Are you ready for a burger that will knock your socks off? I have just the one for you. It has been in my repertoire for about four years and I am just here to tell you that it is everything that you want in a burger. It is juicy and flavorful. The kind that you might want to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is one to write home about. Oh, my gosh the spicy sauce that you see dripping down the side of the burger is to die for. You will want to make it for more that just these burgers or just take a spoonful and savor it! It is that good. The burgers and the sauce go together. Don’t make one without the other or you will be disappointed. We don’t want that.
Category Archives: Grill
Gourmet Jalapeno Cheeseburger
Filed under easy, Grill, Hamburger, Main dish, Ranch Sauce
Grilled Salmon
Salmon cooked on a Cedar Plank
Fish is quick to prepare and very healthy. Some cooks are afraid to prepare this convenience food. Why ?? It really is simple to make.
Growing up we had fish every Thursday night. I mean every Thursday night! My parents loved fish and seafood. I grew up in south Georgia in the middle of the state. It is two to three hours from the ocean. Fish came into the local fish market every Thursday. My mother would go after she picked us up from school and pick out the fish we were having. They would wrap it in newspaper. Most of the time we would have fried trout with her homemade tartar sauce, homemade hushpuppies and for the life of me could not tell you what else.
Today I do not fry fish, I usually grill , blacken in an iron skillet, or bake. It is just a lot more healthy and the clean up is so much easier.
One of my favorite ways to prepare salmon is on a cedar plank. It really is easy and makes for a very elegant meal.
You can pick up cedar planks in many places. I have found them at supermarkets as well as the local green egg dealer. Just follow the directions that come with them. This particular one I soaked in water for an hour. I just put it in the sink and covered with water putting a saucepan on top to keep it under the water.
In the meantime I marinated the salmon. Usually I make one, but I was short on time and just purchased a prepared one recommended by the gentleman in the seafood section of the grocery. The salmon marinated for about 45 minutes.
I then prepare the grill. I take that back GI Joe is in charge of the grill. Using the Big Green Egg it was preheated to 325 degrees, placing the cedar plank on the grate and let it heat for about 8 minutes. Place the salmon skin side down on plank and cook until it flakes with a fork. This cooked for about 20 minutes. Cooking on the cedar plank will lengthen the cooking time because you are using indirect heat. The fish can be placed directly on the grate of the grill. Cooking time will be cut in half. Make sure that the grates are cleaned and well oiled.
Serve it with your favorite sides. I chose brown rice with asparagus. It was a great dinner!!
Grilled salmon
Happy cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
Twice Baked Potatoes
These are so good!
I love potatoes anyway you cook them. They have been a favorite of mine since childhood. I grew up in a very small town in south Georgia where my grandparents had a big farm. They had what all farms had back then, chickens, horses, cows, and pigs . They had a smoke house, a sugar cane mill to make syrup and a well. They grew everything peanuts, cotton, corn, watermelons, peas, beans, potatoes, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, turnips,and the list goes on. And get this they also had a big underground bomb shelter. Go figure!!
Every Wednesday after school we would visit my grandparents. Usually I would take a friend. Bomb shelters make great playhouses. Whatever my grandmother had cooked for lunch that day we would have for an afternoon snack (meal). She always made potatoes, just plain boiled potatoes. They were so good. They were seasoned with lots of love and I am sure butter. Okay, enough about why I love potatoes.
This is a great stuffed potato recipe that I have adapted from my friend Cile. It is a favorite of ours especially when we are grilling. It is easy and very flavorful.
I have to get on my soapbox here. PLEASE don’t wrap up potatoes in foil to bake. When you do that the pulp is slick, gummy and turns a dark color. It also takes forever because you are steaming them . Just wash the potatoes good and put them in a 425 degree oven. Most of them including the great big Idahoes will take an hour or a little more. I’m telling you they will be so fluffy, billowy, soft and a beautiful pristine white when you pop them open. You’re going to say WOW!
Place in 425 degree oven for about an hour or more until soft
While they are still hot cut the top 1/4 off of the top of the potato. Scoop out the cooked potato. Place in a mixing bowl.
Scoop out baked potatoes and place in bowl
Heat about 1/2 of milk and 1/4 stick of butter just until warm. By the way this recipe can be doubled.
Heat 1/2 cup milk with 1/4 cup butter until warm
Add milk and butter to the potatoes. You may have to add more or less milk depending on the size of the potatoes.
Next add 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar, 3 slices of bacon cut into bits, and 2 tops of green onions sliced. I pulled the cheese and the bacon out of the freezer.
add 1/2 cup cheese, 3 slices of bacon bits, and green onions
Mix
Ready to stuff the shells
Put the mixture in the shells and bake for about 20 min. if you can wait that long!
Cile’s Twice Baked Potatoes ( This is the doubled recipe)
- 8 medium baking potatoes
- 1 cup milk heated
- 1/2 cup butter heated with milk
- 1 cup grated sharp cheese
- salt and pepper
- 2 sliced green onions
- 6 slices of bacon bits
Bake potatoes at 425 degrees for about 1 hour or until they are soft. Cut 1/4 of top from potato and scoop pulp into a mixing bowl. Heat milk and butter until warm. Add to pototatoes. Add remaining ingredients. Mix. Stuff potato mixture into shells. Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 min.
Enjoy!
The Teacher Cooks
Filed under baked potatoes, Cooking, easy, Grill, healthy, Recipes, side dish, Stuffed Potatoes, Twiced baked potatoes
Grilled Flank Steak
Marinated Flank Steak
Julie from Cliff Drysdale Tennis was our house guest last week. She said she needed just a little help with cooking up some dinners when entertaining. I served this grilled marinated flank steak dinner and she thought it was quite good. So Julie this blog is for you . Hope that it will help.
Flank steak was once a cheap cut of meat until someone discovered that all you had to do was marinate it. Now the steak is not cheap , but it is still economical. You just have to know how to prepare it.
The marinade I use is from a friend that taught me a lot about cooking. Cile moved to Wilkinson County when her husband became the new dentist there. They were both from Baton Rouge, La. Man she could cook!! Being from a small country town I knew nothing about a roux or any other Cajun cooking recipe. Everything she made was fantastic. I take no credit for this. Try this with flank steak, rib eyes, chicken or I have even marinated pork chops and you will get rave reviews from your guests.
Take a gallon ziplock bag and put in a medium bowl. Fold down the top around the bowl. Now you can mix the ingredients in the bag and save on clean up. Combine the following ingredients in the bag and mix well. Marinate the meat 8 hours or overnight. Take out for at least 30 minutes before grilling to reach room temperature. Follow grilling directions for your particular type of grill. For the Big Green Egg you should cook for 6 minutes on each side at 350 degrees. This steak is good only cooked at medium rare to rare. Do not cook well done. Trust me that is great right off the grill or try it cold on a salad. The steak in the photo made 7 servings. Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting. This will keep all the juices inside the steak and make it nice and moist.
Cile’s Marinade
- 1/3 c. of lemon juice
- 2 T dry mustard
- 1/4 t salt
- 1 T pepper (tablespoon is correct)
- 1/2 c. wine vinegar
- 1/4 c. Lea & Perrin Sauce
- 1 1/2 c. oil
- 1/2 c. Soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and cut in half
Combine all ingredients and shake. Use for marinade for steak, flank, rib eye. Marinate for at least 8 hours.
Marinated and ready to grill
Here is the Athlete ready to grill! ( He looks nerdy)
Headlights are needed when you grill in the dark.
Cutting against the grain
So here it is for you Julie. Now you can entertain your guests. Enjoy!
Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
Filed under Big Green Egg, Flank Steak, Grill, Marinade
The Teacher Cooks 