Skewered Spiral Souped Up Hot Dogs for Sunday Playoff Games

Whodat Nation pulled through!  Next week, the Rams face them in New Orleans and the Patriots face off in KC.  

Yesterday for the playoff games I took a page from Rachel Ray's Tailgate episode.  

To make Spiral Hot Dogs, thread All-Beef Hot Dogs, my personal favorite Hebrew National, on a skewer.  Place a sharp knife at a diagonol with the blade facing the skewer about 1/2" from the top.  As you spin the skewer, you are able to slice a spiral into the hot dog.  Be sure to stop 1/2" from the bottom. Grill or cook on a flat top  griddle to desired doneness.  

In the meantime, in separate pans, heat up Queso, Baked Beans, Chili, and Sauted Thinnly Sliced Onions until they are browned.  Serve with Baked Potatoes, Cole Slaw, Salad, Mustard and Ketchup.  I love the Split Top Hot Dogs Buns for this and they can be steamed, grilled on the outside, or served straight from the bag. 

Just a note, plan on 3- 4 hot dogs per person if serving throughout the game.  

For us, there were only 3 of us eating but for a crowd, add more ingredients such as Jalepenos, Diced Red Onion, Relish, Crumbled Bacon, Grated Cheese, etc.  

Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Peach Salsa

We've been eating lighter now that it's hot.  Yesterday I had a hankering for Shrimp Tacos with a zesty Peach Salsa, so I picked up what I needed just before dinner.  Let's say this was a nod to Louisiana.

The Peach idea came from years ago, when a guest chef at the local farmer's market found things at the booths and cooked fish and served it with a simple fresh peach salsa.  I thought it was the coolest idea.  We are talking 15 years ago, so though there is no way I could duplicate what he did I made my own quick Salsa.

Rinse Shrimp, peel devein, pat dry, and add 5 to each skewer, this just makes for easy grilling.  Drizzle with Olive Oil and season with Blackening Seasoning on both sides, I like Paul Prudhomme's the best.

For the Salsa, Dice 2 Ripe Peaches.  Mince a few strips of Jalepeno - use them to your liking depending on how much heat you want.  Add 1 tsp Freshly squeezed Lemon Juice.  Season with 2 tsp minced Cilantro and if you want, 2 tsp Minced Red Onion.  Drizzle with 1 TBL Olive Oil and stir.

Shred lettuce, I used Red Cabbage and Spinach, but you can use micro greens, napa cabbage, sprouts of any sort, really whatever you want.

Preheat Grill til hot and grill shrimp, turning once.  Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet so they are pliable.

We have taco tenders and I recommend them. Assemble tacos by placing shredded greens in the bottom, add 3 shrimp and top with Salsa.  We sampled Gluten Free Tortillas but I didn't care for the texture at all.  I would stick with flour tortilla's or if Gluten Free is needed, I would rather make my own with gluten free flour.

Rosemary Stem Kabobs

My mother-in-law, B, has the most successful Rosemary Plant I have seen!  It's been in an ideal spot for over 13 years an resembles a shrub.  When it gets growing in the hot part of the summer, the stems get woody, which she suggested, is perfect for skewers, and she was right.  She apparently gave a bundle of (8) 2 foot long pieces to anyone who would take them about, 10 friends.  I was lucky enough to get on that list.  Then the fun part, as the days passed, everyone began reporting back to her what they did with them and I don't think any two were alike.
I was already planning on round 2 with the sk Zucchini Fritters so I needed to keep my idea simple.  As it was, I was cutting, shredding, waiting and then cooking, ala minute, the fritters.  Now add preheating, scraping the grill, and running in and out in order to baste and not over cook anything.  It was a huge success, and I got gold on both fronts, but the simple way would've been to assign someone to the grilling.
I bought 4 Chicken Breasts and cut them into 1" cubes.  Next, I cut the Woody Rosemary Stems into 12" Lengths without including the tender new growth.  I threaded the chicken breast onto the skewers fairly close, without jamming them together, and lay them flat on a platter.  I had our family barbeque sauce already prepared so I basted them and let them rest for about 30 minutes.  (Use your favorite sauce or marinade.)  I placed the skewers on a very hot grill, sauce side down, and basted the upward facing side.  I turned once, basting the cooked side.  (NOTE: Don't let the grill flare up or it will burn the skewers and you will be left with cubed chicken to tend to.)  These cooked for about 10 minutes on an infrared grill on a medium setting.   When done, I placed the cooked skewers on a foil line sheet pan and placed them in a 350 degree oven to finish for the last 8-10 minutes.  In the meantime, I cleaned up and set the table.  When served, we all ate in silence.
As soon as we were done, I called B to tell her of our good success with her skewer idea!  For the next time, I invited them to dinner.  These would be awesome with Lamb, Beef, Shrimp, or Pork.  If you were going on a picnic, these wood be fun to cook with easy cleanup.

Grilled Flatbread

I have a flat bread recipe on my blog already and it was cooked in the kitchen, on a grill pan.  This time I actually grilled it on our infer red grill, (not my favorite grill for this sort of thing), but tasty just the same.
Making dough takes practice and what eventually happens is you don't really follow a recipe, you just know what to do.  I have arrived at that point.  I will attempt to say what measurements I used, but humidity makes an impact on dough, so I will also tell you what you are looking for to attain a good dough and you can aim for that.  Dough is forgiving to a point while it is being kneaded, so the adjustments should be made during that time.
I made this on a school day in the morning and brought it to my friend, Big T's house, for a tennis party get-together.  I should add, the team I play on won our division in a local league so it was a fun day.  T's husband, J, char-grilled oysters for us and we ate the flat bread with the oysters.
I began running the mixer around 6:30am and like I mentioned, brought the grilled bread to her house at 11am.  First, warm your mixing bowl by rinsing it in hot water.  Dry the outside.  Then measure 1/2 Cup Warm Water (around 110F) and add 1 package of Rapid Rise Yeast plus A Few Pinches of Sugar.  Stir with a wooden spoon and let it activate for about 10 minutes; you will see bubbles form.  Place the mixing bowl on the mixer and using a dough hook, begin mixing on the #2 setting.  Add 1 Cup 110F water, 2 Tbl Olive Oil, 1 1/2 Tbl Sugar, and begin adding Flour- 1/2 Cup at a Time.  (You can use All-Purpose, Bread, Wheat or a combination of any and all).  In all, I added Between 4-5 Cups Flour.  Once you have added a few cups of flour, add 1 tsp Kosher Salt.  Continue adding flour until dough is compact but soft and ever so slightly sticky to the touch.  If it is too dry, add a few Tbl Water now.  Once it feels right, knead for about 15-20 minutes until it feels springy and seems to have strands when pulled apart.  Remove the dough and shape into a ball.
Oil a large bowl.  Coat the dough with oil and cover the bowl with a damp cloth.  Let rise for 1 hour in warm place.  I turn on a heat lamp on my hood and place the bowl on a back grate location so the light shines on the cloth.
Remove dough from bowl and using a dough cutter, cut the desired size pieces.  Shape these by pulling the dough from the center, down the sides and under until it appears you have dough that is slightly sticky.  Place these on a floured cloth lined sheet pan to rest.  Cover them with the damp towel and place back under the light or in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
To busy yourself, cleanup, preheat grill, and get oil ready.  You can see, I used Fresh Rosemary and Olive Oil.  When you are ready roll out the dough, shingle the disks on the sheet pan.  Oil and add Kosher Salt the dough and place on the hot grill, oil side down.  Oil and Salt the upward facing side.  Turn the bread over when it releases from the grill and cook the second side.  Turn again and cross mark the 1st side and then the second.  When it comes off the grill, Oil and add a Pinch of Kosher Salt to the upward facing side.
Cover the bread so it doesn't dry out and serve with your favorite meal.  If hosting at home, I would opt to grill while the bread is being eaten, straight off the grill.  Let me know how it goes for you!!

Grilling a Steak

Grilling a steak properly isn't difficult, but rather a change in how you do it and committing to only grilling this way.
This steak was grilled on an infrared grill so the cooking times were shorter than a gas grill.  Preheat grill to high heat for 10 minutes.  Lightly clean the grates with a wire brush.  Some of the seasoning that has built up on the grates should be left and keeps the meat from sticking.  Pictured is a 2" thick Sirloin Steak, about $14.00.  I removed it from the refrigerator and marinated it for about 1 hour.  At the very least, let the steak, warm up to room temperature for about an hour and salt and pepper it before grilling if you didn't marinate.
Place the meat on the grill at a diagonal to the grate.  Flip it over after 4-5 minutes keeping it at a diagonal.  Cook for 4-5 minutes.  Now when you flip it you are also going to also rotate 90 degrees.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  On the next flip, do not rotate it.  That should give you the diagonal grill marks that are so appetizing when you eat out.   Grilling takes practice.  One person in the house should do all of the grilling.  I used to do it but as my husband took over the task.  He is quite good now and although he thought caring about the grill marks was a waste of time at first, he has grown to love the perfection of it all.  Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing it so you don't lose all of the juices.  Cut thin and on the angle against the grain of the meat.  Thinly sliced meat is always more tender.  FYI, this was cooked to medium rare which is the way we prefer steak.  We served this with the Dauphine Potatoes and a fresh vegetables.

Grilled Sausage Pattties

I have been dying to make my own sausage.  This week I came across this guy grilling really good tasting "burgers".  They all caught my eye but the one I got inspiration from was his grilled sausage patty with peppers and onion.  I didn't see the recipe, so I seasoned the ground pork to taste.  I will give you an idea of what I added but you may want to change it for your own palette.

To 2 Lbs Ground Pork (this made 7 patties) add seasoning such as these to taste.  1 1/2 Tbl Fennel Seeds, 1/2 tsp Paprika, 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper, 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp Dried Oregano, Coursely Ground Pepper to taste and 1/2 tsp Onion Powder.  I would start with something like these quantities and make adjustments for the next time.  Remember the onions and peppers will give lots of flavor, too.  Mix together by hand and form into flat patties.  

Thinly slice 2 Banana Peppers, 1 Poblano Pepper and 1 Full Sized Onion.  Preheat a skillet over medium heat and add 2 Tbl Olive Oil.  Add Onions and Peppers and cook til slightly carmelized.  Place in a bowl.  Grill Sausage Patties so they are cooked thoroughly.  I turned them 3 times to get cross hatch grill marks.  Toast Buns or some sort of Crusty Roll.  Serve with Slices of Fresh Tomato  and Grated Mozerella Cheese.  If you have it, add Marinara.  Wonderful quick and flavorful dinner!

For Gluten free serve on toasted gluten free bun or without a bun.

Blackend Redfish on the Grill

Our friend, J, went bow fishing and rod fishing last week and he and his guests limited out on Redfish.  They were all out of town guests, so he got to keep the catch.  He must have spent the better part of Saturday morning giving out the fish.  Some of the fish was "on the half shell" meaning the fillet was left on the scales, perfect for grilling!  I chose Blackend for my fish.  Butter lightly the rinsed Whole Redfish Fillet with 1 Tbl Soft Butter.  Add Blackening Seasoning to Taste.  Add to hot grill, scales side down, and close the lid.  When scales begin to roll gently around the edges and the fish feels slightly firm to the touch, it's done.  It should easily come up from the grill, scales and all.  This puffed up nicely and in the end was thicker than it appeared when it was raw.  Wow, spectacular!  Thanks J!

What's for Dinner, Grilled BBQ Shrimp!

I love New Orleans BBQ Shrimp. I have made the real thing many times but it is REALLY fattening! Of all of the seasonings we have tried, LaDon's from Gonzales, Louisiana is our favorite. Part of the reason is cumin. If it's in there, I can't even get near it for I just can't stand the smell.

So moving on...I began to use the seasoning like a dry rub years ago. We can buy Jumbo Shrimp at a pretty reasonable price.

The ones I bought were head on and were $6.99 per lb. In the end, 18 peeled shrimp with just the tail on cost about $10.50. Not bad.

Peel Shrimp and place on skewers. Pat dry of water and add about 1 Tbl olive oil. Season with LaDon's BBQ Shrimp Seasoning.

Heat grill to Medium high. (Have the rest of the dinner ready cause this cooks in a matter of minutes.) Grill about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side. As soon as it turns pink it is done. I like to serve a lemon wedge which goes nicely with the spicy seasoning.

Note: If you frequently find your shrimp is mushy, you are over cooking it.