Archives for 2008

How To Grill Super-moist Onion Burgers

I know people who have secret recipes for what they put in their burgers. They're convinced they make the best burger in the world. Then three out of four burgers come off the grill with burned edges that you have to trim off. Unless you like crunchy burgers that is. That's why I'm more concerned with how to make a well cooked burger. Not well-done, done well. (Speaking of well-done, my father once told a waiter, "Tell him to just put it on the grill. When the smoke alarm goes off, I'll come … [Read more...]

Bread Crumbs and Bread And Butter Pickles — Part 2

So I've been getting a little bit obsessive lately. It's not good enough to cook from scratch. First I have to make my ingredients. I make my own grill seasoning, my own mayonnaise for Pete's sake! (By the way, who's Pete and why do we care about his sake?) Recently when I went to make hamburgers I accidentally looked at the ingredients on the can of bread crumbs. Holy crap! Time to make my own, I guess. This was just supposed to be a way to use up stale leftovers. [sigh] … [Read more...]

How To Make Grill Seasoning

A couple of weeks ago when I made garlic salt I said that I might make up a jar, with some pepper in it, to take on vacation. Well, it's coming up, so I did grill seasoning. … [Read more...]

Roasted Parmesan Peppercorn Potatoes

I tend to suffer from kid-in-the-candy-store syndrome when it's time to plan a menu. When I'm just sitting there thinking about what I'd like to have, I don't even know where to start. Sometimes it helps to just go to the market and see what looks good. "Ooh, nice looking red peppers, what can I do with those?" But they tend to always have the same things in stock. (Hopefully this will change as we start seeing more local, in-season produce.) But what really clarifies my thinking is … [Read more...]

How To Grill Corn On The Cob

Fresh corn on the cob doesn't take much cooking at all. Some people insist that the only way to eat it is to get it within hours of being picked and boil it for two or three minutes. These same people will put the water on the stove before heading out to the farmers market or roadside stand to get the corn, so they won't waste a second after shucking it. These people are crazy. (I'm looking at you, Alton Brown.) I've kept corn in the fridge for two or three days before cooking it and I … [Read more...]