Posts Tagged BBQ

Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Herb Aioli + My Favorite Labor Day Grilling Recipes!

I don’t post a lot of grilling recipes here. That’s mostly due to the fact that my husband is the primary griller in our home, and I have no idea how he does what he does. Therefore, I cannot share these recipes and tips with you. His grill methods are a mystery to me! (I will say, however, that he helped me develop a recipe for Grilled Flank Steak with Charred Green Onions and Hazelnut Romesco, which can be found in my new cookbook! Just sayin’.)

However, I do occasionally dabble in grilling from time to time.

There’s something about grilling that is just so satisfying. Cooking food over an open flame (or coals) in the great outdoors is a bit of a challenge, but it’s also a ton of fun. And, Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to grill up some grub and soak up the last bits of summer.

A few weeks ago, we decided to grill up a few artichokes with dinner. It was a fantastic decision. Honestly, I cannot begin to express to you how delicious they were. We gobbled up the artichokes in moments, leaving behind a big ole heap of artichoke carnage. It was awesome. I usually steam or boil artichokes, which is also delicious, but grilling brings them up a notch. The grill imparts just a bit of char and a slightly smoky flavor. It’s perfect.

So, then, I’ll share with you my recipe for Grilled Artichokes with Garlic and Herb Aioli. In addition, I’ve posted a whole list of my favorite grilling recipes, all of which would be perfect for your Labor Day BBQ. Whatever your plans may be, I hope you enjoy the holiday weekend and that you enjoy these last lovely bits of summer.

Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Herb Aioli

Ingredients

4 artichokes
2 lemons, halved
Olive oil
1/2 cup mayonaise
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs, such as rosemary, oregano, and thyme

Instructions

First, trim the artichokes. Clip the thorns (the sharp tips of the artichoke leaves) with scissors and remove any small outer leaves near the base of the stem.
Place the artichokes and a couple of lemon halves in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil, and cook for approximately 30 minutes. (To check and see if the artichokes are done, stick a fork in the stem of the artichoke. If it’s tender and the fork pulls out easily, they’re ready!)
Drain off the water and allow artichokes to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, prepare your grill.
Once your grill is hot and the artichokes are cook enough to handle, prepare the artichokes for grilling. Using a sharp knife, cut the artichokes in half lengthwise. Then, using a spoon or paring knife, remove the choke (the fuzzy bits in the center). Brush artichokes with olive oil and place on a plate.
Place artichoke halves on the center of the grill, directly over the heat. Grill for 10 minutes, or until you get grill marks.
To make the aioli, mix together the mayo, pepper, garlic, and fresh herbs. Serve the grilled artichokes with the aioli and slices of fresh lemon.

http://rosemarried.co/2014/08/31/grilled-artichokes-with-garlic-herb/

A few of my personal favorite grilling recipes:

Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Whole Grain Mustard

Grilled Corn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Avocado

Grilled Zucchini Bruschetta

A few of my favorite grilling recipes from a few of my favorite blogs:

Grilled Pizzas – 101 Cookbooks

Grilled Chipotle Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Cherry Salsa – Sweet Peas & Saffron

Grilled Watermelon with Jalapeno, Feta, and Honey – Domesticate Me

Grilled Zucchini and Corn Pasta with Parmesan – The Scrumptious Pumpkin

Grilled Halloumi with Strawberries and Herbs – The Turntable Kitchen

Grilled Kale & Fig Salad – Local Haven

Grilled Apricot and Burrata Salad – PDX Food Love

Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Whipped Cream and Caramel Sauce – Spicy Southern Kitchen

Happy Labor Day weekend, y’all!

xoxo

Lindsay

Curried Potato Salad

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t planning on posting this recipe.

(I’m not sure what my problem was, since this potato salad is really damn delicious.)

It’s just that potato salad is a funny thing. It’s not a particularly sexy dish, it’s a bit kitschy and old fashioned, and it certainly doesn’t look good in photographs. But good grief, it sure tastes great. But it doesn’t matter how Stepford-wife I feel when I show up to a BBQ with a bowl full of potato salad, it always gets eaten. Every last bite.

My girlfriends all implored me to post this recipe on the blog, despite the fact that it photographs like an ugly, yellow bowl of mush. (It doesn’t taste like an ugly bowl of mush, I promise.) I’ve always loved the combination of curry and potatoes, and it works just as well in this context. This potato salad somehow still tastes like the one you remember from your childhood, but with more adult flavors: curry, cilantro, and cumin.

Since Memorial Day is right around the corner, it does seem like an appropriate time to post a recipe for the ultimate BBQ side dish. Funny enough, I’m actually making this potato salad for my family’s Memorial Day BBQ, which means I’ll make this recipe 3 times in one week. Thankfully, I happen to really like this salad. And I kind of can’t wait to eat it again.

If you’re looking for something to eat alongside a giant bowl of potato salad on Memorial Day, check out my “What to Eat: Grill Edition” over at Plate & Pitchfork’s blog. I posted a little bit of everything – grilled kebabs, pizzas, veggies, meats, and more!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

CURRIED POTATO SALAD

Ingredients:
6-10 small Yukon Gold potatoes (or other small waxy potato), cut into 1″ or 2″ cubes (skins left on)
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1.5 Tablespoons mayo (I used Kewpie mayo)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
2-3 stalks celery, diced
1 small shallot, finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Method:
Bring a medium-large pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the cubed potatoes to the water and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and cooked all the way through. (I test them with a fork or knife tip after 15 minutes).

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the hot water using a colander or strainer. Rinse the potatoes with cold water and set aside to continue cooling. (Optional: I like to sprinkle a bit of red wine vinegar over the potatoes at this time, as it absorbs into the potatoes and gives them an extra tang.)

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayo, red wine vinegar, curry powder, coriander, cumin, and salt and pepper. Taste, and adjust seasonings to your liking. Set aside.

Once the potatoes have cooled to room temperature, gently toss them with the diced shallots and celery. Gently stir in the yogurt mixture, to coat. Once the potatoes are coated in the yogurt mixture, gently stir in the chopped cilantro. Chill in the refrigerator for at least a half an hour before serving. Just prior to serving, garnish with more fresh cilantro and a dash of curry powder.

Grilled Corn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Avocado

And just like that, I have a husband again.

You see, my husband has a new job. Rather, he has a new/old job. For the last 6 months, he was working a corporate job in the suburbs. We didn’t realize it while he was there, but the job was killing both of us. He wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy. Our schedules were out of sync and we barely saw each other.

And now he’s back working at his old job…and suddenly everything is different. I forgot how nice it is to have afternoons and evenings together. Or how nice it is to cook and eat a meal together. We’ve been so thrilled about his schedule, that we’ve found ourselves cooking together almost every night. We’ve been making fancy meals for no reason, just because we can. We’re just soaking up this newfound time with each other, and we’re loving it. We’ve also been grilling a lot, and I can’t express to you how lovely it is to sit outside, drink a glass of wine, and enjoy a lazy summer meal together in our backyard.

This grilled corn salad was created on one such evening. Nich was grilling tequila lime shrimp (for shrimp tacos) and I decided to make a grilled corn salad to go along with the tacos. I went with flavors that I thought would compliment the meal – cilantro, lime, cumin, and avocado. It was bright and full of flavor – the sweetness of the corn played off the tangy lime and the fresh tomatoes beautifully.

I now insist on making this salad every time we fire up the grill. I adore this salad. I’ll eat it on its own, throw it on tacos (or burritos, quesadillas, etc), or devour it with chips. And while I know that it is now September, I’m hoping for an Indian Summer. I am simply not ready to welcome the changing of seasons (yet). I need a few more lazy summer dinners in the backyard with my husband. I need a few more impromptu BBQ’s. And frankly, I need more excuses to make this corn salad while the summer corn is ripe and sweet.

So, hello, September, I hope you’re kind to us in the Northwest. We’d like a bit more summer, if you don’t mind.

Grilled Corn Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Avocado

1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ears of sweet corn, husks removed
1 ripe avocado, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 small red onion (or 1/2 large red onion), diced
2 teaspoons olive oil
The juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper, to taste

Brush 2 ears of corn lightly with olive (or canola) oil. Place shucked corn directly on the grill, turning every few minutes. Once the corn has a slight char on all sides, remove to a plate and allow to cool.

In a small or medium bowl, mix together avocado, red onion and cherry tomatoes. Once the corn has cooled, take a knife to the side of the corn and cut off the kernels. Stir into the avocado & tomato mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, cumin, cilantro, and salt and pepper. Pour gently over the corn mixture, and stir to combine. Add the liquid slowly, and only add enough to just dress the salad. Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.

Options & Variations: The first time I made this salad, I also threw in some grilled zucchini and it was quite tasty. I’ve also added a bit of Serrano pepper to the mix, and that adds a nice spicy kick.

A Trip to Las Vegas & Dijon Potato and Green Bean Salad

As I mentioned in my last post, this past week I was in Las Vegas for work. Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking….“Suuuuuuure, she was there for work.” But, it’s true! I happened to be in Las Vegas, Nevada, selling books to Sociologists. True story. My reasons for being in Las Vegas were about as nerdy as they come.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all books and sociologists. I did bring the husband along with me, in an attempt to turn a work trip into a quasi-vacation. While I was working most of the time (and the husband was lounging poolside), I did manage to squeeze in a bit of fun. And by fun, I mean food. Whilst there, I managed to dine at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, Il Mulino, Ellis Island Casino & Brewery ($7.99 steak dinner, which includes a beer!), The Henry (at the Cosmopolitan) and In-N-Out. There were a few other non-memorable meals, but you get the idea. We ate a lot and it was fantastic.

But now that I’m back home, I feel like I need to go to the gym for 18 hours a day. Or go on a cleanse. Or buy bigger pants. I just feel the need to do something. While I love traveling, it is hard to eat healthy on the road. I just miss (good quality) fresh vegetables when I’m on vacation. I’d like to pretend I came home from Vegas and immediately made a whole host of gorgeous vegetable dishes. I did no such thing. Rather, I had the husb order take-out Thai food and we collapsed on the couch in a relative stupor and caught up on Project Runway. I was comforted by the fact that my Panang curry did, in fact, contain some vegetables (so there!).

So then, since I just got home and I haven’t actually had a moment to cook anything yet, I’m going to tell you about a dish I made before my trip to Vegas (that I had every intention of posting before my trip. Oops!). This particular recipe doesn’t have anything to do with Vegas, but I’m going to tell you about it anyway.

I made a giant batch of this potato salad one evening to accompany some Olympic Provisions kielbasa the husb was grilling. I sometimes forget that there are only two of us in our household, and proceeded to make enough potato salad to feed an army. Thankfully, this turned out to be the best potato salad of all time, and so I was quite happy to eat potato salad for 3 days in a row. The salad is packed with flavor and the green beans give the salad a crunch that isn’t often found in standard potato salads. And while the recipe calls this a warm potato salad, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it tastes just as good when eaten cold. And now that I’m back from Vegas and can get back into the kitchen, I’m fixin to make another batch this weekend. I implore you to do the same.

I’d like to mention one last thing before I get to the recipe. I would like to thank my friends at Working Hands Farm for the potatoes and beans I used to make this salad. These guys are fantastic farmers (who also happen to be my friends). Their produce is a thing of beauty and their generosity is inspiring. I’ve eaten my weight in blueberries, daikon, cabbage, green (and purple!) beans, kale, chard, potatoes, squash, carrots, and more. And it’s all because of these guys! I can’t emphasize it enough: Working Hands Farm rules. For those of you who live in Portland, I strongly suggest you check out their CSA program. They offer various sized CSA boxes, and allow you the freedom to fill your own box at their pick-up site (SE 13th and Ankeny), so that you can decide what you’ll need and use for your family. They also made a fantastic video which promotes their Endless Summer CSA campaign, and you can watch that little gem right here.

And now for the recipe…

Warm Potato & Green Bean Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
(Adapted from Dave Lieberman, via The Food Network)

3 pounds red potatoes
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 shallot, minced
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Method
Place the whole potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least a couple inches. Salt the water generously, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Bring another pot of salted water to a boil. Cook green beans in the boiling water for 2 minutes (until they turn bright green). Remove from water and plunge into an ice bath (or rinse with cold water) to stop them from cooking any more.

In a mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients (except parsley) and whisk until smooth.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into chunks (1 or 2 inches). Cut the green beans in half. Toss the potatoes and green beans with the dijon dressing. Once the mixture is combined, toss with chopped parsley. Taste, and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve immediately, while salad is still warm.

Sriracha & Blackstrap Molasses Pulled Pork

June is just one giant party after another.

While I’m trying to catch my breath from the madness of May (which includes Mother’s Day and my dad’s birthday), June comes along with Father’s Day (June 19), my mom’s birthday (June 18), my parent’s wedding anniversary (June 3), and my own wedding anniversary (June 20).

There’s just so much to celebrate!

So, rather than try to celebrate each individual event, my family decided to have one celebration that would cover all the various birthdays and holidays. Originally, our plan was to BBQ and laze about in the sun and eat delicious food together. There was talk of ribs and homemade ice cream! But, the Portland forecast had other ideas. The weather this past weekend was quite lame, to say the least. A BBQ was not in the cards.

But, I wasn’t willing to let the weather win. I was feeling sassy and summery and so I decided to make pulled pork sandwiches. Pulled pork has all the flavor and attitude of BBQ, but can be done indoors with a slow cooker. Done and done.

I’ve made pulled pork a few times over the years and it is always a hit. It’s one of those dishes that is hard to screw up. Throw some pork in a slow cooker, add some seasonings, and walk away for 8 hours. That’s my kind of cooking!

Since I was making the pulled pork for a special occasion, I wanted to jazz up the recipe a bit. I’m not a big fan of ketchup (OK, I think it’s nasty), but a lot of pulled pork recipes use ketchup as part of the sauce base. I was in need of an unconventional and ketchup-free pulled pork. So, I turned to my trusty pantry to see what I could find. I was in luck! I had a few key pantry staples on hand that I knew would work together to make a fabulous BBQ sauce: tomato paste, Sriracha, and blackstrap molasses. The tomato paste would bring the tangy tomato element we’re all used to in BBQ sauce, the Sriacha would add heat, and the molasses would add depth and sweetness.

So, I went for it. I threw it all in a crock pot, walked away for hours, and crossed my fingers that would all work. Thankfully, it did work. It was absolutely and positively delicious. It was everything pulled pork should be – spicy, complex, sweet, smoky, and flavorful. My family and I happily devoured our pulled pork sandwiches (and cole slaw, and potato salad, and cantaloupe, and strawberry shortcake…) and thoroughly enjoyed our celebration of all June holidays. What can I say? I’m a lucky lady. So much to celebrate, and so many wonderful people to celebrate with.

So, here’s to you, June. Here’s to wedding anniversaries, fathers, mothers, celebrations, and a big batch of pulled pork.

Blackstrap Molasses & Sriracha Pulled Pork
(Serves 6)

1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
3-4 lbs pork shoulder

Sriracha & Blackstrap Molasses BBQ Sauce:
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce (more/less depending on how much spice you want)
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Spice rub:
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon salt
Dash of cayenne pepper

Method:

Prepare the pork: Mix all spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub the outside of the pork with the spices, and allow to sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour before cooking (can do this the night before).

Slice the onion thinly, and place most (3/4) of the onion slices in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Cut pork shoulder down into large chunks (2-3 inches) and trim off any excess fat. Place pork pieces atop the onion slices in teh slow cooker. Toss the last onion slices on top of the pork.

Meanwhile, whisk together sauce ingredients: tomato paste, cider vinegar, molasses, Sriracha, ground mustard and black pepper. Pour 1/2 of this mixture over the pork in the slow cooker, reserving the rest of the sauce mixture for later. Cook pork on low heat for 8 hours (Note: I started my pork at 9:30am and needed it to be done by 4 pm. I cooked it on low all morning, but at 2pm I turned the heat up to high.)

When the pork is ready, it should be falling apart and ‘fork tender’. Remove pork (and onions) to a bowl. Discard gristle and shred the pork with 2 forks until desired consistency. Pour any liquid left in the crockpot into a jar, skimming off any unwanted fat. Once the pork has been shredded, place back in the crockpot. Stir in the reserved Sriracha BBQ sauce with the pork. Pour back in some of the cooking liquid, until the pork is moist and juicy.

Serve with yummy buns/bread, coleslaw, and whole grain mustard. (YUM.)

*Note: While the recipe does not start with much liquid, you’ll find the end result to be very moist. As the pork cooks down, it simmers in its own fat and juices. I found there was almost too much liquid, hence why I removed the pork from the liquid and then poured back in the desired amount of liquid. This ensures that you don’t end up with soupy pulled pork sandwiches!