Rib Eye Steaks on the Grill

We went to Safeway yesterday & there were still a lot of meats on sale from the 4th of July sales. I normally don't buy Rib Eyes because they are more expensive, but at $4.75 a pound you can't beat it! Check your butcher around holiday times, you can always freeze extra steaks that are on sale.

2 ribeye steaks, 10-12 ounces each

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon dry ginger

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 tablespoon Steak Seasoning (the mix is below)

1/2 cup Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

3/4 cup freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup lemon pepper seasoning

2 tablespoons garlic salt

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

1 tablespoon onion powder

Mix & store in an airtight container

Mix all ingredients—except for the Steak Seasoning—together in a bowl. Place the steaks in a gallon-sized Ziplock bag (no more than 2 steaks per bag if you are making more) and pour enough marinade into the bag to cover the steaks halfway when they are lying flat. Squeeze all excess air out of the bag and seal. Allow the steaks to marinate in the refrigerator, lying flat, for no longer than 2 hours. Remove steaks from marinade 30 minutes before grilling.
2. Sprinkle the ribeyes with the Steak Seasoning.
3. Prepare grill and cook steaks over direct high heat, cooking until desired doneness is reached 10-12 minutes for medium rare. Turn the steaks once during cooking.

Hope you have a good griller in your house like I do! Matt is the best at it!

Balsamic Grilled Filets

Balsamic vinegar has wonderful flavor & is typically something you would already have at home. Using it as a marinade for chicken or steaks provides a delicious dish. On a Sunday night I love having a grilled filet & some grilled vegetables for dinner.

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

6 to 8 long, fresh rosemary sprigs (remember in Arizona you can raid a neighbor's shrub!)

Kitchen twine or string

4 (6-ounce) filet mignon steaks, 1 inch thick (I like to get mine at Costco)

4 small red onions, halved

4 plum tomatoes, halved

Cooking oil spray

Mix together the oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large, shallow dish. Wrap a rosemary sprig around edge of steak and tie ends securely with kitchen string. Repeat with other steaks. Place steaks in marinade and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.
Lightly coat clean grids of grill with cooking oil spray. Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly brush onion and tomato halves with oil. Place onions on grill, cut side down, and grill 10 minutes with the lid down. Turn and cook 5 minutes more; transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Place steaks on grill and cook, without turning, 4 minutes with the lid down. Turn steaks and place tomatoes, cut side down, on grill. Cook steak and tomatoes, with lid down, 4 minutes. Transfer steak to plates along with the onions and tomatoes.

Flank Steak Tips

Here is the final grill tip! When ever people hear that I write a cooking blog, I am always asked about cooking a London Broil or a flank steak. My dad makes one that is so good, it is my favorite meal when I go home. (Not that I don't miss my mom's cooking, but she taught me to make her signature dishes)

This cut of beef comes from the flank. Long and flat, the meat is slightly tough but flavorful. (It's the cut of choice for fajitas.) In fact, skirt steak has so much flavor that you don't need to use heavy marinades. Season it with salt and pepper or some fresh herbs, then throw it on the grill. (My dad uses Montreal Steak Seasoning, it is always delicious) Once it's cooked, slice the meat across the grain for maximum tenderness.

Keeping Grilled Food Juicy

There is nothing worse than eating a dry piece of meat from the grill. One trick I use is marinading my chicken in plain yogurt before I grill. Here are a few more tips from Real Simple.
The best foods for grilling are fatty ones because they stay juicy over high heat. Fish and chicken, because they are so lean, tend to dry out on the grill.
Avoid cottony fish by cooking it with fruit or lightly brushing it with olive oil.
To keep chicken from drying into jerky, leave the skin on while it cooks. (Perching it on a can of beer helps, too.) The skin is a protective jacket, and almost none of its fat is absorbed by the meat underneath. Another way to keep the juices in fish and chicken is to use only tongs or a spatula for turning. Don't stab them with a fork. Save that for rescuing those hot dogs that have fallen into the fire.

Flavoring your Grill

You hear people talk about Hickory Smoked, and other grilling flavors. I myself am not a griller, I leave that to Matt. Real Simple offers some tips on the subject & adding a flavor to your grill is quite simple.

Topping coals with hardwood chips, such as hickory, oak, apple, or cherry, adds old-fashioned barbecue flavor to food.

Charcoal: Place about one cup of chips that have been soaking in water for one hour on each mound of charcoal, then cover the grill. For prolonged cooking, of a brisket, turkey, or other large piece of meat, add fresh charcoal and chips every hour.

Gas: Most high-end models have a separate smoker box-a metal tray or box that holds chips directly over a burner. If your grill is equipped that way, add the chips and run the smoker-box burner on high until you see smoke. If you don't have a smoker box, make your own smoker pouch following these steps:

1. Place one to two cups of soaked wood chips on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

2. Make a pouch, folding over the edges twice to form a seal.

3. Poke a few holes in the top with a pencil or knife to allow the smoke to escape.

4. Place the smoker pouch under the grate and directly over one of the burners. Run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to the desired temperature.
Side note, if you want to be completely lazy, Williams Sonoma sells foil pouches.

Making a Perfect Burger

The Real Simple Grilling tips were too good not to share. Everyone should know how to make a perfect burger, not just the guys. I loved it when my sister in law Carolyn said she was a better griller than her husband. I actually leave the grilling to Matt, but I would like to learn. My dad is an excellent grill chef. I had no idea about the fat & caloric content of the higher fat beef.

Making a great hamburger is a perfect excuse to go cheap at the butcher counter. More fat in the meat means more flavor, so skip the high-priced extra-lean sirloin and buy regular ground chuck instead. (Much of the fat drips out during cooking, anyway.)

After grilling, the regular ground-beef burger has only 13 more calories and two more grams of fat than the lean burger, but it is much more moist and flavorful.

To make 4 juicy burgers, take 1 pound of ground beef and, handling it as little as possible, gently shape it into patties (the meat strands should still show).

For medium to well-done burgers, grill the patties over a medium-hot flame for 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning only once.

How to Grill Corn

With summer upon us, it is time to get cooking on your grill. Real Simple Magazine always has great grilling tips. One of my favorite summer treats is corn on the cob, at the Minch house we always eat it after dinner, like desert.

This method works on a grill or in the oven (preheated to 500 degrees).
1. Carefully pull back the husks, keeping them attached while exposing the kernels.
2. Gently pull out the silks by hand.
3. Wrap each ear's husks back around the kernels and carefully twist the tops closed.
4. Place the corn on a medium-hot grill (or on the oven rack) for 20 to 30 minutes. Turn the ears occasionally so the corn roasts evenly; take care not to overcook. (If the fire is very hot, soak the corn in cold water for 10 minutes before grilling.)
5. Use tongs to remove the ears from the heat. Wearing oven mitts, remove the husks. If you like your corn charred and smoky tasting, baste the husked ears with olive oil or butter and put them back on the grill or under the broiler briefly before serving.

Uncle Mike's Salmon

This looks like it is shaping up to be a Johnson week, now I just need something from Kristin & Kaitlin!

All of the Minch's like seafood, and even though Uncle Mike isn't technically a Minch he is married to one. Uncle Mike is a fantastic Barbequer, this salmon is sure to be a treat! Cooking on a cedar plank helps to keep grilled foods from drying up.

*The picture is of my dad & my grandpa with their catch in the Bahamas, it was taken in 1985 so no making fun of their shorts!

2 7-oz. filets of Wild Alaskan Salmon

Cedar Plank wood (non-treated), about 5”x3” if you use 2 pieces, or larger if you want to do both filets on 1 piece
Chorizo Topping

4 oz. Chorizo Sausage

1/4 cup Brown seasoned bread Crumbs

1 small Lemon
Lemon Butter Sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp heavy cream

4 tbsp chilled unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar
Preparing Chorizo Topping:

Place Chorizo sausage on a fire burning grill and cook to well done. Place cooked sausage in refrigerator for 1-2 hours to cool After sausage has cooled, pulse in a food blender. Take ground sausage out of blender and pour into a stainless mixing bowl. Mix in 1 cup of breadcrumbs. Add the zest of 1 lemon and mix well.
Lemon Butter Sauce:

Simmer white wine and lemon juice in a saucepan for 5 minutes. Slowly add cream and cook until slightly thick. Turn flame down very low and slowly add chilled butter to emulsify. Stir in other ingredients and store in a warm place.
Preparing the Cedar Plank & Salmon for Grilling:

Soak non-treated Cedar Plank wood in water for a minimum of 3 hours. Place Wild Alaskan Salmon (skin side down) on the saturated Cedar Plank. Place approximately 2 ounces of the Chorizo breadcrumb mixture on top of each Salmon fillet, spreading it out and slightly pressing it into the Salmon. Place on fire burning grill and cover with a medal lid and cook for 15 minutes or until Salmon is medium well. The wood should be well saturated and thus not ignite. It will smoke and burn, but not catch flame. Slide wood and salmon on to a plate and drizzle with the Lemon Butter sauce. Yields 2 servings.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Burgers

It's only Wednesday & this has been a very exciting food week! Monday I made my way over to the new Fresh & Easy market. The Fresh & Easy was amazing, if you live in Arizona, Nevada or California there may be one in your neighborhood. The market has beautiful flowers & plants, gourmet cheeses and meats, along with pantry basics. One item that caught my eye were the pre-made hamburger patties, blended into the meat they offered different seasonings. There were two that I was considering, one with blue cheese & bacon, the other with jalapenos. The only problem was I like to buy the 97% lean ground beef. So I opted for some lean ground beef & decided to make my own.

2 Tablespoons low fat cream cheese
2 Tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
2 T. chopped fresh chives
McCormick's Hamburger Seasoning
3/4 pound ground beef
(You could add some bacon crumbles, onions, whatever you want) Actually if you think of something good tell me!
Combine cream cheese and blue cheese (I used an fork) stir in the chives & seasoning
Divide the meat into 4 sections, flatten each section into a thin round pattie, place a spoonful of the cheese mix onto 2 of the patties and spread it out to almost the edge (you can add more to use all of your cheese mix, then place the other patties on top like a sandwich,squeeze the edges together to seal them. Grill on a medium high grill about 8 minutes total, turn them over halfway. Serve on buns, with fries. You could garnish with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, etc. But the flavor is so good we ate ours plain.

Tequilla Lime Shrimp with Tomatillo Sauce

September is a great time to grill out, the weather has cooled off so you need to hang on to your last availible nights to grill! I like to make these shrimp as an appetizer or an accompaniment to steaks. Buy the big tiger prawns, they will grill better. These are always a big hit!

Shrimp

2 pounds large shrimp in shell
Bamboo skewers soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

Marinade
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup tequila
2 medium garlic cloves minced
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt & pepper
½ cup olive oil

Garnish
Fresh limes
tomatillo sauce

Thread the shrimp (3-4) on the skewers lay in a shallow bowl

Prepare marinade, whisk together lime juice, tequila, garlic, shallots, cumin, salt & pepper to taste. Slowly add olive oil.

Pour over shrimp, marinate at least 30 minutes, up to 4 hours

Cook on medium heat grill for 4 minutes each side

Tomatillo Sauce
Small can of tomatillos
1 tsp sugar
¾ cup of chicken stock
1 small onion chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded, finely chopped
2 medium garlic cloves minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt
In a large skillet over medium heat bring chicken stock to boil, add onion cook for 5 minutes.
Pour contents in food processor, process, add other ingredients, process
Allow to cool.
This sauce is spicy; if it is too spicy you can mix a little sour cream into it.

Birthday Party:Grill Time

Go get your man a beer or a cocktail as mine prefers, it's time to fire up the grill. You already made all your salads it's time to cook the chicken. You can marinade up to a day ahead, make sure you do it at least 3 hours before.

Port Marinated Chicken
4 chicken breasts, bone in
Cavenders

1 tablespoon olive oil

Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup ruby port (yeah you can drink the rest after dinner)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 tablespoons shallots, minced
3 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped (Rosemary grows in the common areas of our neighborhood as a shrub, I always take my scissors out & cut some. My neighbors probably think I am crazy!)
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Mix all your marinade together, pour over chicken in a large shallow bowl. Cover & keep in the fridge until ready to grill.

Grill chicken over 220 heat for 1 hour, this is a long time but on the low heat it is worth the wait. Your chicken will be moist, tender and delicious!

Salmon with Dill and Mustard

I really like Salmon, we don't eat it as often as we should. Salmon has great heart health benefits. You should be careful when buying your Salmon that you purchase caught wild. To gain the maximum health benefits of Salmon it is best to grill or broil it. I buy mine at Trader Joe's, they have really nice Salmon steaks, the skin is all trimmed off & there are minimal bones.


2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice object
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salmon fillets, skinned get as many as you need this amount of glaze will be enough for 1 lb.
Cooking spray

Prepare grill.
Combine fresh dill, mustard, rind, juice, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add salmon tossing gently to coat. Place salmon on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 4-5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork

Since you already have a dill flavor, I would serve with a simple side dish of brown rice with a little butter & some grilled veggies. Happy grilling!

Swordfish with Prosciutto

We love to eat grilled fish. There is talk of the mercury being too high in swordfish, I think if you eat it a few times a year, as long as you are not pregnant or nursing you will be fine. Fish does not need to marinade very long, it takes flavor quickly. Swordfish doesn't need much but here is how we prepare it. You will need the following:

12 wooden skewers (soak them in water first for an hour)
2 pounds swordfish steaks, cut into 2 inch cubes
8 slices of prosciutto sliced into thirds
2 teaspoons Cavenders Greek Seasoning
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup lemon infused olive oil (If you don't have this just add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to your oil)

Wrap your fish in the proscuitto, thread pieces onto skewers.
Mix up your marinade, drizzle over fish. Grill the swordfish over high heat (as close to the heat as possible), brush skewers while cooking, turning once, until cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer the skewers to a platter. I would serve this with green salad, rice pilaf & a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Here are some recommendations under $10. Happy grilling!

A Cool Day in Arizona

We love to grill out but sometimes it is just too hot here in the summer. Today we had a cooler (90) day, so we decided to grill. We usually do chicken or fish. Today we decided on Grilled Mexican Chicken. Don't be alarmed when you read that you marinade the chicken in yogurt. The cultures in the yogurt really help to tenderize the meat. I try to marinade at least 3 hours.

Marinade:
2 cups plain low fat yogurt
2 medium shallots
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon cumin
salt & pepper

When you are ready grill chicken breast for six minutes per side on a medium hot grill. When we grill I also like to throw some zucchini sliced in half on there. Brush each size with some olive oil then salt & pepper it. Just cook your zucchini three minutes per side. Serve with a green salad or potato salad.