Charcoal BBQ

I have just started BBQ'ing with a charcoal grill. I will never go back to propane. The taste is incredible. Much better than gas or propane. A little more time consuming (but only a little if you use a chimney starter) but the extra time is worth it. I am anxious to see how this works in the winter when it is minus twenty. Here is a picture of the burgers I made last night on the grill. The burgers were seasoned with Worcestershire Sauce, seasoning salt, and a little onion powder. They were delicious!

Sometimes You Have to Compromise

Veggie or Meat Lover's Pizza? If you can't agree then compromise. This delicious pizza was half veggie with onions, mushrooms, green pepper, broccoli, and on the meat side hot cappicolo, bacon, pepperoni with a base of onions and peppers. Turned out great.

Lobster Rolls and Fries

Lobster rolls are one of my all time favourites. There are many takes on how lobster rolls should be made. This is the recipe that I use to make my rolls. It is important to use top split hot dog rolls. Just butter them up and grill them until they are golden brown. I usually just use a frying pan to do this. The addition of fennel is somewhat different. It adds a nice little crunch and a very pleasant flavour.

As far as the fries be sure to always double fry your fries. For the first fry, I fry at low temperature for about 10 minutes. I then put them in the fridge for a few hours. The second fry is at high temperature for about 3-4 minutes or until they are golden brown. I use russet potatoes which I cut by hand. I leave the skin on for more flavour. Give these a try. I guarantee you will like them.

Lobster Rolls


1 tablespoon butter, softened
top split hot dog rolls
4 lettuce leaves
1 1/2 pounds cooked and cubed lobster meat
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 dash hot pepper sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch of fresh chives
½ cup chopped fennel

Instructions:

Remove lobster meat

Combine mayonnaise, mustard, green onions, celery, lime juice, hot sauce, and chives. Stir in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Combine lobster meat and fennel and toss with enough mayonnaise to moisten.

Place lettuce leaves in the rolls and heap with lobster mixture.

Meat Lover

Well my new charcoal BBQ makes simply wonderful steaks. This is a man size steak I had last night with some fried mushrooms, onions, and zucchini fresh out of the garden. Although the charcoal BBQ takes a little more time, the taste can't be beat. The other key to making great steaks is to marinate them in olive oil over night. Nothing else. Remove from the fridge and let them come to room temperature before throwing them on the grill. The final touch is to dust them with sprinkles of your favourite seasoned salt. Steak perfection every time.

Summer Pasta

Seemed like a good night for summer pasta. I have all kinds of zucchini in the garden so I made up a linguine pasta with zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, thyme, and garlic. This is a great summer time pasta.

Clam Pizza

Well this was my first attempt at a seafood pizza. The crust was great. Super thin and crispy. But I am not sure about the whole seafood thing on pizza. I love seafood. I love seafood pasta. But somehow it just does not make it on pizza. This kind of reminded me of my attempt at poutine pizza. I love poutine but it just does not go with pizza. Anyhow here are a couple of pics.

Perch Rolls

It was a beautiful summer day here. Seemed like a perfect day for perch rolls, fries, and a Stella. It's lift off weekend here and we were treated to about 15 hot air balloons going directly over the house.