Mans True Calling #2

So here is the second entry on grilling. For this post I decided to do a more entree type dish that everyone loves. Burgers! So I found this recipe for turkey burgers in one of my moms magazines.

1 1/2 pounds ground dark meat turkey
2 ounce grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Vegetable oil, for grates
Hamburger Buns
Desired toppings

1. Heat grill to medium-high. In a medium bowl, place turkey, cheese, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon coarse salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix very gently with a fork to combine, being careful not to overwork meat (which would make burgers dense).
2.Gently form meat into 4 equal-size patties, inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Press thumb in the center of each patty to make an indentation approximately 1/2-inch deep (this help keeps burgers flat during grilling).
3.Moisten a folded paper towel with oil; grasp with tongs and rub over grates. Season burgers with salt and peeper; grill until cooked throughout, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Serve on buns (toasted on grill, if you like), with desired toppings.

So this recipe was pretty enjoyable. We added pepper jack cheese over the top.

Mans true calling #1

So men like to grill. Everyone knows that. Its a summer tradition for men everywhere. So for this post I decided to learn how to grill. For my first attempt I decided to do something easy, something just to hone my skills. Vegetables!

Smokin' Hot Potato Kabobs with Rosemary-Chipotle Butter
1 1/2 pounds small potatoes, such as baby purple, baby blue, baby dutch yellow, fingerlings, round red and/or round white
16 baby sunburst squash, baby green patty-pan squash or 1 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, cut into 1-inch slices
8 fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 to 2 tablespoons snipped rosemary or oregano or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary or oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper or chili powder
Coarse kosher salt or sea salt

1. Scrub potatoes with a soft vegetable brush under running water. Halve potatoes larger than 2-3 inches. In a covered medium saucepan, cook potatoes in boiling, lightly slated water for 10 minutes, adding the baby squash and mushrooms for the last 1 minute of cooking time. Drain and cool slightly
2. On eight 10-12 inch metal skewers, alternately thread potatoes, squash, mushrooms, leaving a 1/4 inch space between pieces. In a small bowl, combine butter, rosemary and chipotle chili pepper. Brush over vegetables. Sprinkle kabobs with coarse salt.
3. For a charcoal grill, grill kabobs on the rack of an uncovered frill directly over medium coals for 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and rown, turning and brushing occasionally with butter mixture. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on grill rack over heat. Cover and heat as above.) Makes 8 servings.

Peach Cobbler

So my mom got a big box of peaches free from a friend. So I was asked/decided to make a peach cobbler. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peach-Cobbler-II-2/Detail.aspx .

INGREDIENTS

• 3 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups boiling water
• 3 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x10 inch baking dish.
2. Stir together peaches with cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together shortening and 1 cup sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt alternately with milk. Pour into prepared pan. Top with peach mixture. Drop butter in boiling water and pour all over peaches.
4. Bake in preheated oven 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown.

So there are a few tips for this recipe. The first is how to peel the peaches, you need to dip them briefly in boiling water, and that will make the skin easy to remove. The other suggestions are using more peaches, I used 5 peaches for this recipe, instead of 3. Also some of the reviews f the recipe thought that the cobbler was "soupy" so I cut down on the amount of water, using only 1 cup of boiling water instead of 2 cups. Otherwise this is a good recipe, easy to make without a lot of prep.

Ice Cream

So everybody loves ice cream, yeah. Store bought ice cream is good and all, but sometimes you just want to make it yourself. The only way to do it previously was to use an ice cream machine. However in the foodday section this week there was a recipe for EZ ice cream.

EZ Chocolate ice cream
Makes 1 quart

1 tsp instant coffee
1 tablespoon hot water
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch Salt
1 1/4 cups cold whipping cream

Combine coffee powder and hot water in a small bowl. Let stand until coffee dissolves, about 5 minutes. Microwave chocolate, condensed milk and coffee mixture in bowl, stirring every 10 seconds until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute. Stir in vanilla and salt. Let cool.
With electric mixture on medium-high speed, whip cream to soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Whisk a third of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold remaining whipped cream into chocolate mixture until incorporated. Freeze in an airtight container, until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 2 weeks.