Iron Chef Pembroke Pines: April 2011 - Lemon Pepper Shrimp

Tina made these absolutely delicious Lemon-Pepper Shrimp...and everyone LOVED them. But Tina is one of those people that knows her frecipes by heart, and has such an immensely busy life, that she can hardly be bothered to write them down.

And she's like me...we don't really care about winning...only hanging out and enjoying good food with friends...so she makes awesome stuff, but not to really compete.

Anyway...this is NOT Tina's recipe, because she never gave one. This is Heidi's Lemon Pepper Shrimp recipe...which she says is significantly less pepper-y than Tina's.

But it is the closest we've got...so here is Tina's PICTURE...and Heidi's recipe.

Lemon-Pepper Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 lb xl shrimp (16-20 count), peeled
• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 2 lg cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp red-pepper flakes
• ¼ c. + 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
• 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp white wine(or a substitute white grape juice)
• 2 TBSP butter
• 2 Tbsp drained capers, chopped (optional)
• Lemon wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Put first 6 ingredients in bowl. Add ¼ cup lemon juice and 1 Tbsp parsley. Marinate 15-30 minutes.
2. Heat grill to medium. Bring wine, butter, 2 tsp lemon juice, and capers to a boil and remove from heat. Put shrimp on grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until bright pink, about 2 min.
per side
3. Transfer to bowl and stir in warm butter mixture. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp parsley. Garnish with lemon.

courtesy Heidi Tyler

Hungarian-Spiced Skewers with Sour Cream

This recipe comes from my FAVORITE grilling cookbook EVER...aptly titled Grilling: Where There's Smoke There's Flavor by Eric Treuille & Birgit Erath. It's not too thick...has BEAUTIFUL pictures, and clean, concise instructions for all dishes, sides, and sauces. Check out this absolutely delicious gem that is so flavorful, you'll feel like your mouth is going to EXPLODE...

I doubled and served with grilled potato slices and and a Greek-inspired salad...

Hungarian Spiced Skewers with Sour Cream

1 lb ground chuck steak
1 onion, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp ground caraway
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Salt and Black Pepper to sprinkle
2/3 cup sour cream to serve
8 10-inch pre-soaked bamboo skewers

1. Place ground steak, onion, garlic, paprika, marjoram, caraway, pepper, and salt in a food processor; pulse until combined.

2. Divide into 8 equal-sized portions. With wet hands, mold each portion round a separate skewer, shaping into a sausage, about 8 inches long.

3. Grill over medium coals, turning every two minutes, until well-browned but still juicy and slightly pink inside, 8-10 minutes total.

4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve hot with sour cream.

courtesy Grilling: Where There's Smoke There's Flavor by Eric Treuille & Brigit Erath

Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Salad

The other day I was hanging out with my friend Melodee, and she mentioned that she was going to start her own recipe side-blog, too...which is GREAT. We were discussing dinner, and she mentioned that although she had known about Kraft Food and Family magazine and web-site for years, she had forgotten about it. I CONSTANTLY use recipes from the magazine and web-site, and she got inspired to check it out again. She said: "The thing I love about Kraft is that everything is so easy...and everything comes out tasting GREAT."

It's true. The recipes are simple, call for ingredients that are PROBABLY in your pantry already, and come out delish!!

And here's another one...perfect for summer...

I served this with vegetable kabobs drizzled in the same dressing I used for the chicken...it's called Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan by Kraft...

(oh...and the recipe serves two...so I tripled it)

Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Salad

2 slices Italian bread
1/4 cup Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan
2 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
4 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onions

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Brush bread slices with 1 TBS of the dressing. Brush chicken with 1 TBS of the dressing.

2. Grill chicken 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, grill bread slices 1 minute or until lightly toasted on both sides, turning over after 30 seconds.

3. Mix tomatoes, cheese, and basil; set aside. Toss spinach and onions with remaining 2 TBS dressing; spoon onto serving plate. Top with cooked chicken and the tomato mixture. Serve with bread.

courtesy Kraftfoods.com

Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

After a long day of grocery shopping and errands, this is the perfect no-fuss dinner. I like it best 'cause I don't cook it. My hubby is the Grill Master in our home...and there is nothing more manly than a man and his grill. Just standing next to the grill is intimidating for a girl like me...there is WAY too much testosterone emanating from it. But my man is right at home....

We made a couple changes to this recipe that were born out of our location. It's kinda hard to find those hard brat rolls here in sunny South Florida. So we improvised, getting big, soft Bolillo Rolls and slicing them halfway through for our sausages. I LOVED the soft, chewy texture. It was WAY better than Brat Rolls. My only complaint was that we bought the smaller Hot Links Italian sausages, as we noticed that our kids had trouble eating a big 'ol LumberJack Smoked Italian Sausage last time, and there was a lot of waste.

I don't like food waste. It's a pet peeve of Jasons', too - being that he runs a multi-million dollar restaurant and all.

The problem with waste is not only that I feel like it's money AND food wasted, but that I feel I have to make up for it by finishing my kids food for them. Jason helps. And while his metabolism can handle it, mine can not. Hence my beach ball figure.

Anyway - back to the sausage complaint...Bolillo Rolls are BIG...bigger and fluffier than Brat Rolls. So they actually would've cradled a LumberJack Smoked Italian Sausage perfectly. But the smaller Hot Links we purchased got kinda lost in the bread. At least it was really good bread, and no one complained. And my kids were able to polish a whole one off. Kate even had two.

Sides should stick with the whole grillin' theme - we had corn-on-the-cob and baked beans. Our new favorite baked beans are the Bush's Grillin Beans , Bourbon and Brown Sugar Flavor. YUM.

(And yes - I know how to make baked beans from "scratch", but I get the same results {almost} with Bush's, and it saves so much time that I am totally cool with the substitute.)

Double for bigger families or extra-hungry people...

Grilled Italian Sausage and Grilled Peppers

2 medium bell peppers (red, green, yellow or orange), cut into strips

1 med. onion, sliced

1/4 cup Italian dressing

4 Italian Smoked Sausages...big LumberJack ones, or smaller Johnsonville ones, or if you're really healthy, try those Boca Meatless Italian Sausages

4 Brat Rolls, or, in my case, Bolillo Rolls

1. Preheat grill to medium heat. Make a foil pouch out of heavy duty aluminum foil, and place peppers, onions, and dressing inside. Close pouch tightly. (You can also buy ready-made foil pouches for grilling...but I usually just use what I have).

2. Grill 15 minutes or until veggies are soft and juicy, turning bag at least once to get all sides. Meanwhile, grill sausage as directed on package.

3. Fill sliced buns/rolls with sausage and peppers. Add other condiments as desired, like shredded cheddar and the usual relish.

Viola! It's dinner!!

adapted from http://www.kraftfoods.com/