National Gazpacho Day - An Awesome Grilled Gazpacho Recipe

Grilled Gazpacho Recipe!

In celebration of National Gazpacho Day (December 6th), the GrillJunkie team hones our vegetable grilling skills by creating this delicious gazpacho soup and laying vegetables directly on hot grates. This cooking method imparts a hauntingly smoky flavor to this vibrant and earthy soup.

http://grilljunkieguy.com/grilled-gazpacho-recipe-national-gazpacho-day/

A Bit of Gazpacho’s History

Gazpacho is a tomato-based, luscious yet refreshing vegetable soup, traditionally served cold. This richly layered and refreshing soup originated in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía. Gazpacho is widely consumed in Spanish and Portuguese cuisine where it is known as gaspacho. Gazpacho has ancient roots. There are a number of theories of its origin, including as an Arabic soup of bread, garlic, water and olive oil that arrived in Spain and Portugal with the Moors, or possibly via the Romans with the addition of vinegar.

Once it hit the streets of Spain it quickly spilled into Andalucían cuisine. Gazpacho is amazingly delicious, unique and certainly deserves its well-earned National Holiday.  Although Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities and cold serving temperature, the GrillJunkie team has always been stumped by the reason behind its National Food Holiday being celebrated in December.

Stumped, but oh so excited that we have an excuse to grill some vegetables, roast some garlic and share this great treat with you.

Grilled Gazpacho Recipe Ingredients:

1. 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled – (See our Grilled Garlic Recipe to grill a whole bulb at once)
2. 3 large tomatoes, (1 Plum type, 2 Heirloom – 1 1/2 pounds total)
3. 1 medium English cucumber, sliced
4. 1 yellow bell pepper
5. 1 red bell pepper
6. 1 medium sweet Vidalia onion, peeled
7. 1/2 jalapeño pepper
8. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
9. 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
10. 1 Tbsp chopped basil, plus more for garnish
11. 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
12. 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
13. Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

• Place the garlic cloves on a 5″ x 5″ piece of aluminum foil. Coat generously with olive oil. Wrap the garlic cloves in the sheet of foil. (To grill an entire garlic bulb, see our Grilled Garlic Recipe).
  

  Grilled garlic roasted with earthy and healthy olive oil.

• Cut the cucumber into quarters and set aside.

• Cut the the plum and heirloom tomatoes into quarters. Place the tomatoes in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes to allow some of the water to be drawn out of the tomatoes. (This process intensifies the flavor when grilling the tomatoes and the juice may be used to thin out the gazpacho soup to your liking).

• Transfer the water drained from the tomatoes to a sealed container, cover and refrigerate.

• Prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill. Brush and oil the grill grate or a vegetable-grilling basket.

• Brush the tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño and onion with olive oil, and lightly season with salt and pepper.

• Arrange the tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeño and onion directly on the grill grate or in the basket directly over medium-high heat. Grill, turning frequently, until soft and nicely charred on all sides; 10 minutes total for the tomatoes, bell peppers and jalapeño…and 15 minutes for the onion and garlic. By the way, your jalepeño is now half way to becoming a chipotle. Man you are an expert griller!

• Transfer the grilled vegetables to a platter and let cool slightly. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, pick over the vegetables, removing most of the burned skin but leaving some charred bits. Chop all the grilled vegetables coarsely.

• Transfer all of the grilled vegetables, including the fresh cucumber and peeled garlic, to a food processor and puree. With the machine on, gradually add the 1/4 cup of olive oil, then blend in the vinegar. Add the herbs, then transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in the tomato water to adjust for desired thickness and texture and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until chilled. Ladle the gazpacho into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs and serve.

• Enjoy, smile and cherish your time with Family& Friends!

Grilled Gazpacho Recipe: Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day to enhance the flavor. Stir to recombine and garnish just before serving.

• Ingredient Note: For a real treat, replace the jalapeño with 1 Tbsp of Piment d’Espelette – a sweet, mildly spicy pepper, from the French side of the Basque region, ground into powder. Hot paprika will get you somewhat close to the taste as an alternative.

What are your thoughts on this recipe? What Fires YOU Up?

We welcome your comments, healthy debate, and the inevitable disagreement. Leave a reply or comment. It’s OK. Bring it on!

Grilled Garlic and Garlic Bread

Grilled Garlic and Garlic Bread Recipe

Over the years, the team here at GrillJunkie has experimented and perfected how to grill/roast garlic whole and enjoy the warm, toasty cloves right out of the head, or for use on and in many dishes. Below you will find a 2 for 1 RECIPE; Grilled Garlic, and then using that incredible garlic on, Grilled Garlic Bread. How incredibly simple! And perfect for garlic lovers.

Grilled Garlic

Ingredients:

• 1 head of garlic
• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground peppercorns

Preparation:

1. Fire up grill and preheat to medium/high heat to about 400 degrees F.
2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of the cloves, exposing the inside tops of the individual cloves of garlic.
4. Place the garlic heads on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Wrap the garlic bulb with aluminum foil. Grill at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves look caramelized and feel soft when pressed.
5. Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Using a small sharp knife, cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
6. Eat as is (there is nothing quite like freshly roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use in dishes such as on steak, sauces, pesto or in pasta. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Grilled Garlic Bread

Ingredients

• 6 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 stick butter, softened
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 8 slices Italian or French bread, sliced 1/4-inch thick on an angle
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoons freshly chopped sweet basil

Directions

1. Fire up and Preheat your grill to Medium/High heat or to about 400 degrees F.
2. Combine the garlic and butter in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spread 1 tablespoon of butter on one side of each slice of bread. Grill butter-side down until lightly golden.
4. Turn each slice over, sprinkle with parsley and basil and grill an additional 20 seconds.

Smile and enjoy!

Delicious Burger Recipe - The Topless Wino Burger

The Topless Wino Burger

Served stacked on the bottom bun only, this burger combines the complementary flavors of ground peppercorns, wine, Dijon mustard, tarragon and cream onto a burger that will knock them out and keep them addicted for life!

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 pounds ground chuck ‐ 80% lean
• 1/3 cup Red wine
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoons Green peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/3 cup Whipping cream
• 8 slices of applewood smoked bacon - cooked
• 1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
• 1/2 freshly ground black peppercorns
• 1/4 cup of canola or light olive oil
• 4 Hamburger buns or Kaiser roll bottoms

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, combine red wine and mustard and place over medium heat on a stove or your grill's side burner if available.

2. If using dried tarragon, add it now. Simmer until reduced by half.

3. Add the green peppercorns and cream and simmer until liquid becomes "sauce‐like". Remove from the heat and add fresh tarragon.
 



4. In a large bowl, gently divide the meat into four equal portions. Each patty should consist of approximately 6 ounces of ground meat.

5. Carefully and loosely form each divided portion into a patty that is ¾ ‐ 1 inch thick and about 4 & ½ inches in diameter, again being careful to not overwork the meat. Make a shallow depression in the center of each of the meat patties with your thumb.

6. Once formed, place patties on a clean plate, sprinkle both sides with salt and press the black peppercorn into the meat, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

7. Preheat the grill to medium‐high heat and coat grill grates with cooking oil so as to avoid patties from sticking. Remove patties from refrigeration, brush the burgers with light olive or canola oil, and place the patties on the hot grill grates. Grill and sear patties over medium‐high heat for 4‐5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness being sure they are cooked through and have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove grilled patties from grill and let them rest for 2‐3 minutes.

8. To assemble and stack, arrange burgers on toasted bun bottoms, place 2 bacon slices on each patty and generously spoon some of the wine/mustard sauce over the top. If desired, (or a bit modest), top with upper bun.

Smile and Enjoy the Addiction!

This recipe and 364+ more available from our GrillJunkie Burger-a-Day Cookbook available at Amazon.com.

Burger Recipe: Mango and Watercress Salsa Burgers

Mango and Watercress Salsa Burgers

This refreshing burger starts with our Basic Burger recipe and caps it off with a delicious and texture‐rich Mango Salsa and Watercress mix. A great summer treat or something to warm your soul during the Autumn and/or Winter.



Recipe taken from our GrillJunkie - Burger-a-Day Cookbook available at Amazon

Ingredients:

For the Mango Salsa:

• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and 2 limes
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1‐2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 large, ripe mango, peeled, stoned and chopped very finely (see tip in preparation)
• 1 teaspoon red chili pepper, chopped very finely
• 6 onions, chopped very finely
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 1 medium sized bag of Watercress, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns

For the Burgers:

• 1 & 1/2 pounds ground Chuck ‐ 80 % lean
• Sea salt or Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons of light olive or canola oil
• 4 hamburger buns or soft Kaiser rolls, split

Preparation:

For the Mango Salsa:

1. Take the mango and stand it on its end. Using a sharp knife carefully cut down each side of the flat "pit‐stone", keeping the knife as close as possible. These halves are known as the "cheeks" of the mango. Cut each "cheek" into quarters then carefully slice away the flesh from the skin. Finely chop into small pieces.

2. Place the mango into a large glass bowl or stainless steel bowl. Add the lemon and lime juices and zests, garlic, sugar, chili, onions, olive oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well. Cover and leave to marinate for 1 hour. Just before serving you will add the Watercress, mint and coriander.

For the Burgers:

1. In a large bowl, gently divide the meat into four equal portions. Each patty should consist of approximately 6 ounces of ground meat.

2. Carefully and loosely form each divided portion into a patty that is ¾ ‐1 inch thick and about 4 & 1/2 inches in diameter being careful to not overwork the meat. Make a deep depression in the center of each of the meat patties with your thumb.

3. Once formed, place patties on a clean plate, sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

4. Prepare the grill to medium‐high heat and coat grill grates with cooking oil so as to avoid patties from sticking.

5. Remove patties from refrigeration, brush the burgers with light olive or canola oil, and place the patties on the hot grill.

6. Grill and sear patties over medium‐high heat for 4‐5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness being sure they are cooked through and have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Remove grilled patties from grill and let them rest for 2‐3 minutes.

7. Add the Watercress, mint and coriander to the Mango salsa and mix well.

8. To serve, stack each patty on one half of a hamburger bun, top with some Mango Salsa and Watercress mix and cover with remaining half of bun.


Smile and enjoy!

This recipe and 364+ more available from our GrillJunkie - Burger-a-Day Cookbook available at Amazon

Grilled Flaming Pineapple Recipe

Grilled Flaming Pineapple Recipe

A true Grilling Addict's delight, and a new trend these days is to grill fruit on the trusted backyard grill. You trusted us with Grilled Pizza right? Trust us on this one too! One of our favorites is Grilled Pineapple.

Pineapple has the ideal texture and substance to take the heat of the grill! To add more fun to the experience, be sure let everyone gather around when you are ready to throw these pineapple slices on the grill. As always, be careful..when the rum hits the fire it will flare-up, so keep you're your cool and your eyebrows out of range and let everyone be awed by your grilling skills.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pineapple cored and cut into ½ inch slices
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• Scoop of Vanilla ice cream

PREPARATION:

Combine Worcestershire sauce, honey, butter, sugar and rum in a deep medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, making sure to stir constantly so as to avoid burning the mixture. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool.

Preheat and oil your grill (a light olive oil works best). Brush pineapple pieces with sauce and place on grill. Cook for about 5 minutes turning occasionally. Surface of the pineapple should brown. Remove from grill, top with ice cream and the remaining sauce.

Hoot, holler, and enjoy!

Charcoal or Gas? What Fires You Up?

Which produces better tasting food? Charcoal or Gas?

This question is similar to the Grilling versus Barbecue issue. This one however, albeit an age old question like that of direct versus direct cooking, may not have quite as clear or definitive of an answer. Excuse the pun, but it really is a matter of “taste” and/personal preference. There is, however, a bit of evidence that will help shed some light point you in the right direction.

Although debatable, charcoal purists will claim that the use of the beloved briquette produces better tasting grilled foods most of the time. This is not to say that some things taste any worse, it is just that some claim that things don't taste any different. Or at least some foods, that is. "Good Housekeeping" magazine recently did a blind taste test and uncovered that most folks could not tell the difference between hamburgers or skinless chicken breasts cooked over gas or charcoal.

However, it was found that people could tell the difference with a steak. Their conclusion was that the longer you grill something the more the flavor of the fire gets into the food. The mechanism involved here is the smoke. Charcoal, even though it is just smoldering, produces smoke.

Gas grills use a clean fuel that does not really produce smoke in and of itself. Although some manufacturers will claim that their patented vaporization barriers produce smoke from dripping grease, most folks don't want the taste of burning grease in their food. The kind of smoke that improves the flavor of food is the kind you get from real smoke, from an intended source.

To get that highly desired smoke flavor, you can add smoker chips in a box to produce smoke, however, in order to pass that flavor to the food you need to saturate it in smoke.

Since charcoal produces some smoke and heat the two are mixed together. As the food absorbs the heat it also takes in the flavor of the smoke.So if you are a bit of purist and really like the flavor of foods, particularly things like a good steak, cooked over an open flame then you need to use charcoal.

However it is important to ensure that the smoke you are getting from the charcoal is “good” smoke. There is some weird and unnatural stuff out there so be careful. Commercial charcoals with special additives for easy lighting and cheap charcoal made from sawdust and a binding agent doesn't exactly have the best flavor producing smoke.

You want to use a good quality charcoal or mix your charcoal with chunks of good hardwood. Or you can buy lump charcoal that is actually make from real pieces of wood and not just sawdust. It is also very important to maintain a clean grill!. Build-up of ashes, burned up grease and other stuff will make the smoke produced leave a strange and undesirable flavor on foods. So in this light if you choose to use cheap self-lighting charcoal in a dirty, rusted grill then we’d suggest going with gas. If however you are serious about the flavor of grilled foods and are willing to put the effort into the art of charcoal cooking, then a good charcoal grill might just be what you need.

Burger Recipe: The Holy Cow 3 Cheese Burger

The Holy Cow­ 3 CheeseBurger

(One of our most popular recipes from The GrillJunkie Burger a Day Cookbook)

The trinity of "holy" Swiss cheese, goat cheese and Parmesan‐Reggiano laid on a bed of bittersweet basil will have them praising the grilling gods of which you will be their most adored.

Ingredients:

• 1&1/2 pounds ground Chuck ‐ 80 % lean
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt or Koshersalt
• 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons oflight olive or canola oil
• 4 slices of Swiss or Gruyere cheese
• 4 slices of goat cheese  ‐ round and thickly sliced to 1/2 inch each
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan‐Reggiano cheese
• 1 large beefsteak tomato  ‐ thickly sliced to 1/2 inch each
• 1 handful of fresh basil leaves
• 4 hamburger buns or soft Kaiser rolls, split

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, gently divide the meat into four equal portions. Each patty should consist of approximately 6 ounces of ground meat.

2. Carefully and loosely form each divided portion into a patty that is ¾ ‐1 inch thick and about 4 & 1/2 inches in diameter being careful to not overwork the meat. Make a shallow divot in the center of each of the meat patties with your thumb.

3. Once formed, place patties on a clean plate, sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

4. Prepare the grill to medium‐high heat and coat grill grates with cooking oil so as to avoid patties from sticking.

5. Remove patties from refrigeration, brush the burgers with light olive or canola oil, and place the patties on the hot grill grates.

6. Grill and sear patties over medium‐high heat for 4‐5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness being sure they are cooked through and have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. During the last minute of grilling, top each burger with a slice of Swiss, a tomato slice, then the goat cheese topped off with some Parmesan‐ Reggiano. Close the cover or create a heat "tent" by covering each burger loosely with aluminum foil. Remove grilled patties from grill and let them rest for 2‐3 minutes.

7. To serve, place some basil leaves on the bottom halves of each bun, stack a burger patty on top, and cover with upper buns. Add a few bacon strips to each and you have an entirely new burger.

Enjoy! For more recipes stay tuned to our blog as we post frequently and/or check out our Burger a Day Cookbook.

Grilled Balsamic Lambchops

Grilled Balsamic Lamb Chops


Don’t think they will like Lamb Chops? Think again! This is a quick way to make delicious lamb chops and change their minds forever. The combination of flavors will make those who don't like lamb come back for more.

  

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 lamb rib chops
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

 

Place lamb chops in a shallow baking dish. Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, mustard, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over chops. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat grill.

 

Grill chops over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes per side on until browned to desired doneness.

 

Enjoy - see more recipes at http://grilljunkie.com/

 

Houston, we have a Flare Up!

Houston, we have a Flare-Up. Please advise!


Do not fear flare-ups! The secret of flare-ups is to control them. First of all it's important that you understand that flare-ups are not as big a problem as you might think, if controlled of course. Controlled flare-ups are okay, it's when the fire gets out of control that you have a problem. There are several ways to deal with flare-ups.

It is important to not only plan on a flare-up, but more importantly prepare for them. The first step is to reduce the risk of or causes of a flare-up. One way in which to do this is by trimming any and all unnecessary fat from the foods you grill, but don’t go too crazy. For the sake of flavor, meats should be left with a little fat on them that also prevent meat from drying out while grilling. And it is important to note that fat not only comes in the form of meat fat, but can also come from such added sources as such oils in marinades or sauces. The key to avoiding flare –ups with marinade meats is that the marinades should be allowed to sink in fully, and marinated meat should not be dripping in oil when placed on hot grill.

Again, herein lies the art of grilling, as you want tot strike a balance between flare-up control and fat removal. You can’t and, most importantly, shouldn’t take away all the fat. Foods like chicken with the skin on, or a good thick steak or hamburger patties are going to have fat which when left on add to the flavor of the meal. However, that fat is going to melt and quite likely catch fire. That’s expected. What you need to be prepared for is a flare-up control plan. Unless you are grilling enough food to cover the entire cooking surface of your grill, which is highly discouraged, you need to be ever-ready to move meats out of the flare-ups, to another part of the grate. This will provide you with the ability to keep foods out of the way of a flare-up, increasing the safety of your cooking, and of course prevent burning your much anticipated meal. Once you have cleared the area of a flare-up of food let it burn. You will find that fats exposed to flame and intense heat will burn away quickly. A tip would be to use upper warming racks, if available, to hold food temporarily while the flare-ups are dealt with. The Golden Rule would be, “If you can’t prevent it, be prepared to control it”.

What about a keeping a water-bottle close at hand? A water filled spray bottle is a flare-up tool of last resort. Many so called “experts” keep a spray bottle of water close at hand to put out flare-ups the instant they happen. There are several reasons you don’t want to use a spray bottle, and we may have learned this long ago in science class. Water and oil, or burning grease do not mix and you don’t put water on a grease fire. That’s rule number one. Secondly while the water may temporarily reduce or even put out the fire it does rid us of the catalyst, the grease in the grill. So the instant that the existing grease heats up again the flare-up will return. And finally, when you spray a grease fire with water, the grease does something very dangerous and undesirable, it explodes. The explosion causes splatter over your food, and, let’s face it, partially burned grease doesn’t taste very good at all. If you are faced with an uncontrollable flare-up, and you want to avoid spoiling the food with a grease splatter, move the food out of the way, off the grill to a plate, turn off the burners and spray down the grease to put it out. From here, you are back in control and can start cooking again.

A clean grill really does produce fewer flare-ups. Once you have had that big flare-up it's a sign from the grilling gods indicating that it is time to clean out your grill. A good place to start is to fire up the grill and let it heat up good and hot in order to burn away as much grease as you can. Then after it has thoroughly cooled, get in there and clean out all the burnt grease and food from the bottom of your grill.

Grilled Flaming Pineapple Recipe

Grilled Flaming Pineapple from GrillJunkie
A true Grilling Addict's delight, and a new trend these days is to grill fruit on the trusted backyard grill. You trusted us with Grilled Pizza right? Trust us on this one too! One of our favorites is Grilled Pineapple. Pineapple has the ideal texture and substance to take the heat of the grill! To add more fun to the experience, be sure let everyone gather around when you are ready to throw these pineapple slices on the grill. As always, be careful..when the rum hits the fire it will flare-up, so keep you're your cool and your eyebrows out of range and let everyone be awed by your grilling skills.

INGREDIENTS:


1 pineapple cored and cut into ½ inch slices

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter or margarine

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup dark rum

Scoop of Vanilla ice cream

PREPARATION:

Combine Worcestershire sauce, honey, butter, sugar and rum in a deep medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, making sure to stir constantly so as to avoid burning the mixture. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool.

Preheat and oil your grill (a light olive oil works best). Brush pineapple pieces with sauce and place on grill. Cook for about 5 minutes turning occasionally. Surface of the pineapple should brown. Remove from grill, top with ice cream and the remaining sauce.

Hoot, holler, and enjoy!