Grillin’ With Gordon at Home

Welcome to Grillin’ With Gordon at Home

Orange Bromeliads

We had been putting off buying a home grill until we had started building our Outdoor Kitchen, but seeing as how it is taking longer than expected, Gordon decided to go ahead and buy one for our lanai. He then gave it to me for Mother’s Day. How thoughtful.

Now grilling out is becoming an every weekend event.

Hope we might entice you to try it yourselves.

Julie and Gordon Whann

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Relaxing on the Lanai

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Father’s Day Grillin’

This is Becoming Our Most Favorite Spot on our Property

Our lanai

Limoncello and Limon Rum Cocktails

with Edible Flowers

Our Apps Were Delicious

Salmon Sushi with Wasabi

Grilled Scallops

Artichoke Casserole with Wheat Thin Crackers

Gordon enjoying his cocktail and a gift from me, to him.

A Beautiful Succulent Hive

Edible Flowers

My Cocktail of Limcello, Limon Rum, Lemons, Edible Flowers, Lemon/Lime Sparkling Water, and Lemon Water.

It’s just a matter of getting the measurements right. I do tend to just eyeball this, but I use an entire bottle of Limoncello Liquor, then I just add the lemon/lime sparkling water, Volcanic lemon juice, (or regular lemon juice), and some lemon water. Usually, I will have to add some sugar just to balance out the tart taste, but this was the first batch I have ever made where I didn’t have to add any. Huh? I guess I finally found that balance. That’s what comes from making something over and over again… You finally get it right.

Starry, Starry, Night Dress

(p.s. The story behind all the orange. This is my grandmother’s vintage wrought iron patio set that I inherited from her after she died. My grandmother’s favorite color was orange. So when it came time to buying new cushions, I bought the orange color for her, because I knew she would approve. She loved nothing more than sitting outside fanning herself on this furniture. So if possible, she still is. 🙂 )

To ME the orange represents coral from the sea.

Also our house paint is a peachy coral anyway.

We even had a fish hawk, osprey, to drop by.

Veronica and Gordon

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The Dinner

Love All The Green

Grilled Salmon with a Pesto Sauce

Also Asparagus

The Fish Thingy is Another Father’s Day Gift from me

Brodie and Veronica

Veronica, left, and one of our many sponges we find on the beach.

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Meanwhile, Cooking the Rice

Gordon adding some hot peppers to add more flavor.

Jasmine Rice Really is the BEST!

Just plop the peppers into the rice cooker with your rice and water and it flavors the rice.

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The Asparagus

Most asparagus is very woody at the root end. Some say to bend the root end until it breaks, but I simply cut off the last inch of the root end of the stalk and never had an issue with the tougher woody end. Now, boil the asparagus for about 10 min. in a large pot of water, then drain well and saute on medium heat in a large pan with 1/2 cup lemon juice and two Tbsp. of butter, until the lemon juice is reduced to half, about another 8 min. time.

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Sauteed Squash and Sweet Onion

This goes great with all types of fish!

This recipe lets the fresh taste of the vegetables shine through.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Vidalia Onion finely sliced

2 Zucchini Squash chopped

3 Summer Squash chopped

4 Garlic Cloves chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Finely chop 1/2 of a Vidalia onion.

In a large saute pan, heat to medium high heat and add the olive oil.

Add your onions and saute for about 5 min.

Add some salt and pepper to the onions to help flavor them and to sweat out the liquid.

Now, slice and chop your squash.

A helper (my daughter, Veronica) is always good to have at this point to stir the onions while I chop!

Add your zucchini and summer squash to the onions and saute for about another 8 min. or until softened.

Now, add your chopped garlic to the pan and cook for another 5 min.

Taste the mixture and season more if needed.

Sometimes the simplest of ingredients are the best!

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Fresh Pesto… great topped on fish!

Ingredients:

30 Leaves of Fresh Basil

1 Large bunch of Parsley

2 Garlic Cloves

1/4 Cup Pine Nuts

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the first four ingredients into the blender and turn onto low, then add the olive oil and turn up the blender to medium until the mixture just starts to churn and stop adding the olive oil.

You want the mixture to still be slightly chunky and firm.

Below you will see a jarred brand that I have used when fresh ingredients aren’t available.

Lemon Dill Topped Fish

A perfect pairing with fish!

Ingredients:

2 packages of Fresh Dill or about 2 good handfuls

3 Tbsp’s Lemon Juice

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Rinse your dill first in water then blend with lemon juice and then add your Olive Oil the same way as above… until the mixture starts to churn and the mixture is still firm.

Top the mixture on any fish and bake, or grill as directed!

Baking your Fish!

Using a layer of red onions like a grate to lay your fish upon, and a drizzle of olive oil, bake your fish at 400’F for about 12-15 min. per inch of your fish thickness. Depending on your fish, you need to watch for the white fat to be released which is a good sign it is nearly done cooking.

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The Salmon

Salmon is one of our favorite fish as it takes on seasoning well. Here I just sprinkled it with lemon pepper on both sides.

To cook the fish I am using a fish basket to hold the fish which makes grilling very easy. Simply place your fish in the basket, season, then place on your grill. The basket holds the fish in place making it easy to turn if needed as it is locked in between the two sides of the mesh basket. Grill your salmon skin side down first to make the skin crispy as it releases the fat, for about 8 min. on ~400’F. The direct heat of the grill cooks the fish faster. The smaller thin end piece of salmon on the left cooked faster than the main fillet.

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Memorial Day Gillin’ on the Lanai

It was a Soggy, Wet, Memorial Day for Us

We had such a bad storm that we lost power for hours.

Chopping Veggies by Candlelight

The power did come back on eventually, but it wouldn’t have mattered as we were grillin’.

So what exactly is on our menu for today?

Lots of Delicious Foods

My Favorite, Shrimp

Grilled Shrimp with Dipping Sauces

A Red Pepper Dipping Sauce and Traditional Cocktail Sauce

A Good Bottle of Vino

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Slice your eggplant to about 1/4 in. thick slices and brush with olive oil. Place your grill on your med-high heat and grill until the slices are flaccid and basically barely firm, flipping after you see good grill marks as shown above. Eggplant is like a sponge when it comes to oil, so be sure to brush it on or you will have an oily mess.

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Lots of Healthy Grilled Veggies

The grilled veggies are not only for dinner, but for veggie sandwiches for the coming week.

Other veggies like sliced onions, green onions, peppers, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes can be cooked until they are to your liking and tenderness. Just be sure to brush them with a good olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

As stated, they are all great between two slices of artisan bread and your favorite cheeses… drizzle the grilled veggies with some balsamic vinegar and you are done! NO MEAT REQUIRED.

You could also slather some pesto or grainy mustard on one side of the bread to boost the flavor.

We like to spread hummas on one side of the bread, and goat cheese on the other with the grilled veggies in between.

Grilled veggies make an excellent sandwich.

Check out our Cheers to the Sandwich blog for some great examples:

Cheers to the Sandwich

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Gordon Prepping the Shrimp for the Grill

Thaw out your shrimp and peel and rinse them well ensuring the tail shell is left on them.

These Shrimp are from Argentina and have a thicker shell then Gulf shrimp.

While rinsing them ensure you get out the digestive track which looks like a piece of black string which is located along the back where they were cut open. Remove that.

Making the Garlic Butter

First you want to melt some butter on the stove top in a small saucepan. Next, add some chopped garlic, along with some turmeric. The turmeric is a light earthy tasting healthy spice. It is known to kill cancer cells and it gives the shrimp a lovely golden yellow color.

You just want the butter mixture to simmer on top of the stove.

Although I don’t have a photo, I chopped some chives from our garden into the butter right before I brushed it onto the shrimp while on the grill. If you add the herbs too soon, they turn brown.

Cook the shrimp for about 2-3 minutes per side until they go from opaque to just white in color, quickly remove and serve them to your guests.

Be sure not to overcook the shrimp! Or they will turn rubbery in texture.

Beautiful and Delicious!

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Now for the Dipping Sauces

RECIPE:

Roasted Red Pepper Spread

This is an excellent dip for pita chips, or a spread for crackers, or as a dipping sauce for shrimp.

This recipe makes a little over 2 cups.

Ingredients:

15 oz. jar of Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained

¾ Tbsp Cumin

½ Tbsp Turmeric (To help fight off Cancer)

½ Tbsp Smoked or Regular Paprika

½ Med. Onion chopped, (Red Onion would also add to the color)

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

3 to 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice

3 Tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 packages 8 oz. light or reg. Cream Cheese (softened)

In a blender first mix all the ingredients except the cream cheese until just combined. Then add the cream cheese and blend until smooth.

When done top with a sprinkling of paprika or chopped scallions!

This is actually a recipe that a former neighbor gave me. We of course, revamped it for our tastes.

You just want to mix everything in a blender or food processor.

It’s very easy and quick to make.

An Excellent Appetizer

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Next Up?

(Julie’s Memorial Day Dinner Plate)

Lemon Pork With Corn on the Cob and Lemon Thyme Butter

Also Lemon Juice in the Barbecue Sauce

Gordon asked me what I wanted to eat this Memorial Day and I told him, my mother’s lemon pork chops. He had never heard of lemon pork chops and thought they would taste horrible, but I assured him that they wouldn’t. Although my mother baked hers in the oven, Gordon did ours on the grill. Also instead of pork chops, we used pork cutlets.

Gordon’s Barbecue Sauce Recipe:

3/4 Cup Ketchup

2 Tbsp Honey Mustard

1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce

1/3 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Onion Powder

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar

Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice of 1 Lemon or 2 Tbsp bottled

1/2 tsp Cardamom

1/2 tsp Powdered Ginger (I used Chinese Ginger)

The Ingredients

You can cook this on the stove top or at the grill if you have a side burner.

Here you can see I added some lemon juice from Sicilia, a very good brand in my opinion.

The Cardamom and Ginger round out the flavor of the sauce.

Simply combine all the ingredients and cook until thickened on med heat.

(This is a lemon infused dinner.)

Our Barbecue Chicken, Pork Tenderloin and Pork Cutlets

Also Grillin’ Some Lemon Slices which are great as a side item to either eat or drizzle over the meat to enhance the lemon flavor.

Whenever we do any grillin’ Gordon always cooks several different things. This will be our food for the entire week and all we have to do is to whip up a side dish here and there. Also very easy for me to take out to the condo whenever I go out there by myself. I have great healthy foods to eat and I don’t have to worry about cooking very much. (More beach time that way. 🙂

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The pork cutlets are very thin and just take a little bit of time to grill, so work fast. Place your lemon BBQ sauce on both sides and cook for about 3 min. on both sides.

The chicken on the other hand will take about 12 min. on each side, being sure to cook the smooth fleshy side first (Presentation side is always cooked first). Place your BBQ sauce on both sides. Let the meat rest at least 8 min. to allow the juices to return to the center. This ensures the meat will be juicy.

The pork tenderloin for me is all about timing where each tenderloin has three sides not including the ends. Cook each side for about 6 min. on direct heat. This tenderloin was pre-marinated in lemon pepper, when I purchased it. The pork should have nice grill marks as you turn it. After 18 min. of cooking the tenderloin will be mostly firm as you now move it to indirect heat and basically bake it for another 6 min. Again, Let the meat rest this time for at least 10 min. to allow the juices to return to the center. This ensures the meat will be juicy. The thicker the meat, the more rest time it will require. The meat will still be warm when you cut into it and slightly pink in the center.

A fun multi-task way to grill… the smells are wonderful!

Enjoy!

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This is What Georgia Calls Peaches and Cream Corn

Peel your corn removing the silk fibers and some of the outer husk. Wet the corn and husks and grill them turning every 3 min. as seen below. This is basically steaming the corn in their husks.

So Pretty and Sweet Too

After about 9 min. remove the husk and place the corn directly on the grill grates until you get some nice charring. Turn the corn so the charring is done all over. This brings out the sweetness of the corn… don’t worry, you won’t make popcorn.

Ahh, Corn Right off the Grill

No butter required BUT…

To carry the lemon flavor into the rest of the meal we added some lemon thyme to our butter for the corn.

Lemon Thyme Butter

Let your 1/2 stick of butter sit at room temp for about 10 min to soften. Now, you can add lemon zest and some juice, about 1 Tbsp of each along with 1/2 Tbsp of Lemon Thyme to the butter and mix well. Return back to the refrig. for about 10 min. or until firm and you have made some great tasting lemon thyme infused butter.

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Mother’s Day 2016

Well, look what I got this year for my Mother’s Day gift from Gordon?

A Grill!

I’m guessing it’s really for him.

Well, I know exactly what I’m getting him for Father’s Day,

A Pearl Necklace!

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I Had a Very Nice Mother’s Day

Good Food, Good Company, That’s all that Matters

Argentinian Shrimp

Men in the Kitchen Cooking

While Veronica and I just stand around drinking wine.

Brodie is a great apprentice, he loves cooking as much as Gordon does.

Brodie Prepping the Shrimp

Some Shrimp we Boiled and Some Shrimp we Grilled

Try boiling your shrimp in some water with Old Bay Seasoning added. Penetrates into the shrimp. When we say boil we mean when very tiny bubbles rise to the surface, not a rolling boil which will overcook the shrimp. After about 8 min. strain the shrimp out of the pot and chill them down with ice water to stop the cooking process. Below, Gordon lined the shrimp around the glass with a sprinkling of Old Bay seasoning, poured cocktail sauce in the center, topped it with some wasabi and then long chives come from the center of the glass to complete the presentation.

Shrimp Cocktail, My Favorite!

(I’m very lucky to have such silly people around me.)

Looks like I didn’t own it for long……

Gordon in the Kitchen

Ready to do Some Grillin’

Two Pork Loins and Shrimp on the Bar-be

I Smell Something Good!

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So What’s on the Menu Besides Shrimp?

Hawaiian Potatoes

Using a Russet, White, or Yellow potato seems to work best.

These potatoes of Gordon’s are the best thing that I have ever eaten.

Freshly Ground Pepper and Chopped Onions

This started out as an accident when we were living in Hawaii and they have become a favorite of ours and everyone that we have served them to.

So delicious, so tender, so perfect!

RECIPE

One Potato for every person, sliced thin

1/3 Onion sliced thin, per person

1/4 stick of butter

Freshly ground pepper

Teriyaki Sauce

1 cup Soy Sauce

Brown sugar (we use Splenda) Add enough to make the soy sauce just sweet

1 Garlic clove minced

1 Tbsp ginger fresh or powder

In a large saucepan at medium heat, melt the butter and place the sliced potatoes in keeping them separated. Cook them until almost done stilling frequently then add the onions. Cook them until both the onions and potatoes are tender. This will take about 15 min. or more pending on how many potatoes you are cooking. Use more butter if needed. Add just enough well mixed Teriyaki Sauce to the cooked potatoes and onions to coat them. As the sauce cooks, it will begin to thicken. Add more sauce if needed. Once the sauce has thickened you are done!

Enjoy!

I wouldn’t be a mother without these two.

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Brodie and Lauren

(Just to clarify. We have photos on this website of Brodie with his past girlfriend whose name was Lauren W., this lovely girl is also named Lauren and we are very happy and lucky to welcome her to our family. She is beautiful, smart, worldly, and a teacher.)

So What Else is on the Menu?

How About Huli Huli Pork Chops

Delicious Grilled Huli Huli Porkchops (with pineapple) and Grilled Corn

RECIPE

8 thick cut Pork Chops

1/2 Cup Ketchup

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Pineapple Juice

1/4 Crushed Pineapple

1/4 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar

3 to 4 Garlic cloves minced

3 Tbsp grated Ginger

2 Tbsp Siracha Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook on med. heat until thick. Slightly cook your pork chops on medium heat on the grill and brush the top with a little bit of the sauce. After about 3 min. turn the pork chops and add a good amount of the sauce to the top of the pork. Close the lid at let the chops cook for another 8 min. or so. until the internal temp reached 145’F. The bones should be well seared and no red showing. Let the pork chops rest for 10 min. Slice into the thickest one to ensure the juices run clear.

TIP: Be sure to watch for flareups as the fat from the pork can catch on fire easily. If this happens, simply turn off the burner and move your food away from the flareup. Once the fire dies down, turn the burner back on and move your food back over the heat.