Memorial Day Dinner on the Grill: Steak, May 25, 2015

Usually, Jeannene is the one who buys steaks. I like them just fine, but they are really her thing. When she cooks, it's very frequently steak or pasta. So, she was terribly surprised when I came home with two beautiful porterhouse steaks the other day. She was nosing through the grocery bags and spied them, then pulled them out and said, in amazement, "When did you get so good at picking steaks? Wow, you got a really good deal on these!"

Yesterday evening, she reveled in the lovely weather as she grilled the steaks, rubbed with garlic salt, Maldon salt, and pepper, to perfection on our patio. I stayed inside, making white bean mash and a corn casserole that Jeannene loved. She said, "Now, this is Def Corn Five!" I was glad I'd made something that made up for her disappointment at the previous night's casserole. The recipe came from the Deen Brothers and can be found here.  Personally, I'd've liked it better if I'd mixed the corn all the way into the cream cheese before baking and maybe added some garlic salt to it, but it was pretty good. The mash is a nice alternative to mashed potatoes. All you do is cook some minced garlic, lemon zest, and chopped fresh rosemary in a bit of olive oil until fragrant. Then, add a drained can of cannellini beans and heat through, mixing well. Finally, mash the beans with a wooden spoon or potato masher.

Sunday Dinner: Burgers on the Grill, May 24, 2015

Due to various schedule conflicts, illness, and vacation, we haven't had Sunday dinner with the kids in quite awhile. Jeannene loves feeding people and especially loves holidays that include grilling. While, of course, Memorial Day isn't about grilling at all, it is still the first time we usually fire up the grill. I know better than to try to usurp Jeannene's menu-planning for holidays like Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. She was so excited about cooking that she got out a bunch of cookbooks early in the week and started to plan. She also decreed that bingo would be played and went shopping for bingo prizes, coming home and showing me her dollar store loot with a great deal of glee.

She also exhibited a great deal of glee as we went grocery shopping for the event. I love seeing her so excited---and I certainly don't mind the occasional meal where I'm not responsible for a thing. Jeannene grilled burgers (specialty ones from Whole Foods---salmon burgers for Pie, beef & cheddar for Bubbles, Boca burgers for their vegetarian friend, a garden turkey burger for her, and a really stellar buffalo chicken burger for me) and cheddar brats for our first grill usage of the year.

For the (many) side dishes, she served her special sweet & spicy baked beans (she doctors Bush's using her dad's technique), a corn & rice casserole called "Connie's Death Corn Five" from The Sweet Potato Queens' Big Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner) (I liked it, the kids loved it, she was disappointed with it---the name made her think it would be more fabulous), dill potato salad from Kroger (I have got to get my aunt's recipe), a bagged iceberg salad with taco dressing and corn chip pieces, and grilled pineapple & maraschino cherry kebabs similar to the ones she had growing up.

If you want the Death Corn Five recipe, I recommend you buy the book. Jill Conner Browne is absolutely hilarious, her recipes are yummy, and the way she writes them is just great, like having her on the phone with you, telling you what to do in between sips of a Big Ass Margarita. If you can't find the book, though, or need the recipe ASAP, you can find it here.

To make the fruit kebabs, pick up a pineapple (she likes to buy them pre-peeled & cored) and cut it into chunks. Soak some wooden skewers for at least half an hour. Meanwhile, mix together 3 tbsp. melted butter, a couple good squeezes of honey (about 2 tsp), and 4 or so dashes of hot sauce. Brush the pineapple with the mixture before threading it on the skewers, alternating with extra-large maraschino cherries. Grill for a couple minutes per side. Me, I would probably add some brown sugar to the mix, but it was delicious as it was.

For dessert, we took the girls to Eva's, a little ice cream joint nearby, for our first visit of the year. Pie didn't want any ice cream, so he napped on the couch until we came home. Jeannene's favorite is a peanut butter sundae---peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter topping and chopped peanuts. Bubbles had, very characteristically, a vanilla soft serve cone with rainbow sprinkles (she claims she is a giant 2-year-old), while their friend picked a strawberry smoothie and praised the freshness of the flavor. I had a simple small vanilla soft serve cone. It was all I could ever have wanted. Eva's is always packed and, once you taste their product, you'll know why. It's also tremendous fun to sit at a picnic table, savoring your ice cream, and watch all the people and dogs there for treats, too.

Curried Beef Skewers

In the summer, my dear wife loves to grill, especially when she has tunes going and can dance as she makes dinner. I am not so much for actually using the grill, but I like to prep food to go on it. This is a favorite of mine. You can make these as an appetizer or they can serve as a main course, with rice and cucumber salad. As a main course, they serve 4-6 people.

Curried Beef Skewers

1/4 c. curry powder

1/2 c. peanut oil

2 lb. filet of beef, cut into 1" cubes

Salt 

Toast the curry in a dry skillet on very low heat for about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl and allow to cool. Add oil and stir to a smooth paste. Add beef and toss to coat well. Refrigerate overnight (or at least a few hours). When ready to grill, bring to room temperature and preheat the grill (or broiler, if need be). Thread onto skewers (if you're using wooden skewers, you'll want to soak them overnight), placing about 3 cubes on each. Grill or broil until medium-rare, a minute or two per side. Season to taste with salt. 

Teriyaki Chicken with Zucchini Salad

Juice in the batter, juice in the batter, we bake pie and nothing's the matter! When I was a kid, one of my very favorite books was Maurice Sendak's "In The Night Kitchen," a magical story about Mickey, who falls out of his bed & his pajamas into the night kitchen, where the bakers are busy making cake for the morning. His adventures in dough (and milk) are marvelous and I always loved chanting, along with my mama, the rhythmic words of the bakers in the night kitchen: "Milk in the batter! Milk in the batter! We bake cake and nothing's the matter!" If you've not seen this book and you'd like to know more, you can learn a bit here and also hear James Gandolfini reading it aloud:http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/06/21/james-gandolfini-reads-maurice-sendak/

Anyway, I've been up in my own night kitchen baking half a dozen key lime pies for my sweetheart's "job well done" reward picnic at her plant tomorrow. What fun! 2 dozen eggs later, the pies are chilling in the fridge now, the Crimson Cup (http://www.crimsoncup.com/about/our-handcrafted-coffee) coffee's all revved up and ready for Jeannene's 3:30 wake-up call, and yet, I am not quite sleepy enough for bed. So, on to tonight's dinner for you! Tonight, we had a dinner that was simple in the extreme. It's also a great one for the grilling season, which is upon us. Today, we welcomed our new grill into the household, a beaut of a Brinkman that can handle 40 burgers, I believe, at one time. Had we the forethought to pick up a canister of propane, we could have initiated it tonight, as this dinner lends itself well to grilling.

I cut a couple skinless, boneless chicken breasts into strips and marinated them in a little more than a quarter cup of teriyaki sauce. My favorite is Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki. I only marinated them about half an hour, but you could soak them much longer for deeper flavor. Then, I put them on a broiler pan I'd coated lightly with cooking spray and broiled them until they were cooked through, about 7 or 8 minutes. This is where the grill could have come in handy. While they were doing their thing, I cooked up a pot of jasmine rice, cooking water seasoned with a little salt and a splash of sesame oil. I also made a deliciously fresh-tasting salad by slicing 4 zucchini into thin ribbons lengthwise (had I a mandoline, they'd've been lots thinner---and probably a great deal more even!), then tossing it with the juice of a lemon, a tablespoon of sesame oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Before serving the chicken, I sprinkled it with some toasted sesame seeds. Easy peasy and quick to pull together, if you remember to throw the chicken in to marinate ahead of time.