Chicken and Turkey

Grill, Baby, Grill!

 

BLMATGrill
Grilling on a Char Broil Grill (and enjoying a glass of wine) at my parents’ house in Ft Collins, CO, 24 years ago.

Sarah Palin may have goaded us with “Drill, Baby, Drill,” but Andy’s battle cry for all of our blog buddies is “Grill, Baby, Grill” – and it rubs off on me. We are such BBQ fanatics that when we feared Andy’s favorite Landmann Barbeque (Charcoal) Grill might be discontinued, we ordered another one as a back-up and it sat, boxed, in our garage for a couple of years. And we’re using it now. Hmmmm, makes me think I should get another one on its way, just in case.

BLMAndyArmyGrilling
Two Steaks for One: 1st Lt Andy in Vietnam 1969
AVAndyGrilling
Grill-Master Face-off between Andy and my brother; Fort Collins, summer of 1993

Yes, we grill at least 3 times a week, come rain, sleet, or snow, or being stationed in Vietnam; and it’s almost always for just the two of us. But in thinking about this blog, I’m having trouble validating why the time is worth it for “just us.” Which reminds me, a number of years ago Sara and I promoted a mother/daughter cookbook which would have been titled “Just You; Just Me; Just Us” – geared toward one and two family households.  Andy and I intend for our blogs to be somewhat of a continuation of that theme.

Not “For-Men” Only

Enter into the blog picture the George Foreman Grill. Our 87-year-old Baton Rouge friend, Katie, has always been the Hostess with the Mostest.   And the meals she served always matched her hostessing skills.

When we visited Katie in April, we had long talks about what foods she fixes for herself, now that she’s living alone. I mentioned grilling, and she whipped out the George Foreman grill she had found at a garage sale a few years back. She was adamant about how handy it was for her and how good the meat was that she fixed on her little electric grill. Then just a few weeks ago my brother, who just turned 80 – and is still practicing law – received a Foreman grill from his legal assistant, who feared he wasn’t eating well and needed encouragement to cook for himself.

Screen Shot 2017-08-24 at 6.25.07 PM

The moral to this all MAY be that every older person living alone needs a George Foreman grill. OR it MAY be that grilling – be it electric, gas, or charcoal – is a fun variation on the kitchen cooking theme – for all ages and all numbers. We pick the latter.

Choosing just 4 recipes to include was a daunting task. We decided that we wanted something that was both prepared and grilled quickly, on a Foreman (electric), gas, or charcoal grill, had fairly basic ingredients, and was a bit out of the ordinary.  Here are the winners: Margarita Chicken – we’ve made it for years and never tire of it, Mediterranean Grilled Chops, Grilled Steak with Ginger and Soy, and SuperSimple Grilled Corn – because we wanted to include this picture of Moss, our grandson 🙂

Screen Shot 2017-08-16 at 3.13.13 PM

No, this is not a recent photo of Moss; it was taken about 11 years ago, and no, he wasn’t eating corn from our Grilled Corn recipe.  BUT our recipe is just that droolingly (I’m sorry; sometimes I just can’t help myself) delicious.  And, yes, Moss still experiments with both eating and cooking new foods – but now with a little more enthusiasm.  He started 7th grade this month and got up at 6 am on the first day of school to make homemade tortillas to bring to a school friend – in exchange for cookies she promised him.  And he and his mama just made (under the M&M brand name – Moss and Mama) Blueberry Chia Jam.

Butter, Eggs, Apples, Avocados & Rotisserie Chicken

Screen Shot 2017-08-26 at 7.02.01 AM

Yes, we’ve all heard it by now.  On Monday Amazon/Whole Foods will lower the prices on organic butter, eggs, apples, avocados – and rotisserie chicken and “responsibly farmed” salmon – but they’re not delivering – yet – by drone (thank god)!

Here’s the BigLittleMeals take on how to best take advantage of this deal (yes, there’s just a teeny bit of jadedness in our use of the word “deal!”)  We’re going to pass on the salmon, since we’re still very very confused about farmed seafood.  Happy to know we’re not alone in that – see the article we posted in Food for Thought.

Screen Shot 2017-08-26 at 8.14.03 AM

Use your butter, eggs, and apples to make German Apple Pancakes – for breakfast OR dessert.  The recipe comes from our Boulder Bestie, Danielle.  Danielle’s been considered part of our family since she and our daughter Sara were UC Santa Cruz roommates….a long time ago.  This is Danielle’s grandmother’s recipe; we’ve adapted it just a bit.

Avocados are almost all you need for this quick and easy guacamole from T-lish – the affectionate name for Tacolicious, Sara & Joe’s restaurant group.  If you’re making it several hours before enjoying it, here’s a helpful look at how to keep guacamole green.

Screen Shot 2017-08-26 at 1.10.44 PM
Guacamole Wannabees

Then we suggest you use some diced up rotisserie chicken and some shredded cabbage with the guacamole in a taco – or  use your organic eggs and diced chicken in our Breakfast Lunch and Dinner Fried Rice.

Baked German Apple Pancakes

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Print
This recipe is easily made Super Simple by omitting the apples.   Just heat the 2 T of butter in the skillet, add the egg/flour mixture to the hot skillet, pop it in the oven, bake as stated, and serve with the lemon sauce. We love it that way too!

Directions

  • 1/2 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 c whole milk
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 tart apple, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • an additional 4T melted butter and 2T lemon juice mixed together to pour over the baked pancake
  • powdered sugar – to dust on pancake just before serving.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix together flour and salt in a medium bowl.  In another small bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together until frothy and light.  Gradually whisk the flour mixture into the egg mixture, just to blend.  Do not overbeat.

In a 10″ cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the apples and brown sugar and saute until the apples are tender, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with the nutmeg.

Pour the egg/flour batter over the apples and place the pan in the oven.  Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Danielle’s grandmother, Margaret, warns that you must not be tempted to look at the pancake in the oven before the 20 minutes are up! Remove from the oven and drizzle with about half of the melted butter and lemon juice mixture; then dust generously with powdered sugar. Serve immediately – directly from the skillet – and pass the extra butter and lemon mixture around at the table.

Brought to you by Danielle in Boulder and BigLittleMeals.com

D-lish T-lish Guacamole

  • Servings: makes about 2 cups
  • Print
If you’re making this for just one or two, the recipe is easily cut in half. Adapted from Tacolicious by Sara Deseran

Ingredients

  • 2 c gently mashed avocados (about 4 big ones)
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 T diced yellow onion
  • 1 T minced jalapeno (use your judgment)
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 T fresh lime juice
  • 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Place the avocado in a bowl and add the garlic, onion, jalapeno, cumin, lime juice, cilantro and salt.  Smash everything with a fork – but don’t oversmash; you want it a little chunky.[/recipe-directions]

Don’t save the guac just for chips.  Make a taco with your leftover rotisserie chicken and some shredded cabbage.  Yum. Recipe brought to you by Tacolicious and BigLittleMeals.com.
Scroll to Top