Dinner From the Grill: Ribeye, Cajun Corn, Zucchini and Squash

I've long been intimidated by cooking on the grill, but after a long weekend trip to West Virginia earlier this year, I've come to love it.  I don't know if it was the lazy days lounging around and breathing in the fresh mountainy air…

… or if perhaps it was all of the wine I was drinking.  Or maybe it was views like this:

… that made me just not care.  Either way, after that trip, cooking on the grill didn't seem like such a daunting task.  As with much of my cooking over the past couple of years, I think I just decided what the hell.  Let's try it.  If I screw it up, there's always dessert.  

We bought a Smokey Joe Silver, (ahem, a baby Weber) earlier this summer.  For just the two of us, it works perfectly.  Like most meals, I think the biggest challenge with grilling is timing.  Coordinating the cooking so that everything finishes as close to the same time as possible.  Some cookbooks are really good at laying out an entire meal telling you when to start what, helping you to time everything to perfection.  For the most part I think this is just something that takes a lot of practice and a little bit of fore-thought and planning.  And if nothing else, just pretend you're eating tapas! 

Dinner From the Grill: Grilled corn with cajun seasoning.  Ribeye.  Steamed zucchini and squash.

Prepare the Grill

Start the charcoal for the grill.  And if you're not using charcoal, you should ask yourself why you are grilling in the first place.

According to the BBQ Report, "The charcoal is ready for grilling when the briquets turn ash gray in daylight or glowing red at night. This usually takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes."

You can season and clean the grill by rubbing half an onion over the grate.

Grilled Corn with Cajun Seasoning

• 2 ears of corn
• 1-2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon butter

Shuck and clean the corn, removing as much of the silky bits as possible.  Corn can be grilled inside the husk, but for whatever unknown reason, I just never seem to do that.  

Place each ear of corn on a square of foil and sprinkle about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning over the corn, rotating as you go.  

Add 1/4 tablespoon of butter, cut into halves to each ear of corn.  

Fold the foil together, like folding a sheet of paper in half, around the corn.  Fold each end over, crimping the foil to seal.  

Fold over the top of the foil and seal, leaving a bit of room inside the pouch for air to circulate.

When the coals are ready, place the corn pouches on the grill, over indirect heat (not directly over the flames or hot coals) for about 15 minutes.  During the last few minutes feel free to remove the corn from the foil pouches and finish directly on the grill, rotating every minute or so.

Remove and serve immediately.

Grilled Ribeye

• 2 Ribeye steaks, nicely marbled with fat, about 1 inch thick.
• Lawry's Seasoned Salt, if desired. Otherwise, salt and pepper will do just fine.

Rinse the steaks and pat dry with paper towels.  Make sure the outside of the steaks are very dry! This will help it crisp up nicely.

Sprinkle with the seasoned salt and rub into the meat.  Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes (or however long you have) to help season the meat.  

When the coals are ready, add the steaks over direct heat and cook for approximately 8 minutes, 4 minutes per side. 

Remove from the grill, tent with foil and allow steaks to rest for about 10 minutes.

Grilled Zucchini and Squash

• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small squash
• salt, pepper
• 3-4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1/2 tablespoon butter, chopped

Rinse the zucchini and squash and cut off the ends.  

Cut the zucchini and squash into 1/4 inch slices, and then cut those slices in half.  

Add the zucchini and squash to a large square of foil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  

Add 3-4 cloves of unpeeled garlic.

Wrap the vegetables into a foil pouch in the same manner as the corn, folding in half like a sheet of paper, then closing the ends.  

Add the butter into the packet, distributing evenly across the veggies and seal the top of the foil pouch.  

Place the foil pouch over direct heat for about 7-8 minutes.  You can rotate this and/or shake the pouch to mix everything up, after about 4 minutes.  

Remove from grill and serve immediately.

Note: I peeled the garlic and rubbed it on my steak.  It was delicious.

Putting It All Together

1. Start the grill.
2. Open a beer.
3. Prep and season the steaks.
4. Clean and prep the corn.
5. Chop and prep the veggies.
6. When the coals are ready, add the corn and steaks to the grill at the same time.
7. Don't forget your beer… Nothing is worse than warm beer.
8. After about 8 minutes, remove the steaks and tent with foil.
9. Add the zucchini and squash packet.
10. After about 5 minutes, remove the corn from the foil and finish on the grill.
11. After another 2-3 minutes, remove all of the veggies.
12. Open more beer.
13. Eat some food.

Enjoy!  And remember… there is always dessert!

Spicy Shrimp and Pasta Aglio e Olio

I'm freshly returned from an extra-long girls weekend in New Orleans and Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  (Food memories coming soon!)   The beach was lovely, and with the help of three lovely women and a crap-ton of wine I came back home fully relaxed.  

We consumed our fair share of seafood and Oh My, Nola it was so fresh and wonderful!  

At a fish market in Mississippi buying shrimps and mud-bugs.

Check out the ginormous Grouper!

Anyway… I love shrimp, I love spicy, and as my thighs will attest, I loves me some pasta.  And in my desperate attempt to cling to the warm memories of the beachy good time, I give you tonight's dinner:

Roasted Cajun Shrimp and Asparagus with Spicy Pasta Aglio e Olio

For the pasta:

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1/2 pound spaghetti
• 4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• ~1 cup reserved pasta water (or chicken broth if you screw up and forget)
• Optional variation: Add fresh basil, parsley and Parmesan cheese into the pasta at the end.

Start the water to boil in a large pot with 1 Tbsp salt.  When the water is boiling add the pasta.  (In the meantime, pop the asparagus in the oven).

Thinly slice the garlic (and chop basil and parsley if using).

When the pasta is done set aside about 1 cup of the water.  Try not to be a dumb-ass and forget like I do sometimes… If you do forget, you can use some chicken broth.  But it won't be as good.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large sauce pan (big enough to hold the spaghetti at the end) over medium heat.  Saute the garlic for a couple of minutes.  

When the garlic is *just* starting to turn goldeny, add the crushed red pepper flakes.  Add more or less depending on how spicy you like it.  Saute for about 30 seconds or so.  

Add the reserved pasta water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by about 1/3 or so.  (In the meantime, start roasting the shrimp!)

Add the pasta into the sauce and toss to coat.  Turn off the heat and optionally add the basil, parsley and parmesan.  I usually make it this way if I just want to eat the pasta by itself, and honestly, it doesn't need the cheese.  I know, I know… I'm a shameful disappoint to the world of fromagerie.

For the roasted shrimp and asparagus:

• 1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• Cajun rub:
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic salt
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 1 tsp Parsley
  • A smidge of freshly ground black pepper
• Asparagus
• More cajun seasoning
• Olive oil
• 1 lemon quartered

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. (Anyone wanna teach me some scientific html?)

Mix together the ingredients for the rub in a 1-gallon ziploc bag… Honestly, just use however much you want and whatever you want. We're just playing around here.  

After cleaning the shrimp toss it in the bag, seal and toss the shrimp to coat with the rub.  Put it back in the refrigerator.

Rinse the asparagus and pat dry with a paper towel. Snap off the ends.

Toss the asparagus with olive oil on a sheet pan, and lightly dust with some cajun seasoning.  Roast the asparagus for 10-15 minutes.  

Add the shrimp to the baking sheet and roast for another 5 or 6 minutes, until the shrimp is slightly pink and no longer transparent.

Serve the shrimp and asparagus over the pasta and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Pasta recipe slightly adapted from Ina Garten's How Easy is That?

Roasted Cajun Potatoes and Asparagus

Roasted Cajun Potatoes and Asparagus

• 6-8 small red potatoes, quartered with skins left on
• 1/3 cup onion cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 3 cloves garlic
• Olive oil
• Cajun seasoning
• Chili powder
• Sea salt
• Parsley
• Asparagus, ends broken off

Toss the potatoes, onion and garlic with olive oil on your awesome Chicago Metallic commercial grade baking sheet that your awesome husband bought for you for Christmas (because you asked for it, not because he thinks you should be roasting him some taters).  Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of cajun seasoning, a teaspoon or so of chili powder, a teaspoon of parsely and a pinch of sea salt.  Toss to coat evenly and add more seasoning if needed.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees.

Add the asparagus and bake for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and the skins are a little bit crispy.

Enjoy!