Contents:
Southwest Turkey Burger w/PepperJack Cheese and Guacamole Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1lb. Ground turkey
1/2 C. Salsa, store bought
1T. Chili powder
1t Cumin
3T Cilantro, fresh, coarsely chopped
1 ea Lime, juiced
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
4sl. pepperjack cheese
4 ea Cormeal dusted kaiser roll
1/2 C. Guacamole (recipe follows)
Method:
Combine all ingredients up to the salt and pepper in a bowl. Do not over mix. Portion meat equally into four patties. Prepare your charcoal grill to a medium high fire. Alternately place grill pan over medium high heat and heat until pan begins to smoke Be sure to wipe the grill grates or grill pan with some oil or pan release spray so that the burgers do not stick due to the lack of fat in the meat. Grill burgers until they reach an internal temperature of 165F from an instant read thermometer. or the center of the burger is firm to the touch. Top burgers with guacamole and pepperjack cook cover another 2-3 minutes until cheese melts and serve on a toasted cornmeal kaiser roll with lettuce.
Guacamole
Ingredients:
2 ea Hass avacados, seeded diced
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
2 ea Roma tomatoes chopped
1T Cilantro, fresh chopped coarsely
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 ea lime, juiced
salt & pepper to taste
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl cover and chill until needed.
I made these for a client who wanted just turkey burgers and not beef. I thought about it and I really didn’t want to give him just a plain turkey burger, so I gave myself creative licensing so to speak and came up with this recipe which was adapted from George Stella’s book, Livin’ Low Carb: Family Recipes Stella- Style . Needless to say the client was very pleased with the end product.
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Beer Braised Bratwurst w/Caramelized Onions Recipe
Even though this recipe and ingredients are so simple, perfect for a tailgaiting party in fact, you can upgrade it, so to speak your ingredients, to give it more flavor. For instance, instead of using regular yellow or white onions perhaps use Vidalia onions. Instead of using just a plain pilsner, us a nice full bodied German beer like a Beck’s or St. Pauli Girl.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 Bratwurst, raw
2 Onions, julienned
1 stick of unsalted butter
2 btls (12oz) of beer
4 Potato sandwich rolls
Spicy brown mustard
Method:
Prepare your charcoal to a medium high fire. Now, you can do this one of two ways, either way the result will be a great tasting brat. You can first steam the brats in the beer, butter and onions until they are just about done and then grill them, then once done put them back in the mixture and let them bathe until ready to serve OR you can saute your onions in the butter then add the beer, and have your “bath” ready on the side of the grill that doesn’t have as much heat. Grill your brats until they are done and then have them baste in the beer, butter, and onion “bath” until you are ready to serve.
Serve on potato roll with caramelized onions and spicy mustard.
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TailgatingYes!!!!!
Football season has arrived and what better way to kick it off with your favorite college or NFL team than to have a tailgating party.
Tailgating has been a long tradition with football. Granted there maybe some tailgating for other sports like baseball, basketball, hockey, and dare I say tennis? LOL But football, whether it be college or the NFL is the most known and the most celebrated. Tailgating has evolved itself into almost and art form. I mean it can be as simple as pulling out the hibachi grilling up some hamburgers hot and dogs with a couple of cases of your favorite brew to having a whole entertainment center hitched to the back of your SUV complete with gas grill, cooler, work table, portable bar to make that signature drink and a state of the art hi-def flat screen TV and sound system so you can hear all the scores and see all the highlights.
What I would like to do is share some tips and suggestions that will make your next tailgating party the talk of the town. You can catch me on October 30th. I will be manning the grill at Towson’s Homecoming underneath the tents of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., that Nasty IE Chapter.
You definitely want to plan this out. and you definitely want to enlist the help of others. You don’t to go about this by yourself because 1.) it can get overwhelming with all the little details that needs to be done to pull it off and 2.) financially, food and alcohol can be expensive! So either ask for monetary donations and/or ask people to bring a dish to help off set what you would have to do. The way I would go about this is like I how go about when planning for Thanksgiving when it is at my house, stay tuned I am sure there will be articles for bringing, smoking, grilling and frying a turkey, I start from the day of the event and work backwards. For example, if I know that I am having Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken and game day is on a Saturday, I know I need to have my chicken purchased by Tuesday, marinated Wednesday and Thursday, cooked in the oven on Friday ’til just barely ready and then finished up on the grill on Saturday. That second to last step, I just recently started doing for a couple of reasons, safety and expediency. Let’s face it chicken takes a while to cook and that is one product you do not want to under cook. It will take less time to reheat to the proper temperature than to cook from a raw state to the proper temperature. Now if you have the time, by all means, cook low and slow, but if you are feeding the masses, I would suggest this method.
When planning the menu, you want to offer a variety of items that even the most finicky person there will be able to enjoy a good meal. I mean even if you did just hamburgers and hot dogs, they don’t have to be ordinary burgers or dogs. For example, you could have a Southwest Turkey Burger w/ pepper jack cheese and guacamole, or a beer basted bratwurst w/ caramelized onions. What I like to do is offer something from each animal, chicken, cow, seafood, and pig, plus something vegetarian. You want to make sure the food is portable, no utensils needed and also make them a two biter item because everyone will want to sample a ‘lil bit of everything you have to offer. The menu is not complete with some sort of beverage. In addition to having signature drink for the day, make sure that you have plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on hand. This where you can enlist some of your friends to volunteer and contribute to the cause.
Do as much as the prep work in advance so that the day of you are just assembling and not really producing. Things that have to be done on-site put in resealable containers, label and store in a cooler the day of.
Prepare a check off sheet of everything you need for the day and the night before pack up as much as you can and check it off and the the day of go over the list again to make sure you have not forgotten anything. The day before, confirm with those who said they would contribute a dish to the party
As far as decor goes, keep it simple and fun let the food take center stage. The less you have to bring back home with you the better!!
I hope this was a helpful resource in planning your next tailgating party. Just remember relax and have fun with it, it’s just food!!
Click here for a fantastic Beer Braised Bratwurst with Carmelized Onions recipe.
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The Great Steak Debate
Who doesnt love a good steak on a breezy summer day with a cold glass of lemonade, crisp lager, or a full bodied merlot? We go to these great and sometimes not so great steakhouses, and order this charred piece of meat hoping it will satisfy all of our senses. But really what makes a good steak? Is it the cut of beef? Is it the marinade? Or is it how we cook it and what we do after it is cooked, is what makes a great steak. It is of my own personal opinion that it is a combination of all three that makes a great steak. So let us take a look at these cooking tips and take this piece by piece and break it down shall we?
There are various cuts of steak that are taken from the cow. Unless you butcher you own meat, you are like the rest of us and will buy your steaks from the grocery store. Now if you have butcher shop in your area or even an Amish market by all means please take advantage of that. It may be a little bit more expensive, but to have your steaks hand carved to your specifications, I believe would be well worth the extra bucks. Get to know the people who are doing the cutting, ask questions, become a consistent buyer and who knows they may off a special on a particular cut for being a loyal customer. Some of the most popular cuts of beef are porterhouse, t-bone, New York strip, ribeye, flank steak, skirt steak and tri-tip. Though there are other cuts and different grades, the average Joe is familiar with these cuts and will find them in there local markets.
The use of marinades can be a touchy subject for some. The purpose of a marinade is not only to enhance the flavor of the meat but to also break down the fibers of the meat if there is little or no marbling. Now, marbling according to Food Lovers Companion book is: flecks or thin steaks of fat that run throughout a piece of meat, enhancing its flavor, tenderness, and juiciness. A prime example of good marbling would be a ribeye steak and an example of little or no marbling would be flank steak. Most marinades have some sort of acidity which helps break down the fibers. The most common choices are flavored vinegars like balsamic, red wine or champagne or some type of citrus like lemon, lime, or orange. Also added to the marinade are oil, spices, salt and pepper and some sort of sweetener, like sugar or honey to balance out the tartness from the vinegar. The longer the meat marinates the more flavors you will have. Now some purists believe that all you need is some sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, a little garlic and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil because they believe a marinade will mask the true flavor of the beef
Whether you are cooking your steak in the dead of winter or in dog days of summer, you want to make sure that your grill, grill pan, hibachi, cast iron skillet, non stick pan, stainless steel fry pan, broiler, or whatever you plan on using you want to make sure that it is HOT!! But here is the thing, before you get your pan hot, pull your steak out of the icebox so that they can get room temperature. Reason? You will have even cooking. If you used a marinade wipe off any excess because you don not want any flair up when the meat hits the grill. When you lay the steak down, lay it away from you so that there wont be anything hot splash on you. Once done dont touch it!! You may feel the need to poke it and prod it but dont. Actually, dont even use a fork or anything that will pierce the meat, use a pair of tongs to turn your steak so that you dont lose any of the juices. Depending upon the thickness of the steak and how you like to eat your steak, (anyone eating their steak past medium rarewhy bother?) will depend upon how long it stays on the flame. I good way to see where you are at with your steak is take your hand make a loose fist. That part between the thumb and the forefinger, press there with your other finger and that is rare. As you tighten your fist youll go to med rare, med etcuntil your fist is so tight then that is leather, oops I mean well done!! Once your steak has reach its desired doneness, take out of pan on put on a plate or platter and cover loosely with foil and let it rest for about 3-5 minutes. That right let it rest and dont touch it! If you try to cut into it right off the grill what will happen is all those juices will come running out of the perfectly cooked meat. By letting it rest you allow the juices to redistribute themselves in the meat. The accompaniments can be as simple as some sauted mushrooms and onions and a side of a baked sweet or Idaho potato.
I hope these cooking tips have given you a little more insight so that you will not be afraid of cooking steak. Here is a nice Grilled Sirloin Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter steak recipe to get you started.
Enjoy!
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Grilled Sirloin Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter Recipe
A nice steak recipe to try for your next party catering event or when you just want to create a fantastic meal for your family anytime.
Serves 4
Taken from: Grilling, Where There is Smoke, There is Flavor by Eric Treuille & Birgit Erath
4 8oz sirloin steaks 1inch thick
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp black pepper
Salt
4 inch slices of bleu cheese butter (recipe follows)
Brush steaks with melted butter. Sprinkle with pepper. Grill according to instructions below. Sprinkle with salt and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm, topped with bleu cheese butter.
Outdoor: Grill over hot coals for 3 minutes per side for rare, 4 minutes per side for medium rare, 6 minutes per side for well done
Indoor: Preheat a ridged cast iron pan over high heat. Cook for 3 minutes per side for rare, 4 minutes per side for medium rare, 6 minutes per side for well done
Bleu Cheese Butter
Makes 15 servings
1 C. Unsalted butter, softened
C. Blue cheese
2 tsp Black pepper
Place ingredients in a food processor or blender until well blended. Wrap in foil. Place in the freezer until hard about 45 minutes. To serve roll back foil and cut into inch slices. Cooking tips- When slicing from frozen, warm knife through under hot water first. After slicing, always tightly re-wrap the unused flavored butter roll in foil before returning to refrigerator or freezer.
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Cooking Tip of the Week
When marinating fish or seafood, do not marinate longer than two hours or else the acid of the marinade will actually start to “cook” the seafood.
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Recipe of the Week- Grilled Tuna Salad with Lemon- Habanero Mayonnaise
Igot this Grilled Tuna Salad recipe from Food Network’s Bobby Flay. The first time I did this recipe, fora
corporate lunch, I under estimated the power of the habanero pepper and used one pepper to many. At first when you taste it, ya like ok not bad but then you start to feel the intense burn on the back end. Luckily i didn’t blend the tuna with the dressing. So here is a freebie: always taste your dressing or anything else for that matter before you add it to whatever your preparing.
Ingredients
3C. fresh lemon juice
1/2 to 1 whole habanero chile, chopped
1t. grated llemon zest
1C. mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 large stalk of celery, finely chopped
2T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 8oz tuna steaks
Olive oil
Method
Prepare you charcoal grill so that it is approximately 375-400 degrees. place lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil on the grate of the grill. Cook until reduced until to 1/2 cup. remove from grill and let cool slightly.
Place lemon syrup, habanero, lemon zest and mayonnaise in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and transfer to a large bowl. Add the onions, celery, and parsley and set aside.
Brush tuna with oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for 3 minutes per side or until slightly charred and cooked to desired doneness. Remove from grill and lest rest for 5 minutes. before cutting into small cubes or flaking with a fork. Add the tuna to the mayonnaise mixture and gently mix until combined.
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Recipe of the week: Grilled Curried Chicken Salad
I adapted the recipe from Food Network’s Tyler Florence’s How Boiling Water.Just to put it out there, I get a lot of my inspirations from the the Weber website, Food Network as well as a lot of the trade magazines like Cooking Light, Saveur, Food & Wine and the food section of Wednesday’s Washington Post. So the obvious difference is that the chicken is grilled instead of roasted in the oven. I add some hickory would chunks to give just a little more smokiness to the meat. Now because normally I am fixing this in large batches, it’s worthwhile for me to use the wood chips and the smoker. If you are just cooking for yourself or a family of four, you can have the same results, minus the hickory smokiness, by using a grill pan. The other slight difference is that I use golden raisins instead of the regular raisins. This recipe has been hit with our corporate clients who have ordered from our Corporate Lunch Menu
Ingredients:
3T extra virgin olive oil
4 boneless/skinless chicken b****t (about 1 1/2lbs total wt)
Salt, fresh ground pepper
1/2t. Garlic powder
1/2 c. Mayonnaise
1t Curry powder
1/2 Lemon juiced
1stalk celery chopped
1/4 c. sliced almonds toasted
1/4 c. Golden raisins
Basil leaves chopped
Method:
Prepare your grill to a medium high fire with only one side of the grill with coals. If using a grill pan (cast iron is a favorite of mine) medium high just until it begins to smoke. If using wood chips/ chunks, be sure they have soaked for at least 30 minutes in water. Add the wood about five minutes before you put your chicken on.
Drizzle the chicken with the olive oil and season with slat pepper and garlic powder. Be sure chicken is evenly coated with seasoning.. Place chicken on the grill and grill on each side for about 4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear and has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Let chicken cool long enough to work with and chop into pieces and place in a large bowl. add remaining ingredients stir until well blended wrap tight and place in refrigerator until use.
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Tips for Saving Money on Party Catering
If you’ve ever thrown a party, you know that food and beverage can be one of the most expensive and stressful part of the event. Expensive if you don’t have a budget and stressful if you are not organized and have no time. Let these 5 tips for saving money on party catering help you in your next event. They’re sure to guarantee a successful but less expensive party.
1.) No need to sacrifice your time and energy to save you a few bucks. It’s worth it to have the party catered and it will save you a ton of stress in the long run.
2. Have your party catered buffet style rather than a formal plated dinner . This will save you money paying for the extra labor in waitstaff. Or do one even better and have them drop it off an hour before your even begins
3. Limit the number of offerings. Two entrees are going to cost you less than three or four.
4. Have your guests RSVP at least a week in advance so that you can give the caterer a head count. The reason being so that you don’t end up paying for more food than is necessary.
5. If you are budget conscious, go for the more economical menu selections like chicken, pasta or vegetarians.
Catering your next party doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to break the bank. If you’ll follow these simple tips for saving money on party catering, you’ll quickly find that hosting your next event can be stress free and cost you less all at once. You’re sure to find success with tips like these.
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The Benefits of Hiring a Party Caterer for Your Next Event
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