Memorial Day Recipe

Memorial Day kicks off summertime, swimming pools and grilling season.  If you’re tired of the same old ho-hum burgers and baked beans, here are a few, easy to prepare recipes to spice up your backyard barbeque.

Caesar Burgers (Kraft Kitchens)

Boring burgers no more.  A new twist on a favorite salad. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Makes 4 servings, 1 burger each

1 lb of ground beef or ground turkey

¼ grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 slices of mozzarella cheese slices

2 cups of romaine lettuce, shredded

6 Tbsp Caesar Dressing

4 hamburger buns 

Preheat the grill to medium.  Mix the meat with 3 tablespoons of the parmesan cheese and garlic.  Shape into 4 patties. 

Grill patties for 6 minutes on each side or until burgers are cooked through.  Top with mozzarella cheese slices.  Continue grilling 1 minute or until cheese melts. 

Toss the lettuce with 2 tablespoons of Caesar dressing and remaining parmesan cheese.  Spoon evenly onto bottom halves of buns; top with the patties and remaining dressing.  Cover with tops of buns.

Pizza on the Grill (Kraft Kitchens)

Calling all vegetarians and pizza lovers.  Who said pizza had to be made in the oven?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Makes 6 – 8 slices depending on size of pizza.

1 frozen pizza, with toppings of your choosing

Preheat the grill to low/medium-low.  (about 400F)

Remove the wrapper and cardboard from the frozen pizza.  Place pizza directly on center of the grill rack and close the lid.

Grill for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating pizza ½ turn with spatula after the 8 minute mark.  Continue grilling, covered, for specified time or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.  Let stand 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Garden Skewers (Williams-Sonoma Grilling)

A colorful and flavorful way to eat your veggies.

Makes 4 -6 servings

Olive oil or oil spray

2 Zucchini, trimmed and cut into chunks

12 fresh white button mushrooms, cleaned

1 large red onion, cut into chunks

1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

Salt and pepper

4-6 metal skewers

Thread the zucchini onto the skewers alternately with the whole mushrooms, onion chunks and pepper chunks.  Coat with oil.

Grill the skewers directly over high heat, turning once, until the vegetables are nicely grill- marked and tender but crisp.  About 4 to 6 minutes on each side.   Do not overcook; the veggies should still be a little crunchy.

Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with a little more oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Jalapeno Corn Bread (Williams-Sonoma Grilling)

Corn flavor with a kick to the taste buds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Makes 8 servings

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup corn oil, plus more for coating

1 cup low fat milk

1 egg

½-1 jalapeno chile, seeded and minced

¼ cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 8-inch square baking pan or 10-inch cast iron frying pan, greased

IMPORTANT:  Prepare your charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking over high heat. 

For gas grills, preheat the grill using all burners, then turn off the burners directly beneath where the food will sit and place a drip pan below the rack.  An aluminum foil roasting pan works best.  Replace the rack, put the food over the drip pan, and adjust the burners on either side of the food to provide equal amounts of heat. 

For charcoal, center the drip pan on the fire bed and use a pair of long handled tongs to position the hot coals along the edges of the pan. This will prevent drippings from the food falling into the fire and causing flare ups.  Arrange coals on both sides of the drip pan.  Put the food on the center of grill rack directly over the pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat the oil, milk and egg together.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir in jalapeno to taste and the onion.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Place a sturdy heatproof metal cake rack on the grill over the unheated portion and pu the pan on the pan on the rack.  Cover the grill and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the corn bread comes out clean, about 25 minutes. 

NOTE: Placing the cornbread on a metal cake rack on the grill will help keep the bottom from browning too quickly.

S’mores with a Twist (Kraft Kitchens)

Put a new spin on the standard S’more

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just about everyone loves a traditional S’more.  But what if you want something different; maybe a little more fruity or creamy.  Mix and match the following flavors for a new taste sensation.

Crust: Honey graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers or cinnamon graham crackers

Shmear: Strawberry jam, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff or cream cheese

Filling: Strawberry slices, banana slices, chocolate, raspberries or blueberries.

Hopefully, the weather will be in our favor this weekend and we can get to grilling the way it was intended to be.  If it does happen to rain, consider throwing a blanket on your living room floor and having an indoor picnic with all of these yummy recipes.  Happy Memorial Day!