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Archives for May 2008

Barbie Bonanza

May 25, 2008 by greg 1 Comment

The weather was perfect this Memorial Day weekend for firing up the grill. We had some friends over last night to share in the BBQ bonanza. On the menu was a kalamata olive and walnut stuffed pork tenderloin, Jamaican jerk chicken kabobs, classic burgers on the grill, grilled asparagus, grilled vidalia onions and grilled potatoes.

First let’s talk pork. I started by brining the whole pork loin in a mixture of salt, sugar, whole bay leaves, whole cardamon, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano and garlic. This was brined for about 3 hours. The pork was then cut open using a roll-cut technique to make a large flat open piece about 1/2 inch think. This was smeared with the kalamata olive and walnut stuffing.

Kalamata Olive and Walnut Stuffing

3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 tbsp capers
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp juice from olives
Juice from half a lemon
3/4 cup walnuts
a handful of cilantro
black pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

All the ingredients were blended finely in a food processor.

After the filling was spread evenly over the pork it was rolled up back into a tenderloin shape and tied securely with butcher’s twine. This was rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper before grilling.

Now for the chicken. I was inspired by Teresa from Running to Eat. This dish was so simple. I just made a Jamaican jerk inspired marinade and let the chicken soak for a couple hours. These were skewered and thrown on the BBQ.

Jamaican Jerk marinade

Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp freshly ground allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp freshly ground ginger
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
Juice of one small orange
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 tsp habanero hot sauce

The pork was grilled over a medium flame turning every so often until the inner temperature reached 165 F. It was taken off the fire and allowed to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

We cooked some burgers for the kids. These are simply flavored with seasoned salt. Asparagus got a quick grill after being tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I just LOVE whole onions grilled slow over a fire. These vidalias already started out pretty sweet. They were almost like candy after grilling. The pork was stuffed perfectly.

And here’s a plate all assembled.

Filed Under: chicken Tagged With: BBQ, burgers, Jamaican Jerk chicken, pork loin

Marathon Meal

May 17, 2008 by greg Leave a Comment

Nothing fancy tonight. Just fueling up to run 26.2 miles tomorrow morning. Whole wheat pasta with a mushroom tomato sauce. I just sautéd onions, mushrooms and garlic and added a can of Hunts sauce. As I said, nothing fancy. But it will help me fill my muscles with glycogen for tomorrow’s fun.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: carb loading, linguini

Soba Stir Fry

May 14, 2008 by greg 1 Comment

Nothing like the thought of Asian food to make me start instantly salivating. I made this chicken, broccoli and soba noodle stir fry and it really hit the spot. I first cooked the soba noodles and set it aside. Then I quickly stir-fried some broccoli, garlic and ginger in a mixture of olive oil and sesame oil. Once they were just slightly cooked I removed them from the wok. The chicken was marinated in a mixture of soy, sesame oil, mirin, and a splash of teriyaki sauce. This was added to the hot wok and fried just until cooked. The veggies were added back to the wok and the noodles were tossed in. I did add some more soy, sesame oil, mirin and teriyaki sauce. A quick toss and everything was nicely mixed together. 

Filed Under: chicken Tagged With: soba, stir fry

Crazy Concoctions

May 11, 2008 by greg 1 Comment

I’ve been pretty busy lately. Consequently I haven’t had time to cook, or time to shop, or time to do anything. So getting lunch together in the morning has been somewhat of a challenge. With pantry items waning and no time to prepare good food I found myself foraging through the cupboards and fridge for anything to throw together. This leads to some pretty wild combinations. Like this wrap I made for lunch on Friday. I started with the last of a package of tortillas. I had a bit of refried beans in the fridge, so I smeared the tortilla with that. On top of the beans went some crumbled maytag blue cheese and that was topped with some hard salami I picked up from Trader Joe’s the last time I was down in The Cities. A few parsley leaves and that made a quick and, well, strange lunch wrap. It was pretty good. Except I forgot to cut the casing off of the salami and it was hard to chew.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blue cheese, salami, wrap

Greco Burger

May 4, 2008 by greg 3 Comments

Ever since Susan Mello won the 2003 Build a Better Burger contest in 2003 with her “My Big Fat Greco-Inspired Burger” I wanted to make this. I have taken several liberties with her original recipe. First of all I could not find good lamb to save my life today in my local grocery store so I resigned myself to making my Greco burger out of ground beef. Regardless, it turned out really good. I also wanted something more substantial than a pita to serve it on so I opted for a thicker ciabatta roll. The meat is flavored with mint and cumin. It is layered on top of some chopped lettuce, topped with a feta tzatziki sauce and a lemon and oregano grilled eggplant. I also served it with a grilled vidalia onion.


Tzatziki Sauce with Feta

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup non-fat yogurt
1 tbsp dried dill
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Ingredients mixed well and chilled for at least one hour.

Grilled Eggplant

1 eggplant
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
2 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil

Eggplant was sliced into half inch slices. The remaining ingredients were whisked together. The eggplant was tossed with the marinade and allowed to sit for one hour. Eggplant was grilled on a hot grill until soft.

Burgers

2/3 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tbsp ground cumin
salt and pepper

Filed Under: Greek Tagged With: hamburger
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