Cheeseburger Kebabs #secretrecipeclub

This month for the Secret Recipe Club I had Sarah from Things I Make (for Dinner).  I know Sarah from another blogging group, ‪#‎thebookclubcookbookCC, which we just wrapped up.

Sarah lives in Canada and posts about what she makes for dinner as well as some other scrumptious recipes. She posts what she and her husband actually eat.  Same as me and Mr. J.  This is our little part of the world to share our fun in the kitchen.  Not only do we enjoy cooking together but it is much healthier and cheaper than going out every day.

When I was browsing around thinking about what to make I was pretty much sold on the peach cobbler.  Peaches are just coming into season and I cannot get enough.  I kept looking though and ultimately found this recipe for cheeseburger kebabs.  I had all of the ingredients because I was planning a cheeseburger dinner night.  Sarah's recipe looks like so much fun I had to try it. The cobbler recipe will be used soon.  So might the peanut butter cup pie.

The cheeseburger kebabs were a fun new take on an old favorite.  Also, I learned that grilled pickles are really, really good.

Cheeseburger Kebabs

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: grill entree

6079112

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 Spanish Onion, quartered and divided into 3 pieces per quarter
• 8 slices of pickle
• 2 slices of cheese, quartered
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 4 wooden skewers

Instructions

Soak wooden skewers for at least 30 minutes before using.

Divide ground beef into 8 equal pieces, and form into small patties. Season well with salt and pepper.

Thread patties, pickles, onions and tomatoes on skewers.

Preheat grill to medium high. Grill well on all sides until patties are cooked through and vegetables are blistered. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, top the patties with cheese and close the grill to allow the cheese to melt slightly.

Powered by Recipage

An InLinkz Link-up

‪Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce #‎thebookclubcookbookCC

Here we are at the final #thebookclubcookbookCC event. Final. Can you believe it??

It's hard to fathom that our year-long journey to explore - and cook from - The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp* is drawing to a close. Judy, Vicki, and their publisher, Tarcher-Penguin, provided the hosting bloggers with copies of the book plus copies to giveaway each month of the project. We are so grateful for their generosity over the past year.

For the last month we celebrated with a Greek feast for Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres.  This is a new to me novel. Sadly I still haven't gotten a chance to read it.  It is on my bed stand just waiting for me next trip.  

The synopsis sounds good and I am pretty confident I will enjoy the novel.  It's a love story during WWII but this story takes place on a small Greek Island, not the typical France or Germany. Hence the Greek feast. Corelli and his Italian soldiers occupy the island. Corelli takes up residence with Dr. Iannis and his daughter Pelagia. Although unwelcome Corelli is charming.  The novel starts at the invasion of the island and spans through the effects after war. 

It has been horribly hot and humid around Connecticut.  We don't have A/C so I had the hardest time thinking of a Greek recipe.  Or to be more accurate all of the recipes I wanted to make required oven time and that was not going to happen. Finally I saw this recipe for kebabs. Meant to be made under the broiler but we made the pork kebabs or souvlaki on the grill.  Topped with a yogurt mint sauce these were a delicious dinner.
Want to join in the fun? Read all about this month's book selection from our host and leader Camilla in her invite post.

Here's how to participate in The Book Club Cookbook Cooking Crew #thebookclubcookbookCC:

1. Draw inspiration from the chosen recipe.
2. Blog about it! It doesn't have to be a lengthy post. Just share your dish.
3. Include a link back to the hosting blog somewhere in your post.
4. Your post must be current to June. Of course,we don't mind if your post is linked to other events. The more, the merrier!
5. Send your entries to Camilla at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com, and please be including:
     ~Your name
     ~Your blog's name and URL
     ~The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you'resubmitting
     ~Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to"pull" one from your post) 
     ~Indicate #thebookclubcookbookCC, especially if you post to other social media

Deadline for submission is: July 29, 2016
*watch for the roundup to be posted shortly after this deadline! 

Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus time to marin

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: grill Greek

6079043

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the Kebabs

• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1 ½" cubes
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 cucumber (about 12-oz.)
• 1 1⁄2 cups yogurt
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin sesame oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 4 pita breads, warmed

Instructions

Make the pork kebabs:Whisk together the wine, oregano, cumin, salt, thyme, cinnamon, and garlic in a large bowl. Add the cubes of pork and toss well to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to let marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the pork from the marinade (reserve marinade), thread the cubes onto 4 metal or wooden skewers, and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet. (If using wooden skewers, make sure to cover the ends completely with the pork cubes, to prevent the skewers from burning.)

Grill the kebabs on medium high heat until browned on all sides and cooked through, 20-25 minutes.

Make the yogurt sauce: Trim the ends off the cucumber and peel it. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scrape out and discard the seeds from each half. Finely chop the cucumber and transfer it to a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt, mint, oil, and garlic, and season with salt. Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. (The sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

Arrange the skewers on a platter and scatter the scallions and parsley over them. Serve with the yogurt sauce and the pita.

Powered by Recipage

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating as well!

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Giveaway

This month Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla, this month's host, is giving away two copies of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook!

TWO of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from July 1st till July 31st at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Disclosure: Camilla received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give two copies away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

This weekend was so good. Nothing special but it was full of much needed time with the family doing normal and relaxing activities together. Walking and cooking were highlights.  We spent some time planting gardens.  Surprisingly there were some herb plants from last year that survived. The parsley plant was booming with growth.  We left a majority but some of the offsprouts were removed for more room.  All of this parsley left of thinking of how we could use it in our 

We routinely use parsley in many of our potato recipes but this was a lot of parsley.  Cups and cups of parsley. Mr. J immediately wanted to make chimichurri sauce. We don't ever make this at home (probably due to the amount of parsley needed) but he likes to order it when we are out at restaurants. His favorite dishes at some of our brunch favorites are with chimichurri sauce. 

So on Sunday we set out on an epic culinary experience.  As I was meal prepping for the week Mr. J tackled this steak marinade dish and chimichurri sauce. It kind of felt like we were in the kitchen all day long. Not a bad thing in our book.  We laughed, Miss O pointed and talked, we drank wine.  For real though, the prep was done early in the day and come dinner time there was very little effort. 

The meal came together so easily in the end.  A good thing because I was already in the go, go, go mode to get all of the little things done for the week that somehow slip through the cracks on Saturday and Sunday during the day. Mr. J manned the grill. I tended the broccoli and potatoes in the kitchen.  In about 20 minutes we came back together and had a wonderful meal.  

Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: grill entree sauce summer

6078445

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

For the steak:

• 2 skirt steaks (about 2 pounds total)
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil

For the Chimichurri Sauce:

• 2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
• 3 green onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt

Instructions

Place the meat in a resealable plastic bag and add the garlic, salt, oregano, vinegar, and olive oil. Seal the bag and mix well. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours.

To make the chimichurri sauce:

Finely mince the parsley, oregano, green onions, and garlic. Combine them in a medium bowl with the red pepper flakes, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and season with salt. This can made up to a day ahead of time.

Preheat the grill to high. Pull the steaks from the marinade and place them on the grill. 

Grill the steaks for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Slice the steak across the grain. Serve with a generous amount of chimichurri sauce.

Powered by Recipage

Skirt Steak: The Master Recipe {Pass the Cook Book Club}

With the warmer temperatures we have shifted our eating habits at dinner. No longer do we want to turn the oven on for 60 minutes to have a baked pasta casserole. A quick cooking steak is just the thing to feed our hungry while not roasting our bodies. 

Alton Brown is the ultimate foodie.  He knows everything. I swear. No exaggerations. We used to watch Good Eats all the time.  It was almost too much for me with all the scientific lingo. I just want cake. I don't care so much about what ingredients makes what happen when baking. I know I should, but I don't. Mr. J however soaks it all in...and then likes to let me know three years later word for word Mr. Brown's wisdom.

With only two of us we had steak with green beans and corn for night number one.  We came back the second night with steak nachos. 

Please say I am not the only one completely obsessed with nachos. Every day I swear. Never. Gets. Old.

Writing this makes me want to make them all over again. 

I made this recipe as part of Pass the Cook Book.  In case you forgot the premise of the Pass the Cook Book Club each month a cookbook is chosen with three recipes. You pick the recipe that looks best for you and make it for the posting day. 

Skirt Steak: The Master Recipe

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: grill entree

6064123

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 skirt steak
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:

• Spray bottle for oil
• Cast iron skillet
• Resting rack
• Aluminum foil or large bowl

Instructions

Remove the steak from the refrigerator, pat dry and place on rack for at least 15 minutes.

Coat the surface of the meat with a thin film of oil. This will hold the salt to the meat, provide no-stick insurance, and serve as a heat conductor for all those nooks and crannies that don’t actually come in contact with the pan. The trick is to make this layer skimpy. Too much oil and the salt will wash away. Oil also likes to splatter and even burn when faced with high heat, so I say use as little as possible. A drug store spray bottle works well. Keep it set to spray, rather than stream at all times.

Season the steak on both sides liberally with kosher salt and pepper. What the heck does ‘season liberally’ mean? Truth is, most folks under season their food before cooking, which usually drives them to over salt at the table. In the case of skirt steak, I go with at least ¼ teaspoon per side.

Grind pepper onto each side (I go with half as much pepper as salt), and then use your hand to really rub the seasoning into the meat. Rubbing is the only way to make sure you have good salt-to-meat contact.

Once the massage is over, go wash your hands and allow the meat to sit for at least 5 minutes. This allows some juices to come to the meat’s surface – and those juices are what will give the steak a nice crust when seared.

Heat the pan. Place your largest cast iron skillet on the cook top over high heat. Allow 4 minutes for the pan to reach cooking heat.

Turn on your stove’s exhaust system. If you don’t have an exhaust system, open a window. Hold the steak so that the bottom of the edge hangs downright at the closet edge of the skillet and lay the steak down into the pan. This isn’t so much to prevent splat, tearing as to make sure that you get the whole thing in the pan without sliding it around. This is important because moving the meat around in those first few moments can cut down the crust production.

Leave the meat absolutely alone for 4 minutes, then flip it over and cook for another 3 minutes – uninterrupted, please. This will result in a perfectly medium rare steak.

Remove the steak from the skillet and let it rest on a resting rack for a minute, covered loosely with aluminum foil or with a large bowl. Do not skip this step.

Now, skirt steak is not a very tender piece of meat. It’s lean an fibrous and flat out tough unless you slice it correctly – meaning thing. By slicing thin across the grain, you present the prospective chewer with short muscle fibers rather than long ones, which creates a far more tender mouth feel. The problem with thin, however, is that a skirt steak is not very thick to begin with, so if you cut straight through it you end up with something that looks like meat fettuccine, which may taste good, but looks a little…weird. Thus the bias cut – across the grain. Slice the steak on an angle and you get all the short muscle fibers and great looking slices. The leftovers are delicious cold, by the way.

Powered by Recipage

If you want to become a part of the cookbook club read this post and click for the Facebook group. 

Ginger Soy Beef with Chile-Tomatoes {pass the cook book club}

Knowing we would be in full force renovations, packing and moving this week I made this month's Pass the Cook Book Club recipe way back at the beginning of September. It was still hot and humid and the oven was a no no.  It seemed perfect to pick the Ginger Soy Beef with Chile-Tomatoes for the Pass the Cook Book Club posting.

The cookbook of the month was Seoultown Kitchen: Korean Pub Grub to Share with Friends and Family by Debbie Lee.  Another option was Spam and Eggs. I couldn't do it. Mr. J was game. But no way for me.

The Ginger Soy Beef with Chile-Tomatoes kabobs were perfect for dinner after a long hot day.  Just a little bit of a kick with the marinade but nothing too spicy.

I had leftovers the next day on top of a salad.  No dressing needed. 

This month was a perfect example of why this club is so much fun. I would never pick up this cookbook on my own but it was fun making something with Koren flare. We now have another go to recipe when we want to grill.

If you want to become a part of the cookbook club read this post and click for the Facebook group. Come join us in the fun!

Ginger Soy Beef with Chile-Tomatoes

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: grill entree

6053129

Ingredients (serves 6)

• Ingredients:
• 1 pound rib-eye steak,
• (about 1in thick), cut into 8 cubes
• 16 grape tomatoes
• 1 Tb finely ground chile powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tb sesame oil
• 1 Tb olive oil
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Ginger-Soy marinade:

• ½ yellow onion, cut in quarters
• 1Tb minced fresh ginger
• 1 Tb minced fresh garlic
• ¼ c soy sauce
• ¼ c brown sugar
• ¼ c mirin
• 1 Tb garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ c club soda
• ¼ c sesame oil
• 2 Tb chopped scallions (green parts only, for garnish)
• 8 wooden skewers, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes.

Instructions

Make the ginger-soy marinade:

 In a food processor, mince the yellow onion. Add ginger, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin and spices and blend well. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add cola, then whisk in the sesame oil to emulsify the marinade. 

Pour half of the marinade over steak cubes in another mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a third bowl, place the grape tomatoes, chile-powder, smoked paprika and sesame and olive oils. Toss well until the tomatoes are well coated. Season with salt and black pepper.

 Once the meat is marinated, assemble each skewer, starting with a grape tomato, then a cube of steak and finishing with another grape tomato.

Pre-heat a seasoned grill or grill-pan over medium-high heat. Place skewers on the grill and immediately brush with the marinade. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn over and brush the other side with the marinade. Repeat on both sides for a total cook time of 10 minutes, or until the steak is cooked to your desired doneness. 

Season with salt and black pepper. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with scallions. Serve immediately.

Powered by Recipage

Grilled Chicken Marinade

Lately I have been thinking about a lot of different things in my life. This always makes Mr. J very worried. He knows that if I ever actually come up with any definitive conclusions he will be effected. 

I like to think I make good decisions so he will be happy.  Lately I read Born to Run. This book, like any good book got me thinking.  Mainly I need to be running more. But how I run, why, and what else about my lifestyle will help me run started filling my head.

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

One section of the book was based purely on diet.  Runner exert energy and there for need carbohydrates and protein to build that energy back up.  Well these mystic runners don't eat steaks or pasta.  

Beans, rice, leafy greens. 

This along with a lot of other studies I have heard and read about makes me think that we don't really need animal products.  I am toying with the idea of eating very little meat and drastically reducing my intact of dairy products. Animal protein does not seem to be what the body needs. 

Mr. J isn't as keen as I am to simply just give up meat.  In fact to prove me wrong he came up with this delicious chicken marinade to tempt my palate.  Then he grilled it knowing that my nose would make my stomach head in the right direction.  


We had chicken for dinner.  I never said it didn't TASTE good. 


Our compromise for now is...

1. Eat more fruits and veggies - some with each meal
2. Add more beans to diet - at least twice a week
3. Eat less red meat - maybe once a week

Only time will tell if we can manage...especially during BBQ season.

Garlic Lemon Chicken Marinade

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: grill chicken

6025838

Ingredients (serves 4)

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp herbs de Provence
• 4 cloves chopped garlic

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together and place in plastic bag or container.

Add chicken and coat thoroughly. Let sit for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Remove chicken from marinade and cook any way you would like.

Powered by Recipage

Lamb Burgers

This weekend a massive rain storm ran up and down the east coast.  There was even snow in some places.  Yikes! 

This is quite the change from the 70 degree temperatures last week.  Mr. J and I decided it was time to bring out the grill and fire up some burgers.  These weren't just any burgers though. We had made the trip to Whole Foods and got some pre-made lamb burgers.  

I justify the pre-made by saying that they were on sale. I definitely would not be purchasing these again unless they were on sale.  Not that they weren't delicious but I checked out the ingredients and they were simply ground lamb, feta, and Kalamata olives.  I can certainly do that on my own.

Mr. J grilled up the burgers and some onions.  I see now that he was not being 100% honest with me last fall when he swore he gave the grill a good scrub down before storing it for the winter. Tsk, tsk!

He also jazzed up the burgers with a homemade spread of sauteed garlic and melted feta topped with tomatoes.  It was a great addition and makes up a bit for the lacking of grill cleaning.

Lessons learned:

1. Burgers made from ground lamb are delicious
2. Toppings add value
3. Do not waste money on pre-made versions
4. Don't believe husband when he says he cleaned something