Archive for the ‘sandwiches and sliders’ Category

Scott's cool blue cheese dip is the perfect compliment to spicy buffalo sliders.

For weeknight meals, I’m always searching for something fun and creative to make but without a lot of prep and cook time. Many of you know I spend a lot of time commuting from work so weekday lengthy recipes don’t work for me because we don’t like to eat at 10 o’ clock at night!
This recipe is great for others in the same boat. Many of my grilling clinic attendees have told me that “sliders” are perfect for kids because they are the perfect size and they don’t take a long time to cook on the grill. This tasty dish is appealing to adults and kids alike!

I used GameDay Eats Wing Sauce for this recipe! Tasty!

This recipe makes enough to serve 2 adults.
Ingredients:

• 1 packet chicken cutlets (ie: tenders)
• wing sauce or hot sauce (use mild wing sauce if you don’t like heat)- 1 1/2 cups or more (enough to coat chicken in bowl and reserve some for basting on grill afterwards)
• rolls (buns)
• sandwich dill pickles
• blue cheese dip (see recipe below)

Give the tenders a quick drizzle or olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. Add enough sauce to coat all the tenders in a medium-large size bowl. Let them marinate at least 15 minutes in the fridge.

Turn grill on to heat up while chicken is marinating; meanwhile- make Scott’s Blue Cheese Dip.

Scott’s Blue Cheese Dip:

• 12 oz. container sour cream
• 4 oz. container blue cheese (the better the cheese, the better the dip)
• 2 tblsp minced garlic
• 1 tbls spoon dry mustard
• lots of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Combine all ingredients and store in refrigerator.

Grill tenders on direct heat for 3 minutes per side or until thermometer reaches internal temp. of 165 degrees. Baste with additional wing sauce.

Serve tenders on buns with blue cheese dip, arugula, pickles and extra wing sauce. Serve with additional arugula in the side and blue cheese dip as the dressing.

On the table in less than 30 minutes!

While grilling, I toss coconuts in the pool for Haley and Connor to fetch.

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In time for the 4th of July grilling holiday, I grilled buffalo sliders and veggies on my new CharBroil electric patio bistro on the set of CBS 12- Good Morning South Florida. Buffalo meat is leaner and higher in B Vitamins making it a healthier alternative to beef. For dessert I grilled peaches rubbed in cinnamon and sugar (I used McCormick’s sugar/cinnamon grinder) and paired it with grilled angel food cake and cool whip for a light, low fat dessert. It is bathing suit season after all!!

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Seared peppercorn encrusted tuna steaks- yum! Quick and easy too!

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.

They prepare your fish the way you like it at Captain Mike's!

Weighing crab at Captain Mike's fish market.

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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As a Southern Girl, there will always be a special place in my heart for BBQ. That is why this recipe is great- it’s super easy to make, and uses a leaner cut of meat so it is a little healthier too. While this recipe is very easy, it does require a good 2.5-3 hours of time in the oven so make it when you plan on doing some stuff around the house- like on a weekend .

Pulled Pork Sliders with coleslaw and red stripe beer.

Buy a pork tenderloin from the grocery store – this will usually equate to being about 3 lbs or so, and when you take it out of the package it is actually 2 pices of meat. So, if each piece is sold separately, it will be about 1.5 lbs each.

Here’s your ingredient list:

• 3 lbs pork tenderloin (see notes above)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tblsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tblsp. brown sugar
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tblsp. smoked paprika
• water or yeast rolls ( a pack of 6 or more)

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and start making your vinegar sauce.

Make your sauce:

Bring 1 cup cider vinegar, 2/3 cup water and red pepper flakes to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 15 minutes. While simmering, add the brown sugar.

Meanwhile, rub the pork in olive oil, grated sea salt, fresh ground pepper and smoked paprika. (Just grate the S/P) on top of the meat and add the tablespoon of paprika all over…)

Once the oven has preheated, put your pork in a casserole dish and cover with 1/4 of the sauce. (remember to save about 1/8 of the sauce to serve at the end if you want). Cook with a cover on- this will help steam the meat with the sauce and it will also cook more quickly.

Every 30 minutes, baste the pork in the sauce and add a little more sauce every time. Flip the pork every so often so it gets basted in the juices adequately on both sides.

You will be keeping an eye on the pork as you will be basting quite often over the cooking period. Once the pork starts looking shriveled and water logged, test it out with a fork. If you can easily pull the pork off with a fork so that it shreds, it is most likely done. If you can do this throughout the meat you are ready to go and pull it out of the oven. If it seems to be taking too long, You can push the oven temperature up to 300 degrees.

Once ready, shred the meat and pour the remaining sauce in and mix throughout. As the pork will already be quite vinegary, I don’t serve it with more vinegar based sauce.

While the pork is baked and basted in a vinegar based sauce, it is tangy for some so I reserve the sauce for those who want to try it and also put out my favorite store bought sauce- Stubbs. Stubbs spicy chipotle BBQ sauce is my favorite.

I serve with my chipotle cilantro coleslaw on water buns. A great addition is tater tots or sweet potato fries. For the sake of easiness, the sweet potato fries can be bought frozen and heated up are always good and usually turn out better for me than making them from scratch!!

Your friends will love this dish and it is great when you have people over because it will make a lot of food and the leftovers are even better the second day!!

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Sirloin Sliders, aka Mini Hamburgers

sirloin sliders- much more fun than your average burger!!

Well, this is not rocket science but it puts a fun spin on your standard hamburger. The mini burger idea is appealing because it is so versatile, depending on the occasion and setting. While one can make sliders as the main course, they are also a fun appetizer for entertaining and are great for tailgating as the burgers cook quickly due to their diminutive size. These are a low commitment burger- you get to satisfy your craving for a burger, but you still have room to sample a hotdog, eat large amounts of dip, and drink large amounts of beer. You may even have room for a guinness float afterwards.

Here’s a fun idea for your next gathering: make a “slider-bar”.

Cook the burgers (I prefer sirloin meat obviously) with various cheeses (cheddar, american, pepper jack) and some without; serve with toasted rolls- the kind that look like mini hamburger buns that you buy in the bakery at the grocery store.

Put out a variety of toppings for Southwest burgers, philly burgers, you name it:

• jalapenos
• guacamole
• salsa
• blue cheese
• bacon
• pepperoni
• various mayos- sriracha mayo, garlic mayo, etc
• arugula
• tomatoes
• grilled red onions
• roasted peppers
• (mustard, ketchup)
• pickles
• banana peppers
• sundried tomatoes

The opportunities are endless and this puts a fun spin on your traditional cook-out. Happy Grilling and Happy eating!!!

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Well, it’s that time of year folks! It’s S-U-M-M-E-R and that means outdoor picnics, barbecues, camping and pool parties. If you have a boat, that means you’re doing any of latter, except substitute saltwater for the pool.

This is a light yet SUPREMELY SATISFYING sandwich, while also being good for you and a nice alternative to your traditional ham and cheese (BORING!).

Ingredients:
Focaccia Bread, ciabatta or french bread/baquettes (enough for 4 sandwiches)
1 jar (13-15oz) of roasted red peppers
1 small container of goat cheese
1 jar olive tapenade
3+ cups of arugula (I LOVE THIS STUFF!)
handful fresh basil

Directions:
Slice the bread lengthwise in halves. Spread olive tapenade on both sides generously. Next, spread the goat cheese liberally on top of the bread, on top of the tapenade. Drain the jar of roasted red peppers and cut them lengthwise into manageable pieces to fit on the sandwich. Layer the peppers and then add fresh arugula, basil, and large amounts of freshly ground pepper.

Additions for the omnivore:
This sandwich is also great with the addition of Italian sausage, capicola or salami, or Aidells sausage (these are great added to anything! )

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Wild game is not something I would have ever considered eating until I dined at Ted’s Montana Grill restaurant a while ago. This opened my eyes to a totally different burger experience!!

You should cook your buffalo burgers the same way you would cook your beef burgers. Make sure you get the grill at least to medium high for a bit to reach an internal temp of at least 160 degrees farenheit, and watch the color. Pink= rare, how I like it.

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