Recipe #28 Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches

     My daughter came home to visit before beginning her sophomore year in college.  She's vegan so I made one of the 4 vegan recipes in the cookbook "A Man a Can a Grill" -- Portobello mushroom sandwiches, which HE calls "Fungus Among Us Burgers"  --  but that's not really funny.  It's stupid.

     Portobello mushroom caps --  you bust off the stem and scoop out the black gills.  Marinaded in beer and italian dressing.  Grilled 5 minutes per side then dressed up like any other burger.  My daughter loved them.  MY mouth kept saying "Where's the beef!?!"

Next time:  Jah Mon Jerk Pork Chops!

Recipe #27: Birds in Beer

     Actually it's called KIELBASA in Beer, and calls for turkey kielbasa cut in bun-sized pieces.  But the recipe said we could substitute turkey brats so we did!  Easier.

     As it often does the cookbook says to cut up an onion and a green pepper.  You put the veggies, a can of sauerkraut and two cans of beer in a big foil pan.  First you grill the brats a couple of minutes per side to brown them, then boil them in the foil pan for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toast your bun, and put some peppers, onion and sauerkraut on it.  Then a brat. 
Now I'm no fan of sauerkraut but this was awful good.  Sloppy, but good!  Giving it 4 and 1/2 sloppy stars out five.
Next time:  Drunken Pig

Recipe #26: Foghorn Leghorn Fajitas

Foghorn Leghorn, for those of you too young to remember, was a wise-cracking cartoon rooster with a deep southern accent by the people who drew Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros!) 
Chicken breast marinaded in beer and hot enchilada sauce.  Grilled then cut in chunks.  Strips of onion and green pepper (See "Beer Flamed Fajitas"elsewhere in this blog) also grilled and seasoned.  This time though we made Mexican rice.  Put some rice, some meat, some veggies, some cheese and some salsa all in a large flour tortilla.  Roll it up and eat.  I love them!  My sweetie finally said, "I don't like fajitas."  Fortunately we are done with fajitas, so she doesn't have to be polite anymore!. 

Next time -- don't know when -- we endeavor to make Brats in Beer.

Recipe #25: Nutty Bovine on the Barbie

Steak, sliced to 4 or 5 inch strips of 1/4" thickness, marinaded in beer, teriyaki, and sesame oil.  Skewered then grilled; basted with the marinade.  The recipe calls for a dipping sauce made from broth, peanut butter (hence the name) and sesame oil.  We made the dipping sauce (see photo) but enjoyed the beef strips over stir-fried veggies and didn't choose to dip in the peanut sauce. 
     RED LETTER DAY!!! We are HALF DONE with the 50 recipes!  AND we are done with the BEEF recipes.  So far we've finished with SPAM and BEEF and are deep into chicken and pizza recipes.  Pork is still pretty wide open.
NEXT RECIPE will be Foghorn Leghorn Fajitas.  Not sure when though!!

Recipe #24: Bangkok Birdie

The best recipe so far!!!  Very tasty and unique!!
Chicken breast marinaded in coconut milk, lime juice (put de lime in de coconut!) and teriyaki with a healthy dose of red curry powder.  Grilled to a golden doneness and served up with rice. 

I reduced the marinade into a spicy curry sauce on the stove and poured it over the chicken and the rice!! 
FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!!! YUMMY!!!

Next time, Nutty Bovine (not sure when we'll get to it though).

Recipe #23: Beer Flamed Fajitas

Marinaded steak in beer, worchestershire and jalapenos.  Cut up onions and green peppers and grilled it all, basting with the marinade until done.  Cut in strips and served on large tortillas.

The recipe did NOT call for rice but I think the whole meal would have been better and more complete with rice in the fajitas.  Still, it was pretty darned good.  4 out of 5 stars.

Tomorrow:  Spicy Bangkok Birdie!!

NO RECIPE TODAY: TOO WINDY TO GRILL

I actually STARTED to grill but the wind fanned the flames and the result was that the pizza burned on the botton and the cheese didn't even melt on top.  So we will put LUCA BRAZZI PIZZA on hold until later --  much later.

Recipe #22: Bad-ass BBQ Chicken

Not as spicy as the name would imply.  Marinaded chicken parts in Manwich, jalapenos, beer, spicy mustard and tabasco.  Grilled 15 minutes per side while basting with the marinade. Basically, though it's a spicy barbeque sauce and any good griller knows you don't brush the sauce on until the last 10 or 15 minutes because the sugar in the sauce burns.  Which is exactly what happened.  So if I made it again, I'd be sure to brush the extra marinade OFF before grilling, and then brush it ON about 15 minutes before removing the meat from the grill.
It was pretty good anyway.  We ate it with a garden salad made with romain, tomato and cucumber as a starter and some potato salad as a side.

TOMORROW:  Luca Brazzi Pizza!

Recipes #20 and 21: Balsamic Beer Beef and Spuds on a Stick!

Good old American food!  Steak, potatoes and corn on the cob!!  The recipe (#20) calls for sirloin marinaded in beer, tomato sauce, garlic and spices.  The Spuds on a Stick, (#21) just canned new potatoes marinanded in melted butter and parsley for 15 minutes.  Each was grilled for 15 or 20 minutes and turned once halfway through.

The corn was as described before:  Soaked for 30 minutes in their husks, then grilled for 30-45 minutes in their husks.  Remove the husk and eat.  No better way to make corn on the cob.  Flavorful and al dente!

All in all we'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.  It was pretty good, but it was just grilled steak after all. And the marinade actually overwhelmed the natural flavor of the steak. Nothing new or startlingly original about it, and it probably would have been better smoked with mesquite wood anyway..


Tomorrow:  Bad-Ass Bar-b-qued Chicken.  Hey, I didn't name it.

Recipe #19: Turkey Burgers and Shrooms

My honey is home from hanging wif her sisters for two weeks -- so we commence with the journey through "A Man, a Can, a Grill"-- a cookbook for drunk fishermen.  Okay not really. 

Anyway, today's recipe is GOOD, but a little frustrating.  Ground Turkey, an egg, some breadcrumbs, a half can of cream of mushroom soup and some chopped mushrooms.  You mix it all up and try to form the soggy slabs into patties.  You slurp them onto a hot grill.  When you flip them you hope and pray they stay together.  Some do,  some don't.
But my honey liked them!  She said "The Best So Far!" Of course she has said that before.  We ate them on a bun with lettuce and tomato.  They were pretty darned good. 4 1/2 stars out of 5!

Tomorrow TWO RECIPES: (#20) Balsamic Beer Beef and (#21) Spuds on a Stick!!!

Recipe #18: Vegetarian Greenhouse Grinder

The cookbook "A Man, A Can, A Grill" says that you can buy caponata in any supermarket.  Well, I looked in supermarkets from Mankato, MN to Duluth, MN and I didn't see it ANYWHERE.  So I got a recipe off the internet and made it.  It's basically an antipasto made from eggplant, onion, garlic, celery and tomato.  You saute everything in stages and it is supposed to last in the fridge for quite a long time.  Good thing.  I need it for three of the recipes beginning with this one. (Funny thing, it gets its name from capers in it, but my recipe did not call for capers -- ?!?!?!?)

Okay, as for the "samwitch" -- Two slices of sourdough bread, spread with pesto, then caponata, then (optional) shredded italian cheese, and a layer of mushrooms.  Then spray the bread with PAM and grill to golden goodness.  Actually it was pretty good, but being an omnivore, I have to say a slice of ham wouldn't have hurt it a bit!

I will also be using the caponata for a veggie pizza and a tuna-pizza called "Luca Brasi's Pizza".  Anyone want to guess at that cinematic subreference?