fourth of july = grilling

to start out, i made sure we had enough propane to make it through the cooking process. needed to learn something from last week's wonderful mis-adventures.


the menu (04july10):

• turkey burgers
• grilled potato wedges
• grilled corn with ancho chili butter
• bruschetta topped with  tomato and basil (and, yes, the bruschetta was grilled... had to keep the theme going)

bruschetta topped with tomato and basil

so full... must take ojp for walk in an attempt to recover...  "walk dad?! did you say walk?!! ok, ok, i'm ready!"




p.s. happy birthday, owlie

a week of misses

let's be honest, i took a few days off and settled into the concept of relaxing.  all the grand intentions of playing mad scientist with the bounty of produce from the last week were replaced with the sound of vuvuzela's and some time in the sun.


our story begins last friday.  the super hot days had sparked a want for spicy food.  sure, we had plenty of peppers to use, but i was thinking chipotle... and peaches (small aside, grilled fruit is definitely high on my list of ways to eat fruit).  


the thought:

• chipotle and peach marinated chicken
• grilled peaches
• grilled corn with ancho chili butter 

started mixing, marinating and ready to grill.  i was so ready to come back to the lightly charred chicken (used some honey and peach preserves in the marinade to balance the spiciness of the chipotle) only to find the gas had gone out on the grill.  so frustrating and had to finish off the chicken and the corn indoors.  the finished results showed promise, but really needed a bit of work before we were comfortable posting the "chopsticks approved" recipes.

failed meal attempt

leaving us still hungry, we chopped up the squash and made some more baked squash fries.

fast forward to sunday.  after a fun visit to the farmer's market the previous morning, it was time to attempt some gazpacho.  had some great looking tomatoes and the jalapenos (2 small ones) and had picked up some herbs, cucumber and other fine fixin's.  chopped, blended and let it sit overnight for lunch.


remind me next time to cut down on the jalapeno... wow.


wait... a success story?!  after having picked up some mahi mahi at the farmers market, we thought:

• mahi mahi tacos, topped with 
• sliced avacado and
• smoky poblano and strawberry salad

surprisingly, something we did actually turned out this week.  too bad we started eating before taking the time to snap a picture for you.... i blame chopsticks.


for desert we sliced open the sprite melon.  having never heard of one, let along having tried one before, both chopsticks and i were rather intrigued by this thing.  turns out, it's pretty darn good.  mild, but perfect for summer.

sprite melon

that wraps up this addition of "a week of misses."  hope to see you next week for a better go of it.

ojp the dancer

"what are we doing with all this corn?" chopsticks says.  "we should definitely grill it."


yeah... but we've already done that...  and we still have plenty of other things around here.  ojp starts dancing.  thanks, ojp!  that's it... salsa.


the menu (21june10):

• grilled corn salsa
• chili lime shrimp tacos:  grilled tortillas and avocado

eggplant two ways

this is, honestly, the first time i've had an eggplant in the house...  let alone more than one.  and since chopsticks has never had it, i wanted to make sure this was one of the first things we attempted this week.  so was trying to think of some of the more well-known "standards" that are out there to highlight it a bit.  as the rule in the house goes, "you have to at least try a bite or two before you can pass judgement.  if you don't like it, we don't make it again. but you have to try it."


first up.  a play on baba ghannouj.  chopsticks calls out, "baba who?!" not, "who," hon, it's a what.  a small snack for us.


the menu (19june10):

• eggplant and white bean hummus:  used the white beans to "cut" the eggplant a bit.  chopsticks approved.

eggplant and white bean hummus

next was a play on eggplant parmesan because "everyone says that's what you have to do with eggplant."  fearing someone may not like this entirely (ojp look up, "me, dad?!  i'll eat it!  is it time to eat?!"), it was paired with some marinated grilled chicken.


the menu (20june10):

• grilled eggplant stacks:  grilled eggplant topped with melted cheese, homemade spicy tomato sauce and wilted spinach
• marinated chicken

1. grilled eggplant stack with marinate chicken

2.  just another view

i feel like i'm eating something bad

there's certainly no debate about corn in our house.  as soon as it showed up in the box, we knew we were grilling it.  it's a rite of summer.

ah, but the ever flowing supply of zucchini and squash... begging for something different.   summer....  grill....  burgers and fries!   

chopsticks approved with a "i really feel like i'm eating something fried.  think these are keepers." 

the menu (10june10):

• mexican turkey & black bean burgers (can thank the braxtons for the original base recipe), served with tomato and guacamole
• zucchini fries with cholula lime dipping sauce
• grilled corn on the cob

grilled corn (nice action shot, chopsticks)

zucchini and squash fries, straight from the oven

dinner (think it was mandatory to eat this outside) 

kiss

as in "keep it simple, stupid."  ojp looks up, "dad, did you just call me stupid?"  no, ojp, but you could get out from under my feet in the kitchen!

nothing special here tonight.  nice day, time to grill.

the menu (13may10):

• bbq chicken -- sorry, no real recipe here.  season and brown the chicken (set aside).  throw a ton of stuff (tomato paste, beer, onion, garlic, seasonings, jar of  bbq sauce) and simmer in the le creuset.  put the chicken back in for 20 minutes, remove and put it on the grill for another few minutes.

• zucchini & squash  -- same here.  garlic, zucchini, squash, salt & pepper.  grill.

a whole new wrap

chopsticks has got the rap blaring in the other room (her new music of choice and certainly one i can't complain about) while i'm attempting another lettuce wrap with this week's bibb lettuce.  i just can't, however, bring myself to venture into the world of chicken wraps after the last experiment.   even the faux-pf chang recipes out there can't even come remotely close to persuading me.

so, i'm thinking shrimp.  perfect day outside to skewer some shrimp and throw them on the grill.  trip to the grocery also produced some lobster tails, an addition my now rapping chopsticks surely won't mind.

the menu (09may10): 

• grilled lobster tails
• citrus sesame marinated shrimp wraps
• pineapple basil salsa
• able to use one of the texas "sweet" onions here
• roasted red potato "chips"

i got 99 problems...  but this meal definitely wasn't one...

this message has been mother approved:  happy mother's day everyone!!