Cheddar Cheese and Chutney Quesadillas

A great outdoor snack or even a late evening appetizer is the faithful quesadilla. Try this version with Major Grey’s chutney.

INGREDIENTS:
2 ten-inch flour tortillas
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons Major Grey’s chutney or your favorite brand of chutney
3/4 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
Coarse ground salt and fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Fire up the grill to about medium hot. Place a grid at least 4 to 6 inches above the coals. Brush one side of a tortilla with olive oil. Place tortilla oiled-side down on a plate.

Spread the chutney over the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with another tortilla and carefully slide onto grill. Brush top tortilla with oil.

Check the underside. When the surface starts to turn brown and before it chars, flip the quesadilla over and grill the other side. Slice into wedges for tangy delicious appetizers.

Great fun at 1464 Holbrook Avenue’s expansive backyard grilling space

Green and White Quesadillas

This is a lively side dish or appetizer with a perfect medley of cheese, herbs and little veggies.

INGREDIENTS:
2 ten-inch flour tortillas
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
3 small tomatillos
2 scallions
2 Tablespoons cilantro leaves
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack Cheese
2 Tablespoons Chevre, allow to come to room temperature
Coarsely ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Bring the grill up to medium heat. Set the grate up to at least 4 inches off of the coals. Brush one side of a flour tortilla with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Place tortilla oil-side down on a plate.

Brush tomatillos and scallions with remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a grill and cook until browned and soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove to a chopping board and slice scallions into 1/2-inch pieces. Press the tomatillos to flatten with the flat side of a large knife.

Spread cheeses over entire surface of tortilla. Top with scallion, flattened tomatillos and cilantro leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add another tortilla on top and brush with olive oil.

Slide the quesadilla onto the grill. Check the underside, when it starts to brown but before it chars, flip it over onto the other side and grill until the grill marks are precise. Slice into wedges or squares and serve it while the cheese is bubbling hot.

Attributed to: Also – 1464 Holbrook Avenue’s expansive backyard grilling space.

Blue Cheese Dressing for Spicy Wings

There are a number of good blue cheese dressing recipes in the outdoor world. This one is pretty “smooth”.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
2 Tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
Two or three drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Real simple! In a bowl combine the vinegar with salt and pepper to taste, add the oil and the cream in a thin stream, while whisking. Continue to whisk the dressing until the ingredients are smooth and silky. Stir in the blue cheese and swirl in the lemon juice. Chill before serving if you like.

Goes well with our Spicy Wing Drumsticks recipe

Apricot and Gray Poupon Mustard Sauce

Makes about 1/2 cup

Another excellent mustard based sauce. Try any flavor or brand of mustard that you prefer for variation.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup apricot preserves
2 Tablespoons of your favorite Dijon-style mustard

DIRECTIONS:
Force the preserves through a fine sieve into a small bowl and stir in the mustard. It is as simple as that. Transfer to a deep serving dish for wing dipping or spread out in deep saucer. Serve at room temperature.

Sauerkraut

Fresh homemade sauerkraut is better than any store bought sauerkraut. Especially on the day it is ready.

INGREDIENTS:
15 pounds, firm white cabbage
2/3 cup salt
Three 1 to 2 gallon jars or one 4 – 6 gallon crock

DIRECTIONS:
Trim cabbage and quarter heads. Remove core and shred cabbage finely into 1/16th-inch shreds. Mix cabbage with salt. Pack cabbage firmly into container(s) and cover with a clean dry cloth. Put a plate on the cloth and weight it with a wooden cutting board or chopping block piece. Make sure the cloth touches the surface of the packed cabbage so it becomes wet with the cabbage juice.

As soon as fermentation begins, remove the bubbly fluid on top and put a clean cloth and a wooden board over the cabbage. Wash the wooden board each day. Keep cabbage at a temperature below 60 degrees F. Let stand for a month.

After 30 days, heat the kraut to 180 degrees F. Pack firmly into sterilized and heated storage jars. Add sauerkraut juice to within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. If you run out of juice make a brine of 2 Tablespoons salt to each one quart of water use to top bring to the 1/2 inch to the top of jar level.

Seal the jars. Process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.

Fried and Spicy Chicken Wing Drumsticks

Don’t just dust off that Turkey Fryer in November. Fire it up for this lip smackin’ wings recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds chicken wings
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
BATTER:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 – 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup beer
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Vegetable oil for deep-frying, peanut oil is one of the better choices

DIRECTIONS:
Cut off wing tips. Save in the freezer for chicken stock. Halve the wings at each joint. Separate the shoulder to elbow piece from the elbow to the wing tip joint (the one you chopped off earier. Start at the smaller end of the drumstick, with a sharp knife cut the tendons and grasp the clean joint end with a towel or kitchen pliers, carefully scrape the skin and meat down the length of the bone as far as you can.

You want to make a plump drumstick tip leaving the upper end as a handle. Take the elbow to wing tip bones and do the same by cutting the cartilage, removing the smaller of the two bones and scraping the meat down the larger bone to make a round drumstick tip. Arrange the drumsticks in a shallow glass dish or non reactive bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Marinate, covered in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Combine the batter in a bowl. Whisk flour, paprika, salt, cumin, pepper, cayenne pepper and thyme. Make a bowl shaped impression in the center of the pile. Pour in the beer and the oil in a thin stream whisking the batter until smooth. Let the better set at room temperature for 1 hour.

In a large turkey fryer or deep fryer bring 2 inches of oil to 375 degrees F using a candy or deep fryer thermometer. Stir the batter. Dip 3 – 4 pieces in the batter and fry in batches, turning often for about 3 minutes, or golden brown. With a tong or spoon remove each batch and layer on paper towels. Let the oil come back to 375 degrees and repeat for each batch. Bring out the dipping sauce!

Attributed to: Foster

Overnight Sauerbraten

This overnight recipe will have you eating huge hunks of Sauerbraten in about 24 hours.

INGREDIENTS:
Two pounds beef chuck steak, 1 – 1/2 inch thick
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup cider vinegar
3 cups water
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons mixed pickling spice
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
4 whole cloves
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons shortening
All-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:
Rub meat with salt and ginger. Put in large flat dish or bowl. Combine remaining ingredients except shortening and flour in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Allow to cool. Pour marinade over meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning once or twice.

Remove meat from marinade, reserving marinade. Pat with paper towels and brown in shortening. Add 2 cups reserved marinade and half of onion and spices from marinade. Cover and simmer for 1 – 1-/2 hour, or until tender.

Remove meat and thicken liquid with flour that has been pre-mixed with a little cold water. Simmer for a few minutes, then strain.

Potato dumplings or mashed potatoes.

Attributed to: Evelyn Johnson, from a faxed over article. From way back when we used to fax things.

Lemon Pepper Steak

Lemon and pepper are the first adornments that I consider when grilling up a shell steak.

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup A.1. Steak Sauce
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 – 1/2 teaspoons peppercorns, coarsely crushed
Two (12 – ounce) boneless beef shell steaks, 1 inch thick

DIRECTIONS:
Mix steak sauce, lemon peel and pepper. Place steaks and marinade in shallow dish or plastic bag. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour turning occasionally.

Remove steaks from marinade; discard marinade. Grill or broil steaks for 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. Serve immediately.

Tamale Pie

Tamale pie is the kind of pie I like to see on the outdoor buffet table. That, and apple pie and cherry pie and blueberry pie and pumpkin pie, and so on.

INGREDIENTS:
1 – 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10 ounce) cans of red enchilada sauce
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
2 teaspoons salt, reserve 1 teaspoon
2 – 1/4 cups cornmeal
2 cups water
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup diced green chili peppers
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced into rings

DIRECTIONS:
For filling: In a large skillet over medium high heat, combine the ground beef, onion and garlic and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain any excess fat and stir in the enchalada sauce, corn, olives and salt. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (that’s 220 degrees Celsius).

For crust: In a separate medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cornmeal, water, evaporated milk and salt. Heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Stir in green chile peppers, then remove 2 cups of the cornmeal mixture and reserve in a separate bowl for later. Keep covered tightly.

Spread the remaining cornmeal mixture from the saucepan in the bottom of an 8 x 12-inch baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees F (or 220 degrees Celsius) for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire pie rack.

Spoon the meat filling onto the cooked cornmeal crust and spread reserved cornmeal mixture over the meat filling. Return to oven and bake at 425 degrees F (220 Celsius) for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.

Baked Sauerkraut and Corned Beef Hash

This is a great side dish. It is also suitable as a main dish and goes well with a brat or a mett.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups sauerkraut drained, (16 ounce jar)
4 whole cloves
1 medium onion
1 – 1/4 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme
1 can (15 – 1/2 ounces) corned beef hash
1 can (8 ounces) tomato mushroom sauce
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 apple cored and cut into small cubes, or thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:
Drain sauerkraut and rinse with cold water. Put in saucepan. Stick cloves into onion. Add onion, water and bouillon cube and thyme to sauerkraut. Simmer covered for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Discard onion. Spoon mixture into greased shallow baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients except apple pieces. Spread evenly over sauerkraut. Top with apple pieces.

Bake in hot oven (450 degrees F) for 15 minutes. Let cool covered and serve while still hot.

Attributed to: Evelyn Johnson