Meg said I had a "man date" last night. I grilled some burgers for Meg and the girls for their dinner and then started preparing a meal for me and my "date." I always look forward to getting together with my brother Russ he is a great friend and when we get together time flies.
For the grilled potato salad I first diced 2 pounds of small potatoes then ran them through with a wooden stake (skewered them). I then brought four quarts of water to a boil and added the 15 skewers to the pot. I had to trim a couple inches off the wooden skewers to fit the pot. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes or so just before they are fully cooked, remove, and pat dry. Once dry add a light coat of evoo and salt and pepper. The potatoes are ready for the grill!
So, I put Russ to work on forming the burgers as I was grinding the cut up chuck roast. The potato skewers were on the grill as were the jalapenos so everything was on target for a delicious dinner.
Once everything was done we filled our plates and sat on the deck and ate. The grilled potato salad was tasty I would make it again for sure. I would however back off the lime I used the juice from three limes perhaps just two next time. The stuffed jalapenos were the bomb. The sweetness of the cheese with the flavor of the grilled jalapenos and the ground Arbol chile dust on top was spot on. I put several in the fridge for my Honey to taste later.
This was my first time grinding my own hamburger meat. And honestly, I could not tell a discernable difference from the normal 80/20 ground beef we get at the store. Will try it again and play around with different cuts of meat.
After we ate we spent 10 minutes or so cleaning up and loading the dishwasher. Meg had taken Victoria to her Youth Bible study, Emmy was entertaining Ruthie upstairs with a kiddo movie. Gram was ensconced in her hide-away downstairs, likely reading, so it was just me and Russ on a beautiful night out on the deck. We grabbed a couple cold beers, popped the tops, trimmed our cigars and fired'em up.
Of course while kicking back on the deck we solved most world problems, talked Redskins of course, work stuff, family stuff, church stuff, and we briefly talked of the current political climate but we didn't want to ruin the evening so we quickly put a kibosh to that.
All in all it was a pleasant night out on the deck. The aroma of the kettle settling down, crazy nice weather, half full cold beer, cigar in hand, good chow, an occasional fart, and smoothly flowing conversation........as someone wrote "good friends are good for your health." it was a healthy night....
Grilled Potatoes for Salad
When buying potatoes for these salads, the color is less important than the size; make sure they are no longer than 3 inches. You will need about fifteen 10-inch metal or wooden skewers. Prepare the other salad ingredients while the water heats so that the salad can be made with potatoes that are hot off the grill. Because the potatoes are precooked, they need only brown on the grill; you can grill them along side your main dish over a grill fire of any intensity.
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ pounds new potatoes, 2-3 inches long, scrubbed and cut into eighths
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1. Bring four quarts of water to a boil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt.
2. Meanwhile, if using wooden skewers, trim them to lengths that can be submerged in the Dutch oven or stockpot. Skewer each piece of potato through the center with the skin facing out. Place 8 or 9 potato pieces on each skewer.
3. Drop the skewers into the boiling water and boil until a paring knife slips in and out of a potato easily, about 10 minutes.
4. While the potatoes boil, line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. With tongs, transfer the skewers to the baking sheet. Pat the potatoes dry with additional paper towels. Discard the paper towels. (The potatoes can be cooled to room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, and kept at room temperature for up to two hours.) Brush all sides of the potatoes with the oil and sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.
5. Place the skewers on the hot grill. Cook, turning the skewers twice with tongs, until all sides are browned, 2-3 minutes per side over hot or medium-hot, or 4 to 5 minutes per side over medium or medium-low heat.
6. Slide the hot potatoes off the skewers and into a medium bowl. Use immediately in the following recipe.
Spicy Grilled Potato Salad with Corn and Chiles
Poblano chiles are relatively mild; to alter the spiciness in this salad, decrease or increase the quantity of jalapenos.
1 recipe Grilled Potatoes for Salad
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup cooked corn kernels from 2 ears grilled corn
2 medium poblano chiles, stemmed, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½ inch pieces
2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3 tablespoons juice form three limes
½ teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium scallions, white parts only, sliced thin
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
1. Toss the hot potatoes with the vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Add the corn, poblanos, and jalapenos and toss to combine.
2. Whisk the lime juice and sugar together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the oil and salt to taste. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and add scallions and cilantro. Toss to combine. Serve. (The salad can be covered with plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 30 minutes; toss before serving.)
Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos
Ingredients
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 oz. soft goat cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
2 green onions (green and pale-green part), thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
12 large jalapeño chilis, halved lengthwise, stemmed and seeded
1 heaping Tbsp ancho chili powder
1. Heat grill to medium.
2. Whisk together the cream cheese and goat cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Fold in the cheddar and green onions; season with salt and pepper. Fill each jalapeño half with about 2 Tbsp of the mixture; sprinkle the top with ancho powder.
3. Place chilis on the grill, filling-side-up, and cook until slightly charred and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon the Grilled Red Pepper–Tomato Sauce (recipe below) onto a platter and top with the jalapeños.
Serves 6.
Grilled Red Pepper–Tomato Sauce
1 large red pepper, grilled, peeled, and chopped
4 plum tomatoes, grilled and charred on all sides, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the red pepper, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, honey, and cilantro in a food processor; process until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add oil and season with salt and pepper.
Back decks were made for good friends. It was a pleasant evening with no humidity or pesky mosquitoes to swat away. The Kingsford charcoal I fired up earlier was just about ready and the beers were getting nice and cold in the garage fridge.
I was trying a couple new recipes the first of which is a grilled potato salad followed by stuffed jalapenos all served with freshly ground grilled hamburgers. One of the comfortable things about good friends is if the new recipes don't work out you can serve a PBJ or dial one eight hundred pizza and no one cares.
For the grilled potato salad I first diced 2 pounds of small potatoes then ran them through with a wooden stake (skewered them). I then brought four quarts of water to a boil and added the 15 skewers to the pot. I had to trim a couple inches off the wooden skewers to fit the pot. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes or so just before they are fully cooked, remove, and pat dry. Once dry add a light coat of evoo and salt and pepper. The potatoes are ready for the grill! Meg and I have grilled, smoked, fried, diced raw, and baked jalapenos and other chiles in various ways all to our enjoyment. This recipe was the first time I would be using goat cheese with chiles. I make a stuffed chicken breast with goat cheese that is delicious so was looking forward to how these flavors would meld together.
I mixed the white cheddar and goat cheese together and set it aside while cutting up the jalapenos.
I had grilled the corn, pablano chiles, a red pepper, and tomatoes earlier on the gasser (gas grill) for the potato salad and a sauce for the stuffed jalapenos.
By this time Russ had arrived and like any good friend he had stopped off at our local cigar shop and acquired a couple nice Punch cigars for post dinner enjoyment.
So once the chuck was ground and formed into burgers we put them on the kettle (charcoal grill) with the other stuff.
Once the potato skewers were done (just needed to brown each side) I pulled them off the kettle and added the potatoes to the other ingredients. The other ingredients are grilled corn cut off the cob, grilled pablano peppers peeled and seeded, diced raw jalapenos, fresh lime juice, sliced scallons, little bit of white wine vinegar, dab of sugar, evoo, fresh cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.
Once everything was done we filled our plates and sat on the deck and ate. The grilled potato salad was tasty I would make it again for sure. I would however back off the lime I used the juice from three limes perhaps just two next time. The stuffed jalapenos were the bomb. The sweetness of the cheese with the flavor of the grilled jalapenos and the ground Arbol chile dust on top was spot on. I put several in the fridge for my Honey to taste later.This was my first time grinding my own hamburger meat. And honestly, I could not tell a discernable difference from the normal 80/20 ground beef we get at the store. Will try it again and play around with different cuts of meat.
After we ate we spent 10 minutes or so cleaning up and loading the dishwasher. Meg had taken Victoria to her Youth Bible study, Emmy was entertaining Ruthie upstairs with a kiddo movie. Gram was ensconced in her hide-away downstairs, likely reading, so it was just me and Russ on a beautiful night out on the deck. We grabbed a couple cold beers, popped the tops, trimmed our cigars and fired'em up. Of course while kicking back on the deck we solved most world problems, talked Redskins of course, work stuff, family stuff, church stuff, and we briefly talked of the current political climate but we didn't want to ruin the evening so we quickly put a kibosh to that.
All in all it was a pleasant night out on the deck. The aroma of the kettle settling down, crazy nice weather, half full cold beer, cigar in hand, good chow, an occasional fart, and smoothly flowing conversation........as someone wrote "good friends are good for your health." it was a healthy night....
Grilled Potatoes for Salad
When buying potatoes for these salads, the color is less important than the size; make sure they are no longer than 3 inches. You will need about fifteen 10-inch metal or wooden skewers. Prepare the other salad ingredients while the water heats so that the salad can be made with potatoes that are hot off the grill. Because the potatoes are precooked, they need only brown on the grill; you can grill them along side your main dish over a grill fire of any intensity.
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ pounds new potatoes, 2-3 inches long, scrubbed and cut into eighths
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1. Bring four quarts of water to a boil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt.
2. Meanwhile, if using wooden skewers, trim them to lengths that can be submerged in the Dutch oven or stockpot. Skewer each piece of potato through the center with the skin facing out. Place 8 or 9 potato pieces on each skewer.
3. Drop the skewers into the boiling water and boil until a paring knife slips in and out of a potato easily, about 10 minutes.
4. While the potatoes boil, line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. With tongs, transfer the skewers to the baking sheet. Pat the potatoes dry with additional paper towels. Discard the paper towels. (The potatoes can be cooled to room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, and kept at room temperature for up to two hours.) Brush all sides of the potatoes with the oil and sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.
5. Place the skewers on the hot grill. Cook, turning the skewers twice with tongs, until all sides are browned, 2-3 minutes per side over hot or medium-hot, or 4 to 5 minutes per side over medium or medium-low heat.
6. Slide the hot potatoes off the skewers and into a medium bowl. Use immediately in the following recipe.
Spicy Grilled Potato Salad with Corn and Chiles
Poblano chiles are relatively mild; to alter the spiciness in this salad, decrease or increase the quantity of jalapenos.
1 recipe Grilled Potatoes for Salad
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup cooked corn kernels from 2 ears grilled corn
2 medium poblano chiles, stemmed, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½ inch pieces
2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3 tablespoons juice form three limes
½ teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium scallions, white parts only, sliced thin
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
1. Toss the hot potatoes with the vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Add the corn, poblanos, and jalapenos and toss to combine.
2. Whisk the lime juice and sugar together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the oil and salt to taste. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and add scallions and cilantro. Toss to combine. Serve. (The salad can be covered with plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 30 minutes; toss before serving.)
Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos
Ingredients
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 oz. soft goat cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
2 green onions (green and pale-green part), thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
12 large jalapeño chilis, halved lengthwise, stemmed and seeded
1 heaping Tbsp ancho chili powder
1. Heat grill to medium.
2. Whisk together the cream cheese and goat cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. Fold in the cheddar and green onions; season with salt and pepper. Fill each jalapeño half with about 2 Tbsp of the mixture; sprinkle the top with ancho powder.
3. Place chilis on the grill, filling-side-up, and cook until slightly charred and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon the Grilled Red Pepper–Tomato Sauce (recipe below) onto a platter and top with the jalapeños.
Serves 6.
Grilled Red Pepper–Tomato Sauce
1 large red pepper, grilled, peeled, and chopped
4 plum tomatoes, grilled and charred on all sides, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the red pepper, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, honey, and cilantro in a food processor; process until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add oil and season with salt and pepper.
