Kofta in Pita Pockets with Cucumber-Tomato Salad

Katie is a voracious reader and while we love the beauty of inter-library loans requested from the comfort of our home, sometimes we need to actually go to the library so she can discover a new series to read. On one such visit Steve found a Weber grilling cookbook that he decided to check out. We ended up liking the recipes so much we bought our own copy. Since then we've made quite a few delicious recipes, including this one for Kofta in Pita Pockets with Cucumber-Tomato Salad.



The time I took this picture we opted to serve the patties as a platter with the salad, couscous, hummus, yogurt sauce and pita on the side. I think I prefer it this way but the pita pockets are delicious, too, if messy.

Kofta in Pita Pockets with Cucumber-Tomato Salad
From Weber's Greatest Hits

1 cup chopped cucumber (skin and seeds removed)
1 cup chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 cup finely minced red onion
kosher salt

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

3 pita breads, with pockets
olive oil
yogurt sauce (see below)

In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, tomatoes and onion. Season with salt and stir to combine. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together the ground beef through the turmeric. Use your hands to make sure everything is well incorporated. Gently shape the mixture into six patties of equal size, about 3/4-inch thick. With your thumb, make a shallow indentation about 1-inch wide in the center of each patty. This will prevent it from doming as it cooks. Refrigerate the patties until you're ready to grill.

Prepare the grill for direct and indirect cooking over medium-high heat.

Lightly sprinkle the pita with water and wrap them in foil, sealing the packet closed.

Brush the cooking grates clean. Brush the patties on both sides with canola oil. Grill over direct medium-high heat, with the lid closed, until cooked to medium, 7 to 9 minutes, turning once. At the same time, warm the pita packet over indirect heat for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. Remove from the grill.

Cut each pita in half. Scoop about 3 tablespoons of the salad into each pita half. Spoon some of the yogurt sauce on top and then place a patty into each pita half. Top with more salad and dressing, if desired.

Yogurt Sauce

1 cup plain greek nonfat yogurt
1 cup shredded cucumber (skin and seeds removed)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small garlic clove, grated
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients together and let sit so the flavors can meld.

Grilled Shrimp with Anchovy Butter

Heeeeeeeeeey!!! I am SUPER excited to announce that we're officially in the new house. Squeeeeeeeee! It's been a crazy whirlwind these last few months but we're settling in and, shockingly, we're finding that this house already feels like home. Here are some photos of our new digs, including the listing photo of the kitchen:







I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about cooking in this kitchen. It may look nice, but it was most definitely NOT designed by someone who enjoys cooking. For starters, there's no triangle. And insufficient storage. Heck, there isn't even a silverware drawer. Needless to say, a kitchen remodel is on the horizon...just as soon as we save up the necessary funds to do it right. We'll be knocking down the wall where the stove is and expanding into the space that was previously the dining room. That's why we turned the formal living room into the dining room.



Sigh. We are just so in love with the space, the neighborhood, everything. I still can't quite believe we pulled it off. But enough about the new house...on to the recipe! I first had grilled shrimp with anchovy butter at least 20 years ago (likely closer to 25...eeek!) at Hamilton's Grillroom. It's been a staple on their ever-changing menu for all this time, and for good reason - it's delicious. And so simple. They serve massive shrimp at the Grillroom, but all I had on hand were these smaller ones. It doesn't make too much of a difference, but I may splurge on larger shrimp next time so they can spend a bit more time on the grill and get that wonderfully smoky char.

Grilled Shrimp with Anchovy Butter
Inspired by Hamilton's Grillroom

1/2-lb shell-on shrimp, any size (go for the larger ones, if you can)
6 tablespoons butter
half a tin of anchovies
crusty bread, for serving

Prepare your grill. If the shrimp are on the smaller side, place them on skewers so they're easier to flip. Grill until just pink.

Meanwhile, melt the butter with the anchovies in a small skillet. You want the anchovy filets to melt into the butter.

When the shrimp are cooked, divide them evenly on plates. Top each with some of the anchovy butter. Serve with slices of crusty bread to sop up all the delicious butter.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Brown Sugar Grilled Onions

From the moment Cassie posted these Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Brown Sugar Grilled Onions on Instagram I fell in love. I hounded her to write up a blog post so I could make them and, happily, she obliged.

I was finally able to put them on the menu recently and all I can say is wow. These are incredible. Absolutely delicious. The citrus from the orange juice really comes through and I love the tang of the BBQ sauce with the pickles and the sweet onions. Heaven.

The only change I made was to sub the Italian dressing in Cassie's recipe for olive oil and the seasonings that go into the dressing. We don't keep bottled Italian dressing on hand and since I had almost all the spices I needed I figured I'd just make my own marinade.

You have got to try these sandwiches. You won't be sorry. I'm already plotting when I can make them again.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Brown Sugar Grilled Onions
As seen on Cassie Craves, spice mixture adapted from allrecipes

4 chicken breasts
olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
dash of seasoned salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 orange
2 teaspoons chili powder
BBQ sauce

1-2 large sweet Vidalia onions, sliced into thick rings
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 sandwich buns, cut in half
Butter
Sliced pickles
Mayonnaise

In a large food storage bag, combine the oil, seasonings, Worcestershire, orange juice, and chili powder. Add the chicken, close the bag, and toss to combine. Marinate overnight.

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Toss together the onion rings, olive oil, brown sugar, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the onions and cook until they are tender and charred. Remove to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Add the chicken to the grill. Cook chicken 5 minutes on one side, brush with BBQ sauce, then flip and cook 4 minutes. Brush the other side with BBQ sauce. With one minute left to cook, top each chicken breast with some of the cheese. Cover the grill pan with foil and let the cheese melt. Remove from the pan.

While the chicken is cooking, butter the cut side of the buns and toast them.

Serve each chicken breast topped with a pile of onions, some more BBQ sauce, pickles and mayonnaise.

Tropical Chicken Kabobs

As summer winds down I've been thinking back to some of my favorite summer meals. One thing I loved this summer were skewers. My favorite was definitely the Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, but really you can thread some meat and veggies on skewers, grill them up and my family will devour them. These Tropical Pork Kabobs were no exception.

I rarely cook pork so the first thing I did was swap it out for chicken. I also prefer to keep each ingredient on its own skewer(s) since they have different cooking times. I goofed and forgot to defrost the chicken early enough to marinate it overnight, something I highly recommend so the flavors have time to really seep into the meat.

We all enjoyed this with couscous. There really is nothing like grilled meat and veggies in the summer.

Tropical Chicken Kabobs
As seen on The Barbee Housewife, from So Tasty, So Yummy

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 pineapple or 1 20 oz. can, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 onion, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 zucchini, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 lb. whole button mushrooms

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, garlic, chili garlic sauce, and brown sugar. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the marinade. Place the chicken and the marinade, in a plastic bag, keeping the reserved aside. Marinate overnight.

Pre-heat the grill. Skewer the chicken, pineapple, onion, zucchini, tomatoes and mushrooms. Place the skewers on the grill, baste with the reserved marinade every time you turn the skewers. Cook until the chicken is done, about 6 minutes per side. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Grilled Sriracha Broccoli

When I was trying to come up with sides for my recipe swap, these delicious Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, I remembered my friend Mary Ellen raving about grilled broccoli. She's made a few variations but this Grilled Sriracha Broccoli sounded like the perfect accompaniment to the chicken skewers.

I've never grilled broccoli before but I think it's my new favorite way to prepare it. I used my charcoal grill since I needed it for the chicken skewers, but I'll definitely try my indoor grill pan as well. I had 3 broccoli crowns so I should have doubled the sauce - it was delectable. We were dragging our pieces through the sauce left at the bottom of the baking dish. So, so good.

The broccoli had a nice smoky flavor and the heat from the sriracha wasn't too overpowering (I used maybe 2 teaspoons) and was offset by the sweetness from the hoisin sauce. I can't wait to make this one again.

Grilled Sriracha Broccoli
As seen on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce (more or less depending on your tolerance for spice)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 large head of broccoli cut into three sections

Whisk the first five ingredients to make the glaze.

Pour the glaze evenly onto the broccoli and spread with a brush.

Place flat side down on a hot grill. Grill 4 minutes, flip and grill 2-3 more minutes until charred and slightly tender. Serve immediately

Recipe Swap: Bang Bang Chicken Skewers

If you've ever been to a Bonefish Grill you've probably had their famous Bang Bang Shrimp, delicious fried shrimp coated in a creamy, spicy sauce. I've always wanted to try making them at home but I'm not a big fan of frying - it's messy and leaves the whole house smelling for days. For the grilling recipe swap I received Caroline's recipe for Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, a grilled knockoff version of the dish that uses chicken instead of shrimp (although if I'd had shrimp I would have used them, too).

In my opinion, the most important part of any make-at-home version of the Bang Bang Shrimp is the sauce. This was the perfect combination of creaminess from the mayo, sweetness from the chili sauce and spice from the sriracha. We both enjoyed the sauce mixed with smokiness from the grill.

We both love fried food as much as the next person, but this grilled version was pretty awesome. I think I may prefer it simply because of the fat and calories, not to mention the heaviness that comes with fried food. I felt like I could eat more of the chicken because it was grilled vs. fried. I can't wait to try this recipe with shrimp - I know it's going to be amazing.

To see what other grilling recipes were made for the swap scroll down past the recipe to the LinkUp. Thanks to everyone for participating, especially Caroline for submitting this recipe.

UPDATE June 2014: I don't make this recipe with red pepper anymore. I've been making it with grape tomatoes, red onion, zucchini, and mushrooms for awhile now, so I thought I'd update the recipe. Soon I'll get around to reblogging it, but for now I've simply updated the recipe below.

Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
Modified from The Barbee Housewife, originally from Center Cut Cook

4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 zucchini, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 red onion, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 12-oz package of mushrooms, cut in half
1 pint grape tomatoes
Olive oil, a few tablespoons for drizzling
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
2 teaspoons chile garlic sauce, or more to taste

Soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes before using. You can also use metal skewers.

Thread the chicken, zucchini, onion, mushrooms and tomatoes onto the skewers (keep each thing separate since they have different cooking times). Drizzle the chicken and veggies with oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, and chile garlic sauce. Set aside.

Pre-heat your grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Add the skewers. Cook the veggies for 6-8 minutes, or until tender, and the chicken 10-12 minutes.

Remove the skewers from the grill and let rest a few minutes. Remove the chicken and veggies from the skewers before eating. Toss the chicken with the sauce and serve alongside the veggies.

Bruschetta Burgers

We had a taste of summer a few weeks ago and I scrapped my original dinner plans to grill the first burgers of the season. I even made the fire myself (we use a charcoal grill). I was so excited to grill - it's been a long winter cooking burgers indoors and I've missed that smokey flavor. Those burgers were so delicious I immediately went looking for another burger recipe to make the following week and remembered Cassie's Bruschetta Burgers.

I immediately vetoed the idea of making my own bruschetta for two reasons - I was lazy and our supermarket makes an awesome version for their olive/appetizer bar. I plan to make my own this summer when tomatoes are in season and I'm growing my own basil but for now the store-bought was fine. I also decided to sub fresh mozzarella for the provolone because, well, I can't get enough of fresh mozzarella.

These were delicious, sort of like the caprese burgers I loved last summer. The garlic butter on the buns was an awesome touch and I especially loved the balsamic mayo, which Baby Girl was eating by the spoonful. Thanks for a killer burger, Cassie!

Bruschetta Burgers
As seen on Cassie Craves, inspired by Cookies and Cups

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (more to taste, if desired)

6 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup basil, sliced into a chiffonade
1/4 cup finely-shredded asiago cheese
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra-virgin olive oil (I usually use a couple of tablespoons)

4 hamburger burger patties
Salt and pepper to taste
4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

4 sandwich buns
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Pinch each of salt and pepper

Combine the mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl; refrigerate until serving.

Combine tomatoes, basil, asiago, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil in another small bowl; cover and refrigerate until serving.

Season burger patties with salt and pepper and grill, turning once, until desired doneness. Top each patty with a slice of cheese and remove from heat.

Combine butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Spread evenly over each bun half and place buttered-side-up on a baking sheet. Broil or toast until browned and fragrant.

Serve the hamburgers on the garlic bread buns, topped with a generous pile of bruschetta and a slather of the balsamic mayonnaise.

Grilled Shrimp with Anchovy Butter

One of our favorite restaurants for special occasions serves a grilled shrimp with anchovy butter appetizer that I've always wanted to try making at home. We had some jumbo shrimp leftover from Christmas Eve dinner and my parents were coming over, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.


I grilled the shrimp until they were just barely cooked through. The smoke from the charcoal grill is imperative for this recipe since that's what gives the shrimp most of its amazing flavor. For the anchovy butter I melted a few tablespoons of butter in a pan and then added half a tin of anchovies. The anchovies melted into the butter, which I then drizzled over each serving. A squeeze of lemon adds brightness to the dish, accentuating all the flavors.

A Hawaiian Inspired Dinner

I was wracking my brain trying to come up with a BBQ menu for dinner on Sunday. We were having our friends C and D over for dinner and this was the first time they were going to taste my cooking. I wanted it to be special but I didn't feel like making burgers, hot dogs and potato salad - my usual BBQ fare. Then I remembered the excellent meal we'd had at C and T's last month and decided to use that as my inspiration.

For starters SP wanted to do a taste test of two different wing sauces: the traditional Frank's:


... and Texas Pete's:


The consensus was that Frank's was world's better. We all liked the tang of the Frank's and found that while Texas Pete's was spicy, there was no zip, no pizazz.

For side dishes I made a Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad that I first saw on JoJo's blog:


Once I saw the recipe I knew it would be good, but I had no idea how good. This was fantastic in every way. The only changes I made were that I grilled the corn (and probably used way more than 2 cups since I had 5 ears of corn) and I used seeded fresh Jersey tomatoes but otherwise I followed the recipe. SP thinks it was the fact that the salad was served at room temperature that made it so great. Honestly, I don't know. All I know is that this is now my go-to corn salad. The corn I got at the farmer's market was sweet and succulent and it married perfectly with the creamy, buttery avocado and the ripe tomato. The brightness of the cilantro and lime juice brought everything together. Our friends couldn't stop eating it. A definite winner.

I knew I wanted to serve pineapple rice and luckily a friend had a good recipe.


I used basmati rice because we love the flavor (and it smells divine while it's cooking), but I misread the recipe and ended up with 4 cups of rice instead of 2. It made plenty for 4 hungry people with enough for leftovers, but there wasn't enough pineapple, cilantro and serrano for my taste. Next time I'll double those ingredients to match the rice.

I also made skewers of various vegetables:

... including pineapple, mushrooms, green pepper and red onion, as well as chicken and sirloin steak marinated in lime, lemon and pineapple juices, ginger, vodka and garlic:




Unfortunately it rained while we were grilling so we couldn't eat outside, but we had just as much fun indoors. Here's my plate:


... with plenty of pineapple rice, corn salad and skewers. As if that wasn't enough, C made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing:


By now you should know of my obsession with cake, so this was the perfect ending to a scrumptious meal.