Archive for the ‘Quick and Easy’ Category

Pizza is not just for ovens anymore. The grill is a great place to do pizza because you get nice grate marks on the dough that adds a nice touch as the grill actually cooks the pizza dough.

These mini pizzas are easier to do because it is easier to flip multiple pizza dough disks than it is to do one gigantic piece of dough and also allows you to avoid “hot spots” on the grill that might burn the dough.

This recipe is great tailgating as it requires minimal ingredients and everything can be prepped the night before.

Ingredients:

• One package refrigerated pizza dough (or you can make your own)
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced- drizzle slices generously with olive oil, salt and pepper
• Mozzarella cheese- cut into bite size pieces
• basil
• salt, pepper
• olive oil.

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium heat. Then, roll out the pizza dough on a flat surface. Using a small bowl or wide mouthed glass, cut the dough into small circles to make the mini pizzas. Roll leftover dough pieces together, flatten and repeat cutting into small circular cutouts.

Brush both sides of the dough with olive oil. Make sure your grill has been sprayed with non stick spray. Grill the dough until grate marks appear, about 5 minutes. Flip the dough, then, with recently grilled side up, add tomato slices, a piece of basil, and the mozzarella.

Grill for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.

This recipe can easily be adapted for meatlovers with the addition of cappicola or pepperoni.

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Living in South Florida, Cuban inspiration abounds and I have one of my co-workers to thank for the idea behind these skewers. The pork shoulder meat is readily available in Latin supermarkets because it is traditionally used in the dish Masas de Cerdo Fritas (fried pork chunks). In addition to the meat selection, the cilantro, lime, garlic marinade is what adds the “cuban inspiration” to this dish.

This recipe was developed using McCormick Grillmates applewood rub and I must say, this is one of the most popular recipes I have developed in a long time. When I made this on the grill while filming the video seen above, my film crew and fiance went crazy over it! When there is pure silence when a meal is served because your guests are so consumed with eating, you know it is good!

As a “flavor correspondent” for McCormick’s Grillmates “This Week In Grilling” Campaign, I used GrillMates Applewood Rub to add a sweet, smoky “wow factor” to the dish.

Here’s a recap on how to make this recipe:

Ingredients, etc:

• bamboo skewers- soak in water for 30 minutes beforehand so they don’t burn on the grill
• 1 lb cuban pork chunks – (I find these in the Latin market, use something similar if you can’t find)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt, pepper to taste
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 limes
• 2 tablespoons McCormick Grillmates Applewood Rub

Directions:

Cut pork chunks into smaller pieces so they will cook more evenly on the grill. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, juice of the limes, garlic and cilantro and let marinate for at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

After the meat has marinated, add the applewood rub and stir into the meat mixture.

Put meat on skewers.

Grilling Directions:

Grill on a medium/high heat grill for 10 minutes total, turning halfway through, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degress.

I recommend grilling with tri-color pepper skewers for a colorful and healthy meal.

Salud!

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I finally made it over to my local seafood market and it was an eye opening experience. The freshness, variety and quality level of the seafood available at the Captain Mike’s now makes me balk at the idea of getting fish at my supermarket.

When I showed up, I’m sure I had a puzzled expression on my face. As you walk in there is a wall of coolers filled with whole fish in addition to live crabs and lobsters on the premises and sushi grade fillets, shellfish and oysters ready to take home. Customers are advised to put gloves on, select their whole fish from the coolers, then take them to the counter to be weighed. From there, you instruct the staff on how you want them filleted. Now that is what I am talking about! Talk about getting things the way you want!

While there I picked up some beautiful sushi grade tuna steaks. Here is a simple way to prepare seared tuna on the grill.

Ingredients:

• 2 tuna steaks- (about 6 ounces each- 1 1/5″ thick)
• 2 tablespoons coarsely grated peppercorns
• 1-2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
• 1/4 cup sesame oil.

Directions:

Dip each filet into the sesame oil so it is well coated on all sides.

On a small plate, arrange your coursely ground peppercorns and salt evenly. Dip each filet into the peppercorns so that they form a thick crust on both sides. Add more peppercorns if need be to ensure the tuna is well crusted on both sides.

Heat your grill to medium-high heat (about 400 degrees).

Sear the tuna steaks on each side for no longer than 2.5 minutes.

Serve with low sodium soy sauce and wasabi. The tuna will be rare (sushi style) in the middle and seared on the outsides. If you do not like rare tuna then cook the steaks longer on the grill to your desired doneness.

This dish is great paired with my chipotle cilantro coleslaw.

Enjoy!!

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Over Memorial Day weekened Scott and I sailed over to the tiny island of Bimini, Bahamas with good friends for a little R&R. While there, I grilled french toast out of the local Bimini Bread. I marinated the bread in an egg and coconut rum mixture with fresh grated cinnamon. OMG YUM!! If you don’t have Bimini Bread, use Challah or Brioche for similar flavor/texture.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a pod of dolphins swim along side our boat while we were sailing home. Evidently dolphins like to play in the wake of the boat. Luckily I caught it all on video!

ABOUT BIMINI BREAD

Bimini Bread is a dense sweet bread that makes excellent french toast. You can find Bimini Bread at many spots throughout South Florida such as Ernie’s BBQ in Ft. Lauderdale and the Aruba Beach Cafe in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. Below is a Bimini Bread recipe courtesy of The Sun Sentinel and The Aruba Beach Cafe.

ARUBA BIMINI BREAD RECIPE

**courtesy of The Aruba Beach Cafe and the Sun Sentinel

Bread Dough:

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115
• degrees)
• 1 cup milk brought just to the boiling point
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1 tablespoon shortening (we used Crisco)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 cups (about) all-purpose flour
• Sweet Topping:
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar

To make bread: Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. (This will not foam because there is no additional sugar or other food for the yeast to feed on.) Put the milk and hot water into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the margarine, shortening, salt and sugar. When lukewarm, add the yeast mixture and 3 cups flour. Mix thoroughly with a large wooden spoon.
Add 2 more cups flour and stir to mix well. Dump the remaining cup of flour on the work surface and scrape the soft dough onto the flour. Flour your hands and begin kneading the dough; it will be sticky. Keep kneading and adding the flour as necessary until the dough loses its stickiness, but remains soft. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, turning once to make certain all surfaces are oiled. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 11/2 to 2 hours.
Grease two 81/2-by-41/2-by-21/2-inch loaf pans. Punch the dough down in the bowl. Divide in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place in greased pans, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the bread in the center of the oven 30 to 35 minutes or until nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Turn the bread loaves out on their sides on wire racks and cool completely.
To make topping: Just before slicing, melt the butter with the honey over low heat. Brush the bread with the honey mixture and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Makes 2 loaves; 8 slices each.

Per slice: 214 calories, 5 grams protein, 4 grams fat, 39 grams carbohydrates, 6 milligrams cholesterol, 181 milligrams sodium, 17 percent calories from fat.

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Nothing says the tropics like coconut and pineapple and that is what is in this scrumptious recipe. Utilizing fresh pineapple, coconut milk and coconut rum, this recipe will easily transport you to a Caribbean Island, no matter where you live. This recipe is healthy and light and would also make a great appetizer served by itself. I served it with Grilled Corn with lime compound butter and grilled romaine and texas toast for a full “meal on the grill”. Cheers to transplanting yourself to the tropics, no matter where you live!

Marinade ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup coconut milk (reserve 3 tablespoons for sauce)
• 1/4 c. pineapple juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• dash sea salt
• generous dash fresh ground black pepper

Additional Ingredients

• 1- 1 1/2 lbs medium sized shrimp, de-veined with shells removed
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut rum
• One fresh pineapple, chopped into cubes

Directions:

Mix marinade ingredients and let shrimp marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours before cooking. Next, bring butter to room temperature and mix with coconut milk, shredded coconut and rum and blend together well.

If using bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water 30 minutes before-hand so they do not burn when put on the grill. Put shrimp and pineapple on the skewers, alternating shrimp and pineapple pieces.

Before turning the grill on, spray with cooking spray or wipe with olive oil so the shrimp do not stick to the grates. Set grill to medium hight heat, about 350 degrees. Grill shrimp about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until done. Brush skewers with butter mixture on both sides as they cook. Shrimp are done when they turn bright pink so be careful not to overcook!

Great accompanied by a nice fruity white wine such as a crisp sauv blanc or pinot grigio.

** Original recipe idea came from Beth Brawn, creator of www.free-shrimp-recipes.com and has been modified with additional ingredients.

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This is a great appetizer for entertaining as the recipe doesn’t require that much prep and you can hang out with your friends outside while the asparagus do their thing on the grill. Your friends will rave over this dish!

Take large Asparagus (not the skinny ones- you’ll need the big ones to support all that bacon!) and cut off the stems. Rinse and dry.

Using one normal sized pack of bacon, wrap one piece around each asparagus so that the sides slightly overlap. If the bacon is too long for the end, cut it off at an angle with cooking shears.

Next, preheat your grill to medium heat. Place asparagus on the grill and then turn down your burner to medium/low heat. The fat from the bacon may cause the grill to flare up which is why you should continue to grill on medium low to discourage flare ups.

Flip the asparagus once during the cooking process. The asparagus are done when the bacon has completely cooked, about 20 minutes.

Everything is better with bacon!

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Even people who don’t like spicy food have tried these at my house and have gone back for seconds. I wouldn’t classify this recipe as “healthy” yet it is healthier than traditional jalapeno poppers that have been put in a fryer! Whenever Scott and I make these, even if it is only the two of us, there are never any leftovers. They are that good!!

All you need for these poppers are:

1) jalapenos

2) cream cheese or neaufchatel cheese

3) one pack of bacon

Because you need a way to “suspend” the poppers on a rack to let the bacon cook and have the fat cook off, I actually take one of the racks out of my oven and put it on top of a 9″ X 13″ pan that is covered with tin foil (cuts down on the mess!). So, remember to take the rack out before you:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Now, prepare the peppers. Cut the stem off the peppers and with a knife, scrape all of the chilis and inside portion out of the inside of the peppers. (Leaving the seeds will make them even hotter, which is okay, but you need room inside to stuff your cream cheese.) For the really large peppers, chop them in half.

Now stuff the peppers with cream cheese. For the peppers you have cut in half, you will need to wrap the bacon around the top and bottom of the pepper so that the cream cheese cannot fall out. The peppers will be suspended in the oven so that the bacon can cook down… For the peppers that have only been cut where the stem was removed, simply stuff with cream cheese and the bacon only has to cover the top. You will cut each piece of bacon in halves of thirds to be the right size for the peppers. If the peppers you use are REALLY big, this will vary… If you do not cut the large peppers in half, they will be HOTTER. This makes the pepper to cheese to bacon ratio off and makes the experience much hotter, which is not a bad thing. I am just warning you!

After stuffing the pepper with cream cheese, then wrapping it with bacon in the right way so that the cheese can’t fall out of the bottom, you will then secure it with a toothpick or a skewer that has been cut in half. This is what will suspend the poppers on the over rack so they cook evenly.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until bacon is beginning to get crispy and the cream cheese is bubbling.

THESE ARE EVERYONES FAVORITES!!! You can prepare these in advance and then pop them in someone’s oven if you are going to a friends house. ENJOY!!!

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I like to call this recipe: Attention Deficit Disorder Ribs. It is hard for someone like myself to spend 6 hours on a dish and that is why they are called A.D.D. ribs.

Hardcore BBQ-ers will tell you that real ribs must be cooked over low heat for hours upon end to produce authentic ribs. I, too, enjoy ribs cooked in this fashion, and I usually get these at my favorite BBQ joint or let someone else cook them and have me over for dinner.

For those who like to “push the easy button” on ribs and still get tasty, “bone sucking” results, there are two time saving endeavors: parboiling and using your oven. “Parboiling” quite simply means to boil to make softer. This technique usually means that you will cook the food long enough to make it softer but not totally “done”. In this recipe, you will parboil the ribs to soften them but will finish cooking the ribs on the grill.

This recipe gives you grilled flavor and charring, minus the time. For those with gas grills, this will save you from using an entire can of propane!

Ingredients:

• 2 full rack pork ribs (enough for 4 people) *** I once made the mistake of buying beef spare ribs because everything in my grocery store was in spanish!
• salt, pepper – I prefer freshly ground pepper and sea salt, It does make a difference
• olive oil
• Your favorite BBQ sauce, either homemade or store-bought. I prefer Stubb’s Spicy Chipotle Sauce but they offer mild and medium options as well. ***In my personal facebook poll, Stubbs came in as the favorite store-bought sauce with Sweet Baby Ray’s a close second.

Take ribs and remove the outer membrane.

Bring a large pot of water to boil

Put the ribs in the water and let boil for 40 minutes

Take the ribs and place them in a 9X13 pan that is covered in foil (this will cut down on clean up!). Lightly brush with olive oil, then cover with salt, pepper and sauce on both sides. Let the ribs marinate in sauce for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, heat up your grill to medium/medium high heat.

Place ribs on the grill, baste with additional sauce. Grill on each side for 15-20 minutes, or until there are distinguishable char marks and the sauce begins to carmelize.

Serve with coleslaw, tater tots and **texas toast!

** I buy texas toast from the publix, found in the freezer section, and place the pieces on the top burner of the grill while the ribs cook on the lower burners. This gives the toast nice grill marks and cooks them perfectly. I also put the frozen taters tots on a foil packet and let them cook on the lower burners at the same time. Great served with Chipotle cilantro cole slaw. Essentially, your whole meal has been cooked on the grill and there is no need for the back and forth from the kitchen to the backyard.

Enjoy!

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This dry rub is great on beef, chicken and pork. I have not tried this yet on fish but I do believe it would also be good as the flavor complements but does not monopolize the taste of the meat.

The quantities listed below make enough for about 4 – 6 oz. steaks but you can make more/less depending on your needs.

Ingredients:

• 1 tblsp. ground sea salt
• 1 tblsp. fresh ground pepper
• 1 tblsp. garlic powder
• 1 tblsp. onion powder
• 1 tblsp. smoked paprika

The smoked paprika is the key differentiator here that lends a subtle yet smokey flavor. Apply rub generously on both sides of the meat and grill/cook as usual.

Everyone enjoys a nice rub once in a while!!

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