07/19 tonight i relied on an old time favorite of the household. grilled filet mignon with bleu cheese crumbles and caramelized onions, accompanied by a modified wedge salad. now a good steak on the grill is a thing of beauty. but topped with that sharp bleu cheese? and those sweet caramelized onions? takes it to a whole new level! i go by the alton brown method of caramelizing onions, which has never led me wrong:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/how-brown-was-my-onion-0133018.html
07/20 i know i just made scallops last week, but they are so wonderful as a grill option, i decided to make them again! this time i skewered them with orange slices, and covered them in a glaze made of honey, ginger and red chili paste. a little sweet. a little tangy. a little spicy. a whole lot delicious! my side was a simple tomato avocado salad. a nice light summer meal!
07/21 tonight was another girl's night at honey pig!!! i did indulge in the spicy pork belly again (because really, you can't NOT have spicy pork belly here). but changed up the meal with some fried dumplings and a "seafood pancake". look at this beautiful piece of meat.....getting all crisp and wonderful on the grill plate. this is why i love this place so much!!!!
07/22 the heat wave we've been having is getting out of control! another day where it is just too hot to turn on the oven....means another night of grilling out. which really is kind of a blessing in disguise. for tonight's meal i tackled a fickle mistress.....the grilled pork chop. these can be a thing of beauty? or a dry disaster. luckily tonight's meal was the latter. here are my tricks to a grilled pork chop. 1) brine. over night in buttermilk and hot sauce. 2) use THICK CUT CHOPS. thin ones dry out way to quickly. 3) oil and season well before placing on the grill. these are coated in a pesto. and 4) turn every five minutes until done. 5) let stand 10 minutes before cutting. since i coated these in pesto, a nice panzanella salad made for the perfect side dish!
07/23 we braved the brutal heat of the evening and ventured to meet some friends at nats park for a baseball game. there was a sandwich stand just behind us that served....falafel! i know i just had a falafel wrap a few nights ago, but since i found that meal rather disappointing, i had to satiate my craving by trying another take on the falafel wrap. this one, i am happy to say, was infinitely better! the falafels were well seasoned and not too dry. the tzatiki sauce was amazing (and so refreshing on such a hot day). and the pita was perfectly soft. and.....the nats one!!! at the bottom of the ninth. yay home team!
07/24 for tonight's grilled meal, i pulled some italian sausages out of the freezer. sautéed up some peppers and onions and threw those beauties on a soft bun. so good!!! for sides i made a quick massaged kale salad and grilled fruit. yes...grilled fruit. if you haven't tried it? i recommend it! especially grilled peaches and bananas. the heat brings out a natural caramel flavor that is amazing. just don't grill too long or you get mush!
to accompany our dinner this evening, i made one of tony's favorite drinks: fresh margaritas. these are different from the super sweet slushy variety you find in most tex-mex places, these are fashioned after the most amazing margaritas that i had the pleasure of enjoying at the hotel del angel in mexico city. this is their serene garden area were i spent a wonderful afternoon enjoying this crisp and refreshing drink that was far and away better than any green slush i had tasted in the states!
here they serve the margaritas the way we serve cocktails, shaken over ice and then strained into a stemmed martini glass.
what really makes these drinks so refreshing is the use of fresh citrus juice. no pre-made over sweetened lime juice. they use a mix of fresh limes and oranges.
the recipe for the margaritas:
1 1/2 oz silver tequila (100% agave blanco)
1/2 oz cointreau
juice of 2 limes
juice of 1/2 orange
2 tsp agave nectar
-shake over ice
-strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with salt
happy sunday. and cheers!!!
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