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Tag: summer grilling

Green Chutney Potato Salad

Green Chutney Potato Salad I still continue to make burgers even though summer is officially over. It is great way to make a healthy meal, especially if one uses ground turkey or vegetables to create the burgers.

I love eating fries but have been very good at keeping away from them… well, maybe not in Dublin.. but otherwise I have been quite good. So, this recipe is really good.

The potatoes are boiled and marinated in a green chutney- which is similar to the one Indian restaurants serve as a condiment with appetizers. I made it fresh with cilantro, mint and lime juice. It is simple to make and gives it tons of flavor to the dish.

Try this one- you may never go back to the mayo laden potato salad…
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Poblano Peppers and Raisin Sauce

Poblano and Raisin Sauce1 This was a new sauce I tried after reading about La Esquina’s chef and how easy his signature sauces are to make. The salsa verde was easy with tomatillos, lime juice, cilantro and avocado. It was delicious with shrimp and then yummy used in the fish and rice I made with the leftover sauce. This particular sauce used a particular kind of dried Mexican chilies I couldn’t find at the store… so, I decided to make some substitutions. I am sure the actual sauce is delicious especially since my version was yummy as well.

I recently made my way to the La Esquina brasserie and the food was unbelievable.. by far the best Mexican food I have had in New York. It is hard to get reservations but it is definitely worth it once you are able to get in there.

Anyway, I roasted poblano peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onion and paired it with raisins. It resulted in a well balanced, delicious sauce. I grilled some steak and served the delicious sauce on top- it was a big hit. I had a lot leftover and made a delicious stew.. recipe to follow…
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Pineapple and Apricot Compote

Pineapple and Apricot Compote My daughter keeps reminding me how I have not baked any dessert recently. She is right… I feel if I bake something.. then I have to eat it and I really don’t want to … so I don’t end up making anything. It is better not to have anything at home to tempt you through the day or after a meal.

So, when some friends were coming over for a cook out, I started thinking of dessert. I thought about just cutting up some watermelon which is really delicious and healthy but I wanted to do something a little different but keep it healthy at the same time. I decided to cook the fruit and make a compote. I had apricots and pineapple in the fridge.. I added some honey, orange juice and cardamom. I love cardamom with fruit.. it gave a delicious floral undertone to the compote. I chilled it and served it with a dollop of creme fraiche. It was a perfect dessert. It satisfied the sweet craving but definitely did not break the calorie bank. A perfect end to a delicious meal….
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Tomatillo Sauce with Avocado

Tomatillo and Avocado Sauce1 I have trying to get reservations at a place called La Esquina in New York. The restaurant is divided into a taqueria, a cafe and a brasserie. It is the brasserie that takes reservation and it is very hard to make them! A few weeks ago I got an email featuring the chef and his signature sauces. One of them was the salsa verde.. it was like a typical green Mexican style sauce but it also included avocado.

I immediately wanted to make the sauce and I decided to serve it on top of grilled shrimp. The recipe was quite easy to follow but tried to tweak it a bit to my taste. I added all the ingredients into a blender including tomatillos, jalapeno, an avocado, lime juice, onion, cilantro and a tad bit of olive oil. This sauce goes amazing with seafood. I grilled some shrimp and we enjoyed it with a salad. It can also be served with tortilla chips and it can be used as a taco topping.

I used the leftover sauce to make a delicious one pot rice dish… recipe to come tomorrow…
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Grilled Garlic Potatoes

Grilled Garlic Potatoes There was a recent article with some latest research about how it is not the hamburgers that are making Americans fat… it is the potatoes. Hmm, really??? I was very disappointed to read the article. I guess I knew that fried potatoes are not the greatest things to eat but some how a burger seems incomplete with fries. As most of you know, I am all about healthy eating but I can’t refuse fries or potato chips.. so my solution is not to have the bag of chips in the house. Once in a while I buy the low-fat ones which are just as good. A few here or there is okay but it is a problem if you have half a bag!

I love fries as well… but I have been making oven or grilled potatoes at home instead. They give me the same satisfaction as the fried variety without all the calories. Obviously even the grilled potatoes need to be consumed in moderation… oh, well..

Anyway, this version is delicious with some olive oil, salt and lots of minced garlic. I placed them on a grill pan as the burgers were cooking. Try them this weekend with your main entree…
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Grilled Corn with Ancho Chili and Honey Lime Butter

Ancho Chili Corn This was a big hit with the grilled rib eye I served the other day. I was serving grilled fajitas with sweet peppers and onions. I kind of had the vegetables taken care of but I still wanted to serve corn on the side. You have to serve corn if you are grilling- right?

Everyone loves it, especially the kids. For them, I simply drizzled the corn with olive oil, salt and pepper. I wrapped them in foil and placed them on the grill. I actually did the same for the adults- but once our corn came off the grill, we brushed some delicious honey lime butter all over and ate it with our steak fajitas.

The compound butter consisted of butter, of course; lime juice, honey and ancho chili powder. This chili powder has a bit of heat but a lot of delicious smokey flavor. It goes really well with the lime juice and honey. The corn on the cobs were delicious- I wish I had grilled more corn as everyone could have had a few more….
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Grilled Ribeye with Chipotle Honey Barbecue Sauce Fajitas

Ribeye Fajitas2

I loved making this main entree for a few friends we were having over the other day. I knew I was going to grill but wanted to come up with something different to serve. Mexican and Latin themes always come to mind for a warm summer evening dinner. The bold flavors lend themselves beautifully to summer meals.

I bought a gorgeoous, grass fed piece of ribeye. It was huge- about three pounds or so. I decided to make a dry rub and sprinkled it all over the juicy steak for a good 4 to 5 hours- over night will be ideal.

I then made my own barbecue sauce- which is super easy and so delicious. Usually barbecue sauces are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and salt. If you make your own, it is easy to control the salt and the sugar plus you end with a tastier product.

I grilled the huge steak while basting with the barbecue sauce. I had extra sauce on the side for the meal.

We ate the delicious steak inside grilled tortillas topped with avocados, grilled peppers and onions and the barbecue sauce. The meal was absolutely delicious.

Try this recipe for your next grilling party…
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