Happy Father's Day! In honor of Father's Day I am going to post some original recipes my dad came up with. He is a great chef and I have learned much of what I know about cooking through watching him. He can whip up a delicious gourmet meal with seemingly no effort. Whoever said that men can't cook never ate dinner with my dad! I was lucky enough to get to spend most of the day with him yesterday doing one of our favorite things, creating delicious food! My cousin, her husband and their son were also there which made it extra, extra special! Dad doesn't really believe in measuring out ingredients and just "eyeballs" it. So when reading these recipes, keep in mind that the measurements are approximate. You can use more or less of the ingredients as you like. The other thing about the way dad cooks is that when he adds spices to things, he just starts grabbing spices and putting them together. He has an innate sense of which spices, when blended together, take a food from good to GREAT. A skill I am hoping to learn from him! He is a big fan of Penzy's Spices and used them in these recipes, if you don't have the Penzy's spice mentioned in the recipe I included spices you could sub for them. The meal we made last night would be a great one to whip up with your dad or for your dad. It is not difficult and the majority of the cooking is done on the grill. Our menu included Beer Can Chicken, Grilled Lemoney Asparagus, and Veggies with Champagne Vinaigrette. When paired with warm basmati brown rice and a nice cool glass of iced tea, this meal is the perfect way to wrap up a warm summer day. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to call your dad today!
Beer Can Chicken
Grilling chicken over a can of beer creates an amazing, moist meat with just a hint of that great beer flavor! Try it, you'll like it :)
Ingredients
1 can beer (any brand, dad says, "Whatever is cheapest") drunk down about an inch
1 whole chicken
~2 tbsp Penzy's Northwoods Fire (depending on size of chicken)
**coarse flake salt, paprika, chipotle pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, rosemary and garlic.
~2 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 onion cut into about three chunks
Lemon Butter Marinade (recipe follows)
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Insert can of beer in chicken's body cavity (see picture).
Dad has a special stand that he uses but says you can prop the chicken up with metal skewers or whatever you have on hand.
Brush chicken with lemon butter and pat with spices, sprinkle spices inside as well. Stuff onion into chicken body cavity.
Heat grill over medium high flame for about ten minutes or until hot. Set chicken on grill.
Check in ten minutes and brush with remaining lemon butter mixture. Continue checking every ten minutes until thermometer inserted in deepest part of breast reads about 175.
Remove from grill, let rest for ten minutes (to give juices time to settle).
Carve and eat!
Makes about 5 servings
Lemon Butter Marinade
In a small sauce pan over medium high heat melt 1 tblsp butter. When melted but not hot remove from heat and mix with juice from 1/2 lemon.
*This makes enough for Beer Can Chicken recipe. Repeat these directions to make marinade for Lemony Asparagus.
Grilled Lemony Asparagus
Ingredients
1 lb. asparagus spears(washed with hard ends broken off)
Lemon Butter Marinade (see previous recipe). If you prefer less butter, just use lemon juice.
Brush preheated grill with 1/4 of the Lemon Butter Marinade, (if making with Beer Can Chicken, you can cook the asparagus next to the chicken, but make sure you don't put it on the grill until the chicken is almost done).
Spread asparagus spears onto grill, making sure not to overlap. Turn asparagus every five minutes until tender and cooked evenly.
When tender, remove from grill, toss with remaining lemon marinade and serve. Garnish with lemon rind if desired.
Veggies with Champagne Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup habanero vinegar (adds a nice kick but don't worry if you don't have this on hand just increase champagne vinegar to 1/4 cup)
1/8 cup champagne vinegar
Sea salt
Mrs Dash Spice Blend
Penzy's Northwood's Fire
Ground mustard
Ground garlic
Fresh ground black pepper
*(I did not include exactly how much as you can adjust them according to your own preference) This vinagerette needs to be tasted as you are putting it together. We like a more vinegary taste, so add more vinegar.
Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl until the oil and vinegar are well melded. Don't under mix.
Vegetables
Ingredients
2 sliced bok choy
3 medium zucchini squash sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
3 large white mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch arugula torn into small pieces
3 cups fresh spinach or other leafy vegetable (chard or kale)
Champagne Vinaigrette
Chili powder
Add 1/2 vinaigrette mixture to large wok. Heat over medium high heat until very hot.
When hot add bok choy and zucchini stir fry about three minutes.
Add in chili powder, mushrooms, arugula and spinach.Stir fry until tender but not mushy. Zucchini should still be slightly crisp. The leafy vegetable cooks quickly so don't overcook. You are looking for just wilted leaves. Toss with remaining vinaigrette and serve.
Makes about 7 servings
Enjoy!
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