Grilled Cheese

 Appetizers, Ingredients, Recipes  3 Responses »
May 222014
 

Not what you think… This is not your favorite sandwich, but a delightfully refreshing and satiating summer appetizer. I love grilling slices of cheese because it defies logic. You can’t grill just any cheese, but Halloumi, Paneer or what is sometimes called “grilling cheese” works really well and takes just a minute. Sweet grilled watermelon goes nicely with the salty cheese and olives and the mint and parsley give it a fresh finish. Here, I’ve also made griddle bread using a built-in pizza stone on a STOK grill to go with the dish.

grilled halloumi and watermelon on a white plate with griddle bread off to the side. Blue tablecloth background

Grilled Cheese with Watermelon and Mint

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

  • 8 (½-inch) thick triangular slices watermelon
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces Halloumi, Paneer or grilling cheese, sliced ¼-inch thick
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ lemon, zest and juice
  • 12 to 16 pitted Kalamata olives

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat your outdoor grill until hot – you can only hold your hand 1 to 2 inches above the grill for 2 to 3 seconds before pulling it away.
  2. Season the watermelon slices with salt and pepper and brush lightly with olive oil. Grill about 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until there are nice grill marks.
  3. Brush the cheese slices on both sides with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on the grill until there are nice grill marks – about 1 to 2 minutes per side.
  4. Arrange the grilled cheese and grilled watermelon on a plate and sprinkle with the fresh herbs and lemon zest. Squeeze a little lemon juice and drizzle a little olive oil over the top and garnish with the Kalamata olives. Serve with fresh griddle bread.

Shot of Griddle bread on pizza stone in foreground and cheese and watermelon grilling in background

Grilled Banana S’mores

 Desserts, General, Recipes  No Responses »
May 142014
 

I’ve been doing a lot of work with BBQ Grill Pans lately and here’s something sweet and delicious that I made on my latest Cook’s Essentials BBQ Grill Pan. I love how easy it is to make and how fun it is to serve. Just give your guests a small spoon and the banana scoops out so easily. I saw these grilled banana s’mores in various places on the Internet, so I can’t claim to have invented them (or even give credit because they were in multiple places), but I do love the addition of peanut butter chips!

 

Close up of the Banana s'mores with blackened peel and lightly browned marshmallows

Grilled Banana S’mores

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 bananas
  • 4 tablespoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 4 tablespoons mini peanut butter chips
  • 4 tablespoons mini marshmallows
  • 4 tablespoons graham cracker cereal

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat the grill until hot – when you hold your hand 1 to 2 inches above the grill grates, you want to pull it away after 2 or 3 seconds. Place the Cook’s Essentials® BBQ Pan on the grill and pre-heat for 5 minutes.
  2. While the grill is pre-heating, slice into the bananas lengthwise along the inside of the curve, but do not slice through the bottom of the peel. Open the banana slightly to form a pocket.
  3. Fill each pocket with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and marshmallows. Poke the graham cracker cereal into the filling.
  4. When the BBQ Pan is ready, place the bananas on the BBQ pan, using the ridges to hold the bananas upright and close the BBQ lid. Grill for about 5 to 8 minutes, or until the banana is soft to the touch and the chocolate and marshmallows have melted.
  5. Serve with a spoon to spoon out the filling.

Grilling Season in Full Swing!

 General, Kitchen Products, Poultry, Recipes  No Responses »
May 032014
 

Despite some rainy weather, grilling season is in full swing for me here in Pennsylvania. It feels so good to be outside, enjoying the weather again, cooking meals and making great backyard aromas. I’ve been testing out all sorts of accessories for the BBQ lately, and most recently I had the good fortune to take a whole new grilling system for a test drive. Overall, the STOK grill and grill insert system is pretty darn cool! STOK is really on to something here. They create both gas and electric grills and their grills have removable circles in the grill grate that can be replaced with one of their inserts, like a griddle, a vegetable basket, a cast iron kettle, a smoker infuser, a wok, a pizza stone and even a chicken roaster! I’ve had a lot of fun playing with this grill system, and as I write this, I can’t even decide which insert is my favorite.

That said, anyone who knows me, knows how much I love pizza! So one of the first things I did with the STOK grill Pizza1 system is throw the pizza stone into place and fired up the grill. I used the pizza stone in the grill to make a Tex-Mex Pizza, which ended up being a lot like nachos on a pizza crust. The best part was being able to grill some of my pizza toppings - corn, red pepper, and chicken - for extra smokey flavor while the pizza stone was still heating up. Then cooking the pizza on the grill’s pizza stone allowed me to have one of my favorite meals without heating up the house with the oven. I’ll be showing you more recipes from my experience with STOK in the next little while, but for now, here’s the Tex Mex Pizza recipe. Yum!

Tex Mex Pizza

Makes 2 9-inch pizzas

close up shot of the pizza with avocado, chicken and red pepper visible

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken breast
  • chili powder
  • 1 ear corn
  • olive oil
  • 1 red pepper, sliced into thin rings
  • ½ red onion, sliced into strips
  • 1 pound pizza dough, divided into two balls and at room temperature
  • ¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ¼ cup shredded pepperjack cheese
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup tomato salsa
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced or diced
  • chopped fresh cilantro

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