Pan Seared Lamb Chops, Green Beans and Tortellini

Lamb Chops

This approach to lamb chops should yield a pink, juicy, flavorful result.  The key is to not overcook the lamb.

2-3 chops per person
Rosemary, salt and pepper
High quality olive oil

- Coat the lamb chops with a little olive oil
- Liberally season with rosemary, salt and pepper
- Let stand for a couple of hours before cooking
- Cook 2-3 minutes on each side in a "rocket hot" skillet or grill pan
- Monitor the temperature of the meat carefully.  Remove when the chops reach an internal temperature of about 115 degrees
- Let rest for a few minutes before serving

Totellini

- Purchased at Costco, prepare according to the package directions
- To serve, toss with a little high-quality olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Green Beans


Coat with a little olive oil, season well with Badia seasoning or salt and pepper
Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes

Cedar Plank Salmon with Baked Potatoes, Green Beans and Roasted Citrus

This is a terrific method for preparing salmon on the grill.  The cedar smoke generated during cooking imparts an interesting flavor to the fish without masking the salmon.  I've not tried it with other types of fish or meats.  This method works well with individual fillets or a single large one.  It's also easy to clean up.  Just throw away the cedar plank at the end of the meal.

Cedar Plank Salmon

Cedar cooking board or plank (You can buy these in grocery stores.  Publix generally has them.  You can also find them at places like Whole Foods or kitchen shops.)
4-6 oz Salmon per person  (skin-on or skinless fillets work equally well)
Salt, pepper, dill  (Other herbs would work as well.  I've seen people use sage too)
Lemon (a half lemon for each person, plus some for cooking)

- Soak the plank in water for 4-5 hours or until saturated
- Place on the coolest portion of the grill.  Let char until it's obviously smoking.

(You'll have to pay attention to the grill.  The objective is to let the underside of the plank char and produce smoke, not ignite and go up in flames.)

- liberally season the fish with salt, pepper, dill and lemon
- Place the fish (skin side down) directly on the cedar plank.  The fat in the fish will help keep the fish from sticking to the board as it cooks.  There's no need for any oil or cooking spray
- Cook the fish for 10-15 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the fillets and the desired degree of doneness.
- Remove the cedar plank, with the fish to a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet and bring it straight to the table

Roasted Citrus

Roasting lemons removes the harsh acidic taste and intensifies the flavor.  It's a neat trick for adding a lot of lemon "punch" to a dish.  This can be done with almost any other kind of fruit as well.

- Cut the lemons in half and place "face down" on the coolest part of the grill while the fish is cooking.
- Serve with the fish

Green Beans

For the sake of expediency, I made a foil pouch, added the green beans with a little olive oil and Badia seasoning and put it on the grill.  Punch a few holes in the top of the pouch to let the steam out.  They'll roast nicely while the fish is cooking.

Baked Potatoes

- Put in oven
- Bake

Crab Cakes, Melon and a Tossed Salad

We were looking for a light meal that was different from the usual stuff.  This technique also works with other types of canned meats or fish.  I've used both canned chicken and tuna with good results.

Crab Cakes

Two cans of lump crab meat  (we found it at Costco)
1/4 - 1/2 Vidalia onion, finely diced
1/2c celery, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic
Zest from one lemon
Panko bread crumbs
Mayonnaise
Salt, Pepper
High quality olive oil
Parmesan cheese

- Gently saute the onions, celery and garlic until just cooked through
- Combine crab meat, sauteed vegetables, panko breadcrumbs and lemon zest
- Stir in roughly 1c of mayonnaise
(Augment with sufficient bread crumbs and mayonnaise so the crab meat mixture can be made into patties, like a hamburger)
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Shape into 2-3 oz cakes.  Smaller is better.  The cakes are rather fragile and are prone to break apart when handled.
- Heat a skillet to moderate temperature and add some olive oil
- Sear the crab cakes on each side for 3-4 minutes.  The goal is to heat them through and sear the outer surfaces to an attractive finish.  Stay close to the pan, these cakes will cook quickly
- Finish with a little high-quality olive oil, fresh lemon juice and grated Parmesan cheese

Serve with fresh melon and a tossed salad.  Pair with the white wine of your choice.  We served it with a light rose and it worked surprisingly well.

Cheeseburgers with Fried Corn

Fried Corn

This is a neat alternative to corn on the cob.

5-6 ears of corn
1 medium to large onion
Bacon or country ham
Sweet red peppers
Milk or cream
Butter
Flour
Salt and pepper

- Cut the corn kernels from the cob into a large bowl
- Using the back of the knife, scrape the corn cobs to remove as much of the liquid as you can

In a large frying pan
- Chop the ham or bacon into small pieces, Fry to desired degree of doneness
- Sweat the onions in some of the bacon fat or butter
- Chop and add sweet red peppers
- Add corn and accompanying liquid
- Add 1c of milk
- Simmer until virtually all of the liquid in the pan is absorbed (about 30 minutes)
- Use a rue to thicken the dish if you like
- Finish with butter
- Season to taste  (be careful with salt.  The ham or bacon will impart a lot of salt to the dish.  The sweet peppers may also add more salt.)

Cheeseburgers

One of my goals is to cook a perfect medium-rare hamburger.  It's harder than you think.  I like using a cast iron skillet.  This process produces some smoke and grease splatters.  Good ventilation and a splatter shield will help.

- Prepare hamburger patties and season as desired.  (I liberally apply Montreal Seasoning)
- Sear in a "rocket hot" cast iron skillet for 3 minutes per side
- Add your cheese of choice at the last minute
- Monitor the internal temperature, remove when the meat reaches a temperature of 115-120 degrees
- Let rest for a couple of minutes before serving

Grilled Pork Chops Glazed in Bourbon Sauce, Roasted Carrots and Tortellini

I like using bone-in pork chops on the grill.  The quality is improved by brining the pork for several hours before grilling.

Bourbon Sauce
2-3 Tbsps of brown sugar
1-2 Tbsps of sorghum syrup
2-3 Tbsps of whole grain mustard
2-3 Tbsps bourbon
1 Tsp butter

- Mix the first four ingredients together and blend until liquified
- Heat the mixture on the stove top or microwave and bring to a boil.  (about 30 secs at full power in the microwave).  The objective of this step is remove the astringent flavor of the alcohol from the bourbon.
- Blend the butter into the warm mixture and let cool.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Roasted Carrots
- Peel and trim 2-3 carrots per person.  Leave whole
- Lightly coat with olive oil
- Season with a little cumin and / or nutmeg
- Roast at a low temperature on the grill for 15-20 minutes.  If the carrots begin to char, loosely wrap in aluminum foil and move to the coolest part of the grill

Tortellini
Purchased at Costco, Prepare according to the package directions
To serve, toss with a little high-quality olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Grilled Pork Chops
- Liberally season the pork chops with salt and pepper
- Heat the grill to "rocket" hot
- Grill the pork chops 2-3 minutes on each side (to an internal temperature of about 120 degrees)
- Brush the bourbon sauce on each side of the meat and grill for about another minute.  Continue to cook the pork to about 130 degrees.
- Let rest for a few minutes before serving

Watermelon Gazpacho, Grilled Bread, Roasted Cauliflower & Grilled Chicken

This dinner began as a simple project to use watermelon left over from the Memorial Day weekend and turned into a more elaborate meal.

Watermelon Gazpacho & Grilled Bread

Yields about two quarts of soup

A quarter of a seedless watermelon
Half of a vidallia onion
A large cucumber
A red pepper
1-2 tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
High quality olive oil
1c plain Greek yogurt
Dill, salt  and pepper (fresh dill is better, but dried dill can be used)

- Cut the fruit and vegetables into relatively small chunks
- Reserve about 2c of the vegetables for finishing the soup when served.  Chop finely and set aside
- Stir a generous amount of dill into the yogurt and set aside
- Use a blender or food processor to puree the fruit and vegetables.  Process to desired consistency.  You can serve the soup finely pureed or in a more rustic, textured style
- Stir in about 1/4c of olive oil
- Add a generous amount of dill
- Season to taste
- Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.  The soup will thicken and the flavors will come together

Top each serving with a couple of teaspoons of the finely chopped vegetables and a portion of the dill-flavored yogurt

Lemon & Herb Infused Olive Oil

To be used for both the grilled bread and the chicken.  Best if done at least a couple of hours before you intend to use it

1c High quality olive oil
1 lemon
2-3 cloves of garlic
Fresh basil or other herbs of your choice
Salt and pepper

- Peel the garlic and coarsely chop
- Zest the entire lemon
- Juice half of the lemon (Save the other half for the chicken)
- Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, zest, garlic and herbs together
- Season as desired


Grilled Bread

This can be done ahead of time and held in a warm oven.  To be served with the soup.

1 loaf of Italian Bread
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Half of the infused olive oil

- Slice a loaf of Italian bread diagonally into thin slices
- Dry the bread in a low temperature oven, 175-200 degrees.  The objective is to thoroughly stale the bread.  You can also do this by setting the bread slices on a wire rack for an extended period
- Lightly paint the bread slices on both sides with the infused olive oil
- Grill until toasted
- Top with grated parmesan cheese

Roasted Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
A little olive oil
Badia Seasoning or salt and pepper

Break up the cauliflower into florets
Toss with a little olive oil and season with Badia or salt and pepper
Roast in a shallow baking dish at high temperature - 400-425 degrees until lightly browned.  It should take 15-20 minutes

Grilled Chicken

Chicken breasts
Remaining lemon, infused olive oil
Salt and pepper

- Marinate the chicken in the remaining infused olive oil and juice of the lemon half
- Liberally season with salt and pepper
- Let the chicken marinate 2-3 hours before grilling
- Grill until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees

Memorial Day Suburban Cookout

It's exactly what you think.  We had a bunch of people over for dinner on our back deck; hamburgers, hot dogs, roasted vegetables, brownies, cookies, fruit, chips.  In essence, the whole traditional American works. We even grilled portebella mushrooms for our vegetarian guests.  Friends also brought real, no-fooling, made-from-scratch margaritas.  It was a great evening.  Now we need to clean up the kitchen.

Roasted Vegetables

A variety of peppers (use multiple colors)
Asparagus spears
Vidalia onions (white or yellow onions can also be used.  I would not recommend using bermuda onions.)
Cauliflower
Button or white mushrooms
Tomatos
Anything else you'd care to add
Peanut or corn oil, olive oil, salt, pepper

The trick to making this easy is to line the baking pan with aluminum foil and lubricating the cooking surface with an oil with a relatively high smoke point.  I generally use peanut oil.  Olive oil is used to help flavor the vegetables and give them a roasted finish.  You can just peel away the aluminum foil and throw it away, making clean up really easy.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Use your oven's convection setting if it is equipped.

- Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil
- Lightly lube the aluminum foil-lined pan with peanut oil
- Cut the vegetables into large pieces
- Toss the vegetables in a small amount of olive oil.  (The vegetables shouldn't be saturated with oil.  A little goes a long way.)
- Liberally season with salt and pepper to according to preference
- Roast until thoroughly heated and some charring appears on the peppers (roughly 20 minutes)
- Can be served hot or cold

Tuna Melt

Nothing great. Half of a tuna melt sandwich at a local diner after a long bike ride. Not very inspiring.

Salmon Fritatta

Salmon Fritata, Cresent Rolls, served with a bottle of Viognier wine

For four - six people.  Can easily be stretched to accommodate more

The trick to this dish is to use an oven-proof skillet. I use a heavy-duty cast iron frying pan.  You can also use a good non-stick skillet

2 Salmon fillets
8-12 eggs
10-15 asparagus spears
Half of a large onion
Half & half or milk
A healthy handful of white button mushrooms
Dill, salt, pepper, freshly grated parmesan cheese, olive oil

Uncork the wine and pour a glass

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Season two salmon fillets with salt, pepper and dill
- Sear salmon with a little olive oil and set aside.  Don't worry about fully cooking the fish
- Sweat onions, mushrooms and asparagus in a little olive oil
- Beat eggs, half&half or milk, dill to taste, salt, pepper and half of the grated Parmesan cheese
- Coarsely chop the salmon fillets and fold into egg mixture
- Pour egg and salmon mixture over the sweated veggies in the frying pan
- Cook on stove top for 5-10 minutes, until eggs are set
- Finish in the oven for roughly 15 minutes or until firm
- Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top of the frittata and return to the oven until melted

Follow directions on the Cresent rolls. We used a can that was left over from Easter.