Carrabba’s Chicken Bryan

I LOVE CARRABBA’S!!!

• 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp yellow onion, minced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup  fresh lemon juice
• 2/3 cup cold butter, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp kosher salt (I’m sure regular is just fine)
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 8 oz caprino cheese (which is a goat cheese and any goat cheese will work – my favorite is Drunken Goat cheese), room temp.

Saute garlic and onion in butter in a large skillet over medium heat until tender.  Stir in wine and lemon juice and increase heat to medium high and simmer to reduce by half.  Reduce heat to low and stir in cold butter, one at a time.  Stir in tomatoes, basil, salt and white pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Brush chicken breast with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill chicken over hot coals for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.   A couple of minutes before chicken is done, place equal amounts of cheese on each breast.  Spoon prepared sun-dried tomato sauce over chicken.

Grilled Veggies

•  2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 larges onion, cut into wedges
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced (and or banana pepper/Anaheim pepper)
• 3 large carrots, sliced into quarters and then cut about 2″ long
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 yellow neck squash, sliced
• 1 zucchini squash, sliced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Mrs. Dash seasoning, salt, pepper, dried rosemary – all to taste

 After cutting and preparing all the veggies, place in large mixing bowl and add olive oil and seasoning (this can also be substituted with your favorite Italian dressing) mix thoroughly and marinate for up to 2-3 hours before cooking.  Meanwhile, prepare a large foil basket.  Once veggies are all marinated, pour into foil basket and place on top of preheated hot grill.  Stirring occasionally to distribute heat and check for doneness.  Cook until veggies are al dente` (still a little crunchy).

Basically you can put just about any kind of veggie into this mix.  Try adding cubed potatoes cubed sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, or get REAL daring and add wedges of apples with squeezed lemon over them – (ooo – I just thought of another recipe I need to experiment with . . . NO, I’m not going to tell you until I know for sure if will work – stay tuned! )

Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs

Grilled Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs

• 1 lb shrimp, cleaned, shelled and deveined
• 1 lb scallops, cleaned
• 1 bunch green onions, cut into 2″ long pieces
• 12 grape tomatoes
• 1″ piece fresh ginger, grated
• 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Black pepper to taste

 Soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes to keep from burning.

Thread shrimp, green onion, tomato and scallops onto the skewers, alternating each.

Place skewers into a 9″x13″ roasting pan, with just enough water in pan to cover skewers.  Soaking them in water before grilling helps keep them from burning.  In a large bow, whisk together the ginger, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar and garlic.  Pour half of the mixture over the kabobs and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.  Reserve the other half of the mixture to baste the kabobs while grilling.  Preheat grill to medium heat.  Place the skewers on the grill.  Season with fresh black pepper.  Turn once and brush with soy mixture.  Cook until the shrimp and scallops are opaque throughout, about 6-8 minutes.  Remove from grill and serve with lemon or lime wedges.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Scallops

 

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Scallops

• 1 package bacon
• 1 lb scallops, rinsed and dried
• 2 Tbsp fresh sage, minced
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large lemon, cut into wedges

Soak toothpicks in water for about 30 minutes to insure they do not burn on the grill. 

In a 12″ sauté pan, bring 2″ of water to a simmer.  Place the bacon strips in the water and parboil* the bacon strips for about 3 minutes.  Set aside.  Wrap pieces of bacon around each scallop and thread with a toothpick to keep together.  Transfer the wrapped scallops onto a baking sheet (with sides).  Grill the scallops for 2-3 minutes per side over a medium hot fire.  Remove the scallops from the grill and serve hot with lemon wedges.

 

*Partially cooking food to boiling it in water before it is finished cooking using another method.

Grilled Margarita Pizza

• Pizza dough
• 2 ½ Tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz Fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 12 fresh basil leaves, chiffanade
• 2 small plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste

 With pizza dough at room temperature, preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat and place the stone pizza grill on and close grill lid.  Dust pizza peel and dough with corn meal and dust your hands and dough with flour.  Flatten the ball of pizza dough into a 12″ round.  Place dough onto pizza peel.  Give the pizza peel a shake before adding the toppings to make sure the dough has not stuck to the peel.  Top the dough with mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  With a quick motion, slide the pizza onto the heated pizza stone.  Close grill cover.  Bake undisturbed for 4 minutes.  Check the bottom of the pizza dough to prevent from burning.  Grill about 4 minutes longer.  Before serving top with fresh basil, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with a touch more olive oil.

Best Steak Marinade – EVER!

In a large skillet, sauté:

• One medium onion minced
• One medium bulb garlic pressed
• in about 2 Tbsp real butter

 Then mix in equal parts of:  About one cup each

•  Olive Oil
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Red Wine

And add:

• ½ cup sorghum molasses  
• 1 Tbsp Canadian steak seasoning, (which basically consists of black pepper, salt and garlic
• 1 Tbsp Rosemary-Garlic Seasoning, (which is dried rosemary and garlic) 

Heat to a slow boil to blend ingredients

Remove from heat and allow to cool before using,

Marinate steaks and pork for 6 to 12 hours depending on available time.

We don’t EVEN go out for steaks anymore, because it will only be a disappointment compared to what we can create at home.   And believe it or not, my favorite steak is a cut we get from Sam’s Club called a tenderloin strip, basically it’s a big FAT filet (without the bacon) and it IS by far the best!!!  DOUBLE YUM!!!

Grilled Spinach, Gorgonzola Pizza

• 6oz pizza dough
• Virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
• 2 Tbsp crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 4 – 5 Tbsp chopped canned tomatoes in heavy puree
• 8 – 10 fresh spinach leaves

Prepare hot charcoal fire, setting grell rack 3 – 4 inches above coals.  Spread and flatten pizza dough with hands on large, oiled inverted baking sheet into 10″ – 12″ free form circle, 1/8″ thick.  Do not make raised edge/

When possible to hold hand over coals 3 – 4 seconds at distance of 5″, lift dough gently with fingertips and drape onto grill.  Catch loose edge on grill first and guide remaining dough into place over coals.  Within 1 minute, dough will puff slightly, underside will stiffen and grill marks will appear.

Using tongs, flip crust over onto coolest part of grill.  Quickly brush grilled surface with olive oil.  Sprinkle with garlic, Fontina and Gorgonzola cheese. and tomatoes.  Drizzle 1 – 2 Tbsp olive oil over top.

Slide pizza back toward hot coals, but not directly over top.  Using tongs, rotate pizza frequently so different sections receive higher heat.  Check under side often for burning.  Pizza is cooked when top is bubbly and cheese melted, 6 – 8 minuters.  Top with fresh spinach and for a touch of sweetness, add about a Tbsp of raisins.

Johanne Killeen and George Germon own 2 of the most celebrated restaurants in Providence, R.I.: Lucky’s and Al Forno.  They are especially famous for their grilled pizzas.  This recipe is from their cookbook, Cucina Simpatica – Robust Trattoria Cooking.

Spicey Grilled Halibut

In a bowl combine the following:

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• lime wedges and or lime peel strips (optional)

1 lb fresh or frozen halibut steaks, cut 1 inch thick (for a serving of 4)  Thaw fish if frozen.  Rinse: pat dry with paper towels.  Cut into 4 serving-size pieces, if necessary.  Brush with a mixture of 1 Tbsp lime juice and 1 Tbsp water.  paprika, salt ginger, all spice and pepper: rub onto fish.

For grilling:

Place fish on foil and grill for 4 to 6 minutes per side on about a 450 degree grill.

For baking:

Arrange fish in a shallow baking pan.  Bake uncovered in a 450 degree oven for 8 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.  Brush fish with pan juices.  If desired garnish with lime wedges and or  peel strips. 

Or pan saute in olive oil and try adding fresh chopped cilantro – goes great on fish!

Try this Caribbean-style fish with Mango Salsa (see sauces).  You can also use the spice rub on other fish such as red snapper, orange roughy or flounder.

Rockin’ Ribs

• 2 Sides,  Baby Back pork ribs
• 1 six-pack Newcastle beer (gotta get this at the adult beverage store) or your favorite Dark Beer.  You’ll will actually only use enough bottles of beer to cover ribs.  12 to 24 hours prior to cooking, cover ribs with beer and let stand in the fridge.

When ready to cook, Prepare smoker, 200 degrees with a lot of smoke, I personally perferre Hickory.  Remove ribs from beer, (but save that beer).  Season ribs with rub of your choice.  Place ribs bone side down on grill, do not flip!  Smoke heavy for 2 hours, no hotter than 210 degrees.

Go drink a few cold beers.

After two hours remove from grill and place in large foil pan.  Pour ½ inch of that left over beer in the bottom of foil pan and place ribs in pan, bone side down.  Seal in ribs with foil over the top of foil pan and place in pre-heat kitchen oven at 200 degrees.  If you prefer BBQ sauce on your ribs, baste about an hour before the ribs are done cooking.  Remove from oven after about 4 hours.  Ribs will be moist and falling from the bone.

 

Less time if you desire very firm meat.

Best Grilled Salmon

1 large side of salmon, 5-6 lbs with skin on one side, skin side down.

Season with Lemon-Pepper to taste

Sprinkle with chopped fresh Dill

Cover with Brown Sugar, ¼ to 3/8 inch thick and pat firm

Sprinkle with Worcestershire Sauce evenly covering sugar.

Let stand for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 

Have grill ready at 300 – 350 degrees

Place Salmon on grill, skin side down, do not flip

Use remaining sauce from brown sugar and Worcestershire to baste.  Cook until fish is done to taste.  Use a fork to gently separate to determine Medium rare or medium.

 

Fish will retain moisture if not overcooked