On Our Grills September

I didn't catch the Weather Channel's forecast for Hades but I'm pretty sure the place has frozen over.

Why? Because I cooked tofu on the grill today.

Remember those “friends” of mine and their monthly “On Our Grills 4 Ingredient Challenge”? 

Yeah, I hate them.  Okay, hate might be a strong word but I'm certainly not fond of whoever picked this month's ingredients.  (I kid, we bust each other's chops a lot.)

Tofu

Peas

Potatoes

Cheese (or melon, depending which e-mail you read)

Tofu? Seriously. My first thought was to just grill it and drench it in BBQ sauce. But when I was buying tofu at the store I found an Italian sausage style tofu and thought I could make a vegetarian lasagna.

I sliced the potatoes thin on a mandolin and used that instead of lasagna noodles. I layered them on the bottom of a greased disposable pan and topped with some red pesto sauce. Next was sliced tofu, green pepper and onions. I topped it all with mozzarella and smoked cheddar cheese then repeated. 

Then one more layer of potatoes, pesto and cheese.

I covered with foil and cooked on my Big Green Egg at 325f for 45 minutes. I had it set up like a convection oven (plate setter, legs up).

Meanwhile, I used the peas to make The Hungry Housewife's Jumping For Joy PhillyPeas which have bacon. You know if I'm having a vegetarian main course then I am having meat in my side dish, right?

After the 45 minutes passed, I took the foil off of the lasagna and let it go 10 more minutes.

I let it cool and then served it with garlic bread.

Results

First the positives. The peas were creamy and every bit as delicious as Leslie said they would be. The lasagna LOOKED good and I thought it was a creative use of the ingredients.

But I did not like the lasagna and it was easily my least favorite dish of 2011. That's the ups and downs of this challenge. If you keep trying things you've never had or done before, you're going to have some bumps along the way.

Don't let my failure deter you from checking out what the rest of the gang came up with. This should be interesting.... (click the title to view their blog or website).

No Excuses BBQ:

Paul Haight started his blog in January,2009 as a way to record the author’s goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control.

Bob’s Brew & Que:

Bob Fukishima began his blog in August,2009 with the intent of sharing his views on food and drink. The blog was originally focused on BBQ and homebrew,but it was inevitable that the influences of his upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s wealth of ingredients,as well as his heritage as an American of Japanese ancestry would help focus his blog,as it has his approach to food and drink.

Grill Adventures:

Started in March,2010 by Marc Van Der Wouw as a way to document his journey to better and healthier eating. The grill has a special place in Marc’s heart. Everything he makes is an adventure. 

Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants:

Jerry Russell starting Cooking By The Seat Of My Pants as a way to document our culinary misadventures. Since then it has become our way to encourage people to cook without boundaries or recipes. To just get in the kitchen and cook something from the heart.

TheBBQ Grail:

Larry Gaian started his blog in 2007,initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet.

Livefire:

Livefire cooking is about taking ordinary cooking and adding the flavor of fire to it, whether in high heat grilling, low heat smoking or indirect heat for baking. It’s about taking the primitive element of fire and harnessing it to make great food.

TheDaily Dish

Kristina has been writing "The Daily Dish" for www.BetterRecipes.com for the past two years. The blog covers a wide variety of recipes, but firing up the grill truly lights up her passion for food! She was named "America's Next Pork Personality" by Guy Fieri for one of her grilled pork dishes, won the outdoor grilling division of the National Beef Cook-Off, and her winning grilled lamb-burger took her all the way to the land Down Under with Meat and Livestock Australia. The "4-Ingredient Challenge" is a fun and exciting way to get creative on the grill!

 

On Our Grills August

It is time for the monthly On OurGrills – 4 Ingredient Challenge. 

It's a monthly challenge (not contest) in which a group of grilling/BBQ friends are presented with a list of 4 ingredients that they must use to create a meal from the grill. The challenge ingredients for August are:

Protein: Beef Short Ribs

Vegetable: Celery

Starch: Gluten Free Pasta

Fruit: Peaches

I cheated on this one. I had an ace up my sleeve and I consulted the Gluten Free Grillmeister himself, Dave of Food and Fire for advice. I decided to TRY to make the entire meal gluten free. 

Beef Short Ribs

Full of connective tissues, these are a prime candidate for low and slow and/or braising. I went with both and used this Chris Lilly recipe that you can find at Grilling.com. I smoked the ribs as directed and used a mix of Kingsford and peach wood that I got from Larry last year (BigDude's Eclectic Ramblings). The second part of the cook braises them where I did slip up on gluten free since I could not get gluten free soy sauce.

Celery

Does celery even COUNT as a vegetable? I mean, it's fiber and water. Outside of “ants on a log” or as a side to hot wings, whoever wants celery? Actually I like the flavor of celery, it's the texture that I dislike. I hate biting into dishes and getting a huge, raw chunk of celery. I solved that problem tonight by using very thin slices on a bias. Just look at the difference.

Gluten Free Pasta

This was my biggest surprise. I expected some chewy, gross pasta substitute. We used Notta Pasta Rice Spaghetti and we LOVED it. I made a veggie pasta side dish on the grill while the beef rested.

On Our Grills Challenge Made Me Make This But I Really Liked It Pasta

Serves 2

2 Tbsp butter

1 stalk celery, sliced thin on a sharp bias

1 leaf sage, sliced

¼ cup roasted red pepper, diced

1 green onion, sliced

¼ tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt (gluten free, don't ya know!)

4 oz Notta Pasta Rice Spaghetti, cooked according to directions

Preheat a skillet over high heat and then add the butter. Saute celery and sage for 2 minutes.

Add the pepper, onion, and season salt. Saute another 1-2 minutes.

Add cooked pasta and toss to coat.

Peaches

Once the meat had smoked, I grilled the peaches over the peach wood embers while Alexis made our basic home made ice cream. Grilling fruit concentrates the natural sugars. 

After peeling and dicing the peach halves, Alexis poured about 1 Tbsp of Agave nectar over them and tossed them. The warm peaches melted the ice cream before I could get a decent photograph but the taste was well worth it. 

 

Smoke Hollow

I used 3/4ths of my SmokeHollow grill/smoker combo cooker for this dish.

• Offset Smoker – smoked the beef ribs until the point they were foiled
• Charcoal Grill – grilled the peaches over the peach wood embers
• Gas Grill – finished cooking the ribs once foiled, sauteed the veggies

I love our two Big Green Eggs but the Smoke Hollow combo cooker is great because I can be using 3 cooking surfaces at once doing different things. I want to get it out on our deck with the Eggs but need to get a 7 foot long grill cover first.

The On Our Grills Troupe

Check out the creative meals that the rest of the gang came up with:

The Daily Dish – August Challenge Post

Kristina has been writing "The Daily Dish" for www.BetterRecipes.com for the past two years. The blog covers a wide variety of recipes, but firing up the grill truly lights up her passion for food! She was named "America's Next Pork Personality" by Guy Fieri for one of her grilled pork dishes, won the outdoor grilling division of the National Beef Cook-Off, and her winning grilled lamb-burger took her all the way to the land Down Under with Meat and Livestock Australia. The "4-Ingredient Challenge" is a fun and exciting way to get creative on the grill!

The BBQ Grail – August Challenge Post

The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed on Alltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.

No Excuses BBQ – August Challenge Post

The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...

Oshawa Ogre's Views, News & BBQ's – August Challenge Post

Wilfred is somewhat of a newcomer to the BBQ scene having only done standard grilling for most of his 50 years, He found and became passionate about Low & Slow about 2 years ago. and that passion also morphed into a second hobby which is writing. Oshawa Ogre’s Views News & BBQ’s has been a project that has taken on a life of it’s own and blessed him with many many new friends in the BBQ community on Twitter, facebook and through the blog.

Grill Aventures – August Challenge Post

Grilladventures by broadcastmarc is started on march of 2010.I started the BBQ thing when I was 30,before that we eat a lot outside.have fun,but when the kids came in our life We start serious cooking.Most of it is realy healthy I think;-)The grill has a special place in my heart,We love to do things outside..Everything I make is an adventure,and sometimes we use the books.We try to grill as much as we can year round.

Jason's Barbecue Adventures – August Challenge Post

Jason’s BBQ Adventures was started in 2007 when Jason fell in love with real BBQ the first time and tried to smoked a pork shoulder and soon after started smoking ribs, brisket, and chicken. After a while he started to experiment with grilling and smoking just about anything and ultimately fell in love with the entire cooking process.

The Dutchess Cooks – August Challenge Post

After years of cooking, grilling, baking and reading other people’s blogs, I thought “why not start my own blog??” And I did, in 2010, but already after a short period of time, a blog wasn’t enough, and I started my own website. It’s not my goal to publish or come up with fancy and difficult recipes: just good and delicious food with an international twist! Straight from my plate to yours!

On Our Grills July

Each month, a group of bbq/grill enthusiasts participates in the “On Our Grills Challenge”. The challenge is to make a meal with a list of 4 random ingredients and at least the protein has to be cooked by some form of live fire.

Typically the ingredient list presents a difficult obstacle for us. This month's On Our Grills 4-Ingredient Challenge was mercifully easy:

hot dogs

baked beans

dill pickles

blueberries

We focused our efforts on the blueberries. I thought about doing odd things with the dogs, beans, and pickles but no matter what I did, it was going to distract from the essence of those items – their simplicity.  So I let those items be what they are. 

Hot dogs

The only thing creative I did here was that I grilled these beef franks direct over the gaps in the plate setter (Big Green Egg divider) while the beans cooked indirect at the same time.

Baked Beans

I did the basic doctored version of canned beans. I added the usual suspects: red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, bbq sauce, mustard, brown sugar and BBQ rub. Baked on the grill for 1 hour.

Dill Pickles

I thought about frying them, but nah. They are good enough on their own.  I can't wait to see what the others did because I know those guys came up with something whacky.

Blueberries

Alexis made a version of my mom's camp site cobbler. Biting into the crispy crust and sweet filling reminds me of camping in rustic Cades Cove with my parents several years ago, when I first had this dessert.

Dutch Oven Cobbler

½ stick butter, unsalted, melted

1 c sugar

½ c self rising flour

½ c milk

1 can blueberry pie filling

Start one half chimney of coal (about 30 briquettes). 

Mix together the butter, sugar, flour and milk.

Line the bottom of a #12 cast iron dutch oven with parchment paper. (Not a must but helps) Pour in the blueberry pie filling and spread evenly.

Pour the topping over the pie filling, covering as evenly as you can.

Put about 10 briquettes in a circle below your dutch oven.

And about 20 briquettes on the lid.

Bake for about 45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Rotate the bottom ¼ turn clockwise and the top ¼ turn counterclockwise every 15 minutes for even cooking.

Serve with confectioners sugar on top. 

Guaranteed camp site winner!

The On Our Grills group has grown a bit and I don't have the “bios” or “intros” for all the participants so this month, I will just list the links. Please stop by these other sites and see their spin on this month's 4 ingredient challenge. While I think this month is pretty straightforward, these folks always come up with something interesting!

Smoke-n-Brew 

The Dutchess Cooks 

Oshawa Ogre's Views News & BBQ 

The BBQ Grail 

No Excuses BBQ 

Jason's BBQ Adventures 

On Our Grills May

It is time again for the monthly "On Our Grills" challenge.

On Our Grills is a regular event that tests a collection of grilling/smoking geniuses and/or misfits are tested with making a meal around 4 ingredients.  The only rules are that you must use all of the ingredients and at least the protein must be cooked over some form of live fire (grilling, smoking, stir fire, cold smoking, flame thrower, molotov cocktail, etc).   

There is no winner or prize.  The whole point is to compare notes on how we all approached the menu, cooking techniques, and execution of the meal.  Plus it was a way to get us hard core grillers to realize there are more food groups than meat, bacon, bbq rub, and bbq sauce.  The ingredients for May 2011 were:

Chicken

Wild Rice

Fava Beans

"anything starting with the first letter of your name"

I chose chorizo

This is one of the easiest lists we have had.  Except for the fact I couldn't find fava beans in the 4 stores that I went to.  So I substituted butter beans. 

I also cheated had help.  My chicken dish was 99.9 1/2% stolen from inspired by Mike and Debbie Davis of the world championship BBQ team Lotta Bull.   I took their cooking class at Dead End BBQ this weekend and they did a kielbasa stuffed chicken breast.

So I did pretty much the same thing but used chorizo instead.   I had my Big Green Egg running at 350f set up for direct heat with my grid (grill grate) raised 2 1/2" inches.  I grilled a 4 ounce link of Johnsonville chorizo for about 20 minutes, turning 1/4 turn every 5 minutes.  I sliced it into 1/4" slices.

I sliced a pocket into the side of each chicken breast and stuffed 2-3 slices of chorizo in each.  Seal the edge with a couple of toothpicks.

Then I seasoned them with Lotta Bull's UnBullevable All Purpose Seasoning.  I had it on several things in the class and liked the flavors it brings.  You can order it online or use your favorite season salt or creole seasoning if you have to use what is on hand.

I remembered the toothpicks before grilling.

Finally, I grilled the chicken for about 24 minutes flipping every 5-6 minutes.   About halfway through, I applied a special oil based baste, super secret ingredient.  It comes in a plastic blue bottle, starts with a P and rhymes with "dark day".   I know a lot of BBQrs have used this for ribs on the pro circuit but this was my first time using it.

For the butter beans, I chopped two slices of bacon and par-cooked them in a tin.  Then I added the butter beans and 1 tsp of my rib rub.  I let that cook for about 1 hour on the grill.  Simple but Alexis said that they were the best beans she's eaten.

For the wild rice, I took the easy route, cooked it and served it inside of a reverse timbale of white rice.

The overall results were good.  I'll definitely be making the beans this way again.  Next time on the chicken, I'll butterfly the breasts instead (like Mike did) and season the inside too.  I wish I had done something more with the rice.  It was good but some chopped dried cherries would have been good or maybe some other add ins.

Check out the other participants below to see what they came up with using these same 4 ingredients.

Grill Grrrl- Adventures of a Girl on the Grill
Robyn Medlin is the "grill girl" behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This "grill girl" holds quarterly "Women's Grilling Clinics" as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick's flavor correspondent for their "This Week in Grilling Campaign", Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.
May Challenge Recipe

Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's May Challenge Recipe:


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's May Challenge Recipe

Bob’s Brew and ‘Que
Bob started Bob’s Brew and ‘Que in August of 2009 with the intent of sharing his views on food and drink. Originally focused on BBQ and Homebrew, it was inevitable that the influences of his upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s wealth of ingredients as well as his heritage as an American of Japanese ancestry would help focus his blog, as it has his approach to food and drink.
Bob’s May Challenge Recipe

No Excuses BBQ
The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...
No Excuses BBQ’s May Challenge Recipe

Grilling with Rich
I am a young person breaking into the great world of barbecue. I enjoy everything about barbecue from the culture to the food. I am just a regular guy trying to have fun and enjoy the food and the process of cooking the food on the grill.  At Grilling with Rich.com we go beyond just the normal cooking adventures and dig deeper into the large world of BBQ’ing, both professionally and for amateurs. Grilling with Rich focuses on the adventures of a regular guy and his quest to understand and learn as much as possible about the BBQ world.
Grilling with Rich's May Challenge Recipe

The Dutchess Cooks
About Hanneke: After years of cooking, grilling, baking and reading other people’s blogs, I thought “why not start my own blog??” And I did, in 2010, but already after a short period of time, a blog wasn’t enough, and I started my own website. It’s not my goal to publish or come up with fancy and difficult recipes:  just good and delicious food with an international twist! Straight from my plate to yours!
Dutchess' May Challenge Recipe 

On Our Grills February

It is time for the monthly "On Our Grills" where a group of slightly imbalanced fools brave culinary adventurers take on 4 mystery ingredients.  The only rule is that the protein component must be cooked with some sort of live fire (grill, smoke, fire roast, etc).   The idea is to push our comfort zone, try new things, and compare notes on how we each approached the challenge.   February's challenge ingredients are:

lamb chops

napa cabbage

blood orange

elbow macaroni

I struggled with coming up with a menu that went together because napa cabbage is naturally used in Asian dishes and lamb chops seem anything but.  I thought about using the orange to make a marinade for the chops or a vinaigrette for a napa slaw.   I would never do well if this was a timed contest because it took me about 3 hours to finally decided what to make.

Blood Orange

I decided on a orange salad that Sam & Meakin of My Carolina Kitchen brought to our blogger get together last spring.   It is a simple mix of blood orange, thin sliced red onion, olives, feta cheese, and a vinaigrette.  Since this salad is sweet and tart, I made a vinaigrette to match.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, ground to paste

2 pinches salt

black pepper

1 Tbsp agave nectar

3/4 cup olive oil

Alexis and I gobbled this down while the rest of dinner came together.  

Elbow Macaroni

This was the component that I just "mailed in".   I simply cooked the noodles, tossed them with jarred sun dried tomato pesto, and feta cheese.

Lamb Chops

I choose to use loin chops instead of the rib chops that most people associate with "lamb chops" because I wanted to be different than everyone else.  It was a strategic decision.  (<---He's lying, it was the only kind of chops they had for sale.)   I consulted Derrick Riches from About.com for some general ideas for cooking times and flavors.  I marinated them for an hour in a mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano.   I grilled them over direct heat at 400f for 5 minutes per side until they were an internal temp of 140f.  

Napa Cabbage

This was the shocker for us.  I went with a recipe for Napa Cabbage Gratin from Slashfood SOLELY because it was the first napa recipe that was not an Asian slaw, salad, or spring roll.   This turned out to be the star of the meal, a total surprise for us.   

Napa Cabbage Gratin

adapted from Slashfood

3 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 head napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp nutmeg, fresh ground
2 Tbsp sherry
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup half and half
3/4 cup smoked manchego cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425f.  Melt butter and saute onions until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add the napa cabbage and sherry, cover with lid and cook 7-8 minutes. 

Add the nutmeg, half and half, and about half of the cheese, tossing with tongs.  Season with salt and pepper - I just used a couple of pinches of each.  Cover and let simmer for a for more minutes.   I think part of what made this dish so great was the manchego cheese.   It was a batch that I cold smoked at Christmas and has aged very well.  

Divide the mixture into 3 gratin dishes.  Mix the remaining cheese and bread crumbs together and use this mix to cover the gratin dishes.  Bake until the top is golden brown, which was about 35 minutes for us.

Results

This was a probably my favorite challenge meal yet because we were 4 for 4, firing on all cylinders.  I found out that I actually LIKE lamb when I make it instead of eating it at a restaurant.  The salad was as good as when Sam made it and the napa gratin was crazy good.  

Check out the other participants below to see what they came up with using these same 4 ingredients.

Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's February Challenge Recipe:


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's February Challenge Recipe

Bob’s Brew and ‘Que
Bob started Bob’s Brew and ‘Que in August of 2009 with the intent of sharing his views on food and drink. Originally focused on BBQ and Homebrew, it was inevitable that the influences of his upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s wealth of ingredients as well as his heritage as an American of Japanese ancestry would help focus his blog, as it has his approach to food and drink.
Bob’s February Challenge Recipe

No Excuses BBQ
The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...
No Excuses BBQ’s February Challenge Recipe

Grilling with Rich

I am a young person breaking into the great world of barbecue. I enjoy everything about barbecue from the culture to the food. I am just a regular guy trying to have fun and enjoy the food and the process of cooking the food on the grill.  At Grilling with Rich.com we go beyond just the normal cooking adventures and dig deeper into the large world of BBQ’ing, both professionally and for amateurs. Grilling with Rich focuses on the adventures of a regular guy and his quest to understand and learn as much as possible about the BBQ world.

Grilling with Rich's February Challenge Recipe 

On Our Grills January

These are challenging times....

The On Our Grills challenge is a monthly challenge where a group of grillers is challenged with creating a meal based around 4 ingredients and at least the protein has to be cooked on the grill (or some sort of live fire). There is no winner and no one gets voted off. It is just an exercise in creativity and pushes ones culinary preferences. This month's ingredients are:

Ground Beef
Quinoa
Winter Squash
Pear

Hmmmm how about a quinoa, squash, pear burger? No? Okay, instead I went with an "upscale diner" theme.


To be perfectly honest, this month's challenge was full of "near-hits". Except for the chopped steak patty (which was a no brainer), I would have changed everything else next time.

Ground Beef
I made a diner classic of chopped steak with mushroom gravy. I mixed the beef with some panko, egg, minced onion, minced garlic, S & P and of course worchestershire sauce. Grilled it 5 minutes a side. The gravy was sauted crimini mushrooms, a dark roux, demi glace and a cup of beef broth.
Quinoa
I used red quinoa to make mini stuffed cherry peppers. I parboiled the peppers. The stuffing was simply cooked quinoa, mushrooms, shallot, the pepper tops, and cilantro. The flavor was good but the stuffing needs some cheese mixed in to help bind it together and to keep moist.

Winter Squash
Instead of the ubiquitous diner mac and cheese, I opted for Butternut Squash Gratin. It was an adaptation from Joy of Cooking. The flavor was good but Alexis and I both agreed it needs something more in texture. It was too soft like a souffle. Next time I think I'd add double the amount of flour and a 1/2 cup of corn kernals. The good news is that it cooked quite well on the grill.

Pear
I was going to substitute dessert with a pear crisp for diner apple pie but I ran out of time and patience. So I simply fire roasted the bosc pears topped with gorgonzola, a trick I stole from Greg at SippitySup. I drizzled agave nectar over them to finish.

Again, not my most successful outing but I did learn a few things in the process.

Check out the other participants to see what they came up with using these same 4 ingredients.

About the "On Our Grills" 4 Ingredient Challenge Bloggers

Grill Grrrl- Adventures of a Girl on the Grill
Robyn Medlin-Lindars is the "grill girl" behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This "grill girl" holds quarterly "Women's Grilling Clinics" as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick's flavor correspondent for their "This Week in Grilling Campaign", Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.
Robyn's January Challenge Recipe

Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's January Challenge Recipe:


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's January Challenge Recipe


Into the Flames
Rob launched Into The Flames in the summer of 2010 as a way to share his passion for cooking, eating, and exploring food.
Link Pending


No Excuses BBQ
The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...
No Excuses BBQ’s January Challenge Recipe

December On Our Grills Challenge

I have very little experience with kumquats. Scratch that, I have very little experience EATING or COOKING with kumquats.

Epicurious tells us that:

The edible golden orange rind is sweet, while the rather dry flesh is very tart. The entire fruit — skin and flesh — is eaten, and very ripe fruit can be sliced and served raw in salads or as a garnish. The kumquat is more likely to be found cooked, however, either candied or pickled whole or in preserves or marmalades. Fresh kumquats are available from November to March.

What they fail to mention is that they are also very aerodynamic. When I was a kid in Florida, one of my neighborhood friends had a kumquat tree in his yard. We never ate many but we had many a "kumquat battle", pelting each other with the tiny fragrant fruits.

What does all of that have to do with today's post? Well it's that time of month again, the On Our Grills challenge where a group of grillers is challenged with creating a meal based around 4 ingredients and at least the protein has to be cooked on the grill (or some sort of live fire). There is no winner and no one gets voted off. It is just an exercise in creativity and pushes ones culinary preferences. This month's ingredients are:

flank steak
kumquats
beets
gnocchi

Wow. Ok, flank steak and kumquats was easy, I went straight to a marinade idea with the kumquats.

1/4 cup ginger - soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 whole kumquats, pulverized in a mini food processor
2 dried red chilies
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger sea salt from Marx Foods
1/4 cup peanut oil

I marinated the steak for 3 hours.

I'd never cooked fresh beets before so I followed the process in Joy of Cooking for roasting them (roasting covered in a pan with a little water). But I added some mirin in the roasting pan to follow the Asian them that the steak started. And of COURSE, instead of the oven, I used Alexis' Big Green Egg to roast them for an hour at 375f. When they finished I peeled them, cut them up and tossed them in some butter and fennel pollen.

When that was about half way though, I fired up my Big Green Egg.

I grilled the flank steak for 4 minutes per side at 450-500f.

As soon as that came off the grill to rest, I put my wok on the grill and stir fired (stir frying on the grill) some store bought gnocchi and a sauce made of
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp cold water
3 tsp crunchy peanut butter
3 tsp teriyaki sauce
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1 dried red chili

I added in:
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup shredded carrots

The results were surprisingly good.

• The steak was perfectly medium rare and was flavorful but I could have used more of the Asian and citrus flavors. I think a longer marinade time would help that. And sriracha in the marinade would be nice too.
  
• The gnocchi stir fry was delicious and I will definitely make that again.
• The beets...ummm....yeah. I just didn't care for their "earthy" taste. They also could have cooked another 15 minutes. I wish I had gone with my first impulse and use them in some pot stickers.

Check out the other participants to see what they came up with using these same 4 ingredients.

About the "On Our Grills" 4 Ingredient Challenge Bloggers

Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's December Ingredient Challenge Recipe:


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's December Challenge Recipe


Into the Flames
Rob launched Into The Flames in the summer of 2010 as a way to share his passion for cooking, eating, and exploring food.
Rob's December Challenge Recipe


No Excuses BBQ
The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...
No Excuses BBQ’s December Ingredient Challenge Recipe


Bob’s Brew and ‘Que
Bob started Bob’s Brew and ‘Que in August of 2009 with the intent of sharing his views on food and drink. Originally focused on BBQ and Homebrew, it was inevitable that the influences of his upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s wealth of ingredients as well as his heritage as an American of Japanese ancestry would help focus his blog, as it has his approach to food and drink.
Bob’s December Challenge Recipe

October: On Our Grills 4 Ingredient Challenge

It is the last Monday of the month which means it is time for the On Our Grills 4 ingredient challenge.

Each month we are given a list of 4 random ingredients (a protein, starch, vegetable, and fruit) and we have to create a meal utilizing all of them. Of course On Our Grills implies (i.e. explicitly states) that this is cooked with live fire, so at least the protein has to be cooked on a grill/smoker.

This month the 4 ingredients are:

Protein: Shrimp
Starch: Focaccia bread
Vegetable: Broccoli
Fruit: Pomegranate

I knew Alexis had my back on the focaccia, she's the resident bread queen, so all I had to worry about was the other three ingredients. Fortunately, I had an ace up my sleeve. A few weeks ago I won a pair of cookbooks from the seafood restaurant, McCormick and Schmick's courtesy of Greg at SippitySup. (Thanks dude!)
Fettuccini Alfredo with Herbed Goat Cheese and Grilled Shrimp
adapted from McCormick and Schmick's



3/4 lb fettuccini
1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 cup vinaigrette
2 Tbsp garlic chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups cream (reduce to 1 cup by simmering for 15-20 minutes)
5 ounces herbed goat cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh shredded

1 head broccoli, cut into 1" pieces, fresh rinsed, water still on
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup chicken stock

Before getting all of that started, Alexis started her focaccia bread on her grill. It was our first focaccia so she just followed this recipe from Bon Appetit. She skipped the olives and used McCormicks Mediterranean Season Salt.

Then I had to cheat. I didn't have pomegranate. But I did have Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar...

...and the recipe called for a vinaigrette, so I whisked one up

1/4 cup pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1 large clove garlic, mince
1 dried red chili, crushed
2 Tbsp parsley finely chopped

and marinated the shrimp for 1 hour.


Alexis cooked the fettuccini and cream sauce inside because I'm not going to try to boil water on the grill. For the cream sauce, saute the garlic in butter for a minute. Add the reduced cream sauce, goat cheese, and parmesan and simmer over low heat. We used goat cheese instead of Boursin that McCormick's used because I had it and needed to use it.


Then I "stir fired" the broccoli on my grill running at about 300f direct. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil and the garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes for about 1 minute. Add the broccoli (still damp from rinsing) and stir fry another 2 minutes. Add the broth, cover and let steam for another 3-5 minutes, depending how firm you like your broccoli.

Next, I grilled the shrimp. The fire had gotten to just over 400f from being open during the stir frying so I only had to do them about 2 minutes a side.


Then it is as simple as tossing it all together.


I was expecting NOT to like the shrimp because of the pomegranate but I'll admit I was wrong. That is the beauty of this challenge because I would not have used pomegranate flavored anything if it wasn't part of the challenge. And I learned that I like it after all.

The cream sauce was okay but I expected more flavor from the herbed goat cheese. I'll try this again but use the Boursin cheese instead. Overall, I was very happy with the results and I would make this dish again.

Curious about what other people did with the 4 ingredients? Check them out:

Grill Grrrl- Adventures of a Girl on the Grill
Robyn Medlin is the "grill girl" behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This "grill girl" holds quarterly "Women's Grilling Clinics" as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick's flavor correspondent for their "This Week in Grilling Campaign", Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.
October Challenge Recipe


Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc (our newest blogger from the Netherlands!)
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's Ingredient Challenge Recipe


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's October Challenge Recipe


Into the Flames

Rob launched Into The Flames in the summer of 2010 as a way to share his passion for cooking, eating, and exploring food. His October Challenge Recipe:


No Excuses BBQ

The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author’s goal of barbecuing at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control; two years later the streak is intact and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. In the process, No Excuses BBQ has become a fairly popular BBQ location on the web and is listed as one of the top BBQ blogs on Alltop.com.
NO Excuse's October Ingredient Challenge Recipe: