Grilled Sesame Chicken with Broccoli

Mr Pears and I made a goal at the beginning of this Summer to grill out as often as possible.  And we've been doing a good job!  We've been grilling every weekend and we've been grilling new things, not just burgers and corn on the cob (though I looove grilled corn on the cob).

Last weekend we changed up a Jamie Oliver recipe a bit and really enjoyed Sesame Chicken, right off the grill. The sauce on the chicken was awesome and it went great with the stir-fried broccoli we served alongside.  It was a delicious dinner with some Asian flair and a little heat.

Grilled Sesame Chicken with Broccoli, adapted from Jamie Oliver's Recipes (an iPad app that we love!)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
juice from half a lemon
1 lb chicken breasts or other pieces
2 tablespoon sesame seeds
12 oz broccoli florets

Heat the grill.

In a small bowl whisk together the first 7 ingredients.  Pour the sauce into a shallow baking dish, reserving a small amount of the sauce for the broccoli.  1/4 cup should be more than enough.

Put the chicken in the dish and turn it to coat it in the sauce.   Remove the chicken to the grill and cook 2 minutes per side.  Keep the dish and remaining sauce handy.  While the chicken is cooking put the sesame seeds on a plate.  When the chicken has cooked the 4 minutes dip it back into the sauce and then coat the chicken with the sesame seeds.  Put it back on the grill to finish cooking.  This could take another 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken.

When the chicken is back on the grill heat a wok or saute pan with about 1 tablespoon of oil until hot.  Add the broccoli and stir-fry it for about 2 minutes.  Add the reserved sauce and a tablespoon or two of water and then put the lid on the pan and let the broccoli cook for another 5 minutes or until done to your likeness. Remove the lid and stir the broccoli to make sure it is evenly coated with sauce.

Serve and Enjoy!

Beef Kebabs

Have you fired up your grill yet?  If not, it is time!  Nothing says Spring like grilled food.  Here is another healthy and simple recipe for a nice Spring dinner.  Maybe out on the patio?  This one is so quick and easy you'll be relaxing with your margarita in no time.

Beef Kebabs, by 4 Pears

1 pound beef (tri tip, flank steak, etc... it could be anything really), cut into 2 inch pieces

3/4 cup olive oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 large tomatoes, cut into large wedges

2 medium yellow onions, cut into large wedges

wooden skewers, soaked in water

Whisk 1/2 cup olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon juice and garam masala together in a small bowl then pour it into a zip lock bag large enough to hold your beef.  Toss in the beef and squeeze everything around to coat.  Put the bag in the refrigerator for at least an hour to marinate.  

Turn on the grill and while it is heating put the onions and tomatoes in a large bowl with the rest of the olive oil, toss them to coat and season them with salt and pepper.  Put them on the skewers.  I like to keep like with like so they cook evenly.

Put the beef on skewers as well.

Put everything on the grill and cook for about 4 minutes a side.  Your kebabs may cook faster or slower depending on how big your pieces are so just keep an eye on them.  Remove to plates and serve with Israeli couscous or another favorite side.  Enjoy!

Grilling for Labor Day

Is it against the law in the United States to NOT grill out on Labor Day?  Kind of feels like it. Labor Day is a holiday for enjoying the last bit of summer, and Summer = Grilling.  So grill something!  Can I suggest burgers?

I am a HUGE fan of burgers.  I ate vegetarian for three years while in my 20's and it was the craving for cheeseburgers that finally made me give it up.

Yummy.

Burgers are the go-to grilling item but they don't need to be boring or bland. When most of us want to make up some burgers we  head to the meat section at the grocery store and grab some ground beef.  80/20 makes a good burger....grass-fed beef is pretty great...but the best burger we've made came from ground brisket.  Upon Tyler Florence's advice, Alex and I tossed 2 lbs of beef brisket, cut into chunks, into the meat grinder.  What?  You don't have a meat grinder?  Shocking.  Well, in that case, ask the butcher to grind it for you.  Most grocery stores will; they definitely will at Whole Foods.   And believe me, its worth asking for.  A little ground brisket, some salt and pepper, and a few awesome toppings and you will have yourself an amazing burger to celebrate Labor Day.

Cheese Burgers, adapted from Tyler Florence
2 pounds beef brisket, ground
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 slices of Swiss Cheese (or any other favorite cheese!)
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 large tomato

Before you start on the burgers, get your toppings ready.  Slice the tomato and season the slices with salt and pepper and set them aside.  It is amazing what a little salt and pepper do to a tomato.  Now to caramelize the onions.  In a large frying pan melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onions to the pan and allow them to cook very slowly, about 20 minutes. They will be soft and golden brown and incredibly sweet!

Once the onions are almost done fire up the grill.  Season the ground meat with salt and pepper and mix them in with your hands.  Now form the meat into 4 patties.  To keep them flat on top while they are cooking, create an indentation in the middle of each patty.   Put the burgers on the hot grill and cook for about 5 minutes per side for medium.  About a minute before they are done, top them with cheese.

Make sure to put your finished burgers on great tasting buns and top them with a slice of tomato and some of the onions.  I like a bit of mayo on my burger too. :)  The addition of the ripe seasoned tomato and the sweet onions to a very juicy burger is unbelievably good.  So enjoy it!  And enjoy the long weekend.

Bloody Mary Anyone?

I think it’s safe to say we all know what a Bloody Mary is but if you’re like me, you may not have had one in a while. Now I’m definitely not opposed to the occasional adult beverage but this just isn't one that’s hit my radar in quite some time. Until I came upon this recipe at Bon Appetit . This is a steak salad with all of the classic flavors of a Bloody Mary that I’m pretty sure Bloody Mary fans (and even those who aren’t) are going to love...we did! The recipe is spot on and it was so easy and delicious.

Flank Steak with Bloody Mary Tomato Salad

Steak:

(2) 1 1/2 pounds Flank steak
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

1 cup finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar, divided
2 pounds cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup chopped celery hearts (inner stalks and leaves; from 1 bunch)
1/2 cup chopped brined kalamata olives plus 2 tablespoons olive brine
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparing the salad is easy; a little chopping here, a little bit of this and some whisking and you are done. To start pour the sherry vinegar over the chopped onion in a large bowl and let that sit for a few minutes while you are chopping your other veggies. This will help take the bite out of the onions. Once chopped, add your tomatoes, celery and olives to the bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk the remaining vinegar, olive brine, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and celery seed together. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Your dressing is done! Pour it over the salad mixture, toss to combine and let set in the refrigerator. Don’t forget you can customize this recipe just like you make your own Bloody Marys, so feel free to make this as spicy as you like!

On to the steak, the recipe calls for Flank steak but we went with skirt steak because that was what was available at the store. If you go with Flank, your grilling times may be a minute or too longer than ours. Mix the sugar, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper and black pepper together and rub all over steak. Wrap the steaks in plastic and put them in refrigerator for 1-3 hours. One hour before you are ready to grill remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let them rest and come to room temperature. Heat the grill to high and brush the grill with oil or spray with a non-stick grill spray to prevent sticking. I love the spray; it’s just so quick and easy. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side for medium rare. Remove the steaks and let them sit for five minutes before cutting them into slices. Put your steak over a generous helping of salad and ENJOY!

Smoke Box Ribs

This year was my first Father’s Day as an actual father. Because I am such an amazing father (going from zero to 2 kids over the course of just a few minutes!), I figured I had better make a list of what I wanted as gifts for this important new holiday. I asked for several items that I’m sure will gain mention in this blog including a smoker box for the grill, the Bouchon cookbook, and a meat grinder attachment for the stand mixer, woo hoo!

This weekend I decided that I wanted to grill some baby back ribs and I was hoping I could get some smoky flavor into the ribs with the help of my new smoker box. I’m using this one. It came with pretty simple instructions; soak wood chips, place wood chips in smoker box, put smoker box over direct heat. Cool, I could do that. If you didn’t get a cool smoker box for Father’s Day, you could use a disposable aluminum baking tray to hold your wood chips. I got the wood chips from the grocery store; the bag of hickory wood chips was $2.50. I used the entire bag.

Before I put the ribs on the grill I removed the silver skin from the ribs, this helps to make the ribs fall-off-the-bone good and keeps them from being too chewy. After that I used a rub mixture adapted from Bobby Flay. His rub has espresso coffee beans and ancho chili powder which are kind of smoky flavors themselves so I thought it would be perfect, and it was! To make my life easier I made the rub the night before, after the kids went to bed, so I wasn’t messing around with the 10 ingredients in the rub with the kids all over the house. That just sounds like trouble.

When I was ready to start cooking I oiled up the ribs with canola oil then put the rub on. Next step was to preheat the grill; I use a natural gas grill. I placed the smoker box to one side of grill and turned that burner on high. Then I placed an old bread pan filled with water next to the smoker box. I don’t baste the ribs so I use this method to keep moisture in the grill so the ribs don’t dry out, not basting may be controversial method but this works well for me with a little less effort.

Once my smoking section was ready, I put the ribs on indirect heat (only the burner under the smoker box was on) and turned them once every half hour for about 2 ½ hours. It could take you closer to 3 depending on the heat of your grill. Make sure to keep adding wood chips as needed. When the ribs are done you should see the bare tips of the bones from the meat shrinking up, don’t know if shrinking up is a culinary term, but I’m going with it.
The rub made a great dark crust and the smokiness of the ribs was awesome. I was pretty impressed with my new little smoker box! Here is the list of ingredients for the rub, ENJOY.

Bobby Flay’s Coffee Rub

• 1/4 cup ancho chili powder
• 1/4 cup finely ground espresso
• 2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons chili de arbol powder **we used cayenne pepper instead**