Posts Tagged ‘grilled’

Grilled Pineapple Coconut Sundae

Posted: June 2, 2015 in Desserts, Food, On the grill
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Nariah and I were experimenting with pineapples last week and since we had an extra pineapple we were thinking about ideas to use a whole pineapple in a dessert. A up sprung the idea to grill a whole pineapple! This is a dish that can be served in its own bowl, and was just totally amazing. It can be eaten with and without ice cream, but of course, going all out with ice cream makes it a sundae.

  • 1 whole pineapple, not too ripe (with some green still in it. If its too ripe it may end up too sweet and mushy)
  • cinnamon/sugar
  • shredded coconut
  • Vanilla bean ice cream
  • Maraschino cherries

This is very simple and quick. Prep grill for direct grilling. Slice the pineapple from top to bottom down the middle (even thru the leaves). Next, take your knife and cut across the width of the pineapple almost to the skin as if you were cutting out slices. Then do the same lengthwise. This helps make the pineapple easier to spoon out and eat in the end. Place the pineapple halves open side down on the grill for about 5 mins or until it gets seared a bit. Remove from heat and place right side up. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over all of the fruit part of the pineapple. (For an adult dessert I suggest pouring some Malibu or your other favorite rum inside the pineapple.) Next sprinkle the coconut inside the “bowl” and also along the sides. Return to grill, this time right side up and cover. Grill until Coconut starts to get toasted slightly, about another 5-10 minutes depending on how much coconut you used.

Remove from grill and onto your serving plates, top with vanilla bean ice cream and cherries or other toppings you may prefer and enjoy this warm and cold dessert!

Grilled Bacon Wrapped SoCo Colossal Shrimp

Posted: August 25, 2012 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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A common question I get is “Where in the world do you come up with this stuff?”. There really isn’t a method to this madness. It just happens. Sometimes tasty dishes kinda come out of nowhere. I like to do things spur of the moment perform better when I’m rushed. This particular evening I lost track of time before the family got home from school/work and I knew if something wasn’t cooked by the time the Mrs. got home, there was a pretty good chance I’d be in trouble. I remembered we had some Colossal shrimp in the freezer. Hmmm… As I walked up the stairs I noticed a bottle of Southern Comfort sitting on the bar in the basement. “Hey SoCo! Do you want some shrimp today too? Come on! we’re in a hurry!”
Upstairs in the fridge, SoCo and I find some bacon. “Well that makes everything better doesn’t it?”. SoCo didn’t say anything back, I took it to mean he was too overly excited with the thought of bacon on some shrimp. Now we need something to “hold” the seasoning. Since honey is our normal staple, decided to go with the dark agave nectar and switch it up this time. If you’ve read some of the past shrimp/lobster posts, they normally use a heated sauce I brush on while grilling. This time we’re letting it soak, no brush. (All SoCo’s suggestion)

Colossal Shrimp peeled and deveined
Agave nectar (or honey (or maple syrup if you’re short on the first 2 options))
Garlic Powder
Old Bay seasoning (or if you’re in the deep south area try Swamp Fire)
Southern Comfort
Bacon (a half strip for each shrimp)
Toothpicks
DisAronno Amaretto in a spray water bottle (this is extra credit, I pulled this out at the last minute as I walked outside)

Get your grill started and ready for direct grilling.
Place your shrimp in a bowl and (I’m sorry I really didn’t measure this at all, I was in a rush remember?) pour on some Southern Comfort and Agave nectar. Enough to let the shrimp sit in it but not be covered. See the pics in the slideshow below for an idea. Definitely use more Southern Comfort than the Agave nectar, as too much “sugar” will burn when cooking. Toss the shrimp, mix it up, get the juices all in the shrimp. Generously add garlic powder and Old Bay and toss again. I say generously add because a lot of the seasoning will come off into the liquid. Wrap each shrimp with bacon, hold in place with a toothpick on each end, and return to the Southern Comfort Agave nectar bowl.

Brush the hot grates with a napkin dipped in olive oil, (or if you have time and feeling funky fresh, cut an onion in half, and dip that in olive oil and brush the grates with it). Place the shrimp on the grill and cover. Let grill for about 4-5 minutes. Turn the shrimp (if you are using the amaretto, spray each shrimp before turning. note that amaretto is flammable and will cause a flare up but it should be real short lived). Cover and let cook another 5 or so minutes. Spray with amaretto again and turn if needed until bacon looks done to your liking.

ENJOY!

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Bacon Wrapped Grilled Lobster

Posted: February 21, 2012 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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Always trying  to outdo previous years, I decided to experiment this Valentines day with a new lobster dish. I will try my best to go with the measurements since this was a game time decision attempt at grilling excellence.

4 Lobster Tails (Shelled with meat carefully removed and cleaned)
4 Strips of your favorite bacon
Garlic Powder
Old Bay seasoning
Agave Nectar

Basting Sauce:
1 cup Southern Comfort
1/2 cup Butterscotch Schnapps
50mL of maple syrup (Grade B preferably) (one of those little small sampler jars is what I used)
A few shakes of garlic powder
Even more shakes of Old Bay
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
A couple of squeezes of a honey bottle

Heat the basting sauce ingredients in a sauce pan, letting it come to a calm boil. Pay attention to it, because depending on how much Old Bay you use, it can bubble up and over. Once all of the butter is melted and it has boiled for a couple of minutes, reduce heat and let simmer. Taste and add honey to your liking.

Season the lobster meat with the Old Bay and garlic powder. Then lightly drizzle the agave nectar over the meat. Carefully wrap each tail with bacon, securing the ends with toothpicks.

Prepare grill for direct grilling and brush hot grates with olive oil. Over medium to high heat add the lobster tail. Be ready to maneuver quickly, as this basting sauce is pretty flammable. After about a minute, start basting the the lobster tails. As the flames flare up, just gently move and rotate the lobsters. Close the grill and repeat this cycle every minute or two.

The goal is to cook until the bacon is done. Normally when I cook lobsters in the shell, they take only 10 minutes on the grill. I don’t know the science of it, but this method actually took about 20 minutes as I had to make sure the bacon was done. The bacon will take longer to cook with the constant turning, but it seems to protect the lobster and this was the juiciest lobster I have ever eaten in my entire life!

Enjoy!

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Grilled Cucumbers

Posted: September 16, 2011 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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So I had a taste for shrimp, and the wifey told me to pick up some veggies like asparagus and corn. Well since the store didn’t have corn and I don’t like asparagus, I had to find something that I/we could eat. Suddenly this English cucumber calls to me, “try me try me!!”. Hmmmm, what they hay, never heard of grilling this, could be interesting.

For the shrimp, try the “new” kc masterpiece spicy mango flavor marinade on shelled jumbo shrimp. Then use “seasoned skewers” (awesome if you’ve never tried them) I used “thai coconut lime”
So you get this outside mango flavor with inside coconut, deeeeeeeeeeee bomb.

The english cucumbers are the long ones usually in the plastic wrap. Cut it into 3s and then cut each 3rd into 4ths lengthwise to get your “spears”
Toss with olive oil to get nice and shiny.
Grab some Janes Krazy mixed up salt and some Smoky Sweet Pepper seasoning and head to the grill. Place cucumber flesh side down (just one side of the flesh, I didn’t do both sides, and grill for say 5 mins. Turn, and then season to taste with the two seasonings. Grill for about 5 more mins. You don’t want it to get too soggy, you want a lil level of crispiness.
Try the cucumbers while still warm or let cool off completely, I had them both ways and were delish. The missus is happy!

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Breakfast… on the grill (yeah, I said it)

Posted: June 4, 2011 in Breakfast, Food, On the grill
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Nothing unusual on our trip home from the day care this past Friday. I asked Nariah what did she want for dinner and after saying “You know what we haven’t had in a long time???? Breakfast food!“, I was sold on the idea. Then came the special request : “Can you grill breakfast food?”
“Can I grill breakfast food?”
“If you can grill breakfast food, then you can grill anything daddy!”
“I assure you baby, that I can grill breakfast food”
“You’re the best daddy ever!”

Now I’ve never grilled breakfast food before, but I do remember maybe middle school or high school time frame staying at my paternal grandparents and the power went out (or “current went out” as they say in the county) and Papa grilled some eggs on aluminum foil. That’s the extent of my breakfast knowledge. Building on that, here’s how you can secure your super parent status with your child, or for yourself, the food was that good. Even Toya was skeptical when I told her what we were doing and made the “I don’t know about this one” face, but she loved it.

Menu:
Scrambled eggs with fresh spinach, green peppers and orange peppers
Turkey bacon (the pork was frozen, didn’t feel like thawing out)
Maple sausage links
French Toast
Grilled home fries (strips)

Preparation:
Start grill and arrange hot coals for mostly direct heating. (Leave about 1/4th coal free to allow the potatoes to finish cooking with ease) 

Home fries:
2 large red new potatoes, halved lengthwise and then cut into strips (steak fry sized)
Toss strips in a bowl with olive oil and set aside

Scrambled eggs:
5 eggs mixed in a bowl
handful of diced green peppers
handful of diced orange peppers
2 large handfuls or more of fresh spinach leaves
1 tablespoon of butter
Garlic powder
Jane’s Krazy Salt (or salt and pepper)
2 slices of american cheese (or your favorite cheese) 

French toast:
6 slices of potato bread
2 eggs scrambled
About a cup of milk? (I didn’t measure, sorry, maybe it was in between that and 1/2 cup?)
4 shakes of nutmeg
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/2 shot of Disaronno Amaretto 
Mix ingredients except bread and set aside. 

Grilling:

Brush hot grates with olive oil soaked in a paper towel. Set a large cast iron skillet on grill to pre-heat. Lay potatoes across the coals and shake garlic powder and salt/pepper over them. They will burn fast so keep and eye out on them. When they brown to your liking, flip, season, and brown some more to your liking and then move to the “coal free” zone of the grill. Fold bacon into a ribbon (see pics) and place over coals along with the sausage. As soon as the meat is done (flipping and turning) remove to a plate and get ready for the eggs and french toast, these cook the quickest.

Add butter to the skillet and in about 10 seconds add the peppers. Wait about 30-45 seconds and then add the spinach. Dip potato bread into french toast mixture, coating both sides, and then lay over hot coals. When the spinach cooks down a little, add garlic and salt/pepper and then stir frequently as the spinach reduces. Check french toast and flip when needed. After one round of french toast are completed, start another batch and then add the eggs to the skillet. Let it sit and sizzle for a good 10-15 seconds before stirring. After about 30 seconds add your cheese and continue stirring until your desired doneness is reached and season to taste in this last leg of stirring. Remove eggs and remaining french toast to plate.

Check doneness of the potatoes and remove or continue to cook to your liking. The thinner ones will cook faster.

Serve and enjoy.
You can also grill pineapple rings sprinkled with brown sugar (we were out, so I couldn’t show you this go around)

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Amaretto Grilled Salmon

Posted: May 25, 2011 in Food, Main course
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Tried out some salmon, and I’m always looking for a new way to incorporate some flavors.  I’d heard about teriyaki & pineapple on the internet and never really tried it yet. Then one night at a party I was drinking amaretto when there was salmon served… and brain started clickin… Toya came up with the garlic and pepper, and I added the sugar and krazy salt for good measure. A few friends of mine have requested this recipe since having it at a cookout of ours (one in particular has been threatened by his wife that he must get this recipe, LOL).

A nice sized flank of salmon will do. And you will also need a cedar plank, found in most grocery stores near the seafood section or on amazon. Since the summer months are coming up, keep an eye out for woot.com to sell the planks, they are much cheaper. (They also have cedar plank wraps which I’ve grilled shimp in and I must say, I endorse).

Soak in your salmon in Disaronno Amaretto overnight. Soak your cedar plank in water also, (that’s what the instructions say, if you want to twist it up like I do, soak it in apple juice instead). Fire up the grill and with a rub down the top side of the cedar plank with a few dabs of olive oil. You don’t want it oily, just enough to make the fish slide a little. Place the salmon on the plank and season with minced garlic, Janes Krazy Salt, pepper, vanilla bean flavored cane sugar. Top the salmon with pineapple rings. Grilled covered until the edges start to turn white and the fish is flaky. It is preferred to grill this indirectly but if you have alot happening on the grill as I did in the photos below, direct grilling is fine.  The olive oil helps the fish slide off the place with out losing precious fish they may stick to the plank. Try it out for a light taste. (Its not as sweet as you guys are wondering)

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