Grilled Asparagus

Asparagus is another one of those foods that I didn't realized I liked until I was an adult because I learned that fresh asparagus is much better than canned or frozen that can be very mushy and taste weird. Fresh is good on it's own, in stir fry, sandwiches, etc.

Grilling asparagus is my favorite way to prepare it. It's very easy. You'll get the best results with fresh asparagus that is still firm. 

Wash and trim your asparagus. Then brush it with olive oil and season with cracked black pepper and salt. You can add balsamic vinegar to the oil if you like.

You can lay the asparagus spears directly on your grill on medium heat. Make sure to turn the spears once or twice. They only take a few minutes to cook, and if you don't turn them the side touching the grill will brown quickly. You'll notice the spears turning a bright green as they cook. 

Your asparagus should grill a total of about 5 minutes. If you grill it much longer, it will start to burn and the texture will not be as nice, more on the mushy side.

Here I served our asparagus with grilled artichoke halves and chicken and added a little extra black pepper before serving.

Old Bay Marinated Chicken

I tried this recipe for the first time when one of my friends came over for dinner. We were having a streak of good weather, and I've been particularly fond of grilling ever since the weather hit anything above 60 degrees.

One of the things I'd like to do before heading to the west coast is to get one last crack at some Old Bay steamed MD blue crabs. With time running short, I've realized this is something that may not happen (although I am willing to try). I also plan to take a small stock of Old Bay to San Francisco because it's not really a "thing" there like it is here on the East Coast.

I found this recipe on Pinterest but modified it slightly for my own liking. I'm pretty sure it's my new favorite thing.

Old Bay Chicken Marinade

4 T Old Bay seasoning
1 C apple cider vinegar
3 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp celery seed
fresh ground pepper

Mix all items in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. I like the bag method best.

Add chicken and marinate for 24 hours. I used this recipe to marinate 2 split breasts, 4 drumsticks, and 2 thighs.


You could bake, pan fry, or grill your chicken. I grilled ours on medium heat for 20 minutes on each side (40 minutes total).

Suggestions Needed: Grilled Artichokes

Ever get those nasty thistles in your garden? You probably curse them, yank them out, and discard them. But did you know the artichoke is a species of thistle? The part you're familiar with is the artichoke's bud prior to blooming. Once it blooms, it's much to tough to eat.

I bought this artichoke at Weis Markets, my local supermarket. I've never grilled one before but thought I'd give it a try. After all, the past week has been full of cooking firsts.

From the recipes I read, they instructed me to either cut the artichoke in half or quarters. Here's what it looks like cut in half. It's rather pretty, isn't it?

I trimmed the outside leaves, which I read was an optional step but can be helpful since the leaves can be sharp. With my capacity to be able to hurt myself on the oddest things, I thought trimming would be a good idea.

Then I boiled the halves in a pot of water for about 8-10 minutes.

I brushed some oil, vinegar, and spices on the flat halves and stuck the on the grill - first upright, then face down.

Here's where I could use some help. I grilled the two halves for a few minutes, probably around 5-7 minutes. Some of the heart still seemed a little tough. So we stuck them back on for a few more. 

Maybe our heat wasn't high enough or maybe I should have cooked them longer. I'm not sure. After the second round of grilling, the artichokes looked a little more charred than shown here. The base of the leaves ended up soft, which was fine for eating.

Can anyone tell me how long you typically grill your artichokes? Do they grill better if I quarter them instead? I'd love to get some advice here!

Curry Lamb Burgers

"Springing ahead" sounds a lot more exciting and energetic than how I felt when we actually turned our clocks ahead this weekend. It probably didn't help any that Saturday night was a late night and Sunday came around before I even got home.

Anyone who knows me knows I never have been (and never will be) a morning person. I like mornings, but I am a bear to wake up. Now that it's dark in the morning, forget about it.

So Sunday "morning" when I finally got up and moving (for the second time), I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was lucky enough to come across ground lamb at the store the day before. Around here, it's a hit or miss thing, and I like to buy it when it's a hit. It's been too long since I had a good lamb burger, and it seemed like the appropriate brunch food (that you eat way past breakfast or lunch).

Ground lamb seasoned with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp coriander,
1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 1/4 tsp curry - mixed in 1 egg and 1 T breadcrumbs

The pack was slightly more than 1 lb - which became 4 patties

The tzatziki sauce was made from sour cream, cucumber, dill and lemon juice
 - sliced tomato - feta cheese - 

The final burger garnished with slices of cucumber, tomato, lettuce,
onion, feta and tzatziki - side of tots

There is never a bad time for tots. Brunch is as good (or better) than any. I'm pretty sure the tzatziki was also supposed to have garlic and something else, but I couldn't remember what it was. This version turned out pretty good, and I'd more than definitely make it again.

Meatless Stuffed Poblanos

It's easy to fall into a habit of eating heavy food in the winter, because let's face it, doughy food tastes wonderful when it's blustery and freezing cold outside. A nice piece of pie, some cinnamon buns, maybe some pasta...But I think that's just the right time to remind yourself how good fresh produce can be.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, where I find most of my recipes and decided to give it a try. I didn't feel like grilling (because snow) so I took one of the readers' advice and baked mine in the oven for 30 mins at 350F.

I also decided to keep the rice out of the equation, too. From what I read, the filling was more than enough (with the rice) for most who tried it. I was really happy with the way my filling turned out with the beans, tomato, cilantro, onion and cheese (I used cheddar). If you want to use rice, I think you could use the rice or even quinoa (if you're a fan).

What I failed to remember was that I should grill and peel my poblanos first. So here was my stovetop attempt to blacken and peel them. It really didn't go too badly but could gone better. I'm open to suggestions here, guys.

I cooked some spicy vegan sausage from Field Roast and served with some leftover lettuce and avocado slices. Overall, I was satisfied with the result. Could it have looked prettier? Yes. Could I have done a better job peeling the peppers? Absolutely. Was it fun? Of course.

Adventures in Meat Grinding

I have reached the point in my life where people stop buying me shots for my birthday and decide I am the kind of girl who would rather have a meat grinder. It's not the fact that I got a meat grinder that means I'm getting older, it's the fact that I was really excited about it.

My brother very wisely decided to help me add on to my fantastic KitchenAid mixer by buying the meat grinding attachment for me for my birthday this month. You can grind a number of different things with the attachment like vegetables, fruit, and bread. I think it's can be quite useful. However, I think it will be most useful to me as a meat grinder. Catch some brisket on sale and make my own burger! Or, like today, make ground meat when ground meat was not available.

As you know, I am a big fan of Cooking Channel and this afternokn's 'The Perfect 3' featured burgers - one being the lamb burger. Ah ha! Just what I decided I was hungry for! I planned to make Greek lamb burger for dinner. At this point, there was no way around it.

Unfortunately, the grocery store did.not carry ground lamb. They have ground turkey, chicken, beef, veal, and pork (I think pork) but no lamb. Crap. But wait! I have a brand new meat grinder waiting to be used! Yes! So I decided to buy the packaged lamb shoulder, bring it home, remove the bone, and make my own burgers. Even better.

So dill, garlic, s&p, and some lemon zest later, I was ready to grill. I live in an apartment and don't have a place for a real grill, but I do have a mini Foreman grill. I made a first attempt at my own tzatziki (which isn't bad but still needs some work), and stuffed a burger half in two pita halves with the tzatziki, cucumber and feta. Not only did I have a delicious dinner but the satisfaction of making it myself!

Let me know if you have any tips on tzatziki and if you have a meat grinder attachment and what you use it for!