Category Archives: Grilling
Grilled Turkey Thighs and Garden Potatoes
I was looking to grill chicken thighs, but while I was at the store, the clerk was marking down turkey thighs. I grabbed a couple of packages, froze two and cooked one, along with the remainder of the gold potatoes I dug from the garden. A simple and delicious dinner.
Grilled/Smoked Turkey Thighs
- 2 lbs of turkey thighs
- olive oil
- sage
- salt and pepper
Rub thighs with oil, sage, salt and pepper. Heat grill to 400 degrees and grill for 5 minutes, flip and grill an additional 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue to cook until the internal temperature of 175 degrees. Depending on the thickness of the thigh it can take 15 – 25 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving, to bring temp up to 180 degrees.
Roasted Garden Potatoes
- 4 medium gold potatoes (Yukon or other)
- 1 small onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- salt and pepper
- foil (or skillet)
- parchment paper
Scrub potatoes and cut into large cubes. Toss potatoes and onions with oil, butter, salt and pepper.
Make a pan with the foil and place a piece of parchment on the bottom. Add the potatoes and onions, don’t seal.
I grilled along with the thighs above, on the top shelf. They finished up at the same time as the thighs. Crispy and browned on the outside.
Apple Crisp for Breakfast, That’s a Thing, Right?
…asking for a friend. 🤔
A few weeks back, the city once again sent out an alert: the apples in the city apple orchard were ready to be picked. So for the love of all that is holy, come and relieve them of these apples. Branches break, people get zonked by falling apples, the ground gets covered, so they seriously encourage people to “come and get it.” They are as organic as they come – other than some pruning, the city does nothing to them.
Photo from City of Longmont
Roger’s Grove Nature Area consists of 54.9 acres adjacent to the St. Vrain Greenway and includes Fairgrounds Lake, trails, a shelter, outdoor amphitheater, restrooms, native landscaping, demonstration gardens and an apple grove with fruit free for your harvest! Design and construction of the nature area was primarily funded by the Roger and Roberta Jones Foundation. Roger Jones (1915-1995), enjoyed walking along the river with his wife Roberta (1913-1992). Both educators in the St. Vrain Valley School system, the Jones’ wanted to contribute an environment for children and adults to visit, learn and enjoy. Roger’s Grove was developed as a nature area, arboretum and outdoor learning center.
…there are about 50 apple trees, of eight varieties, planted at Roger’s Grove, and they have not been sprayed with pesticides.
With all my apples, I made my Perfect Apple Crisp, recipe here, with a bit of twist. I came away with quite a few apples, and while a few are good to eat, most are better for baking. They sat in my fruit drawer for a week, and I decided I needed to do something with them, especially since I didn’t know if any of them were buggy – I didn’t want the bugs to multiply.
So I dumped them all in the sink, washed them and then sliced them up. I put them in my Multi-Pot (Instant Pot twin) and threw in about 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a dash of salt and just enough water to keep it from burning before the apples let go their juice. I set it for three minutes, assuming much of the cooking would take place while it pressurized. It was a good call.
I did the fast-release method, and the apples were perfect. Still had some shape and I thought would be great for baking. I had planned to freeze some, but best-laid plans and all, I instead went on an apple crisp spree. I’ve baked three in the last two weeks. Mmm–mmmm.
Oh, and those chicken thighs – I’ll put that recipe up later. Until then…
Wood Grilled Pizza For The Win
Little D wanted pizza tonight and I asked if it would be all right if we tried cooking it on the wood pellet grill. Since the answer was yes and it was an inexpensive Red Barron frozen, I felt we had nothing to lose.
It was delicious. Like the best frozen pizza I’ve ever made. Can’t imagine I’ll ever make it any other way. Can’t wait to try it on a fresh, homemade one next.
I followed the directions on the box for oven baking it. The crust was nicely browned without burning, but I think it could have been crisper. I think the only thing I would change would be to preheat the grill to 500 degree F, add the pizza and reduce to about 375. That should crisp the crust without burning.
New Smoker/Grill
I’ve been wanting one for a while. This week seemed like a good time (why, how would you celebrate your new book?).
It was easy to put together and a breeze to operate. It is electric and uses wood pellets. It has a flame feature so when you want to sear that steak, you can do so easily. It has temperature settings and a great meat probe.
I’m not sure Bixby approves. He’s suspicious of anything bigger than him.
I’ve grilled chicken, hot dogs and Italian sausage. Tomorrow I’m having a get together and I’m doing Chicken Kebabs.
Looking forward to a lot of summer grilling and I might even try to smoke a brisket.
I’m going to have a house-full all next week and then I’ll be on the road for a while, but I’ll have my computer with me, so I’ll try and do a few posts. I’m sure there will be a lot of good food. I’m wanting to try and create a strawberry-lemonade cake.
Until then…
Tidbits
I caught Ollie posing with Garden Cat, seems he was jealous of Ginger Boy getting all the pretty kitty accolades.
I’m sure he was also interested in the occasional hummer. Things are slow on the humminbird front. I fear that the numbers may be down again this year. They always enter a lull in feeder activity at this time, anyway.
The first pepper! Yay! Lots of blossoms and little pepper nubs on the other plants, too. This one is an Anaheim.
We finally spotted a bird with a peanut. Because of the way the camera is programmed we rarely see such. The peanuts just disappear from one picture to the next, as if by magic.
I took a notion to bread and fry boneless, skinless, chicken thighs. Soak them in buttermilk, dredge in flour, and then rest them until the flour has soaked up all the buttermilk. It didn’t take long to fry them in 350° canola oil. The red potatoes were boiled with the skins on, and then mashed with sour cream and butter. The tomatoes are in a vinaigrette with crumbled feta.
Post needz moar Homer kitteh! Also moar Gabe! Homer likes dogs and disdains other cats. The other cats in the household return the same.
We have a lot of canned tomato soup from last year. Fortunate, because we love tomato soup. Especially with grilled cheese. This year we have a few tomato plants out back, mostly for BLT sammiches but there may be enough to can some.
I set up the grill for the holiday, just hamburgers today. We needed some buns so I baked a few.
I’ve been putting together some odds and ends of the green striped china. The round plates are “new old stock”, as are those cute little bowls. I have some more stuff ordered from an Etsy shop, and Ebay has provided a lot of it. They’re vintage pieces made for the classic diners and restaurants from the ’50s. The green stripes are a pattern known as “Niagara” 
We grilled some sweet corn, I dusted these buttered ears with grated Parmesan, the kind that sells in the plastic shaker canisters. It is a nod to the classic Mexican elote. It was pretty good but nothing like the real thing.
Summer Grilling: Curried Turkey Burgers
I haven’t posted a lot of grilling recipes this summer because, well, let’s face it, I haven’t posted a lot of recipes! But this week I’ll post a few favorites. I’m still not doing much grilling because I’m saving up for a Traeger grill. Friends have one and I can’t imagine grilling or smokin’ on anything else since I’ve used it.
Until then, I’ll fry these up in my cast iron skillet. Great on the grill or in the skillet. And now that I’ve finally found a good source for tasty pita bread, a dinner favorite.
Serve with fresh corn on the cob and grilled eggplant (I have three Japanese eggplant almost ready to pick).
Curried Turkey Burgers
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 3 tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 tsp ground curry
- 1/8 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 4 pita breads
bowl
In bowl combine all ingredients except bread and mix well. Form 4 patties and grill, broil or fry to desired doneness. Serve in pita bread. Ground mustard and mayonnaise make good toppings or a little Greek salad dressing, along with lettuce & tomatoes.
Grillin’ ‘n Chillin’
It’s still raining here so we can extend our guilt free stay-at-homing for another day. I bet the grass will really pop when the sun comes back out.
The hummer battalion is not quite at full strength but they do hit the feeders hard on these rainy days. I suppose they need more fuel when it’s cooler out.
Here’s another kitteh!
They’re calling him Mr Wiggles. He’s 6-8 weeks old and is ready for adoption. He looks a little nervous but now that he has joined the rest of the kittens in the kitteh room he will settle down. He’s just coming off of a week in an isolation room prior to neutering. [edit: Mrs J tells me it’s Ms Wiggles:)]
Friday Recipe Exchange: Grilling Up a Storm
Bixby turned two on Thursday and I felt that justified a Bixby Diaries post. So for the pet lovers, you’ll find lots of new and old photos, plus video of the Beast here. For the rest of you, it’s a grilling themed recipe exchange.
First up, Grilled Chicken and Papaya, recipe here. I noticed in the stores that mangoes were plentiful, and I can’t imagine why you couldn’t substitute – I would add a dash of lime to it all with mangoes.
Speaking of mangoes and papayas, how about Grilled Fish with Mango and Papaya Salsa, recipe here.
A couple of nice sides to round things out. But don’t think you need a recipe, fresh veggies from the garden, tossed in olive oil and grilled in a grilling basket can’t be beat.
Grilled Vegetable Salad, click here, can be a meal in itself or a hearty side.
Greek Grilled Potatoes, recipe here, are a nice, tangy change from regular potato packets.
What’s on the menu this weekend? Anything special planned for Father’s Day? What’s your favorite food to take out of the kitchen and make on the grill?
Tonight, I combined two favorite recipes. I love the pinwheels because they are so showy (and tasty). I thought it would be a great recipe for Father’s Day weekend. Then I ran across my spicy sauce and thought, yum, that would work. If you don’t want spicy, here is the original Pinwheel Recipe. And if you don’t want pinwheels, here is the original Spicy Grilled Flank Steak recipe. I got you covered.
Grilled Spicy Flank Steak Pinwheels
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp chili garlic paste
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup orange juice
Pinwheels:
- 1 lb flank steak
- 8 oz sliced provolone cheese
- 1 bunch washed and dried spinach leaves
- 8 wooden skewers
- olive oil
ziplock bag,
You can ask the butcher to butterfly your flank steak, which is what I did. But it’s fairly easy to butterfly. You want the grain running up and down in front of you and then you’ll slice it in half, NOT slicing all the way through. When you’re done you’ll lay it open, flat, basically making a larger, thinner steak.
Image from Serious Eats
Once you have it laid out flat in front of you with the grain running left to right, you’ll want to tenderize it, pounding it thin.
Keeping it flat, place into a ziplock bag, add marinade and coat completely on both sides. Marinate flat in refrigerator 1 hour. Remove from marinade and assemble.
Layer the spinach over the meat. You want it to be several leaves thick, because it will reduce as it cooks.
Next layer the provolone cheese slices, two to three slices thick, over the meat.
Now it’s time to roll. Roll tightly in the direction of the grain. Add a skewer every 2 inches and then slice between the skewers, so you have 2-inch thick pinwheels.
Heat grill and oil grates well – alternately you can cook in a cast iron skillet (heat 1/2 to 1 tbsp of oil in it) on the grill. If using a gas grill – heat one side to high for searing, turn the other side to about medium to finish cooking. For coals – place coals toward center of the grill, leaving the edges cool for finishing cooking.
Add pinwheels to the grill, flat side down. After a minute, using the skewer (you may also need a metal spatula to get all the cheesy goodness) flip over, sear additional minute. The usual method of waiting until the meat moves easily to flip will not work with this because the cheese is sticky. So just do one minute each side, it will be fine.
After the second side is done, move steaks off of high heat to the cooler grates and let the steak finish for about 10 to 15 minutes for medium rare. These are thin and don’t need a lot of cooking time and you don’t want the cheese to burn.
Remove to a plate, cover with foil and let rest 10 minutes, so the cheese isn’t molten lava.
My steak made 4 large pinwheels.
That’s it for this week. I don’t know how many recipe exchanges I’ll have in me while I’m packing, but stay tuned. Have a great weekend! – TaMara
Grilled Vegetable Salad
This works well as a side or a nice, fresh main course.
Grilled Vegetable Salad
- 1 large red onion, quartered
- 4 red potatoes, quartered
- 8 oz baby carrots
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp rosemary, crushed
- 1 tsp sage, crushed
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 8 oz bag spinach leaves or spring greens
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp melted butter
serving bowl, large bowl, grilling basket or foil
Mix oil and spices, toss with onion, potatoes and carrots in a large bowl, until well coated. Place in a grilling basket or wrap in foil and grill for 20 minutes, stirring or turning frequently. Mix together lemon & butter. In serving bowl, add greens, grilled vegetables and toss with lemon butter
Grilled Chicken and Papaya
I’m thinking I’ll focus on grilling recipes this week. Start with something a bit different with some exotic flavors. Serve over rice or couscous and add some grilled vegetables for a quick and easy dinner.
Grilled Chicken & Papaya
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 8 button mushrooms, washed
- 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 green pepper, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 papaya, peeled, seeded & cut into 8 chunks
- 4 large metal skewers (if you use wooden, remember to soak them first)
skillet
Heat oil in skillet, add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds, remove from heat & add lemon juice, water, salt & pepper. Cut each breast into 4 to 6 cubes. Thread on skewers: (suggested) mushroom, chicken, onion, pepper, chicken, papaya, chicken, pepper, onion, chicken, papaya, mushroom. Brush curry mixture on all sides of the kabobs. Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning frequently and basting with curry mixture.
