Honey Grilled Shrimp

Honey Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons Italian-style salad dressing
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails attached
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Skewers

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together garlic powder, black pepper, 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, wine, and salad dressing; add shrimp, and toss to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat grill for high heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.

In a small bowl, stir together honey, melted butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Set aside for basting.

Lightly oil grill grate. Grill shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. Baste occasionally with the honey-butter sauce while grilling.

Laura

I've made this recipe before and I loved it. I didn't baste, though. I put the honey into the marinade instead. Also, I fake grilled. Yeah, I said it - FAKE GRILLED. I let George Foreman grill for me and he did a GREAT job. I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top. It was a nice kick to counteract the sweetness of the honey.

As a side I made Pineapple Salsa and it was really yummy. I approve of both recipes. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get one of those brownies that I made today. No, I didn't bake them from scratch. Hey, there are some things better left to the professionals. Baking is one of them!

Meredith


I was a little overzealous on this dinner plan! My “sides” for the shrimp were a New York strip, Crispy Smashed Potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. As a result, I ended up slightly overcooking the shrimp, BUT the meal was delicious in any case.

To be honest, the marinade is almost identical to what I usually do for skewered shrimp. I added a little cayenne (next time I’ll add more), substituted olive oil for the Italian salad dressing and put some honey in with the marinade itself. I like using honey in grilled things – it does this kind of crusty, sticky glaze thing that is just heavenly. And yes - I “real” grilled of course.

The potatoes had some issues. They tasted good, but I couldn’t quite get the smashed part right. I think if I use smaller potatoes and cook them a little longer it might work out better. I’m not sure what the fix is, but rest assured I’ll keep trying.

The roasted Brussels sprouts really were the star of the show for me. I tossed raw sprouts with sliced shallots, garlic, bacon, olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted in a 450˚ oven for 25 minutes. I deglazed the roasting pan with a splash of white wine before serving. And as the star I believe they deserve a pic of their own!

Pizza (That's Amoré)

Laura's Pizza
Pizza?  Hell yeah I'll make pizza.  I love making pizza.  I have a bread machine that makes the dough.  Anyone who thinks it's a piece of equipment that just takes up space needs to taste the difference between premade dough and bread machine dough.  Sure, I could make it all by hand, but I'll save that for the professionals.

My pizza of choice was pesto margarita.  The layers are:
dough - pesto sauce (I made pesto months ago and froze it in ice cube trays for easy use) - diced tomatoes with jalapenos (drained well) - shredded mozzarella - fresh basil - minced garlic

To grill or not to grill.  That was the question.  If not for the rain, I would have (maybe) attempted to grill it.  Maybe I would have made one personal pizza on the grill and the other in the oven.  Weather conditions as they were, they both were baked in the oven, on a pizza stone.  If you're going to make pizza, please invest in a pizza stone.  The crust just crisps up so much nicer with one.

The pizza was delicious.  I never made a pesto margarita pizza before.  It came out better than I had expected.  The crust was crispy enough to stand up to the bite test.  (My pet peeve is when you order a pizza and you go to take a bite just to have all the toppings slide off the slice.)  If people wonder why I'm not a fan of ordering pizza when I go out, this is why.  So, bottom line, I'll definitely make this pizza again.  I think I'm going to enjoy finding different toppings to use.  I'd love to know what everyone likes to put on their pizzas.  Doesn't everyone have a favorite?

Meredith's Pizza

OH Today was BUSY! I have no clue why I decided to build a smoker, smoke a turkey, make pasta sauce, grill some chicken AND make pizzas. I'm exhausted!

I made two different pizzas. I took the easy road and used two doughs I bought at Trader Joe's. On the first (whole wheat) dough I did: my homemade sauce (spicy!), pepperoni, roasted onions, roasted red peppers and mozzarella. I tossed fresh red peppers and a vidalia onion with some olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted at 375 for about an hour. I think the pepper was my favorite part of the entire meal.



The second crust (garlic and herb I think?) got a white treatment. I made a white sauce by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil and then stirring in some light cream- finished with a little salt, pepper and fresh thyme. This went on first followed by a ricotta mixture (ricotta, thyme, garlic), caramelized onions, roasted garlic, prosciutto, and mozzarella.



To be honest I preferred the traditional red sauced pizza. The white pizza came out heavier than I'd have liked and the prosciutto ended up being moot- I think it was too delicate to hold up to the richness of the cream sauce and the ricotta. Bacon would have gone nicely here. The grilling of the pizzas is something I'd like to perfect in the future. My first attempt proved slightly undercooked in some spots- I feel the right temp on the grill and a better stretching of the dough is key.


(I couldn't decide on a pic)

Steak and Sweet Potato Fries

Laura
Let me start by saying that the reason why we didn't cook apart this weekend was because we were together. Then, please allow me to continue on by saying that I'll never master the art of grilling steak.  I'm learning to grill, but it seems to be a slow and painful process.  So, that being said, I present to you the steak and sweet potato fries that we made for my mom before we went out to dinner.  (Hey, you didn't think we'd spend our weekend cooking for this blog, did you?)

Meredith made the steak on my grill.  I have no idea what went on it.  You'll have to hope that she'll share that secret with you.  I made the sweet potato fries, sort of.  I put them in the oven and left them.  Meredith turned them and made sure they were done.

My mom loves steak.  That's where this whole steak thing comes from.  Last time she (Meredith) was here, she made a steak so good that my mom STILL talks about it.  So, Meredith thought it would be a nice thing to make mom dinner before we went out.  How'd it taste?  I took a bite and was jealous.  How'd my mom like it?  Well, her response should say it all.  After taking a bite, mom said "How do you DO it?".  That, should say it all.

Finally, I wanted to mention that Meredith is planning on making a smoker for when I go there in October.  Maybe if we're lucky, she'll take us through the process.  Meredith?  What do you say?

Meredith
I don't have a lot to add to be honest. The steak got a little Worcestershire, salt, pepper and minced garlic and then was grilled over high heat for about 5 minutes per side. That's the BIG secret answer to the "How do you DO it?" question.

As as for the smoker, I have an entire blog entry in mind complete with pictures, step by step instructions and diagrams :)