal.

These were super tasty kabobs.  They were perfect over rice without any extra sauce.

The rolled and stuffed flank steak came out perfectly cooked.

Stuffed Flank Steak

• 1 flank steak (roughly 1 1/2lbs)
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper
• Roasted Pepper and Feta Cheese Stuffing – (Recipe Below)

Stuffing

• 2-3 oz Feta Cheese
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced – or use canned peppers.
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Dice up the garlic and herbs.  Add them to a bowl with remaining stuffing ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  I found that using my hands worked the best.  Every other instrument that I tried just turned into a giant mess.

On a large cutting board, lay out the flank steak.  Carefully insert a knife into the long edge of the flank steak (the edge parallel to the grain).  Carefully butterfly the flank steak. Cut the steak until it can be opened like a book or magazine.

Evenly spread the stuffing over the flank steak.  Leave a 1 inch edge around the flank steak.  Also leave a couple of inches at the top so that the rolled meat can close without having the stuffing fall out.

Now roll the steak up into rolls and place the rolls seam side down on the cutting board.  Now grab some butchers twine and tie up the rolls.  This can be easily done with one person using a surgeons know.  Start with a basic knot, twisting one half under the other.  To do a surgeons knot, twist it one more time.  The extra twist will prevent the twine from loosening when you finish the knot.  See the picture before for reference.

Lightly oil the outside of the roll with extra-virgin olive oil and then season with salt and pepper.

Setup your grill for indirect cooking and preheat it to medium heat.   Once the grill is preheated, place the rolled steak on the grill over indirect heat.  Close the lid and cook for roughly 15 minutes.

Flip the meat and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.  At this point the roll is approximately medium rare.  If you like it well done, cook for another 10-15 minutes.  You can always check with a meat thermometer.

When the meat is the desired doneness remove it from the grill and cover.  Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

When it is time to serve, remove the butchers twine and then carve the roll into 3/4 inch slices.

This meal was delicious.  The feta and roasted red peppers were the ultimate filling.  Salty with a tad bit of sweet from the peppers.  For looking so complex, this was an easy and delicious meal.  Plus it was cheap.  Flank steaks affordable and stuffing them makes them taste like a million bucks.

Portabello Mushroom Burger

Portabello Mushroom Burgers – (From Weber’s Way To Grill)

• 4 portabello mushrooms
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

The first step is to cut off the extra mushroom flaps that have grown over the gills.  Next cut off the woody part of the stem. 

Cut off the overlap and the stem

Then using a spoon scrape out the gills.  This is not necessary, but sand usually sticks in the gills and is really hard to remove.  Removing the gills gets rid of this problem.

Scrape the gills

Combine the marinade ingredients and pour over the mushrooms.  Make sure to cover both sides of the mushrooms.  Let marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes. 

Marinate

While the mushrooms are marinating preheat the grill to medium heat. 

Place the mushrooms gill side down on the grill and cook for 6 minutes with the lid down. 

Grill gill side down

After the 6 minutes are up flip the mushrooms and grill for another 6 minutes. 

Flip and cook for another 6 minutes

Serve the mushrooms on kaiser rolls with a little mayo or aioli.  I made an aioli with 1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, salt and a little pepper. 

Coat the bun with mayo or aioli

The mushrooms were amazing.

For the holiday’s I like to do a big post with great food.  Since this is the summer and the 4th of July is such a big grilling day, I decided to make burgers and fries.  Not just any burgers, firecracker burgers.  Not just any fries, sour cream and chive fries.  This was going to be the best grilling day ever.

Firecracker Burger with Sour Cream and Chive Fries

Firecracker Burgers

Sour Cream and Chive Fries

Spicy Chipotle Ketchup

Cutting the French Fries

The first step is cut the potatoes and get them soaking.  You need to let the fries soak for at least 30 minutes in cold water before you fry them.  This will help remove some of the starch so that your fries don’t stick together.

Soak for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better. If you soak for longer make sure to change the water every couple hours.

To create the fries, peel the potatoes.  Then using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut the potatoes into strips.  I cut the potato into vertical strips, then rotated the potato and cut the strips into fries.

Six potatoes make enough for 4 people

Cut as thin or thick as you like

After you cut the potatoes place them immediately in the water to keep them from changing colors. After you finish cutting the potatoes change the water in the bowl. Replace the water with cold water.

Making the Firecracker Burger Patties

Place the hamburger meat into a large bowl.

Dice up the jalapeños and the habenero and place in the large bowl.

Jalapenos and Habeneros

Dice Finely

Now add the chili powder, salt, pepper, chipotle hot sauce and the worcestershire sauce.

Chipotle Hot Sauce

Worchestershire Sauce

Mix by hand until combined. You don’t have to mix it until the peppers are evenly distributed. Actually having some bites with peppers and some without was rather refreshing. Plus, it was a lot of fun to see how spicy each bite was going to be.

Split the meat into quarters. This will make it so that you can make four patties.

Split into fourths

Take a fourth of the meat and roll into a ball. Place the ball on a piece of wax paper. Fold the wax paper over the meat and press down to form perfect patties. Place the wax paper covered patties in the refrigerator until you are ready to grill them.

Wax paper makes forming patties super easy.

Spicy Chipotle Ketchup

This is super easy. Mix the ketchup, chipotle hot sauce, chili powder and salt in a bowl. That is it. Super easy and super tasty.

Mix up the ketchup

Making the Sour Cream and Chive Fries

Preheat your oil to 320 degrees.  Blanche the fries in the low temperature oil for 3 minutes.  This will cook the insides of the fries.

Blanching the fries cooks the inside, we will cook the outside in a bit.

Cook in small batches and after 3 minutes remove the fries when they are pale and a little translucent.  Place the fries on some paper towels to drain while you cook the rest of the fries.

Let them drain. Once you have all of the fries blanched increase the fryer heat to 375 degrees.

Now that you have all of the fries blanched turn the heat of the fryer up to 375.  When the fryer is preheated start coating the fries.  To make the sour cream and chive fries, you need to lightly batter them.  Sounds like overkill, I know, but it is awesome.

To make the batter, place the flour and 2 tbs of chives in a dish.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Flour and Chives

In another bowl mix the sour cream, milk, dash of salt and remaining 4 tbs of chives.

Mix the sourcream, milk and chives

Place some of the fries in the flour mixture.  Coat them the best you can.  Dust off the excess flour.

Dust the fries

Now coat the dusted fries in the sourcream mixture.

Mix the fries in the sourcream mixture

I know this sounds tedious, but you need to place the fries in the fryer once at a time.  Otherwise they will stick.  A way around this would be to place the fries once dipped in the batter on a tray and individually freezing them.  Then when you are ready you can dump a bunch in the fryer at once.

Place in the fryer one at a time

Fry for 2-3 minutes at 375 degrees, until the fries are golden brown.  Remove from the fryer and drain on a rack or paper towels.  Once removed lightly dust the fries with salt.

Perfectly Cooked Fries

Grilling the burger

Preheat your grill on high for at least 15 minutes before you place the burgers on the grates.  This will allow you to get the best grill marks.  Place the patties directly over the heat and grill for 5-7 minutes on the first side.

Place the meat on preheated grates

Flip and grill for another 6 minutes.  This all depends on the doneness that you like.  For medium I usually cook for about 6 minutes on each side.  The second side may take a little less than 6 minutes.

Perfect Grill Lines

With about a minute left cooking on the second side add the cheese and toast the buns.

Closing the lid of the grill helps the cheese melt.

To assemble the burger place the burger on the base of the toasted bun.  On the top half of the bun layer on the chipotle ketchup, letuce, tomato and onion.

The lettuce and tomato help cut the spice

Serve the hamburger with a side of fries and chipotle ketchup for dipping.

Firecracker hamburger with sourcream and chive fries

This burger was amazing and the fries were absolutely delicious.  I did not incorporate the peppers evenly in the burger and it worked out.  Some bites were spicy and some were not as spicy and served as a nice break from the heat.  The name for the burger was very accurate.  It was full of fire and some bites exploded with heat.  The fries were crispy and delicious.  If you have never made fries from scratch they are amazing.  You will never buy the frozen ones again.

Happy Fourth of July!  I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend.

-Rex

The tequila makes these amazing

Grilled Steak Tacos with Roasted Peppers

• 1lb flank steak
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 tequila
• 2 limes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs cumin
• 1 tbs oregano
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Roasted Peppers

• 6 poblano peppers
• 1 zip top bag for steaming the peppers

Lay the flank steak out on a cutting board and dry it off with a towel.

The flank steak

With a flank steak I usually tenderize it before I use it.  To do that use a hard object or a meat tenderizer and hammer the meat.  This will tenderize it and make it so that it is not too chewy.

Take all of your aggression and use it against the poor helpless piece of meat.

Mix all of the seasonings above and place in a zip top bag.  You can add as much tequila as you like.  Jeff likes tequila so I think that we added about a 1/2-3/4 cup of tequila.

Add as much tequila as you like.

Then seal the bag and squeeze as much air out as you can.  Then refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.  2-3 hours is preferred.

Jeff was a great hand model. I think he has a future in the business.

Just like the shrimp tacos from a couple of days ago, we are going to serve these with roasted peppers.  While the meat marinades, roast the peppers.  Place the peppers on high heat and turn them every minute or so until all of the sides are blackened.

It is alright to let them burn as it will make the skins come off easier.

Make sure to rotate them so that all of the sides get blackened.

Once all of the sides are blistered and black time to remove them from the grill

Remove them from the grill when blistered and place in a plastic bag.   The plastic bag will help to steam the skins off.

Zip top bags make the perfect container for steaming the skins off.

After about 10 minutes it is time to peel the skins.  As you can see, the skins come off in giant sheets.

It might be a little dirty, but this is a hands on sort of thing.

Slice into strips and serve these tender, smokey, and tasty treats with any and everything.

Now that the peppers are done, it is time to grill the meat.  Place the flank steak on the grill over high heat and sear the outside. 

Place the meat on a pre-heated grill

After about 5-7 minutes you should have good grill marks.  When you have good grill marks and the meat looks golden it is time to flip.

Flip when you have good carmelization

Now continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.  The meat should be about medium-medium well.  Remove and let the meat sit for 5 minutes before carving.  This will let the juices redistribute throughout the meat.  Then carve the meat into thin strips.  Make sure to cut against the grain.  Otherwise, the meat will be chewy.

Make sure to cut against the grain

Serve the steak tacos on a flour tortilla with some cheese, roasted peppers, salsa and some sour cream.  Makes for a perfect summer meal.

The tacos are great with just a little lime juice to add a tad bit more acidity.

These tacos were the best of the night.  The meat was cooked perfectly and the seasoning was awesome.  Now that it is summer time, it is time to grill.  You don’t always have to make burgers and hot dogs.  Next time make grilled steak tacos.