It's Grillin' Season

What's your go-to marinade?

Aussie Burger

Now that my mom lives in Colorado with her husband and my dad has retired with his wife in Chama, my house has sort of become a hub for my all our family get-togethers. At least one Saturday night a month is filled with dinner with my siblings too. It's always a wonderful time; laughing and eating and just generally enjoying our time together! This last Saturday, when we all met here for dinner, my sister and bro-in-law graciously offered to bring the fixings for what they referred to as, "one AMAZING burger." Always up for trying something new, the rest of us agreed and started dividing up the cooking chores. And while this Aussie Burger took a lot more prep than the usual pickles and lettuce, the end result was shockingly mouthwatering and left us all with very full bellies and the ability to say that we have indeed tried a burger the Aussie way. The ingredients didn't quite leave us short for dinner conversation, either!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. 85/15 hamburger meat (shaped into 4 quarter lb. burgers and grilled to liking)
Hamburger buns (toasted)
1 can pickled beets
1 yellow onion, sliced into rings and grilled
4 eggs, cooked to over-hard
1 can of sliced pineapple (grilled)
4 slices of soft cheese (we liked Gouda)
BBQ sauce of choice
8 slices cooked Bacon

DIRECTIONS:

Grill hamburger patties to liking. Move to back of grill and top with slices of cheese, onions, and cooked over-hard egg. Once heated through, remove from grill and top with pineapple, beets, and bacon. Serve over toasted bun spread with BBQ sauce. Try not to laugh when you take your first bite :)

THE Gold Bar-Updated!

I have been absolutely dumbfounded over the amount of traffic and comments that the APS Gold Bar has brought through Chow City! More than five completely random people have left comments saying something along the lines of, "You don't know how long I searched for this" or "No one but APS kids understand!" Isn't that hilarious?! What a strange bond to have with complete strangers! An undying love and total allegiance for an elementary school treat! Anyway, one of those Gold Bar hounds left the following recipe in comments and being a fellow guru, I had to try it.

Let this be the evidence of how good they were...there are NO PICTURES of them because we ate them that fast. They were amazing! So if you want a blast from the elementary/middle/high school past, make these! And as for the blogger who left this recipe-THANK YOU-from the bottom of my primary education heart!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups crunchy peanut butter

2 cups Rice Krispies

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

4 tablespoons melted margarine or butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Method: Mix peanut butter, Rice Krispies, powdered sugar, melted margarine, and light corn syrup until well blended. Press mixture evenly into a 9-by-13-inch pan that has been lined with plastic wrap over light oil. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Spread evenly over Rice Krispie mixture; chill until set but not hard (chocolate will begin to lose its shiny appearance). Cut into pieces of desired size. Return to refrigerator until chocolate has hardened completely. Remove from pan and store in tightly covered container in refrigerator until ready to serve.

P-Dub's Brisket

This was my first brisket attempt. I was nervous. For one, the meat was expensive and I really didn't want it to go to waste. Two, I was making it for a group of people.. I wanted it to be delish! Leave it to the Pioneer Woman to come through for me! I made her Passover Brisket and not only was it easy, but it was very, very good. My husband even called me from work while he was eating the leftovers just to tell me how wonderful it was! Next time (and there will be a next time!) I think I will use one 12oz bottle of chili sauce and one 12oz bottle of BBQ sauce. Also, I read in the comments section of PW's blog that it is best to cook the brisket the day before you plan to serve it. This requires way too much self control for me, but I think it would be worth it if you can manage to not eat it when your home smells so wonderful!!

Ingredients:

6-8 pound brisket, trimmed of fat

24 oz ketchup or chili sauce

1 package of dried onion soup

1 cup of water

Directions:

Place the meat in a large baking dish. Combine the other ingredients and pour over the top. Cover and let the meat marinate for about 24 hours. Bake, covered, in a 275 degree oven for 6-8 hours (depending on how many pounds of meat). I tested the meat around 6 hours into the baking time with two forks to see how tender the meat was. When it's done, cut the meat against the grain! Voila!

Classic Lemon Squares

This lemon square recipe is from my friend Crystal's blog, Inspirational Ingredients, and let me tell you they are AWESOME! In my opinion, it's the perfect blend of texture and taste! So while it may seem a little lame to post a recipe from another friend's blog, I just couldn't resist! They are just too good to not pass on! And in case you're interested Crystal has lots of other amazing recipes on her blog too! So head on over and check her out!

Note: I was actually out of lemons and lemon juice so I used some key lime juice I still had from our trip to the Keys. I then topped the bars with toasted coconut right after they came out of the oven. The were delicious but I still think nothing can replace a classic lemon square! If you'd like to try them, however, just substitute the lemon juice for key lime and top with desired amount of toasted coconut and powdered sugar immediately after the bars come out of the oven. Refrigerate and slice according to the recipe's directions.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crust:
1 1/2 sticks Butter
2 cups all-purpose Flour
1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Confectioners’ Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt

For the Filling:
4 Large Eggs Plus 2 eggs yolks
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose Flour
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1 cup Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 in pan with vegetable oil, Next line pan with aluminum foil and grease with vegetable oil as well.

First Make the Crust: Combine Butter, Flour, Sugars and Salt until incorporated, the recipe uses a food processor but I didn’t want to get it out so I used my mixer, it think either will work fine. Next Press mixture evenly into bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown about 25 minutes.

While the crust is baking make the filling: Whisk the Whole Eggs and Yolks, Sugar and Flour together until smooth. Whisk in lemon zest and juice.

When Crust is ready, remove from oven and pour filling over hot crust. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Return squares to oven for 35-40 minutes or until “just set." (The top of mine looked very dry and powdery when it was finished baking).

Lastly, let the bars cool on a rack then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice, dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Source: Recipe Adapted from Food Network Magazine March 2010 issue

The Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cake

I made this cake for Easter and it was absolutely fabulous! The cake, which was more like pound cake, was dense and moist and the frosting was AMAZING. Overall, a lovely addition to our Easter meal and a recipe that I will be making several more times!

I found this tutorial to be helpful in making my cake, as well!

INGREDIENTS:

nocoupons3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk
4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut (I chose to not measure the coconut here and instead just covered my cake entirely!)nocoupons

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Adapted from Ina Garten's Coconut Cake recipe.

Mrs. Vicki's Chicken

This is a recipe that I received at a bridal shower. In an attempt to make it healthier I have tried replacing the butter with egg, but butter really is best. The recipe is for whole chicken breasts, but I like to cut them into smaller pieces. If you do this, adjust the cooking time to 15 or 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 T country dijon mustard (I like to use the spicy kind)

1/4 t salt

1/4 t ground pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

14 (approximately) Ritz crackers, crushed

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir together first five ingredients in a shallow bowl. Put crackers in a shallow bowl or on wax paper. Dip chicken in butter mixture and then in crackers.

Bake on foil lined cookie sheet for 30-35 minutes.