The Good Plate

Archive for the ‘The Weber!’ Category

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• Grilled Asian Orange Cornish Hens
• Asian Vegetable Medley Salad

It was almost Labor Day, and in Southern California, you know that it is going to be hot through the holiday. Such days are excellent for barbecuing, but I get tired of regular barbecue sauce, and I didn’t feel like having Highway Chicken either. What to do, what to do?

I remembered I had some packets of True Orange that I hadn’t even tried yet, so I thought I would make an Asian orange glaze for the chicken. Then I thought that Asian green beans would be good – but it was too darned hot – so went to the freezer to see if we had any green beans. No luck, but we did have a package of frozen Asian mixed vegetables. Asian Vegetable Medley salad was the way to go.

If you haven’t tried the True Citrus products, you’re missing something wonderful. There is True Lemon, True Lime and True Grapefruit, as well as lemonade. The product comes in little packets, and has no preservatives, just crystallized citrus. It’s wonderful for making sauces because there is no extra liquid. All are wonderful in water, or mixed to make drinks. I have plenty of recipes, just have a look.
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• Flank Steak Tacos

I love to find uncommon cuts of meat on sale. I found a flank steak that I was planning on stuffing, and put it in the refrigerator, hoping that it would get cool enough to warrant heating the kitchen to cook it.
Alas, that did not happen, and to prevent that meat from getting freezer burn, I decided to make tacos out of it.

I won’t use taco seasoning packets, they are full of fillers, salt and preservatives. Why pay for that stuff when you can make it at home – without all the nasty fillers and preservatives.

The great debate about tortillas. When Hernán Cortés invaded the Aztecs, they were using corn tortillas. Wheat tortillas are a relatively recent import. Their popularity was driven by the low cost of inferior grades of wheat flour and by their ability to keep and ship well. Wheat tortillas don’t have much flavor, and are probably popular because their appeal to bland American taste buds. But, those taste buds need to change, as corn is a lot healthier than wheat, as you can see in the comparison table.

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• Chicken à la King – Weber Style

I really like watching America’s Test Kitchen, and follow them on Facebook. So, when they announced a Kitchen Challenge to make Chicken à la King, I just had to take up the challenge. What makes my Chicken a la King different? Well, it’s barbecue season, and my Weber was sitting outside, crying that it couldn’t join in the fun. I thought to myself, why not? Pimentos are nothing more than very mild chili peppers. I had some lovely yellow, orange and red sweet peppers, and I had some mushrooms and shallots. I also had a chicken breast. All those could go on the grill, couldn’t they? Sure, they could get a lot of flavor to add to a dish that I already really like.

The America’s Test Kitchen challenge is to cook like it’s 1917. Charcoal was developed from waste wood scrap in the Ford Motor Company in 1920, and renamed Kingsford thereafter. Kingsford was a relative of Henry Ford. The Weber grill was not invented until the 1960s but I’m sure that people were barbecuing in some sort of fashion in 1917 – how else would Henry Ford have been able to sell charcoal? I think I’m okay with the time-line, don’t you?

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Grilled London Broil with Rosemary, Mushrooms and Shallots

• Grilled Garlic Studded Red Wine Marinated London Broil with Rosemary Sprigs
• Grilled Mushrooms and Shallots in Sherry

Many years ago, when I thought that my oven didn’t work (it did, I wasn’t doing right), I marinated a steak and some fresh rosemary and put that on the grill. It was delicious! As the steak cooked, the fresh rosemary sprigs gave off their own smoky goodness.

I could not think of a better dish to put on the barbecue for 4th of July. What goes great with steak? Mushrooms! What goes great with mushrooms? Shallots and sherry. So, I’m going to grill some mushrooms with sherry and shallots to accompany my London Broil. Spane asked for Barbecued Chips instead of potato salad. In a way, I’m really happy because everything but the Balsamic Strawberry and Blueberry Trifle with Lemon Cream is going on the grill.

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Raleigh Burger – Coleslaw Cheddar on a Kaiser Roll

• How to Make a Homemade Charcoal Chimney Starter
• Reds Coleslaw
• Raleigh Burger

There used to be a wonderful coffee-shop in Santa Monica called Nick’s. One day, I went in there and ordered something called a Nick Burger. It had coleslaw and swiss cheese on it. It was so juicy you had to eat it over the plate. It became my favorite burger, and tonight, I decided to recreate it, with a little zip.

I’ve been becoming very brave of late with my Weber. First I started out with Match Light coals because they were pre-soaked, and easy to get started. Then, I graduated to using charcoal fluid and regular coals. Then today, I realized I had run out of fluid, and the corner store was closed. I knew that there are specially made charcoal chimney starters, and I thought I could make one from scratch. It wasn’t difficult at all making a homemade charcoal chimney starter. No more relying on charcoal fluid for me!

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Meat grilled and ready for chopping

• Chimichurri Marinade
• Chimichurri Flap Steak Tacos

The word Chimichurri reminds me so much of Chim-Chim Cher-ee that I can’t help but get the song stuck in my head. I would change the words a bit though, “Good luck will rub off when I barbecue you, or blow me a kiss (smoke), and that’s lucky, too.” Chimichurri is a sauce for grilled meats that originated in Argentina. It is made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white or red vinegar. It also makes a fine marinade for flap steak on the grill. Here’s the real words:

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-oo!
Good luck will rub off when

I shake ‘ands with you
Or blow me a kiss
And that’s lucky too

Chim-Chim Cher-ee from “Mary Poppins”, composed by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman

The best meat for this is flap steak, because it is thin, meaty and marinades beautifully. It should be cooked on the grill on high heat, directly over the coals. Let it rest for a few minutes before chopping it up. Flap steak is available in most supermarkets.

Usually, I heat tortillas on the stove top, and I thought to myself, why not just put them on the grill? You know what, they were nice and soft, and fantastic!

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