Staff Training

This past week I was out of town for much of the week with my annual staff training. I had an excellent prime rib steak at Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi. At the Hard Rock Cafe I tried a burger that is new to me...the Granny Smith Apple and Provolone Burger. Other than that, I was mainly eating seafood.

Finally home, I planned to grill tonight but there is a nice steady rain storm over Birmingham. Though we need the rain it sure puts a damper on my plans.

My wife can grill!

Kudos to my wife! Friday afternoon, while I did yard work, I let her use the grill. Of course, I got the charcoals started and spread. I assembled the rub and patted out the burgers. She applied the rub to the patties and took care of everthing!

I tried a new hamburger seasoning that was fairly tasty.

3 teaspoons of paprika
3 teaspoons of black pepper
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

For now this is my new favorite burger seasoning.

More Shrooms

Though we love mushrooms this recipe was not worth repeating. I created a mushroom "sauce" in a mixer. It also had sour cream and some salt/pepper.

I will continue to work on this recipe and post it when I get it right!

Mexican Chicken

All about timing

Steaks for the parents, hot dogs for the kids, and chicken for an upcoming meal. (And you can see a couple of potatoes in the coals). Rarely do I have the opportunity to try to cook different things at the same time and try to have them finish at the same time. The taters, of course, went on first followed by the chicken. Since we eat steaks on the rare side they went on the same time as the hotdogs...looking at this is making me hungry!

Hot Wings

My wife loves hot wings. I am learning more about the best way to grill them successfully.

1. Toss them in evol a couple of minute prior to cooking.

2. Light salt/pepper the wings when you toss them with oil.

3. Cook on high indirect heat until they are finished (depends on the size of the wings).

4. Cover with your choice of buffalo sauce or barbecue sauce for the final few minutes.

Bacon wrapped sirloin with fried squash

One of my goals as I continue to learn about grilling is to cook a complete meal on the grill. I did not attempt to use the side burner to cook the squash but I certainly could have!

The potato pictured was wrapped in foil and thrown in with the hot coals. I allowed it to cook for about twenty minutes before placing the meat on the grill. I did move it around one or two times to make sure it cooked evenly.

The sirloin was rubbed in a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I realize these ingredients are fairly standard in my cooking but they work! To secure the bacon I used a tooth pick that I removed the same time the meat came off the grill.

Quite tasty!