Picture of the Day – April 30, 2012
Last night I did an experiment while grilling some shrimp. If you read yesterday’s blog then you know that I made Key Lime Grilled Shrimp. It was delicious by the way. I left the shells on half the shrimp and took all but the tails off the other half. I massaged the key lime marinade, which was really more like key lime mayonnaise, all over the shrimp and under the shell. I let it set for over an hour before putting them on the grill. Now shrimp cooks fast, even these jumbo shrimps; I grilled them for three minutes on each side.
So which was better? Flavor wise, hands down,shell on; but get me wrong, they both tasted great! So it really depends on what you want. Do you want the ease of just picking up the shrimp and eating it? Or, are you okay with getting your fingers messy and peeling the shrimp? Either way I’m sure you’ll enjoy your shrimp and you really should try the Key Lime Grilled Shrimp recipe.
To go along with the roasted jalapeños yesterday, I grilled up a steak. Who doesn’t love a grilled steak? Let me share with you a few tips to a delicious tasting, gorgeous looking steak. I usually prep my steaks about a hour ahead of time. Take it out of the package and dab it dry with some paper towels. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides and set on top of a cookie cooling rack…yup, a cooling rack. I want the air to circulate around the steak to give it a nice dry layer, get to room temperature and allow the salt and pepper to create a layer of seasoning. Why do you want the steaks to be dry? You want your steaks dry so they’ll get grill marks, if the steak is wet then it’ll just steam on the grill and not get those marks. While the steaks are drying, get working on the grill, you want your grill to be clean and hot! Before you put your steaks on, you’ll want to coat the grill with a little cooking oil. Now that the steaks are dry, the grill is clean, hot and oiled it’s time to toss them on. I prefer my steaks cooked no more than medium rear which means a one inch thick steak will only spend about 8 – 10 minutes on my grill. I see a lot go people shuffling their steaks around the grill and all I can say is Stop It! Put your steak on the grill and let it sit for two minutes and then rotate it 90 degrees, on the same side, and let sit for two more minutes, this will give it those beautiful grill marks. Now let’s say the steak doesn’t want to move after two minutes, give it 30 seconds more and it should release allowing you to rotate it. Do not rip it off the grill; if you’re having too much trouble then your grill might not have been hot enough. Remember the key is to get the grill hot, clean and oiled. Where was I? Oh yes, now it’s time flip it over and repeat. Two minutes and then rotate, cook two more minutes and the hit up the steak with some more salt and pepper and if you have a fancy olive oil, give it a quick brush, but watch out for the flare up. Give it a try, be patient and you’ll have beautiful looking steaks.
Ever since the Taco Festival last weekend I’ve had a craving for roasted jalapeños and tonight I satisfied that craving. But I didn’t just roast jalapeños alone, I went ahead and tossed in some fingerling potatoes. It’s real easy to do: I sliced up three red jalapeños and four green jalapeños, you can do how ever many you want. I also kept the seeds but if you don’t want too much kick then you might want to remove them. Be careful not to touch your face after slicing the peppers, it could burn a little. I used a one pound bag of fingerlings and cut them in half, long ways. I tossed the jalapeños and potatoes together with some olive oil, how much oil? Just enough to give it a glistening coating. Then I seasoned with salt and pepper. Oh, I should have mention that you’ll want to preheat your oven to 450. I placed a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spread it all out in a single layer. I use parchment paper because it makes cleaning up easier. After about 15 minutes I gave everything a stir and roasted for another 15 minutes after which they were done. While the jalapeños and potatoes were roasting, I grilled up a couple steaks. I’d also been craving steaks…
This is the first picture taken with my new camera and I must say, I like it. All my previously posted pictures were taken with my iPhone and I was happy with those shots, but now it’s time for me to step it up. So today I went to SactoMoFo 4, a food truck gathering in Sacramento, and I visited the nom nom truck. Yes, the same folks I talked about yesterday. As much as I raved about the pork Banh mi, I’m posting a picture of their grilled pork taco. It took a better picture and it tasted really good too. Although I’m not the biggest fan of corn tortillas (I prefer flour) so I scooped out the insides and enjoyed it that way. I reccomend the taco, but you still have to get a Banh mi. Oh, almost forgot, I also tried their Lemongrass Chicken taco and it was also really good, so you should try one of those too.
