grilling

barbecue turkey meatballs with cheddar-corn quinoa

06/19/2015 By bridget

This recipe might work better cooked inside, but it includes corn and barbecue sauce – that means summer, and summer means grilling. Meatballs, unfortunately, are tricky on the grill. You’d think putting them on skewers would work fine, but they tend to slide right off. You could, instead, grill barbecue turkey burgers to serve over quinoa, but then you’re just eating bunless burgers, and that doesn’t sound nearly as delicious as meatballs.

So I’ve compromised on something a little bigger and a lot flatter than a meatball, but smaller than anything you’d put on a bun. The best name I can come up for these is, unfortunately, “patties”, which doesn’t sound nearly as tasty as meatballs. But it’s the same tasty ingredients; in this case, scallions, cilantro, and mustard add some interest to the meat mixture. The best part is the barbecue sauce slathered over the patties at the end of grilling.

The quinoa has plenty going on with smoky grilled corn and chunks of cheddar cheese, but the flavors don’t compete with the meatballs. The whole thing goes together really well, and it ends up feeling like a treat despite how healthy it is. It’s become one of my favorite summer meals.

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Barbecue Turkey Meatballs with Cheddar-Corn Quinoa (adapted a bit from Pink Parsley)

Serves 4

I’m keeping ‘meatballs’ in the title because it sounds a lot more delicious than ‘patties’. We’ll just say these are flat meatballs.

Shredding cheese is faster, but I like to dice little cubes so I get bites of intense cheesiness.

I’ve been using this barbecue sauce, which has a strong molasses flavor. I’m not sure I’d like it for everything, but it’s great with this meal.

I was using part of an onion I’d already cut a chunk out of, so rings weren’t possible. Skewering works too, it’s just a little more work.

Meatballs:
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
1 large egg yolk
1 pound ground turkey
1 scallion, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup barbecue sauce

Quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt
2 ears corn, shucked and rinsed
½ medium red onion, sliced into thin rings
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 scallion, sliced
1 cup (4 ounces) cubed or shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
black pepper

1. Prepare a medium-hot grill. In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa, water, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the quinoa sit for 10 additional minutes, still covered.

2. In a large bowl, combine the panko and egg yolk. Set aside for about 5 minutes, then stir to form a paste. Add the turkey, scallion, cilantro, mustard, and salt; mix to combine. Form into 12 small patties.

3. Place the corn directly over the coals and grill for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender and caramelized in places. Grill the onions until browned and tender. Grill the turkey patties until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Generously brush the top of the patties with barbecue sauce, flip the patties, and brush the second side with the remaining barbecue sauce. Let cook for one additional minute.

4. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and stir in the apple cider vinegar, then the cilantro, scallion, cheese, olive oil, and black pepper. Cut the corn off the cob and add it to the bowl with the quinoa. Dice the grilled onions and stir them into the quinoa. Serve the turkey patties over the quinoa.

Filed Under: cheese, grilling, healthy, summer, turkey, weeknight meal, whole grains

beef satay with spicy mango dip

02/02/2015 By bridget

People keep giving me venison. I have friends who enjoy hunting but have families that don’t love the flavor of venison. I have another friend who doesn’t prefer the front shoulder, so I’ve turned several into barbacoa (and then gave him the recipe, and that was the end of my venison front shoulder donations). I don’t even know how I ended up with the prized backstrap, a cut similar to the tenderloin, but I’m not complaining.

Rather than search for venison-specific recipes, I consider venison interchangeable with beef or sometimes pork. My brother sent me this recipe, and while I didn’t have the right cut of beef, I did have venison backstrap. It’s an interesting recipe, with a marinade that includes ground cashews. It ends up as more of a paste, which sticks to the meat as it cooks.

It may be unusual, but it works. Dave and I made the full recipe, which supposedly feeds four, and we had no leftovers. Someone needs to give me more venison backstrap so I can make this again immediately – and this time I won’t share the recipe.

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Beef Satay with Spicy Mango Dip (rewritten from Linda Doeser’s Chinese: The Essence of Asian Cooking)

The recipe recommends serving with salad greens, but I mostly considered those garnish, while rice was important to soak up the sauce.

I made tamarind sauce the same way I do for pad Thai, by soaking tamarind paste in hot water, then straining out the solids and using the liquid in the recipe. You might also be able to find tamarind concentrate. If not, it won’t ruin the recipe to leave it out.

For the satay:
1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain and skewered
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
½-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tamarind sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
Salad greens, to serve

For the spicy mango dip:
1 ripe mango, peeled and seeded
1 to 2 fresh red chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
½ teaspoon salt

1. Heat a small not-notstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coriander and cumin seeds; toast, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Let cool completely before grinding.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the ground spices, cashews, oil, shallots, ginger, garlic, tamarind sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Process until the cashews are finely chopped. Coat the meat with the cashew mixture; cover and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.

3. For the dip: Process the mango, chiles, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, cilantro, and salt in the food processor until smooth.

4. Prepare a medium-hot grill. Cook the skewers directly over the heat until browned and cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. (Alternatively, cook for the same amount of time as close to the broiler element as possible.) Serve with the sauce and greens.

Filed Under: appetizers, asian, beef, fruit, gluten free, grilling, healthy, nuts, rice, weeknight meal

black bean burgers

06/16/2014 By bridget

I actually don’t have any need for a black bean burger. Because Dave and I eat either vegetarian or fish during the week, I’m always ready for some meat by the weekend. And I don’t eat much bread on weekdays either (other than my daily bagel at work – best part of the workday!), so I wouldn’t pair vegetarian burgers with buns. But on top of slaw, now that works.

This recipe doesn’t have (much of) my other issue with most vegetarian burgers, which is that they’re usually bound with large amounts of breadcrumbs or other grains, so you’re, in essence, putting carbs on a bun. This mix does have some bread crumbs, but it’s also bulked up with extra protein from cheese and nuts. They’re not there for your health though – they provide a nice variation in texture, so the burgers aren’t uniform, and they’re certainly not mushy, thanks to some time the beans spend in the oven getting dehydrated.

The mix itself was so good that I couldn’t stop eating it. Formed into patties and browned, it was that much better. What isn’t better with crisp, caramelized sides? I’m sure they’re great on a bun with your favorite burger toppings, but I loved them on a simple lime-cilantro slaw. I have finally found a place for black bean burgers in my life, and I have found the black bean burger to take that place.

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Black Bean Burgers (rewritten but hardly adapted from The Food Lab)

Makes 8 to 12 burgers (the patties in the pictures are each one-tenth of the recipe)

If your cashews aren’t toasted already, put them in the oven before the beans. Don’t do what I did and combine the two on one baking sheet; they’re treated separately in the food processor.

The recipe makes a lot. I formed the mixture into patties and froze most of them. They defrost and cook up perfectly.

According to the original recipe, you can grill these as well as pan-fry them, but I didn’t try it. You’d want to brush the sides with oil before grilling.

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large poblano pepper, finely chopped
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 1 teaspoon sauce
¾ cup toasted cashews
½ cup finely crumbled feta or cotija cheese
¾ cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 large egg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the black beans evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until the edges are splitting, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, poblano, and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is just beginning to brown at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chipotle chile and sauce. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

3. In a food process, pulse the cashews until the largest pieces are about ¼-inch. Transfer to the bowl with the vegetables. Transfer the dried black beans and cheese to the food processor and pulse until the largest pieces are about ¼-inch. Transfer to the bowl with the cashews. Add the bread crumbs, mayonnaise, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper to the mixing bowl. Stir until evenly combined.

4. Form the mixture into patties ¾-inch thick. You can make them any size you want; I made about ten patties from this recipe, and they were each about 4 inches in diameter.

5. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add half of the patties and cook, without moving, until crisp and browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Flip the patties and continue cooking until the second side is browned, another 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining patties.

Lime-Cilantro Slaw

½ cabbage, sliced thinly
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup Greek yogurt
4 green onions (or half of a small red onion), minced
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large or 2 small carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients.

Filed Under: beans, cheese, freezer friendly, grilling, mexican, nuts, sandwiches, vegetables, vegetarian

grilled potato salad with watercress

01/18/2014 By bridget

Dave’s birthday, 2 weeks after Christmas, is at a sort of inconvenient time of year. My dad’s is January 2nd, and even that is better – in my family, the holidays are just one day longer than they are for everyone else. But a week later, you’ve had all the cookies and wine and cheese (or whatever your splurges happen to be) you want, but you haven’t had more than a few days to detox from the decadence. And yet, it’s time for banana cream pie.

I got Dave a cute little cast iron saucepan for the grill, so I had to plan a meal that would allow him to use it. He also got a new grill for Christmas, so I specifically planned a meal that would use both of our grills – barbecue pork ribs, grilled potato salad, grilled broccoli. And then the weather sucked, although we pushed through and grilled the ribs and potatoes still, but I roasted the broccoli.

It wasn’t the most indulgent meal ever, but extra vegetables are always welcome this time of year, so I chose the potato salad that actually looked like a salad. It’s not a traditional potato salad coated in mayonnaise, but I didn’t feel like we lost out for the healthier option. This was crisp and fresh, healthy enough for January, but still with satisfying browned potatoes and creamy cheese. It was just light enough to justify a big piece of banana cream pie for dessert.

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Grilled Potato Salad with Watercress (from Bon Appetit via epicurious)

I’ve reduced both the potatoes (because I was trying to be healthier) and the blue cheese (because it can be too intense) from the original recipe, but I’m sure the original amounts are great too.

¼ cup sherry wine vinegar
1 large shallot, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil, plus more for grilling potatoes
6 medium red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled (about 1½ pounds)
2 bunches watercress, stems trimmed
3 green onions, chopped
¼-½ cup crumbled blue cheese

1. Combine vinegar, shallot, and mustard in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in ½ cup oil. Season vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 16 minutes. Drain; cool completely. Cut potatoes into ¼- to ½-inch-thick rounds. Brush or spray rounds on both sides with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Grill potatoes until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Dice the potatoes into ½-inch cubes.

4. In a large serving bowl, mix the watercress, scallions, and most of the vinaigrette. Add the potatoes and the remaining dressing, and gently mix to coat. Top with the blue cheese; serve immediately.

Filed Under: cheese, gluten free, grilling, healthy, potatoes, salad, side dish, vegetables, vegetarian

chicken tikka masala

11/04/2013 By bridget

Chicken tikka masala sounds so good in theory. It’s everything I love about Italian food – carbs and meat and tomato sauce mixed together – but it’s Indian food, which I also love. Except, the first time I made it, the similarity was too strong. I felt like I was eating spaghetti sauce with weird spices over rice when it should have been pasta.

It took a couple years, but I finally got around to trying a new recipe. Maybe it’s the lemon juice in this recipe that makes all the difference, but there was no spaghetti confusion here. Marinara doesn’t usually have chili spices, ginger, and yogurt either.

There’s one thing about this recipe that will seem strange and might make you uncomfortable, and that is that the chicken is not cooked all the way through on the grill. A trip to the grill (or the broiler) is important to really brown, even char, the meat, but then it’s chopped so it can finish cooking in the sauce. This gives it time to soak up some flavor from the sauce without drying out.

It may be an unusual technique, but it works, because this is the best chicken tikka masala I’ve ever eaten. Of course, the only other chicken tikka masala I’ve eaten was the spaghetti one, so my basis for comparison is not large. Still, I know good when I taste it, and this is very good.

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Chicken Tikka Masala (slightly adapted from The Food Lab)

6-8 servings

3 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 cloves garlic, 8 smashed and 4 minced
3 tablespoons minced or grated fresh ginger, divided
2 cups yogurt
¾ cup fresh juice from 4 to 6 lemons, divided
salt
5 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (breasts, legs, or a mix), skin removed
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
1 cup heavy cream

1. Heat a small not-nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne; toast, stirring constantly, until the spices begin to smoke. Immediately remove them from the pan so they don’t burn.

2. Combine 6 tablespoons of the spice mixture, 8 cloves smashed garlic, 2 tablespoons ginger, the yogurt, ½ cup lemon juice, and ¼ cup salt in a large bowl. Score the chicken at 1-inch intervals and immerse in the yogurt mixture; cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours, turning occasionally.

3. When the chicken has marinated, heat the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until the foaming subsides. Add the onions, 4 cloves minced garlic, and the remaining 2 tablespoons ginger. Cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to brown at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the remaining spice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Puree, either with an immersion blender or in batches with a regular blender. Stir in the cream and the remaining ¼ cup lemon juice. Season with salt if necessary; set aside.

4. Heat a grill to high heat. Grill the chicken without moving until charred, 5-7 minutes. Flip the chicken and char the second side. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for 10 minutes. The chicken should not be cooked through. (The chicken can also be broiled instead of grilled.)

5. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces; transfer it to the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately with rice or naan, topping with the remaining cilantro.

Filed Under: chicken, citrus, gluten free, grilling, indian

prosciutto lamb burgers

06/25/2013 By bridget

The first place Brady, Nicole, and I went to when we met up in Austin for the BlogHer Food conference was Whole Foods. I love wandering around Whole Foods anyway, but this particular store is a special case – it’s a little ridiculous, in fact, how big it is. I went back on Sunday before I left Austin, and there were cops directing traffic in the Whole Foods parking garage, if that gives you an idea of the insanity.

Still, on Thursday evening when I was there with my friends, it was a lot more subdued than Sunday afternoon. We spent an hour or so wandering around the store, comparing the selection to our hometown stores and trying every sample in sight. These are the things food bloggers like to do together.

Dave, not so much. Now that he has an interest in cooking fish, he can at least spend a few minutes checking out that selection, but he spends most of the time in fancy grocery stores giving me impatient looks in between playing with his phone. It was a miracle when, on our last visit to Albuquerque to see my family, he went to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, a local butcher, and a giant liquor store with me all in one day, with no complaint. He’d better be careful of the precedent he’s setting.

Maybe because he knows that the payoff is really good lamb, one of his favorite foods. I was just a bit concerned about adding so many flavorings to something that tastes great on its own, but I know Elly loves lamb as much as we do, so I put my faith in her. And in fact, the prosciutto complements the lamb nicely, adding its hint of funk to the lamb’s. And this is why I love food shopping so much, gathering riches that will eventually turn into Sunday night burgers, cooked in the backyard on a hot summer night.

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Prosciutto Lamb Burgers (adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis via Elly Says Opa)

Serves 4

I skipped the parsley and the basil, the parsley because I forgot and the basil because I didn’t have it. Neither were missed. I also used parmesan instead of pecorino, again, simply based on what I had. I made 6 burgers out of this mix instead of 4, just because I like my burgers a bit smaller.

I’ve gotten in the habit of leaving the salt out of the meat mix and sprinkling a generous amount on each side just before cooking, based on this article.

½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
1 large egg, beaten
½ cup (1 ounce) Pecorino Romano
¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground lamb
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
4 slices of prosciutto
4 hamburger buns, toasted
fresh basil leaves
fresh tomato slices

1. Lightly mix together the breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, milk, Romano, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, and lamb. Form the mixture into 4 patties.

2. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, and olive oil.

3. Prepare a medium-hot grill. Using a paper towel, grease the grates with vegetable oil. Grill the patties for 5 minutes; flip, add slices of prosciutto to the top of each patty, and continue grilling another 5 minutes.

4. Spread the mayonnaise mixture on both sides of the buns, then place the patties on the bottom of the hamburger buns and top with fresh basil leaves and tomato slices. Serve immediately.

Filed Under: grilling, lamb, pork, sandwiches

manchego cheese and garlic hot dogs

03/04/2013 By bridget

Maybe I shouldn’t play favorites between four fun and delicious hot dog recipes, but this one had roasted garlic, so…it’s my favorite.

One thing I found through making four types of hot dogs in four days was that most hot dogs benefit from being topped with something vinegary to cut through the fat of the meat. Mustard and pickle relish are the traditional choices. In this recipe, it’s sherry vinegar, mixed into a relish of roasted garlic and roasted red peppers.

Roasted garlic is always sweet and creamy and delicious, and a hot dog was just as good as a vehicle for serving it as my other favorite – plain rustic bread. It’s no wonder this ended up my favorite of the hot dogs from our Hot Dog Week. The roasted garlic made it a shoo-in.

One year ago: Pasta with Salmon in Pesto Cream Sauce
Two years ago: Chocolate Frosting (comparison of 3 recipes)
Three years ago: Bacon-Wrapped Goat Cheese and Almond-Stuffed Dates
Four years ago: Honey Yogurt Dip
Five years ago: Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

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Manchego Cheese and Garlic Hot Dogs (adapted from Bon Appétit via Annie’s Eats)

Makes 6 hot dogs

Relish:
2 large heads of garlic, top ½-inch cut off
5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ cup diced drained roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Coarse kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Sherry wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Hot dogs:
6 grilled hot dog buns
6 grilled all-beef hot dogs
2 ounces Manchego cheese, grated

1. For the relish: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place each head of garlic, cut side up, in the center of a square of foil; drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of oil; enclose the garlic in the foil. Place the packets on the oven rack; roast until the garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. Open the packets; cool 15 minutes.

2. Squeeze the garlic cloves into a small bowl; mash. Mix in 3 teaspoons oil, the red peppers, and parsley. Season with salt, pepper, and sherry vinegar.

3. For the hot dogs: Arrange the buns on plates. Top each with a grilled hot dog, then cheese and garlic relish. Serve immediately.

Filed Under: beef, cheese, grilling, sandwiches, vegetables

argentinian hot dogs

02/08/2013 By bridget

Dave and I had an impromptu get-together last fall, the same day I made cupcakes for a wedding. I already had these hot dogs planned for dinner that night, and without time to plan and shop for anything new, I had to accept that hot dogs would be the first thing I would ever cook for some of these friends. But at least they were fancy hot dogs.

They were one topping less fancy than when Dave and I made these recently during what was basically Hot Dog Week, because I simply ran out of time and energy to make chimichurri. But homemade buns, all-beef dogs, chorizo, pickled onions, Hatch green chile, and queso fresco were plenty of toppings. These were declared the fanciest hot dogs anyone had eaten. The chorizo stole the show, as it usually does.

But it’s too bad I didn’t get to the chimichurri the first time I made these, because it really does add a nice green element to the sandwich, which balances all the fat in the meats and cheese. Chorizo on its own makes one heck of a great hot dog topper, and I know one of our guests that day won’t make hot dogs at home without it now, but I love my hot dogs with something intensely vinegary, and this is even better because it has two different ways of drawing that flavor in, the onions and the chimichurri. The only disadvantage is that this is so much stuff to fit into a hot dog bun that you’re bound to lose some of it on the plate, but serving hot dogs with a fork to scoop up extra goodies is a small price to pay.

One year ago: Marinated Roasted Tofu
Two years ago: Pasta e Fagioli
Three years ago: Oatmeal Pancakes
Four years ago: Crispy Bagel Sushi Roll
Five years ago: Olive Oil Bread

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Argentinian Hot Dogs (from San Jose Mercury News via Oishii)

Makes 8 sandwiches

For the pickled onions:
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
¼ cup white wine or champagne vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar

For the chimichurri:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bunch parsley leaves
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
⅛ teaspoon salt

To assemble:
8 grilled beef hot dogs
8 buns
8 ounces ground chorizo, cooked
8 ounces queso fresco , crumbled

1. For the onions: In a small bowl, combine the onion, vinegar, salt, and sugar. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.

2. For the chimichurri: Add the garlic to a food processor; process until minced. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; add the parsley and process until chopped. Add the remaining ingredients; process to combine.

3. Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Grill the hot dogs until they are browned and heated through, about 5 minutes. Toast the buns on both sides. Transfer the buns and hot dogs to plates. Fill each bun with a hot dog, chorizo, queso fresco, pickled onions, and chimichurri. Serve immediately.

Filed Under: beef, cheese, grilling, pork, sandwiches, vegetables

bolognese hot dogs

01/17/2013 By bridget

Having my picture taken with the RockerDogz hot dog truck guy in San Antonio might be one of the dorkiest things I’ve done in my life. I did walk over two miles (in ballet flats – ouch!) to his truck, which already pretty well establishes that I’m an oddball. But when I was looking into where we should eat on our weekend in San Antonio last fall, this hot dog cart got more positive – raving really – reviews than any real restaurant. I was determined to eat there.

Once I had, I was then determined to steal all of his ideas to copy at home. Probably the best of the hot dogs we had from there were the Thai Kick Boxers, with a cabbage slaw, pickled Serrano peppers, cucumbers, and artfully applied sriracha. The dog topped with carne guisada was a delicious mess, and I was expecting the same from the Bolognese-topped sandwich, but not a drip was dropped.

And that one, at least, was easy to mimic at home. At least it would be if you had leftover Bolognese sauce lying around. I didn’t, but I did have pot roast pappardelle, so I finely shredded some beef into the sauce and then simmered the mixture until it was thick (and resembled something regurgitated, but let’s bypass that aspect of it).

The pot roast sauce was, as I said before, a little lighter in flavor than a red wine-braised roast or regular Bolognese would be, and the sweet all-beef sausage almost overpowered it. It was still really good though, and not nearly as messy as you might think; just like in San Antonio, we managed to eat our sandwiches without napkins or drips, so using a thick Bolognese (or whatever meaty Italian sauce you happen to have around) really makes a difference. It was just as delicious as the one we had in San Antonio, but this time, acquiring a tasty and creative hot dog didn’t give me any blisters.

One year ago: Lentil Salad with Squash and Goat Cheese
Two years ago: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Three years ago: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars
Four years ago: Caramel-Topped Flan
Five years ago: Country Crust Bread

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Bolognese Hot Dogs

Makes 8 sandwiches

8 all-beef hot dogs
8 hot dog buns, split
4 cups Bolognese sauce, warm
½ cup (1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced

Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Grill the hot dogs until they are browned and heated through, about 5 minutes. Toast the buns on both sides. Transfer the buns and hot dogs to plates. Fill each bun with a hot dog, then divide the bolognese sauce evenly between the sandwiches. Top with parmesan and parsley; serve immediately.

Filed Under: beef, cheese, grilling, italian, sandwiches

muffuletta hot dogs

01/10/2013 By bridget

When Dave and I were brainstorming how to maximize our glorious four days at home between traveling for Christmas and going back to work, the only idea we came up with that we actually stuck with was hot dogs for lunch every day. It was actually Dave’s idea, but I’m the one who made it awesome.

If he was expecting four days of ketchup and mustard, he doesn’t know me very well. I couldn’t resist making four different types of hot dogs, requiring the purchase of approximately one million different ingredients that would we would use only a fraction of. Practical!

Muffaletta from Central Grocery in New Orleans was the first time I saw Dave enjoy something with olives. And I’m not surprised, because those sandwiches were amazing. I had a feeling the briny topping would work well on fatty hot dogs, and I was right. The provolone, slightly stinky, acts as a bridge. You don’t need me to tell you how much I miss fancy hot dogs for lunch everyday now that we’re back at work, do you?

One year ago: Grapefruit Margaritas
Two years ago: Beef Short Ribs Braised in Tomato Sauce
Three years ago: Apple Muffins
Four years ago: Chopped Salad
Five years ago: Banana Cream Pie

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Muffuletta Hot Dogs (adapted from Bon Appétit, epicurious, and allrecipes)

Makes 8 sandwiches

If you don’t have and don’t want to buy cocktail onions, just thinly slice some red onions and put them in red wine vinegar for 15 minutes or so.

1 cup pepperoncini
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
½ cup green olives, pitted
¼ cup cocktail onions
2 cloves garlic, toasted
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 large basil leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 all-beef hot dogs
8 hot dog buns, split
16 slices provolone cheese

1. Pulse the pepperoncini, black and green olives, onions, garlic, capers, oregano, basil, and olive oil in a food processor until minced.

2. Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Place the hot dogs on the grill. Place the buns, flat side up, on the grill; cover with 2 cheese slices. Grill until the cheese melts and the hot dogs are heated through, covering barbecue to allow cheese to melt, 5 minutes for hot dogs and 3 minutes for buns. Transfer the buns and hot dogs to plates. Serve with the olive mixture.

Filed Under: beef, cheese, grilling, sandwiches, vegetables

barbecue turkey meatballs with cheddar-corn quinoa

beef satay with spicy mango dip

black bean burgers

grilled potato salad with watercress

chicken tikka masala

prosciutto lamb burgers

manchego cheese and garlic hot dogs

argentinian hot dogs

bolognese hot dogs

muffuletta hot dogs

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