Sliders and Steak Fries

My wife and I often like to grill hamburgers, but we have a hard time agreeing which kind we want to grill.  Sliders were a perfect way to resolve any disagreement and make three separate kinds to enjoy all in the same evening.

 

Ingredients:

• Ground beef
• Slider buns
• Portobello mushrooms
• Swiss and Cheddar cheese
• Slaw & fresh jalapenos
• Idaho potatoes
• Sauces: mayo, chipotle mayo, and bbq
• Seasoning: Montreal Steak and Montreal Mesquite

I don't believe I need to tell you how to cook burgers, so I'll explain the steak fries and how I prepared the three different sliders.  Just to remember to make your patties a little larger than a slider bun.

 

 

Steak Fries: Cut two Idaho potatoes into wedges.  Each potato should produce about eight wedges.  Season with olive oil and Montreal steak and put them on the grill.  I grill over direct heat until there are nice grill marks and then move to the indirect half of the weber to allow the potato wedges to bake throughout. 

 

Jalapeno Cheddar Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal Steak
• Toasted bun
• Fresh sliced jalapeno
• Topped with melted cheddar cheese
• Chipotle Mayo on bun



 

Mushroom Swiss Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal Steak
• Toasted bun
• sautéed Portobello mushrooms - Worcestershire and beef stock
• Topped with melted swiss cheese
• Mayo on bun 

 

BBQ Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal mesquite
• Toasted bun
• Topped with homemade coleslaw
• BBQ sauce on bun

 

Grilled Shrimp & Pineapple with Caribbean Rice

 Ingredients:

• Shrimp
• Pineapple slices
• Caribbean Rice
• Marinade: sweet chili sauce and pineapple teriyaki
• Sesame seeds and cilantro

Step 1: Prep the grill and cook the pineapple slices until there are nice grill marks on either side.  Also prepare the Caribbean rice according to package instructions.

 

 

Step 2: Move the pineapple over to the indirect side so it stays warm and put the shrimp on the grill.  These shrimp have been marinated for about 20-30 minutes before being skewered and put on the grill.

 

Step 3: Cook until the shrimp are pink throughout. 

 



 

Step 4: Plate and enjoy!  I created a bed of Caribbean rice, a row of grilled pineapple, then shrimp and top with sesame seeds and fresh cilantro.

 



Grilled Chicken and Zucchini Fries

Chicken is one of my favorite things to grill, and I always prefer to cook either a half chicken or a whole chicken spatchcocked.  For those unfamiliar with a spatchcocked chicken, it is a whole chicken with the backbone cut out and then pressed flat.  Pictured below is a half chicken with the backbone removed and then cut once again between the breasts.  I prefer cooking this type of chicken because you are able to yield white and dark meat or the breast, thigh, drum stick, and wing. 

 

Ingredients:

• Half a chicken seasoned with lemon pepper and thyme
• Fresh broccoli
• Fresh zucchini
• 2 eggs
• Italian bread crumbs
• Parmesan
• Honey Mustard Sauce: Dijon mustard, bacon bits, honey, olive oil, 1 tbl spoon butter, balsamic vinegar

 

Step 1: Prep the grill and season the chicken.  To make Zucchini fries cut one large zucchini into thin strips.  I cut the top and bottom off a large zucchini and then cut it in half.  I then cut each half into 6 or 7 thin strips.  Next dip each strip in the egg mixture and transfer to a dish with Italian bread crumbs.  Cover each strip with bread crumbs and transfer to a pan.  I used a cookie rack in the pan so I didn't need to flip the zucchini while cooking.  Place the zucchini in an oven heated to 425 for 30 minutes.  With 5 minutes to go, remove and cover each fry with parmesan cheese.  Allow this to melt for the last 5 minutes. 

 

Step 2: Cook the chicken.  I have my weber set up the same way I usually do, half direct heat separated by fire bricks with the other half indirect.  I like to cook my chicken over direct heat to begin with to create a nice char on both sides.  Once you have the char you desire move the chicken over to the indirect side to allow the inside to cook throughout.

 



 

 

 

Step 3: Steam the broccoli and make the honey mustard sauce. 

 



 

In a small saucepan combine 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, one table spoon of butter, honey, bacon bits, olive oil, and a little balsamic vinegar.  Stir over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes until everything cooks together.  Sauce with thicken and separate a bit upon standing.

 



 

 

Step 4: Once the chicken is cooked I will remove it from the grill.  Notice I placed it on a dish with some of the honey mustard sauce as board dressing.  This allows the sauce to coat the chicken as I slice it for serving.  The remaining sauce is reserved for dipping or topping the chicken.

 



 

Step 5: Plate and enjoy. 

 



 

The zucchini fries turned out crispy and delicious with the parmesan.  The board dressing and sauce on top of the chicken added just the right amount of finishing flavor, and the steamed broccoli was the perfect amount of green.  This was an excellent dinner!

 



Venison Cube Steak Parmesan

 This is one of my favorite meals to make with venison cube steak.  It's relatively quick and easy to make, and it doesn't call for many ingredients.  To give you an idea, I whipped this together in about 15-20 minutes on a Sunday night after travelling 7 hours.  Needless to say, it satisfied our hunger after a long drive.

 

Ingredients:

• Venison cube steak
• Penne pasta
• Spaghetti sauce
• Flour & Italian bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• Olive oil
• Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
• Italian seasoning

Step 1: Cook penne pasta and put spaghetti sauce in a pot to heat up. 

 

 

Step 2: Fry the venison cube steak in a cast iron skillet with olive oil.  First put two eggs in a bowl and whip them.  In another dish combine flour and bread crumbs.  Submerge the cube steak in the egg and then transfer to the other dish and cover with breading.  Once you have your olive oil hot transfer the breaded cube steak for frying.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the cube steak is done.

 

 

Step 3: Plate the cube steak parmesan.  Create a bed of penne pasta and lay the fried cube steak over it.  Add a layer of mozzarella cheese and top with spaghetti sauce.  Cover again with more mozzarella and parmesan.  Finish the dish with a little Italian seasoning on top.

 

Chicken Wings on the Weber

 Late yesterday afternoon I found myself thinking about chicken wings, so naturally this became our dinner last night.  This was the perfect combination of three things yesterday: 1) the ability to enjoy grilling on a beautiful afternoon 2) cook something that is relatively simple yet complex enough to enjoy in the process 3) satisfy my appetite for chicken wings.

 

 

The grill: set up the fire bricks in the weber so that half of the grill will be direct heat and the other half indirect.

 

The prep: I like to cut full wings so that I have a drum and a flat and discard the smaller tail portion.  I put about 8 wings each into three separate Ziploc bags.  Next I marinated one in honey teriyaki, one jerk, and one buffalo bbq.  Let these sit and marinate at room temp for about 30-45 minutes.

 

The cook: Cook the marinated wings over direct heat until there is a nice char on all sides.  You don't want to do this too long or over too much heat because the marinade will burn up on the wings.  Once they have just enough char to your liking move them over to the indirect side.  I cooked these with the lid closed until they were basically done.  Once the chicken is cooked through add another layer of marinade with a brush.  Allow this to caramelize, flip and repeat on the other side.  In all, this took about 20-30 minutes to cook.