Entries Tagged as 'grill'

New Weber Grill

June 14th, 2011 · 1 Comment

Dallas and I love to grill out for dinner and have people over for barbecues but our old grill has been on the fritz for quite a while. Last year we only grilled one time. We invited a bunch of people over and went to light it up and it was not happening. So, just in time for grilling season this year, we got a new grill. And, lucky for us, Chris works at Weber and was able to get us quite a discount. Last weekend we spent about 4 hungover hours assembling this beast and dismantling our old one. Can’t wait to light it up!

Also, it’s hard to see in this photo, but we got a new stain on our deck. It looks really nice!

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Grilled Shrimp with Grits and Andouille Sausage Gravy

April 23rd, 2009 · 11 Comments

On Saturday Danny asked if he could come over to our place and cook dinner. Dallas is still out of town so he’d be cooking just for his girlfriend Caroline and me. Danny is a very good cook and has worked in some of the best kitchens around town – Shikago, Green Zebra, Nola’s Cup. Ok, that last one is technically in Oak Park, but you get what I’m saying. There’s no way I was going to say he couldn’t come over and use our grill and kitchen to make me dinner! So, this is what he made:

shrimp_andouille_grits

Grilled shrimp with grits and andouille sausage gravy. The creamy grits cut the spiciness of the sausage. Delicious. I probably hadn’t had grits since I was a kid. Half of my family is from the south and my dad would always make quick grits. I hated them! But these grits were so rich and creamy. . . probably because Danny used like 3/4 of a carton of cream! Let’s just pretend he didn’t. That cream just evaporated out of the carton (into my belly!).

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Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

September 24th, 2008 · No Comments

These should be called “Grilled Portobello Mushrooms With Toppings,” because they didn’t really turn out “stuffed. We liked them as a unique side dish just the same. The recipe noted, “Grill the mushrooms stem sides down first, so that when they’re turned they’ll be in the right position to be filled.” (Note: Dallas just walked by and saw me editing the photos for this post and commented on how good the mushrooms were. He doesn’t even like tomatoes!)

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients
2/3 cup chopped plum tomato
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 (5-inch) portobello mushroom caps
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

Instructions
Prepare grill.

Combine the tomato, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon oil, rosemary, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl.

Remove brown gills from the undersides of mushroom caps using a spoon, and discard gills. Remove stems; discard. Combine 1/2 teaspoon oil, juice, and soy sauce in a small bowl; brush over both sides of mushroom caps. Place the mushroom caps, stem sides down, on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 5 minutes on each side or until soft.

Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture into each mushroom cap. Cover and grill 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 mushroom)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 83(38% from fat); FAT 3.5g (sat 1g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.4g); IRON 2.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 4mg; CALCIUM 60mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.1g; SODIUM 123mg; PROTEIN 5.4g; FIBER 2.5g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2001

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Our Labor Day Weekend Barbecue

September 6th, 2008 · No Comments


Grilling Kalbi Ribs , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Tommy loves to perform , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Mitch & Chris setting up ladder golf , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Uncle B.B., Ali, Caroline, Danny, Dallas, George, Jordan


Auntie Gail, Auntie Laura, Heather


Cory & Chris , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Roscoe Village, Chicago


Kathy & Jordan , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Mitch , Roscoe Village, Chicago


Too much party for Jeff , Roscoe Village, Chicago

On Sunday we hosted a barbecue. All of Dallas’ family came over. I made a lettuce salad (with green onions, mandarin oranges, toasted almonds, water chestnut, and crunch chow mien noodles) and a pasta salad (with tomatoes, corn, Parmesan and a vinaigrette). Dallas’ mom and aunt had been marinating kalbi ribs and Dallas grilled them. Dallas’ mom also made stir fried green beans and Dallas’ brother Jordan made some chili.

The weather cooperated with us and we spent most of our time outside on our deck and our shared common area, although there was a bout of Rock Band that went on for a while up in our apartment. Most people left in the late afternoon or evening. Those are the same people that missed Danny going home to walk his dog and coming back with the big huge bottle of sake he got for his birthday. We chilled it down and drank what I thought was a lot of sake, but there’s still a half bottle we’re keeping cold in the fridge for this weekend.

Also, I should note that Dallas and I are officially old. We had two coolers and a fridge and they were all filled with premium beers. No Bud, no Miller, no Coors. I take that back, there was one case of Miller, but it didn’t even make it into the cooler until the party was about 7 hours in. So, we are old. 5 years ago, hell, last year, at least one of the coolers would have been all crappy beer. Ancient, I tell you!

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Doug & Naoko’s Labor Day Party

September 5th, 2008 · 3 Comments


Tommy :: Elgin, IL


Tommy, Mitch, Chris, Ali, Miku :: Elgin, IL


Cory & Danny :: Elgin, IL

After our visit in Maine and then heading down to Boston, we flew back to Chicago. I was home one day and then I went to Wisconsin for four days. I have a ton of photos from that trip, but in an effort to get back on a current time line, I’m going to skip a head a little and then circle back.

So, when I returned from Wisconsin Dallas’ brother Jordan, Jordan’s girlfriend Liz, and Dallas’ sister Caroline were staying at our place. Dallas’ parents were also in town, but staying in the suburbs. I swear this was the most stressful week of the entire Summer of Rachelle because then after Labor Day weekend I started work at Roundarch this past Tuesday!

On Saturday we went to Dallas’ cousin Doug’s house in Elgin for a barbecue. Doug and Naoko host a barbecue over Labor Day weekend every year. Starting last year Dallas and I have hosted a Labor Day weekend barbecue too. This year we hosted everyone at our house on Sunday. More on that in a bit. These photos are from the barbecue in Elgin.

Tommy is starting to get so big and look like a little boy, more than a baby. I thought this same thing when I saw Quinn yesterday and the day before. Time flies! Tommy is going to be a big brother in a few months so I’m sure he’ll look really big then! As usual, Naoko had loads and loads of delicious appetizers: mini pigs in a blanket, taquitos, pork shumai, a cheese platter, chips, guacamole, cheesy spinach dip, everything. For dinner we had beef, vegetable and chicken shish kebab, salad. Everything delicious. I was kind of eagerly awaiting dessert because Naoko always has something different and fabulous. This time she made flan. It was great. Naoko is a hard act to follow, which is what we had to do the following day!

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