Grilling Meat

My oldest son, Jed (the one with the cooking gene) was just here visiting us from Madison sans wife and children. The occasion was to keep me company from a rather long recovery I am undergoing from surgery. Since we both love to cook, he was more than happy to fix some great dishes with me looking on and admiring him.


He has long been most interested in smoking and grilling meat. He has had several smokers, always graduating to a little better model with more bells and whistles. But this visit he brought along some green beans from his garden. The gardening gene, I must confess, comes from someone else in the family—not from me! He is raising a wonderful garden and is harvesting beans, corn, lettuces, and tomatoes soon.

As a young child and until recently, Jed had to be urged to eat his vegetables—a common trait of young children to be sure. At our first dinner, the star of the show was a wonderful flank steak marinated in a thick, slightly hot and extremely delicious marinade and grilled to perfection. Sliced thin, with extra marinade on the side and accompanied by some homemade Italian bread (my offering), it was almost enough. The green beans cooked between al dente and mushy were tossed in melted butter and salt and pepper. That’s all. They were so good that they actually stole the accolades from the beef.

It got me thinking about the bountiful vegetables that are at our farmer’s market, in our home gardens and even at the supermarket this time of year. And the bounty has only just begun. From now until October one vegetable after another will appear. I am ready to find ways to serve them that even the youngest among us would not have to be urged to eat.

Fortunately there are great recipes on the internet, magazines and newspapers and even the old-fashioned but trustworthy cookbooks. My faithful readers know my preference for cookbooks. Andrea Chesman has written several cookbooks featuring vegetables and I have found her recipes (with a few adaptations of my own) to be very reliable.

Roasted Green Beans

2 pound green beans, trimmed
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse-grained salt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a large sheet pan or shallow roasting pan with oil. Arrange the green beans in a single, uncrowded layer on the prepared pan. Drizzle the oil over the beans and roll the beans until they are evenly coated. Roast for about 15 minutes or until the beans are well browned, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking. Transfer the beans to a shallow serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with the salt. Serve immediately.

Note:  When cooking green beans, the size of the pod should be your guide in total cooking time. Smaller bean diameter equals shorter cooking time. There is a lot of discrepancy in taste for doneness, so test your beans and remove from heat when they have reached a stage of tenderness that appeals to you.

If you want to start a new tradition for a great holiday green bean casserole that doesn’t include canned soup or canned French fried onion rings, give this a try. It is sure to please even the fussiest children (or husbands). If your garden beans are beginning to be a little over-mature, this recipe will accommodate them beautifully.

Scalloped Green Beans

3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ cups grated sharp Cheddar
2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces (7-8 cups)
1 onion, halved and sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup dried bread crumbs or ½ cup fresh

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or spray with vegetable spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour and stir to make smooth paste. Stir in milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in cheese. Cook, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes. Layer the beans and onion in the baking dish, generously sprinkling with salt and pepper as you layer. Cover with cheese sauce. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the dish. Bake for 60 minutes. Serve hot.

By the way, the marinade recipe for the flank steak is superb. Here it is:

¼ pound butter
¾ cup minced onion
½ cup minced garlic
2 lemons, zested
5 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 ¼ cups ketchup
1 cup tomato juice
¾ cup light brown sugar
6 Tbsp molasses
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ cup chili powder
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp chipotle puree
Pinch kosher salt

Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, ketchup, tomato juice, brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, vinegar, chipotle puree, salt and 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Summer Salads

I love summer salads with a creamy dressing—some combination, usually, of mayonnaise or “salad dressing” in a jar and maybe some buttermilk or sour cream. They are delicious on everything from staples such as potato salad, chicken salad, pasta salads (especially with seafood) and even green or fruit salads. Changing the spices a little changes the dressing.

But I had a potato salad at a friend’s house that was out of this world and I just couldn’t figure out what made it so delicious. The potatoes being cooked just right—not too hard and not too mushy was a good start, of course. And, too, the proper balance of crunch, tang and mellow goodness is a factor. But I make a pretty mean potato salad that couldn’t compare to the one I was eating and I had to know why.

It turns out that the creamy salad dressing was a combination of homemade “boiled dressing” and homemade mayonnaise. I definitely knew that my mom used to make “boiled” dressing instead of buying Miracle Whip, but I didn’t realize how much better it was. I got my friend’s recipe, but when I got home I started hunting through my cookbooks for other recipes for boiled dressing.

Honestly, there are as many different ways to put the same ingredients together as there are cookbooks, I swear. Not wanting to miss out on the “best” one, I tried several. My friend’s recipe first:

¼ cup vinegar
½ tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. mustard
2 eggs, well beaten

Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Slowly add eggs. Cook 5 minutes until thick. Cool. Keeps up to 1 month in refrigerator.

To make potato salad: Boil 4 potatoes and 4 eggs until potatoes are tender and eggs hard boiled. Peel potatoes and while warm, add a vinaigrette dressing (such as Italian) to potatoes to be absorbed (about 2 Tbsp.) When potatoes are cool, add peeled minced eggs, celery, onion or scallions or chives and dress with ½ boiled dressing and ½ homemade mayonnaise.

Boiled Salad Dressing (Mrs. Clarence Ike-- 1947 Trinity Lutheran Church, Spring Grove, Minn. Cookbook)

1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup vinegar
1 pinch salt
½ tsp. dry mustard
Butter the size of walnut

Combine all dry ingredients, add to beaten eggs and add vinegar. Cook in double boiler until thick. Add butter last.

This next dressing is suggested for fruit salads:

Juice of 2 lemons
Rind of 1 lemon (grated)
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks, beaten well
1 pint whipped cream

Cook in double boiler. When cool add whipped cream. Pour over fruit salad and refrigerate for 24 hours.—Mrs. C. R. Casterton; Trinity Lutheran Church cookbook

Between the pages of the “Dorcas Cookbook” from the Trinity Lutheran Church, I found an old, yellowing newspaper clipping with a recipe entitled, “Adele Milczarck’s Potato Salad”. I really wanted to give it a try and it was delicious!

12 cups diced, cooked potatoes
12 hard-cooked eggs, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup French dressing (no other info on this dressing—l.g.)
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup water
1 egg
¾ cup salad oil
¼ cup vinegar
2 tsp. prepared mustard
1 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. paprika
1 cup evaporated milk
1 Tbsp sugar
6 hard-cooked eggs

Combine potatoes, eggs, onion and French dressing. Chill. Make a smooth paste of cornstarch and water and cook over boiling water until clear, stirring constantly. In a bowl combine egg, oil, vinegar, mustard, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp. salt and paprika. Mix well and add gradually to mixture; beat until smooth. Add evaporated milk, remaining tablespoon sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Beat until smooth. Cool. Combine with potatoes. Season further, if desired. Put half of potato mixture into serving bowl. Slice 3 of the hard-cooked eggs and lay over salad. Add rest of potatoes. Garnish top with 3 eggs cut into wedges. Chill. Yield: 12 portions.

And just in case you don’t know how to make homemade mayonnaise, here’s an easy and fool-proof way:

Perfect Blender Mayonnaise

1 egg
2 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
½ tsp dry mustard
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup salad oil

1. Break the egg into the container. Add vinegar or lemon juice, mustard, salt and ¼ cup of the oil. 2. Cover and blend on low speed. 3. Immediately remove inner cap or cover and pour in remaining oil in quite a fast stream (do not add it drop by drop). All the oil must be added by the end of 15 seconds blending time. 4. A few drops of oil may remain on the surface of the mayonnaise. Without turning blender off, switch to high speed and blend for just 3 seconds more. Should the mixture fail to thicken, pour three-quarters of it into a measuring cup. Add another egg to the mixture left in the container and start again at step 2, adding the mixture in the measuring cup in the same manner that you originally added the oil.

Freezing Food

Ah, summertime and the living is easy! That’s really true when it comes to cooking chores, since most everyone eats lighter and non-cooked foods for the most part. The barbeque and all your small cooking appliances i.e. electric skillet, slow cooker, or microwave oven really cut down on work and heat. But the best appliance for cutting your work and giving you delightful foods to eat is your freezer.


I write about freezing foods a lot, but in the height of summer fruits are my favorite foods to freeze. For one thing, as you drive through the countryside you find signs for fresh fruits everywhere. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, melons, apples are among the common ones. Grapes, currants and gooseberries can be found in some regions.

The supermarket abounds in produce, as does the farmer’s market and although fruit is among the offerings, vegetables seem to take center stage. But vegetables need blanching before freezing and I am really into the “easy living” idea this summer. Frozen fruit is at your fingertips, ready to be whirled into a smoothie or fill a pie or just eat, partially thawed, for breakfast. And while the season is here, buy any beautiful fruit you find at reasonable prices and freeze it for the long winter ahead.

Most frozen fruit keeps as well without a syrup pack and therefore you can save time and calories as well and dry pack fruit is much more versatile Dry-pack frozen fruits can be substituted for fresh in most of your recipes, adjusting the amount of sugar used.

Fruit is ideally suited to the concept of lighter and healthier eating—and we are being encouraged to eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Vegetables seem to get top billing in most savory recipes, however, with fruit being relegated to eat-from-hand snacking or sweet desserts that are not (sigh) so very good for you. I looked high and low for a cookbook devoted to cooking with fruit and finally found one at the library book sale that had the “discarded” stamp on it. I can’t imagine why, since I found dozens of absolutely delicious-sounding and tasting recipes in it. Since many of them are cooked dishes, I will use my summer-frozen stash to make them when the weather turns colder.

For a simple, non-cooked recipe that everyone loves, you can’t beat a smoothie. Anytime bananas go past the delicious stage and turn dark, I throw them in a plastic bag in the freezer—as is! You can microwave them very briefly to make them easy to peel when you’re ready to use them—just don’t go too long in the microwave and thaw the banana because the frozen fruit adds that milk shake texture to your smoothie.

After you put a frozen banana into the blender, you can add whatever fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand and like along with fruit juice, yogurt, milk or other liquid. Sugar is optional—I like honey when I want more sweetness. Whirl it around and pour—instant and healthy and delicious breakfast or snack.

Whenever your fresh fruit is starting to look tired, cut it up and freeze it with a combination of lemonade concentrate, water and sugar. When you want to use it, scoop out some of your fruit mixture and pour ginger ale or sparkling apple cider over it for a delicious meal starter or dessert.

To freeze the great abundance of berries that are appearing now, simply wash thoroughly, removing all sand and soil. Remove stems and leaves, if any. Sort out all bruised or overripe berries. Drain well. Freeze in single layer on large shallow baking sheet with rim. When solidly frozen, pour into freezer bags, seal and label, date and return to freezer. You can pour out the amount you need and re-seal.

Here is a chilled blueberry soup that we serve in our inn. It is glorious in summer with big, plump, just-picked blueberries; equally delicious in mid-winter using your freezer-stash.

2 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
¼ cup sugar
½ cup orange juice
½ cup dry red wine
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ cup sour cream or crème fraiche
Sprigs of mint for garnish

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the blueberries, water, lemon juice, lemon rind, sugar, orange juice, red wine and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree in a blender or food processor and chill for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, dollop with sour cream and swirl. Garnish each serving with a sprig of mint.

Outdoor Eating

Everything tastes better eaten outdoors. That’s certainly true of the new-on-the-menu pizza at Falconer Vineyards. It seems that everyone else in town has been out there to try the pizza except me—so I forced my friend and also innkeeper, Deb Bylander (Pratt-Taber Inn) to repay a favor by taking me out to sample the wares at Falconer’s.


We chose a beautiful sunshiny day; not too hot, not too cool to sit on the large patio overlooking the grapes far below and stretching out to the bluffs covered in their summer finery. It really was magnificent. The delicious, crisp whole-wheat crust cooked in 90 seconds in their wood fire oven so the now-famous signature “Grapes of Wrath” pizza (red grapes, sausage, cheeses and jalapeno pepper) and “Northern Tropics” (Canadian bacon, pineapple, and 4 cheeses) pizzas were served pronto. They are baked in “personal size” (about 8 inches) but two fed three of us just fine. They were complemented with a light, slightly sweet Chardonnay and a red that was also semi-sweet and served chilled—Chambourcin.

I’m not sure if it was the lovely view, the delightful company or the heady wine, but I decided that I would slough off my antagonism to grilling and try my own pizza recipes on our grill and serve them on our porch. I could keep my kitchen cooler and enjoy the outdoor advantage at the same time.

But I am not very sure of myself on a charcoal grill—especially not with pizza—so I decided to start small. Pita bread serves well for personal pizzas and felt safe to try since they are already baked. These turned out to be delicious!

Grilled Pitas with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta Cheese

1 cup diced seeded tomatoes
½ cup pitted coarsely chopped mixed olives
½ cup chopped red onion
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 whole wheat pita breads

Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Stir tomatoes, olives, onion and 2 Tbsp. oil in small bowl to blend. Brush one side of each pita with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil; place pitas, oiled side down on grill. Cook until lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Turn pitas over; top with tomato mixture, spreading almost to edges. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover barbecue and grill pitas until topping is warm, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.

Well, that was simple and successful! I got brave and decided to try a homemade dough pizza cooked entirely on the grill. I must admit that I turned to the internet to find instructions on grilling pizza and came across a step-by-step recipe on simplyrecipes.com that turned out just great!

My whole-wheat pizza dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
¼ tsp sugar
1 ½ cups warm water
2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ tsp salt
Cooking spray

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well blended. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, to prevent the dough from sticking. Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place for 45 minutes. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide in half and roll each half into 12-inch circle on floured surface. Top and bake as directed.

To grill pizza:

Prepare grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. Prepare the toppings so they are ready to go on the pizza—tomato sauce, cheese and anything else you are going to use.

Shape pizza dough with hands; let it sit for 5 minutes and push out edges with your fingers until you have a nice round shape, about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make a raised rim; it will interfere with the grilling process. When you can hold your hand an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds, dip a folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates. Then place a pizza round on a lightly floured rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel. Let dough slide off onto the hot grill grates. Close the lid of the grill and let cook for 2 minutes. Open grill and check underneath dough to see if is browned. If on one side only, use spatula to rotate dough 90 degrees and cook 1 more minute. If not browning, cover grill and cook 1 minute at a time until bottom has begun to brown. Use your cookie sheet or peel to remove it from the grill. Use spatula to flip dough over so grilled side is up. Keep grill covered. Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with olive oil, then cover with 1 ladle of sauce. Sprinkle on toppings, ending with mozzarella cheese and then meat if using. When bottom of dough is deeply golden use peel to remove. Cut and enjoy.

Church and Community Cookbook Recipes

Have you ever submitted a recipe to a church or community cookbook? Most of us veteran cooks probably have—and some of the young women, too. Of course you submit the best recipe you know and so does everyone else. I don’t think I can remember taking a recipe out of one of these venerable publications that wasn’t delicious.


My cookbook collection boasts six shelves of community and church cookbooks. They range in age from the 1920’s to the present. I haven’t been able to peruse each and every one yet (although I plan to before I leave this planet) but I have found a few interesting recipes in many of them. I also have found the names of more than one long-deceased relative from parts of the country where I didn’t live—but traced the name and found it was a family member. How can I be sure? A name like Gratia Nurse Sanborn just couldn’t be anyone but the great aunt with that name. This is one of the reasons that I have such a long-standing love affair with cookbooks.

Since we are about to celebrate our nation’s birthday, it seems like a good time to trace the lineage of some of the perennial favorites that show up in the early cookbooks and keep on showing up through the decades.

Two classic recipes that appear in every cookbook I checked were brownies (starting in 1920) and a graham cracker crust-less pie which comes under many names. These two desserts have been around in some form for a very long time—and I decided to bake them both to refresh my memory.

I have a version of the graham cracker pie called “Mystery Pie” my cousin gave me in 1965. This version is made with Ritz crackers rather than graham crackers, but the results are delicious and surprising either way. The pie bakes into a dessert with all the gooey sweetness of pecan pie without the pastry, making it very easy to put together, especially in the summer when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.

Brownies have been around since the early 1900’s, with the first mention of our beloved chocolate bar cookie found in the 1906 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book. “Bangor Brownies” were probably the original chocolate brownies, according to Betty Crocker’s Baking Classics (1979). Brownies as we know them didn’t become popular until the 1920’s where I started to find them in all the community cookbooks, including one recipe that called them “Indians.” (Kappa Kappa Gamma Cook Book, Denver, Colorado, 1928.)

Variously known as Angel Pie, Cracker Pie, Mystery Pie, and Amazing Pie, there are several versions essentially the same but using different crackers (graham, Ritz, and saltine) and different nutmeats (or no nutmeats). I tried two of the ones I found—both in the Golden Anniversary Cookbook of Oklahoma Extension Homemakers published in 1985.

Indians

1 cup sugar
½ cup flour
2 eggs
½ cup butter
2 ounces chocolate (I assume baking unsweetened)
1 cup nuts (chopped)
1 tsp. vanilla)

Mix sugar with flour; add eggs. Melt butter and chocolate together and add to sugar mixture. Fold in nuts and vanilla. Bake in square pan for 20 minutes at 325 or until top is dry. Do not overbake. Cut in squares while warm. Do not remove from pan until cold. (Helen Merrill)

Brownies

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup flour
3 Tbsp cocoa
½ cup melted butter
1 cup walnut meats
Vanilla

Cream together well sugar and eggs. Add flour into which has been sifted cocoa. Add butter, nuts and a little vanilla. Spread in greased 9x9 square pan. Bake 25 minutes at 325. Cut when slightly cool. Let stand in pan until cold. (Francis Harris Tibbetts)

Angel Pie

3 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup whipping cream

Beat egg whites and vanilla till soft peaks form; gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Combine cracker crumbs, pecans, and baking powder; fold into meringue mixture. Spread evenly in a greased and floured 9” pie plate. Bake in a 325 oven for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely. To serve, whip cream. Cut pie in wedges and top with a dollop of whipped cream. (Marie V. Hobbs—Tulsa County)

Mystery Pie (my recipe, given to me by my cousin, Carol in 1965)

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
16 Ritz crackers (finely rolled)
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ cups chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat egg whites until frothy; gradually add sugar; continue to beat until meringue is stiff. Fold in vanilla, cracker crumbs, baking powder and walnuts. Put into a 9” pie pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool. Spread with whipped cream and serve alone or with sweetened strawberries, if you wish.