Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Grilled Chicken Breast Salad

Being a mom and having guilt go together like pancakes and syrup. It just goes with the turf. You wake up in the morning and right away you can think of things to feel guilty about. I should spend more time… I should not have gotten upset when…  I shouldn’t have let them… Maybe we should give them… I should be getting up, what with the baby yelling for me from her crib and all…

If you get that first paragraph, then you know what I mean when I say how it makes you feel when your children make good choices… despite all your mistakes, something is getting through.

Well, here’s my little triumph in the food dept… my girls count Grilled Chicken Breast Salad as one of their favorite meals. We have it at least every other week. It’s hard to get a healthier meal than this, really… fresh veggies, hard-boiled egg, lowfat mozzarella cheese, some croutons, and grilled (not breaded or deep-fried) chicken breast. In the tortured mental games that I sometimes put myself through, them liking salad seems like it, in some way, compensates for the times I say yes to ANOTHER piece of candy or that lazy Saturday when we had ice cream cones for breakfast (hypothetically speaking, of course, not like any responsible parent would ever actually allow that, or do it herself), or those times when I let the girls fend for themselves for lunch and it’s anything but a square meal, a triangle meal at best.

Chicken Breast Salad

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I’ll show you how a meal that involves grilling is a joint effort for us… I’ll color code it just to humor myself.

Shannon’s 1st job: Starting the grill, either charcoal or gas. This particular time, he used gas because it gets ready faster.

My 1st job: Thawing the chicken breast. Here’s how I do it. It goes from freezer to thawed in 5 minutes… which is good news to any of you who don’t always plan ahead and don’t get the meat out the night before to begin thawing!  

Take this out of the freezer:
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Put the frozen chicken pieces out on a dinner plate.
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Put the plate in the microwave on High for 1 minute. Flip the pieces, reposition them so what was on the outside is now on the inside, and if one was on top, don’t put it on top the next round… in general just move them around at random.

Repeat that step 4 more times. If we’re having rolls or breadsticks to go with it, during those minute intervals is when I’d be getting them in the oven. Trim off some fat and drain off the juice. Your plate of chicken breasts should look like this, thawed and ready to hand over to the master of the grill.
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He seasons them with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Steak Magic seasoning. You can season more boldly when it’s going on a salad than if you’d be eating the meat by itself. If you notice the 2 small ones with little seasoning, those are the ones the girls will eat. Their tastebuds seem to not be mature enough yet to handle the extra kick, so theirs get only Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and I think Shannon might sprinkle some Lawry’s on ours too. And then he puts them on the grill.
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Meanwhile, I’m making salads…
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Hard-boiled eggs
Shredded cheese
Croutons
Whatever else you want or have on hand like Carrots, Bacon, Italian seasoning, whatever. And they don’t all need to be the same… personalize them to each person’s taste.
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Looks kinda refreshing on a hot day, huh?

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Meanwhile, the chicken is on the grill. I left my salad-making and followed Shannon out to the grill when he went out to flip them…
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Those of you who want to make this salad, I hope you sorta know how to grill chicken breast because when I asked Shannon what he did and how and time on the grill and stuff, I got very sketchy details, but I also got some great tips.

For example, I asked how long they were on before he flipped them and he didn’t know. He said you need to be on the edge of your comfort zone with it, though, and not overdo it. He said alot of people freak out about making sure chicken is done and then end up with dry rubbery chicken. You want it so it’s just so done, not pink anymore, and juicy. So, of course, I asked how to know when that is and he said, “You just go by instinct.”

So, yeah, good luck with that.

You could use a meat fork thermometer. Shannon used to have one, but hasn’t for quite awhile because, uhhhh, one time yours truly immersed it in water because the handle was messy and, you know, of course one time of immersion wouldn’t matter… famous last words. Yet, grilled chicken breast around here always ends up being perfect… done, but still juicy.

My only job left is to get out the cutting board and the knife… HIS knife, I should say. Yeah, we each have our own knife this size and we each think our own is THE best. Sometime, I should put them both on here and take a poll. I’ll best mine would win because, if for no other reason… it has a case! ????
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Soon, he brings the chicken in, slices it,
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and places it on top of the salads.
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Zig-zag some Ranch dressing over it…
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And dig in!

You don’t think this salad is so healthy that it could actually take away those cavities caused by the extra pieces of candy, do you?

Comments

11 Responses to “Grilled Chicken Breast Salad”

  1. Amy Burkey on July 14th, 2011 3:32 pm

    I now know what I’m having for supper! Thank you!

  2. joe on July 14th, 2011 4:31 pm

    you need to coordinate ur posts to the days that i’m cooking!!!!

  3. Jolene on July 14th, 2011 4:54 pm

    Oh that looks GOOD!

  4. Rosalyn on July 14th, 2011 4:55 pm

    sounds wonderful. I’m sure it would be a hit in our household, too! :)

  5. Kay on July 14th, 2011 7:22 pm

    Amy and Jolene, you can’t go wrong with this, esp in the summer! ????

    Joe, sure, no problem, ha. :) I’m sure you wouldn’t need a post, though, for grilling days… you could probably add some tips to this one!

    Rosalyn, this just became a hit with my girls a year or so ago. Before when we’d make it, they’d just eat the chicken plain or with Ranch and then have a breadstick and piece of cheese on the side. Last summer sometime, they both decided to like salad. ????

  6. Twila on July 14th, 2011 10:35 pm

    Looks quite tasty! I grill alot of chicken breast and usually do it about 8 minutes per side. Of course that might depend on how hot the grill is, the thickness of the chicken etc. It usually turns out about right though. If I have a thicker piece I’ll cut it in half to make sure it’s done.

  7. Shannon on July 14th, 2011 10:41 pm

    I grilled chicken the other night and we had left overs. Tonight we had it in a salad. I love it and am so glad my girls eat it too! This looks delicious.

  8. Beth on July 15th, 2011 7:24 am

    How well I get your first post & the mommy guilt thing. And the eating ice cream for breakfast thing. Well, pretty much just everything you said in there! Love the mixture of humor & actual recipe in this post. :) Like the humoring yourself with color coding. cracks me up! :) And I also love the step-by-step process you went through, right down to getting the knife out. This salad looks to.die.for. YUMMY. Shannon gets a boo though for not telling me how long to grill chicken. lol I am an awful griller, because my instincts usually make grilled food turn out burned or pink. :( But I can just hear him say that’s not his problem. No, really. I doubt if he’d tell me, but I betcha he’d think it. Anyway, enjoyed the post (as if you didn’t know that already). I need better smile faces for this! ????

  9. Kay on July 15th, 2011 9:18 am

    Twila, thanks for the 8-minute tidbit. :) Shannon did say that too, about it always being different because of grill heat and thickness. Times like this is when I’m glad for the understanding at our house that I don’t touch the grill… grill = guessing games.

    Shannon, I often use our chicken salad leftovers for chicken and cheese quesadillas… so there’s an idea if you have leftover leftovers. ????

    Beth, glad you get me, ice cream thing and all. ???? Yeah, so Shannon would probably say that, so just read what Twila said, and cut one apart so you can see if it’s still pink or not. Or make Rod grill.

  10. Liz on July 16th, 2011 4:16 pm

    Ha, ice cream for breakfast? It’s all right as long as it’s a late breakfast and after 10. At least going by some people. Of course, some of those people also don’t like chocolate as much as we do either so maybe their advice shouldn’t be taken too seriously? :)
    I wish that you it would be easier to compensate for bad decisions. I think if I drink 2 glasses of water than that should cancel out the chocolate that ate. Or something easier like that.

  11. Michelle on July 16th, 2011 8:58 pm

    yumMY!

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

Posted on March 9, 2009
Filed Under Chicken and Turkey, Grilling, Main dishes

Hi again! It’s been awhile! The ‘famine’ on here doesn’t mean we haven’t been eating! It means that the last 2 weeks have been abnormal weeks as far as cooking goes, with company and then being busy with a booth at a Home and Garden show. Not a cooking show booth, by the way. ????
We were selling these:
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Anybody need a beautiful cedar gazebo in your yard?

I do love those little cooking show booths at shows though, even though the chefs always use the same lines and the same jokes. It just amazes me how they can talk AND cook at the same time! I think I’m a bit too absent-minded for that. And the cookware that cooks stuff without water… Wow! And the food doesn’t burn… Wow! I have a hard enough time WITH water! Tonight while we were making supper, I even burned a piece of toast (not in water though… see, that’s what happens when I cook without water)! Yeah, WE were making supper, not ME… because it involved grilling and that is my husband’s territory.

Here, I’ll show you what we ate tonight:
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We’re always trying to think of new things to do with grilled chicken breast besides chicken breast salad, shishkabobs, or just eating it plain w bbq sauce. This sandwich is actually along the lines of the Open-faced Pork Chop Sandwich that is a specialty around here.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Bread
Chicken breast
Provolone cheese (or cheese of choice)
Barbeque sauce OR dijon mustard

Toast the bread. Season and grill the chicken, then chunk it up.
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Assemble in this order: Toast, chicken, bbq sauce or dijon mustard, cheese, toast.
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OR

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Microwave for about 1 minute, 2 min if you’re doing 2 sandwiches.
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And… enjoy!

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Mmmm, so good and so easy and so quick and not much cleanup!

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Wouldn’t you just like to snitch a piece? It’s flavored SO good and is nice and juicy! Not sure what seasonings he used.  Edit: He just said he used Cajun Black’n seasoning from the Bayfield Spice Company in Rhinelander, WI.

Comments

6 Responses to “Grilled Chicken Sandwiches”

  1. Shannon on March 9th, 2009 8:34 pm

    Oh I am so ready to get the grill out again. Haven’t had time so far and I’m afraid it’s gonna get cold again. These sound good!!

  2. Sandra on March 11th, 2009 9:17 am

    Hey I saw the famous daves bbq sauce..the best!!This looks so good!I grew up on sandwiches so this looks great!

  3. Monica Y on March 13th, 2009 9:51 am

    Oh those look good!! My little grill is just begging to fired up again!! I can hardly wait. Were you at the Home and Garden Show in Columbus?? I love walking around looking at all the stuff…..but we didn’t make it there this year. If I’d a known–maybe I would have went and looked you up!! :)

  4. Monica Y on March 13th, 2009 10:00 am

    By the way, I’d take one of those gazebos. Sadly, it’s not in our budget. :(

  5. Freida on March 16th, 2009 9:55 am

    Oh yum… This gets me in the mood for summer! We do grill occasionally in the winter,tho. Its too hard to stay away from it all winter long. Gonna try these!

  6. Audrey Miller on March 17th, 2009 1:44 pm

    These look really great and totally look like something that we would eat. Yeah, I am getting pretty hungry right now. Keep the posts coming because I always enjoy looking/reading through your recipes. I know it takes a lot of time for you though.

Our Christmas in pictures (and words)

So, what happened then is that Kitchen Scrapbook ended up totally missing Christmas! I was living the moment, er, moments, surrounded by family and making food and snacks without blogging about it.

You know how when you get a whole bunch of Christmas cards in a row, 4 one day and 5 the next, and then it tapers off towards the end of December and then no more cards and then the 2nd week of January, you get another Christmas card? Well, that’s how this post is… the other blogs you read have posted Christmas now and are switching from red & green colors to January blue and New Year’s resolutions, but here, we’re pulling you back to Christmas…

First, we have Pretzel Turtles
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I got this idea from Judy on a message board that I frequent. Take small pretzels and put a Rolo candy on top of each one. Then, put them in the oven for a couple minutes at 350. When you get them out, immediately press a pecan half on top of each Rolo. Yum! They went over very well here!

We also had monster cookies, party mix, and gingerbreadmen:
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Lexi said, “Mom, look! I made twins!”…
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Hmmm, someone samples cookies as she decorates…
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And then onto our Christmas meal…

Here was our menu:
–Mashed potatoes and gravy
Ham, rotisserie on the grill
–Noodles
–Baked corn
–Candied sweet potatoes
–Corn chip salad
–Rolls
–Jellied cranberry sauce
–Pies (pumpkin, lemon meringue, and peanut butter)

This is my husband, making some awesome ham…
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Missed the pies before they were eaten…
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Pictured in the picture right under the ham collage is the candied sweet potatoes. I was trying to make a knock-off of Texas Roadhouse’s loaded sweet potato. I baked 3 sweet potatoes, peeled them and put them in an 8×8 pan and mashed them with a fork. Then, melted a stick of butter and stirred in some cinnamon and about 1/2 cup of brown sugar, poured it over the potatoes, put a layer of marshmallows on top, then baked it at 350 until the marshmallows were browned. It was GOOD!!!

In addition to food, our Christmas consisted of gift opening, football throwing, baby holding, and much more…

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Comments

6 Responses to “Our Christmas in pictures (and words)”

  1. Shannon on December 30th, 2008 7:53 pm

    Aww it looks good! Fun fun fun with family isn’t it. :)

  2. Berneice on December 30th, 2008 8:40 pm

    Food and family go together very well. Like someone told me tonight. One without the other is like a kiss without a squeeze!

  3. Ruthie on December 31st, 2008 7:13 am

    NICE to see pictures of your family all together. The way it used to be… Happy New Year!

  4. Suzanne on December 31st, 2008 10:46 am

    Looks like you had a wonderful time. How did your husband make the ham? It looks to die for!

  5. Liz on January 2nd, 2009 9:53 pm

    Can we have a redo? Those couple of days were so MUCH fun!!!! The pictures of the ham makes me want to have some more and I would really love to have more candied sweet potatoes. At least you wrote it down so we can use the ‘recipe’ for next year. Happy New Year!

  6. Fran on January 3rd, 2009 12:48 pm

    Looks like you had a nice holiday. The ham looks really good, and I love the pretzel, rolo candy. I want to try those.

It’s Independence Day!

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under For special occassions, Grilling, Holiday cooking

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How are you spending the holiday? …Going out on the lake? …Firing up the grill? …Getting together with family and friends? …Going out to watch fireworks? I don’t specifically remember not watching fireworks any year, but I’m sure there was a year or two missed in there somewhere. When we lived in town, we could see them from our house. Fireworks is what I think of first when I think ‘4th of July’, then I think of my oldest brother (Happy Birthday, Tom!), then I think of grilling and burgers and brats. I know, with having a cooking blog, you’d think grilling and all would be first on my list.

Speaking of grilling, I’m sure we’ll be doing some. Here are some of our favorites:

Hot dogs, our favorites are Ball Park beef franks…
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Brats, it’s gotta be Johnsonville…
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Cheeseburger, this has got to go on the menu this weekend! I’ll have to talk to the guy in charge of grilling around here…
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New York Strip Steak, and please don’t forget the sauteed mushrooms! Mmmmm…4th-new-york-strip.jpg

Rib-Eye Steak done medium, this was melt-in-your-mouth tender, didn’t even need A1 sauce…4th-rib-eye-medium.jpg

Shrimp and mushrooms grilled on skewers, a great appetizer…
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Pork chop sandwich, last but definitely not least! This is the thing out of this whole list that we grill the most. Yup, even more than throwing hot dogs and brats on the grill. Maybe next time we make them, I can remember to get a better picture! They’re easy, at least for me, because all I do is set the table…
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And then I couldn’t let the holiday go by without playing around with my beloved for-any-occassion layered finger jello! It’s a nice side benefit that it tastes good, too.
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Instead of using a 9×13 pan for a batch, I used a large cookie sheet with sides so it wouldn’t get so thick. The red and blue layers each have 2 batches of jello in them and the white layer is all of the white mixture (as opposed to dividing it in thirds). When I cut it into little shapes, it looks better if it’s not so thick.

4th-stars-flipped.jpg And then you can play around with it a little more and makes squares and cut a star out of the middle, flip it over, and put it back into the hole.

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And then you can play around with it a little more and make the United States of America…
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And, being in the spirit of things, this is what I was snacking on just now as I wrote this post…
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Red strawberries, white sugar, and blue blueberries.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Comments

10 Responses to “It’s Independence Day!”

  1. Shannon on July 4th, 2008 7:11 am

    Oh the food looks good. But then it always does here. :) I love that jello, looks too cool in the stars and the states.

  2. Jo on July 4th, 2008 8:46 am

    Did you SERIOUSLY do that map of the U.S. in jello????? I am in complete awe. May I have your autograph? ;-)
    I was going to do layered jello like that to send w/ my husband to OH for their big doin’s tonight…but changed my mind & did a layered jello cake instead. Red on the bottom, blue on the top, iced w/ the old stand-by Cool Whip. So simple…just hope it tastes good! (since I won’t be there to check) Happy 4th!

  3. Marilyn on July 4th, 2008 3:11 pm

    love the finger jello, esp the stars, those are so cool! my kids would love them. Happy 4th of July to you too! :-)

  4. Mary Faith on July 4th, 2008 3:32 pm

    I decided to google “red, white,and blue finger jello” to find a recipe and guess what? The very first site that came up was this one. LOL It took me back to the recipe you had on here. I had forgotten you had the recipe before. So cool. :)

  5. Kay on July 4th, 2008 5:01 pm

    Mary Faith, sorry I didn’t get here to answer your question! Glad you found the answer in the meantime! :) Hope it turns out good for you!

    To get to the recipe from this post, the words “layered finger jello” in bold red up there between the pork chop and the finger jello pictures is a link to the recipe. Also, the names of some of those grilling pictures are in red… those are also links to their respective recipes.

  6. stephanie on July 5th, 2008 7:04 am

    Whoa lady! The United States? How in the world did you do that?
    Love the stars and the whole Ble, Red and White theme who were the lucky recipients of the gourmet atmosphere?

  7. Jan on July 5th, 2008 7:42 am

    Map of the US???I’m in awe. I’m not artistic so I’m always wowed by those who are. The stars are cute, too.
    I also love the photos of the little cooks in the cherry pie post. For some reason, Tiffany just cracks me up! And Lexi looks so grown up in the apron.

  8. Berneice on July 5th, 2008 8:46 pm

    Like the rest. I stand (sorry,I sit) amazed! Did you really do that map? How in the world?? Happy belated 4th

  9. Katie Mast on July 6th, 2008 7:38 am

    Happy July 4th to you. That Map is incrediable. I have a mold for that as well, but never did it like that. How did you do that? I love the star shape idea and the sq. how cool is that! I am making your meat loaf recipe for lunch today, it has become one of our favorites as well.

  10. Mary Faith on July 7th, 2008 12:34 pm

    I did the star shaped finger jello for the weekend. Took it to Cheyenne on Sat. and then again to the carry in yesterday. (I made how many batches on Fri. to make it enough!) It was definitely a big hit both places. I took some of the “scraps” along to Cheyenne and the children ate those quite freely. :) All that’s left here is a few more “scraps”.

Memorial Day, Charcoal, Cheeseburgers and Gold

Posted on May 22, 2008
Filed Under Beef, Grilling, Main dishes

Hey! We’ve got a guest writer! Since I am not the griller around here (thankfully!), it seems fitting that I also shouldn’t be the writer of the grilling posts, right? So, here is my husband Shannon:

Did you read in the news this week about the restaurant on Wall Street in New York that serves a $175.00 cheeseburger? Yup, you read right, $175.00! It is Kobe beef topped with foie gras, exotic mushrooms and golden truffle mayonnaise. Golden truffle mayonnaise is made from chopped black truffles, truffle oil, and gold flakes. Gold as in “silver and gold”.  So let me get this straight… Some chef in New York decided it would be a good idea to make his gold watch into Miracle Whip? Wow. Remind me not to leave the Midwest.

This is not that burger.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial line between spring and summer (or if you are from up here in Wisconsin, the line between winter and summer).

Cheeseburgers sizzling on the grill… What could be a more sure sign of summer than that?

Cheeseburgers are such a basic food that you don’t even need a recipe. But here is my recipe, just the same.

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh ground beef. Not too lean, 80/20 would be good. I used 85/15 this time. If they don’t have enough fat, they will fall apart on the grill.

1/4th cup chopped onion.

1 chopped jalepeno. Use as much as you like. We like a bit of kick.

BBQ sauce. Your favorite brand.

Lawry’s seasoned salt. Put in as much as you prefer, but don’t be scared to use quite a bit. I use about 2 teaspoons (that is completely a guess, I have never measured). :)

1/4th teaspoon coarse ground pepper.

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Combine the ground beef, onion, jalapeno, 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, Lawry’s, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

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Shape into patties. This is hand work, no Pampered Chef burger shooter or other cheating! This is a cheeseburger, keep it simple. I made 4 patties this time, but that makes pretty big burgers. Depending on your group, you may want to make them smaller.

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Using a brush, brush a light coat of BBQ sauce on the patties. This is not for flavor as much as to carmelize the suger in the BBQ sauce for a nice “crust”. It may actually work better to do this step just a minute before they come off the grill.

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Grill on a charcoal grill. I almost don’t want to put times here because each grill will differ in temp. I grilled them for about 6 minutes on each side. DONT LEAVE THEM ON TOO LONG! Seriously, the most common way to ruin a good burger is to overdo it. A little pink in the middle is perfect.

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Put cheese on. Leave on grill for an extra minute to melt the cheese. I used provolone cheese. The buns must be grilled.

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Dress to taste. I like tomato, lettuce, Bread and Butter pickles, ketchup, and mustard.

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Ah, now that’s a “God bless America” cheeseburger! Serve with extra napkins.

While you are enjoying your good honest cheeseburger this weekend, remember to feel sorry for some guy out in New York whose self esteem is so low that he needs to eat a $175.00 cheeseburger with jewelry in it, just to prove he can.

Me again: Well, after a grilling post like this, I’m going to close my kitchen for the weekend and be outside. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! See ya Tuesday!

Comments

13 Responses to “Memorial Day, Charcoal, Cheeseburgers and Gold”

  1. esther on May 23rd, 2008 12:32 am

    yum!

  2. Shannon on May 23rd, 2008 6:38 am

    Those look good enough to eat. :) I’m a dumper and pourer kinda person when I make hamburgers. All kinds of things go in but I’ve never put jalepeno’s in mine! Not sure that would go down well here. :)

  3. Berneice on May 23rd, 2008 7:21 am

    Yummy. Tell me does gold melt that easily? I think someone had too much money or was going to confinscate the gold! :)

  4. Arla on May 23rd, 2008 7:29 am

    Wow, Shannon, I think I’ve heard it all, now. Ridiculous comes to mind. Your hamburgers sound yummy although I believe I’d better omit the peppers. BTW, that’s an ordinary charcoal grill I’m seeing on the picture, right? Is there an advantage of a charcoal grill over a gas?

  5. Kay on May 23rd, 2008 8:10 am

    Yup, it sure is a charcoal grill. The classic Weber kettle grill. I also have a gas grill that comes in handy when we are in a hurry. Why charcoal? I can think of three reasons: 1.The flavor is better when a burger or steak is grilled over a bed of coals. 2.Most consumer level gas grills don’t get hot enough to sear a steak properly. 3.I just enjoy the primitive process of starting a fire and making food over it.
    On a side note, the Weber Kettle grill is not an expensive grill, but it does a wonderful job compared to some cheap ones I have used. The basic design of the Weber has not changed since 1952. Shannon (I wonder what I need to do to get my own user name on here)

  6. Jo on May 23rd, 2008 9:09 am

    My dad has always grilled over charcoal…my husband’s family believes in gas. The proof is in the pudding—-er, the burgers & steaks. My dad’s beat the ones on the gas grills hands down. Our own gas grill finally kicked the bucket & we replaced it w/ charcoal—ah, much better!
    My mouth is watering over those burger pics. We’ll be wading into some of our own this wk/end & I can’t wait!

  7. Michelle on May 23rd, 2008 3:06 pm

    Ahh- my mouth is watering! Can I come to your house this weekend? That sandwich looks so good!!It probably doesn’t help matters that I’m really hungry right now. We’re going out to eat tonight and I just might have to order myself a cheeseburger.

  8. heidi on May 23rd, 2008 3:12 pm

    ooohh this looks really good..minus the jalepenos sorry im not a big pepper fan. the rest of it sounds mighty yummy might have to try this recipe this weekend. now im so hungry for a burger. =)

  9. Karen on May 23rd, 2008 10:35 pm

    Loved this post. It made me smile. Milt does all the grilling around here and does it on a small charcoal Weber grill….and declares that charcoal is WAY better then gas….and that Weber’s are WAY better then any of the cheaper makes. The food he makes is wonderful….one of the many reasons I like summer. We have yet to hit 70* here in the Icebox of the Nation. Maybe this weekend??!!!

  10. Patsy Clairmont on May 24th, 2008 6:56 pm

    Okay, so now I am a Shannon fan! I love your info, humor, pics, and recipe.

    You rock!

    Thanks for the smiles and the yummy burger!

  11. Amber on May 27th, 2008 11:59 am

    Awesome looking burger! I think i know what we’ll have for supper! Doesn’t hurt that burgers are my husbands’ fav. food. :)

  12. Amber on May 29th, 2008 3:17 pm

    To make them even better…put mushrooms under that cheese! YUUUMMMM!!!! :)

  13. Kay on May 29th, 2008 3:30 pm

    Great idea, Amber! Can’t believe we didn’t think of that… we put mushrooms on about everything! I’m assuming you mean sauteed, at least I think that would be best.

Open-faced pork chop sandwiches by my husband

A guest appearance!

Grilling is my husband Shannon’s specialty. He’s got some pretty mean stuff coming off the grill sometimes! YUM!!!! One of those things is the open-faced pork chop sandwich . I asked him if he could make a ‘guest appearance’ on this site to feature them. He agreed to do it… so, here he is…

I can’t believe I am being a guest writer on Kay’s blog. Further, I can’t believe I am actually sitting down with my laptop to write about a pork chop.

As you will see, this is not a complicated recipe. As with nearly all of my food prep related endeavors, this recipe centers around the charcoal grill.

Ingredients: Boneless pork chops, white bread, provolone cheese, BBQ sauce, seasoning.

Step 1: Season pork chops to taste. I use Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning or a Cajun seasoning.

Step 2: Grill over hot coals.

porkchop1 To an internal temp of 160. Pork, unlike steak, should not be done medium or rare unless the intended audience has a particular affinity for food born illness.

Step3: While chops are grilling, toast one piece of bread for each chop.

porkchop3

Step 4: P ut a piece of the sliced provolone cheese on the toast (I know this is a technical and difficult process but stick with me here).

porkchop4

Step 5: Cut the chops into strips a little over 1/4 th in. thick.

porkchop2

Step 6: Put strips of chop on the piece of toast and cheese, using the grab and plop technique.

porkchop5

Step 7: Pour boiling hot BBQ sauce over the chop and cheese.

porkchop6

This is really where a lot of the flavor comes from. I use Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy BBQ Sauce . If you haven’t had Famous Dave’s you should at least give it a try. {Side note: “Famous” Dave Anderson has a lake home on Round Lake about 3 miles from where we live. I have had the chance to meet him on several occasions including one night after midnight when I stopped into our local grocery store and he was shopping at 12:30 in the morning. Dave started Famous Dave’s of America restaurant chain and later was appointed by President G.W. Bush as the head of the Borough of Indian Affairs in Washington DC. (an agency with over 10,000 employees) end side note}

Where was I? Oh yeah, make sure the bbq sauce is very hot so it melts the cheese. Serve as an open faced sandwich. The 2 mistakes I have made when making these are 1. Leaving the meat on the grill too long till it is too dry. And 2. Not putting enough BBQ sauce on top.

Well that’s it. See, I told you it was a simple recipe.

May you always be surrounded by good friends and great food.