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By zach, July 26, 2010 7:35 am

A light and flavor packed meal is awesome on a hot summer day. The sweetness of this salmon matched with the sweet pineapple salad is a great combination.  Serve it family style for a decadent look this dinner will disappear quickly as everyone will want to come back for more.

The salad is romaine lettuce and grilled pineapple tossed in a teriyaki vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is olive oil, teriyaki sauce, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and a small amount of chili oil.

The salmon is cooked using this recipe .

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By zach, July 16, 2010 7:29 am

In Seattle, Summer has finally kicked in. For me that means cooking fun summer meals that I can eat outside with my family. For this late lunch, I cooked baby back ribs, creamed corn and seasoned French bread.

I love smoking meat in my back yard. Smoking is a long and slow cooking method. You might think it needs constant attention but you just need to check on your meat every 1 or 2 hours so it’s perfect for setting up and then hanging with family and friends.  

These ribs are baked for 2 hours and finished on the smoker for about 5 hours to get that great smokey and slow cooked taste. Check out this detailed recipe for more on the ribs. If you use the recipe, notice that the order of baking and smoking was swapped. This was mostly to keep my house cool on a hot summer day. 

Bursting with silky and sweet flavors this creamed corn recipe was truly amazing. It was a great partner to the salty and sweet bbq ribs. Next time, I might add some jalapenos or chipotle pepper to add some heat. 

To tie everything together, this french bread was buttered and seasoned with garlic, onion, rosemary pepper, and paprika. Cooked for 15 minutes in tin foil. 

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By zach, July 5, 2010 4:01 pm

Fourth of July weekend is the kickoff to summer in my house. We always have a lot going on for the holiday so I want great food that is easy to cook. For me that means cooking on the grill. 

Flat iron steak with BBQ rub and served with molasses.

Grilled corn.

Grilled scallops with lemon pepper butter sauce.

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By zach, June 27, 2010 4:58 am

This is one of my favorite summertime meals. It’s easy to buy, prep and cook. With only four ingredients you would never guess something could taste so good.

Ingredients

1. Sirloin steak
2. Steak seasoning ( salt and pepper is an excellent substitute)
3. Corn on cob, husked
4. Mushrooms

Prep:

• Apply steak seasoning liberally to steak.
• Wrap mushrooms and corn in tin foil.

Cook:

• Cook an very hot grill until steak is done to liking. About 8-9 minutes for me.

Eat:

Steak, Corn and Mushrooms

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By zach, September 2, 2009 7:35 pm

A few weeks back we ate at the Madrona Eatery and Ale House in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle. It is only about 1/2 mile from home so it is a walkable distance, they have a great selection of beer, kid friendly (yay!) and some really good food. This particular time my wife ordered the pork medallions with a cherry sauce served on bed of asparagus and fried polenta cakes on the side. It was really, really good — hats off the the chef. Like usual, after we eat good food in a restaurant, my wife asked me if I could cook that for her. I made a few modifications but the basics are still the same — pork with a veggie and starch and served with a delicious cherry sauce.

Pork Loin with Cherry Sauce

Serves 4.

Total time: about 1 hour.

Ingredients:

• 1 1-2 pound pork loin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pitted cherries
• 1 cup cherry brandy ( red wine can substitute)
• 1 cup quinoa 
• 1 pound green beans
• 1 tablespoon butter.

Directions:

Rub pork loin with olive oil. Combine next 4 ingredients and rub on pork loin. This is best done hours before grilling as the pork will take on more flavor. However, the rub can be applied right before grilling as well. 

Add the cherries and brandy to a sauce pan and bring to boil. Stir and reduce to low. Stir occasionally.

Next, start grilling the pork loin on indirect heat. The pork will take about 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees. The pork will be medium when the internal temperature measures 160 degrees. Cook longer for well done. Let rest for 5+ minutes before slicing.

Cook the quinoa according the the package. It takes about 25 minutes total time.

Saute the green beans in the butter on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. When done season with salt.

To serve, place 1/4 of the quinoa on a plate. Add 1/4 of the green beans on top. Next, add 4-5 slices of pork loin and drizzle the cherry sauce on top — be sure to get some of the cherry pieces as it adds a nice visual affect and they taste great. Repeat for remaining plates.

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By zach, July 12, 2009 1:52 pm

For 4th of July I made hamburgers with corn and snap peas. There is nothing better than a big ole hamburger to celebrate with on the 4th. I love lots of taste so I added pepper jack cheese with onions and red peppers to top it all off.

A good hamburger is one of my all time favorites. I wanted something tasty and real with this hamburger so I decieded to make my own ground beef. To start out with I picked up two rib eye steaks. I don’t have a meat grinder but I do have a food processor. I read online that steaks will work better in the food processor if they are partially frozen. After cutting off the steak bone I put the steaks in the freezer for about 2 hours. Once they were partially frozen I removed from the freezer and cut up into smaller squares. They ground up amazingly fast in the food processor. There you have it — gound beef. Season with a liberal amount of salt. I also seasoned with ground black pepper and ground rosemary.

To cook — It’s the grill man !

After grilling the burger — I topped with pepper jack cheese, sauteed yellow onions and sauteed red peppers.

To serve — I used kaiser rolls ( just make sure your hamburger is big enough) and BBQ sauce.

Side dishes — Snap peas grilled in oil and salted. Grilled corn seasoned with paprika, salt, and black pepper.

Three Pepper Steak Burger