Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I never made large portobello mushrooms, so I thought this recipe would be a good place to try them out. It tasted really fresh and light and was very low in calories. We used the indoor grill pan to make these, which I think tasted just as yummy. I served it with some whole wheat spaghetti tossed with basil, chopped tomatoes and a little olive oil. You could definitely make these into a sandwich as well.

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

CookingLight.com

Serves 4 - 1 mushroom per person

Ingredients

2/3 cup chopped plum tomato

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh or 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, crushed

4 (5-inch) portobello mushroom caps

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

Cooking spray

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Combine the tomato, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon oil, rosemary, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl.

Remove brown gils from the undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Remove stems; discard. Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil, juice, and soy sauce in a small bowl; brush over both side of mushroom caps. Place the mushroom caps, stem side down, on grill rack (or grill pan) coated with cooking spray, and grill for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.

Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture into each mushroom cap. Cover (I covered the grill pan with foil) and grill 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

Note: Since the garlic isn't really cooked, the mushrooms have a strong garlic flavor. Grill the mushrooms stem sides down first, so that when they're turned they'll be in the right position to be filled. If you want to plan ahead, remove the gills and stems from the mushrooms and combine the filling, then cover and chill until ready to grill.

Cheese on the Cob

Nothing is more summer than corn on the cob and I really love grilling it. I've posted another grilled corn recipe but this one is a little different and maybe a faster. I made this for our 4th of July barbeque and doubled the recipe, but it actually covered more than 10 ears of corn. Below is the recipe for 5 servings.

Cheese on the Cob

Paula's Home Cooking - Paula Deen

Serves 5

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise

5 ears of corn, husks and silk removed

1 cup shredded Parmesan

Chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Prepare grill.

Brush a thin layer of mayonnaise on corn. Sprinkle the corn with cheese, chili powder, salt and pepper. Wrap each corn with foil and place on the grill.

Turn occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes (until kernels begin to brown). Serve warm.

Fathers' Day Dinner

For Fathers' Day this year Denis and I planned a huge feast for both our families. I got most of the menu from the FoodNetwork.com. It makes it so easy to plan a meal because there are so many great chefs in one place. Denis and I definitely worked as a team for this dinner. For one, as I've mentioned before, I am afraid of the charcoal grill so he did all the grilling. And while I was setting up the table-scape, he made the most delish potato salad I have ever had. I've never made one of Robert Irvine's recipes but this one was addicting! If you only make one of these recipes on the menu that is the one I recommend the most, although, everything else was pretty delicious too. I had never deep fried anything before because all that hot oil makes me nervous, but Ina's onion rings were really easy and came out as a pretty good pairing with the grilled flank steak. All the recipes below our for about 4-6 servings but for our dinner I doubled everything and it still tasted great.

On the Menu:

• Red Wine-Rosemary Grilled Flank Steak
• Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings
• Potato Salad
• Green Salad with Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette
• Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Roasted Garlic Butter Bread

Red Wine-Rosemary Grilled Flank Steak

Bobby Flay

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 cups dry red wine

4 small sprigs fresh rosemary

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

4 gloves garlic, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 (2 pound) flank steak

salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

To prepare the steak: Place the wine, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, onion, garlic and olive oil in a large ziplock bag. The recipe suggests to put it in a large shallow baking dish, but I really think it gets all over the meat in a ziplock bag. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Heat the grill, remove the meat from the marinade, season both sides with salt and pepper to taste and grill 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Let sit 5 minutes and slice against the grain.

Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings

Barefoot Contessa at Home

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 large Spanish onions (or 3 yellow onions)

2 cups buttermilk

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal

1 quart vegetable oil

Directions

Peel the onions, slice them 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for a few hours.) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot with help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt, and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Potato Salad

Robert Irvine

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 pounds small red potatoes scrubbed and quartered

1 pound bacon, chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

6 scallions, chopped in 1/4-inch segments

1 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons sugar

salt and pepper

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Directions

Place potatoes in cold water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to medium, letting them cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. In a skillet, saute bacon on low heat until crispy. Place bacon on a paper towel and discard the grease. Drain the potatoes, but DO NOT rinse them under cold water, rather let them cool for about 6 to 8 minutes on a sheet pan. In a small bowl combine vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, scallions, onion, sugar, and salt and pepper. Transfer potatoes to a mixing bowl and sprinkle bacon and hard boiled eggs over them. Then fold mayonnaise mixture into the potatoes and serve at room temperature.

Dijon-Lemon Vinaigrette

CookingLight.com

Yield: 2/3 cup (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable broth or water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons Worestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. I used a hand held blender to mix, but you can also put it in a closed container and shake to combine. Store in refrigerator. Toss over 2 cups mixed greens when ready to serve.

Roasted Garlic Butter Bread

By: Me

Serves 4-6

Baguette, sliced on a diagonal

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Stick of butter, softened

Head of garlic, roasted

3/4 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese

Put the oven on broil, high. Line the slices baguette on a baking sheet. Combine oil, salt, and pepper and brush both sides of bread. Toast in the broiler 5 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, squeeze pulp out of the garlic cloves and combine with the stick of butter, mix well. Remove toast from the oven spread roasted garlic butter on toast and top with cheese. Put back in the broiler for 5-7 minutes.

Grilled Chicken with Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette and Grilled Fingerling Potatoes with Grilled Corn on the Cob

Yesterday morning I was watching the Food Network and there was a Bobby Flay Grill It! marathon on so I was craving something grilled for dinner. And since it was Memorial Day it seemed like a natural thing to do. We actually have his Grill It! cookbook so Denis and I decided on a grilled chicken, potatoes and grilled corn. It was delish!

I am slightly scared of the grill especially since the one we have is charcoal. So this was a combined effort between Denis and I. My sister Aileen came over for dinner with her boyfriend Matty P. They always seem to be my taste testers when I try something new.

For this post I actually took some prep pictures as well because there was a lot of steps and a few different recipes. I also substituted white potatoes for the fingerlings because the supermarket did not have them in stock, but I've provided the original recipe below. I've included the instructions for perfectly grilled corn and how to roast garlic as well.

Grilled Chicken with Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette and Grilled Fingerling Potatoes

Bobby Flay Grill It!

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed

Kosher Salt

4 (8-ounce) bone-in chicken breasts

6 tablespoons olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Fresh oregano sprigs, for garnish

Preparation

1. Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with salted cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until a pairing knife inserted into the potatoes comes out with some resistance, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not cook the potatoes all the way through because they will continue cooking on the grill. Drain well, and when cool enough to handle slice in half lengthwise. (We didn't end up cutting the potatoes in half until after they were cooked because I was worried about them falling thru the grill grates.)

2. Heat your grill to medium. Since we were using a charcoal grill we had one side of the grill with more charcoal so it was higher heat and the other side with less coals so it was a lower heat.

3. Brush the chicken and potatoes with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on the grill, skin side down, and grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn the chicken over and continue grilling until just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. A few minutes before the chicken has finished cooking, place the potatoes on the grill, cut sides down, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn over and continue grilling about a minute longer.

4. Remove the chicken and potatoes to a platter and immediately drizzle with the roasted garlic-oregano vinaigrette. Tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with oregano sprigs.

Roasted Garlic-Oregano Vinaigrette

Makes approximately 1 cup

Ingredients

8 cloves roasted garlic (instructions below)

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Combine the garlic, vinegar, honey, oregano, salt and chile flakes in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil and process until emulsified. The vinaigrette can be made 1 day in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

To roast garlic

Heat your grill to medium or preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Separate the cloves of a head of garlic but do not peel them. Put the cloves on a square of heavy duty aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Wrap the garlic in the foil and put on the grates of the grill or oven. Close the grill cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the garlic is soft. We cooked it in the oven for 50 minutes and it came out perfect. Remove from the heat. When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the pulp out of the skins. Roasted garlic can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Perfectly Grilled Corn

Bobby Flay Grill It!!

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 ears of corn

Kosher Salt

Preparation

1. Heat your grill to medium. Again we used a charcoal grill.

2. Pull the outer husks down each ear to the stalk end. Stripe away the silk from each ear of corn by hand . Fold the husks back into place and tie the ends together with kitchen string.

3. Place the ears of corn in a large bowl of cold water with 1 tablespoon of salt for 10 minutes.

4. Remove the corn from the water and shake off the excess. Place the corn on the grill, close the cover, and grill for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, or until kernels are tender when pierced with a pairing knife. (Since we were using the charcoal grill, and we needed to make sure we didn't burn them, we placed the corn over the side of the grill that had less coals.)

5. Remove the husks from the cobs before eating the corn.