BBQ Brussels Sprouts

Hello fellow Beauties!

It's Jolie here.  It's been too long since I posted but it doesn't mean I am not thinking about this blog every time I cook.  In fact, Amber's last post about beer brats was exactly what we ate with these Brussels sprouts.

I am the only one the in the group with a school-age kiddo and it feels like we've been on an end-of-the-school-year countdown for the past several weeks!  It's that time of year when the old reading log just doesn't get signed.  But with baseball season, the talent show, and second grade behind us, we are all looking forward to a carefree summer with lots of backyard BBQs!

I grabbed these Brussels sprouts at Costco.  I sliced them in half and put them in a sprayed-down tin foil pouch.  I added garlic, salt, pepper, and a handful of rosemary.  I'm sure if you added butter that would be fabulous but we try to go without.  Then we tossed the tin foil pouch on the grill with the meat.  I think about 20 minutes but I started to lose track with all the mojitos I was drinking.  I don't think you could screw this one up.

Everyone loved them.  It's nice to mix it up a little.  Here is a picture of my family to spice up the post.  I will be back soon, I promise!

Go Sounders FC!

BBQ Beer Brats {Barbeque Month}

This ‘aint nuthin but a man meal, peeps.

As far as I know, it’s actually a crime if you’re caught barbequing without a beer in your hand. But rest assured, this recipe takes your safety with the law to another level by adding beer to your BBQ.

BBQ Beer BratsAdd two cans of light beer to a big pot, throw in some raw brats, boil until they are a disgusting looking gray color, and then grill. We like these so much we don’t even bother with a bun and just stick our yummy bites of beer soaked juicy goodness straight into some yellow mustard. Simple as that. Oh, and you can also throw in a bunch of onion rings into the beer and cook them along with the brats, then add them to the top of your dog.

BBQ Greek Turkey Burgers with Greek Yogurt Sauce and Pickled Onions

I killed two birds with one stone with this meal.
1.) I made an awesome dinner  and was able to get everything ready while Graham was napping. This was a treat because I've been trying to clean out our freezer so I hadn't cooked in awhile.
2.) I tripled the recipe so I'd have enough burgers to share with my frozen dinner club girls. This was a risk since I've never tried this before and I started second guessing myself as I was dumping 3 pounds of ground turkey in the bowl. Lucky for me the burgers we were really good and not one ingredient went to waste.

This recipe is from Nutmeg Nanny a great food blog Megan introduced me to. I followed her recipe but used ground turkey instead of chicken ('cause that's what Costco has). It was super easy and REALLY yummy spin on traditional burgers. I'm glad I made extra and now have a stash in our freezer. And I think the pickled onions will be good for awhile.

Greek Turkey Burgers {with pickled red onion and Greek yogurt sauce}

Recipe and photo from Nutmeg Nanny

Ingredients:

For pickled red onion:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 thinly sliced large red onion
For Greek yogurt sauce:
1 (6 ounce) plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
1 tablespoon finely minced mint
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For turkey burgers:
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon finely minced mint
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Baby spinach
6-8 slider buns (I used torta rolls and made regular size burgers)
Cheese (even tho the burgers have feta, we melted extra cheese on top)

Directions:

For pickled red onion:
In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, brown sugar, salt and water. When you no longer see any sugar or salt in the mixture add your onion and let sit on the counter for at least an hour.
Store leftovers in the fridge with a little bit of the pickling juice.
I like to do this first so it can pickle while I put together and cook the burgers.
For Greek yogurt sauce:
In a small bowl add everything and mix together. Keep in the fridge until ready to use. When you are ready to serve give a taste and add more salt if needed.
(Keep in mind the burgers contain feta cheese which will add a bit of salt to the finished sandwich)
For turkey burgers:
In a large bowl add ground turkey, feta cheese, mint, parsley, red bell pepper, salt and black pepper.
Using your hands mix together until thoroughly combined. Divide meat mixture into 6 - 8 slider sized burgers (I made regular sized burgers).

Over medium heat, cook on the grill until the inside of the burger is no longer pink. {If you do not have a grill you can pan fry the burgers in one tablespoon of olive oil.} Melt cheese on top while they're cooking if you so desire.

To assemble the burgers add Greek yogurt sauce to the top and bottom of the bun, add burger, baby spinach and a few pickled red onions.

 

Grilled Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad & An Easy Steak Marinade

This pasta salad recipe might also be a bit of a stretch for barbecue month but I'm including it anyway because a crucial ingredient came from the grill. Here's how it came to be...

Night 1, we welcomed our weekend guest, hungry Mike, with grilled chicken tenders and Caesar romaine wedges.

Night 2, I took the leftover chicken (there wasn't much left, unfortunately -- Mike) and I decided to make a pasta salad which ended up being another take on Caesar salad just so I could use the leftover dressing. Don't judge, Mike loved it.

Night 3 for Father's Day, we grilled steaks for Kelly and our adopted dad, Mike. The steak was awesome so I'll just go ahead and share the marinade for that one too...

I kind of made this one up as I went so here goes:

Grilled Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

One bag of tri-color pasta, cooked and drained.
Place in a bowl and add about half a jar of your favorite Caesar dressing.
Add a handful of baby arugula.
Add another handful of cherry tomatoes.
Add about 1 cup of marinated artichokes.
Add about 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Add about 1/2 cup of red onion, chopped.
Mix it all up and determine if you need more dressing.
Before serving, add in leftover barbecue grilled chicken, cut in chunks.
Note: There is enough yummy stuff in this, that you could opt to leave out the meat if you wanted a vegetarian version -- still very delish.

Yes, I put out leftover St. Paddy's Day napkins for our weekend guest. I also made him get his own beer.
That's how we roll.

Kelly's Steaks

For three big steaks, we melted about a quarter to half stick of unsalted butter with a ton of minced garlic.
Bathe your raw meat in it, as Kelly is demonstrating in the pic below.
Sprinkle with blackened seasoning.
Grill it up nice and slow, rubbing on more garlic/butter/seasoning goop as needed.

I swear this is the only work I made him do on Father's Day.

Mike with his new shoe accessory to help him climb big mountains. He looks hungry, doesn't he?

Boom. Done!

A for-real Father's Day meal.

Who else saw the sun halo last weekend? Mike thinks it's lucky; I think he's just delirious from hunger.

So, if a rainbow is a perfect circle with no end and no beginning, where do they put the pot of gold?

Grilled Caesar Romaine Wedges

These romaine wedges were on the grill for a total of about 4 minutes -- that counts for barbecue month, right? I don't have a great story for these, just that I'm a little pissed I haven't tried them till now, that's how delicious and easy they were. I think this is the first time the meat became a "side" to the salad in my house...

Grilled Caesar Romaine Wedges

1/2 cup Caesar salad dressing
2 heads romaine lettuce, cleaned
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp French fried onions (optional)
3 tbsp bacon bits (optional)
Sea salt and pepper

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Remove loose outer leaves from each head of lettuce. Cut each lettuce head in half lengthwise. Brush cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

In a small bowl, combine onions and vinegar and set aside.

Grill lettuce cut side down, for about 2 minutes or until just charred. Turn lettuce and grill 2-3 more minutes (watch lettuce carefully as it may char quickly, depending upon temperature of grill).

Drain onions, arrange lettuce on plates. Drizzle with salad dressing and top with onions and Parmesan cheese. Add French fried onions (or croutons) and bacon bits for a little crunch and added flavor.

Beautiful wedges split in half and brushed with olive oil and sea salt.

Stay tuned for  another  recipe using barbecue chicken tender leftovers.

Kelly and his very hungry friend, Mike, who stayed with us for the weekend. After climbing Mt. Rainier, Mike was happy to eat his weight in food just about every night. Kelly spent four months with this guy (and his wife) about 11 years ago climbing in New Zealand and Thailand, living out of a small car, camping on beaches and eating rice and beans. When Mike stayed with us last weekend, he would disappear for the entire morning to go running. After he left us, he went back to Rainier to "run up it" and then the next day he was going to pick up his brother from the airport to do it all over again. That would be three climbs of Mt. Rainier in less than a week, people. I guess I won't complain this week about going to Zumba...

Saucy yummy grilled Caesar wedge. Mike ate two, of course.

West Coast Fave - BBQ Tri Tip!

So once again my sister Megan (one of the Beauties) is out gallivanting. This time, she is road-tripping in Italy before joining the rest of the crew on her newest yacht to tour the Mediterranean.  Tough life, right? Before she left, she gave me strict instructions to provide a guest post for the Beauties, so here goes!

Megan was able to make a very quick trip to visit before she started her latest adventure.  I asked her for her dinner request, and she asked for tri-tip.  For those not familiar with it, tri-tip is a cut of beef mostly used in the West - I really only started eating it when I moved to Los Angeles

For those really interested in tri-tip, Wikipedia has some handy dandy info about tri tip which you can find by clicking here. 

Twice a year our little beach town has a local event called Fiesta Hermosa. In the food tent area of the Fiesta, a restaurant from Santa Maria sells phenomenal tri-tip sandwiches.  My husband Scott was convinced he could do better, and I think he did.  Below is the recipe we use, and we made for Megan:

Scott's Tri Tip Sandwiches

Ingredients

Tri tip (we buy the 2 pack from Costco, and 1 tri tip will serve 4)

2 tablespoons of Lawry’s Salt

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of onion powder

2 teaspoons of pepper

Optional

1 onion

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

3 jalapeños

Tater tots

Cajun salt (we use Louisiana Fish Fry Products Cajun Seasoning)

Steps

• Slice all the vegetables (de-seeding the jalepenos to reduce the heat), and place in a saute pan with 1 tablespoon of oil.  You can use any combination of veggies to suit your preference, and skip the jalapenos all together if you are preparing for little ones. 

Sliced veggies ready to sauté

• Preheat the oven, and salt the tater tots
• Let the meat warm to room temperature
• Mix the spices together 
• Generously coat tri-tip with seasoning, setting aside a small portion of the seasoning (to use later to season meat when cooked
• Light up the grill, and let it heat up. 
• Cook meat, fat side up, on indirect heat and cook to desired doneness.  Scott recommends using a meat thermometer and cooking to medium rare.

Seasoning the tri tip

• Put the tater tots in the oven (timed to finish when the meat comes off the grill)
• When the meat is mostly done, sauté the veggies
• Pull the meat off the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes or so
• As thinly as possible, slice the meat (we use a meat slicer)
• Top toasted rolls or buns with meat and veggies
• Serve with crispy Tater tots and extra tri-tip seasoning.  I also like a little creamed horseradish sometimes

Seasoned and crispy tater tots

This is a simple, flavorful, and affordable way to enjoy the grill.  Happy tri-tipping!

Unfortunately, I didn't capture a picture of the entire dish,
so you will just have to enjoy this picture of Megan and Curly cuddling on the couch!

Barbeque Veggie Shish Kabobs - BBQ Month

It’s a very interesting thing to watch toddlers turn into children. For one, they are ridiculously demanding and stubborn. But in between those terrible times, they are shining lights of individuality and genius. You can literally watch, with your own two eyes, as their personality develops. With my first child, we learned at age three that he was a real, true lover of cars. And sports. You know, typical things. But our second child, Asher, is quite different. From the very time he could stand upright he was drawn to the kitchen. Every house we went to for a play date provided a new Play Kitchen for him to explore and he would spend hours pretending to cook for us. I can easily coax him into getting into the bath if I tell him we’ll pretend we’re making a cake, and he’ll help me get the cake pan, the measuring cups and a rolling pin and we’ll bring them all into the bath.

He is also very creative with his food. At a restaurant he mixed his ranch dressing with apple sauce and dipped his fries in it. The waitress came by and said, “You’re letting him do that?” to me, to which I responded, “Of course!” Jerk. One of his favorite concoctions is a turkey sandwich with pretzels. And he does not mean a side of pretzels. Tonight I asked him if he wanted BBQ Beer Brats (post coming later) and he said, “Can I have chips in it?” And just a couple of days ago he woke up and went straight to the cupboard, pulled out the bread, the craisins, and at the fridge he grabbed the cream cheese. “You want toast with cream cheese and craisins on top?” I asked. “Yep!” He totally made that up!

So when Asher turned three, and his friends’ parents asked what he wanted for his birthday I said, “Fake Food!” and we got it. We got a shopping cart (in girl colors, because there aren’t any other kind. As if fathers and single dudes don’t shop; come on!) and a pile of veggies and fruits that he can use a wooden knife to cut apart, and then there’s his favorite: a wooden BBQ Shish Kabob maker!

“Shish Kabob” is my favorite game because it enables me to sit on the couch. Here’s how it goes: I sit there, with my feet up and Asher comes to take my order. “WHAT YOU WANT!” He shouts at me. “A Shish Kabob, please,” I respond. I have learned only to ask for one, otherwise, as Asher says in exasperation, “You can’t have two or the teacher will tackle you!” Which really doesn’t make much sense but it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard so sometimes I ask for two even though I know it will make him mad.

After he gives me my Shish Kabob he stands there and watches me pretend to eat it. “Delish!” I say. One time I asked him how he would like me to address him. “Chef Asher, or Chef Asbjornsen?” I say. “Just Chef.” He says. Ok.

So in honor of Chef, I am posting my recipe for BBQ Veggie Shish Kabobs. I couldn’t be more proud of my little future culinary genius. Move over, Beauties, we’ve got a dude preparing to join us.

This is Chef watching me make real Shish Kabobs, while eating cherios and chips he layed out on a sushi mat he found in the drawer. Because that's obviously what you do with chips.

BBQ Shish Kabobs
I grabbed a bunch of different veggies that were already bite sized and ready to stick on a stick. Things like mushrooms, mini-tomatoes, broccoli and pineapple. I also bought a zucchini and sliced that up. I have wooden sticks for shish kabobs so I soak those in water while I do the prep so they don’t burn right up on the grill. And then I coat the veggies in marinade and let them soak it all up for at least a half hour. If you plan ahead, do this overnight!

Stick all the veggies on and grill! Easy peasy. This would also make a really easy and quick weeknight meal.

Asher and Ansen love Shish Kabobs because they pretend to make their own all the time, though I have to admit they didn’t like these ones. Too many veggies. That burger you see in the background wen't pretty fast, though.