Spicy Fire-Roasted Salsa

For those who need a little more spice in your salsa, Ryan has created the spicy version of Fire-Roasted Salsa.

Spicy Fire-Roasted Salsa

• 6 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 Jalapeno pepper
• 1 Anaheim pepper
• 1 Poblano  pepper
• 1 Onion
• Cilantro (handful or to taste)

Heat grill.  Cut off the stem/top of the peppers.  Quarter the onion; poke toothpicks through to keep layers in tack.  Place everything but cilantro on the grill over high heat.  Grill peppers, onion, and tomatoes until skin is charred.  Peel skin off of the anaheim and poblano peppers.  Place peppers (including all seeds) and onion in a a food processor, and pulse a few times.  Add the tomatoes and cilantro in.  Pulse to desired consistency (we like ours a bit chunky).

Tabbouleh

Feel free to add ingredients or take some out.

Tabbouleh:

• 2 cups bulgur
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• 1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1/2 bunch green onions, sliced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/2 large cucumber, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 jalapeno

Dressing:

• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 t sea salt
• 1/8 t ground black pepper

Soak bulgur in boiling water until water is fully absorbed (about 30 minutes).  Combine all salad ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together.  Pour dressing over salad.  Chill and serve.

Breakfast Burritos

This past weekend, Ryan and I went camping with some friends.  Naturally, we had a blast!  When I go camping, I like to cook everything on the campfire.  I always think breakfast is a little bit of a challenge to cook on a fire; therefore, I decided to make some breakfast burritos ahead of time that we could then just heat up on the fire in the mornings.  I used Mr. Dell's frozen hash browns because the only ingredient in them is potatoes! 

Breakfast Burritos: 

1 or 2 Green Bell peppers, chopped
1 lb Sausage
1 bag Mr Dell's frozen hash browns
10 Grade A Large Eggs
12-16 Burrito-Sized Flour Tortillas
12-16 Slices American Cheese

Sea Salt and Pepper

1 T Olive Oil

Cooking Spray

Aluminum Foil, torn into large squares

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 9"x13" pan with cooking spray.  Dump hash browns into pan; drizzle 1 T of olive oil over hash browns.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  Bake for 40 minutes, flipping once.  While hash browns are baking, cook sausage on the stove in a large skillet.  Place cooked sausage in a large bowl.  Scramble eggs in the same skillet.  Add cooked eggs and green bell pepper to the large bowl.  When hash browns are finished cooking, add them as well.  Mix thoroughly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Heat tortillas in the microwave about 30 seconds.  Place a tortilla on a square of foil.  Add a slice of cheese.  Spoon sausage/egg mixture onto the tortilla.  Wrap like a burrito; then wrap foil around burrito.  Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Serve with salsa, if desired. 

You can freeze these, and eat them later.  When you're ready to eat them, take them out and let them thaw.  Then bake in oven or toaster oven until warm throughout.  If you bring them camping, cook over warm coals on campfire until warm throughout. 

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Cowabunga!  

Every time I eat pizza, I remember growing up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (aka best show and movie ever!).  The toys have really gone down in quality though.  :(  This specific pizza might be a little exotic for the Turtles, but I bet they'd still devour it!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

• Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
• Pesto Sauce
• Parmesan Cheese
• Fresh Parsley
• Fresh Cilantro
• Fresh Chives
• Dried Oregano
• Pepper and Salt
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Grilled Chicken Breast (marinated with Lawry's Tuscan Sun-Dried Tomato Marinade) 
• Grilled Red Peppers
• Red Onion
• Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Build pizza by adding ingredients in the order they are listed.  Sprinkle a little bit of Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese on the top.  Place pizza directly on over rack.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.  Alternatively, grill the pizza.  :)  Is it obvious that Ryan and I LOVE grilling?  Thanks, Dad, for the awesome charcoal grill/birthday gift!
I also think some spinach or grilled squash could be good on this pizza.

Buffalo Sweat Roast

First off, I would like to thank Tallgrass Brewing Co. for having amazing beers to not only drink, but to also cook with.  Ironically, I was browsing their website today, and noticed that Tallgrass even has a section called Cooking with Tallgrass Beer.  Buffalo Sweat Roast is not from their website (there is a roast recipe on the site), but something I made up.  Because it's been a couple of weeks since I actually cooked this baby, the recipe below might not be completely accurate.  I can't remember what size of roast I used, but if I had to guess I would say somewhere between 2 and 5 lbs.  The roasting pot I used is one of my favorite kitchen purchases because it can be used on top of the stove or in the oven!

Buffalo Sweat Roast

• 2 T Olive Oil
• 4 or 5 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
• 3 or 4 Sprigs of Thyme
• 1 Beef Roast
• About 20 Baby Carrots
• 2 Russet Potatoes
• 1 Medium Onion
• 6 to 8 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Bottle of Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat Stout
• Pepper
• Sea Salt 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Heat olive oil, two sprigs of rosemary, and two sprigs of thyme in a roasting pan on the stove (medium heat).  Once oil is hot, place raw roast in pan.  Sear for about 5 minutes on all sides.  Remove from heat.  Add the rest of the rosemary and thyme, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, and Buffalo Sweat to pan.  Add salt, if desired (we didn't add any because I flat out forgot to put it in).  Cook for 3 to 5 hours, or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Immediately take roast out of juices and sprinkle with sea salt.  Also take out the onions, carrots and potatoes.  Strain juices and make into a gravy, if desired (if you didn't add salt before, you will definitely need to add some to the gravy).

Ultimate Grilled Quesadilla

Mexican food - mmmm!  One of my favorite genres.  I like to eat it at least once a week.  Hahah.  I generally succeed at that.  :)  Ryan and I made these grilled quesadillas the same night he made the Fire-Roasted Salsa.  To the right is a picture of how he arranged everything on our awesome charcoal grill!  I love cooking on charcoal grills.  I think they are easier to control than gas grills, but maybe I just don't have enough practice with gas.  The quesadillas were a bit messy.  We probably shouldn't have put the salsa inside of the tortilla, which is why I listed it as a topping below instead.  When we were grilling them, it kept dripping down into the coals.  Lesson learned.

Ultimate Grilled Quesadilla

• Chicken
• Silva's Taco Spice
• Salt and Pepper
• Onion
• Red Pepper
• Cheese
• Flour Tortillas (try wheat ones)

Toppings:

• Fire-Roasted Salsa
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole
• Pickled or Fresh Jalapenos

Heat grill.  Season chicken with Silva's Taco Spice, salt, and pepper.  Cut red pepper and onion into quarters.  Stick a toothpick through each onion quarter to help hold in tack.  Grill chicken until no longer pink inside.  Grill onion and red pepper until tender.  Cut pepper into slices.  Sprinkle half of the tortilla with Silva's Taco Spice and cheese.  Top with chicken, onion, and peppers.  Place on grill; cook for a few minutes on both sides until crispy.  Serve with Fire-Roasted Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole, and Pickled or Fresh Jalapenos.  

Parmesan Turkey Burgers and Yellow Squash

My sister made these burgers for the first time years ago.  I never even thought about making burgers out of other ground meat (besides ground beef) until she had me try these.  The recipe is quite basic, but feel free to try adding or substituting other ingredients to it.  Different toppings also can add new and exciting flavors.  Ryan and I are constantly making up "new" burgers.  We love experimenting.  For a base, we switch between ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork.

The Original Parmesan Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 turkey burgers

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1/8 t salt
• 4 hamburger buns
• Red onion rings

Heat grill for direct heat.  Mix together the turkey, Parmesan cheese, chives, pepper, and salt.  Shape into 4 patties, about 1/2 inch thick.  Grill patties for about 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink in the center. Grill onion rings, if desired.  Serve patties on buns with onion rings.  Add extra toppings, if desired.  Be creative.  The first night Ryan and I ate these we added BBQ, tomatoes, and pickles to them (pictured above).  The second night, we just added Fire-Roasted Salsa to them, which made them pretty much the best turkey burger I've ever had!

Whenever we grill burgers, we like to also grill some vegetables to go with the main entree.  The day we made the turkey burgers, we grilled up some yellow squash.

Grilled Yellow Squash

• 1 yellow squash, cut in half length-wise
• Pepper
• Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Sprinkle pepper and seasons salt on squash.  Grill flesh side down until tender.  Flip over and grill for one more minute.