Ingredients
Corn on the Cob
1/4 cup melted butter
5 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions
Soak unhusked corn in water for 30 minutes. Put corn on hot grill for 30 minutes turning several times. After cooking, pull back husk to use as a handle. Meanwhile, combine butter, garlic, and parsley. Add salt if necessary.

Grill quesadillas with flour tortillas, corn, blue cheese, cheddar, canned chiles, black olives, chopped tomatoes, and black beans. Garnish with sour cream, salsa, and avocado slices.

Although I've been cooking all my adult life, five years ago, I could not cook an omelet for shit. I don't know quite why. I think it may have been that it seemed so simple I just assumed I could do it. I couldn't. I'm able to make a good omelet now but every time I try I'm still worried it will suck. This one was excellent. Fried potatoes are my next trouble spot to conquer.

I've been wanting to do this since last year. I made a simple pizza dough from The Joy of Cooking with flour, water, yeast, sugar, olive oil, and salt. I rolled half of it out and froze the other half. I made the pizza with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, red onions, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, oregano, and thyme. I drizzled it with a little olive oil. I used a cookie sheet dusted with corn meal to carry the pizza out to the grill and slid it right onto the preheated grate. I turned all the burners to low and closed the lid. It cooked for about 12 minutes and was terrific. Wow.

I sail on Wednesdays. So, I have to get home from work and make a quick dinner for the boys before I go. It needs to be something simple that they'll both like. This is just the ticket.

This is just a good boxed dry tortellini and store bought sauce. I sautéed three garlic cloves in the saucepan before I heated the sauce and I sautéed thickly sliced mushrooms that I put on Alex and mine but not Nick's. Add a little Parmesan and eat. Good.

Unbelievably, I've been keeping this blog for one year. In the past year, I've posted 298 times with 186 recipes, 255 pictures and seven posts about garbage plates. Surprisingly, it's still fun. I figured that deserves a site redesign. Thanks for reading.

Nothing fancy here. I sautéed a couple cloves of chopped garlic in a little olive oil and stirred it into some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and small fresh mozzarella balls with basil. I stirred that into some tubini. No, I've never heard of "tubini" before either. It was smaller than penne and straighter than elbow macaroni. It's all good.

Sam came down for dinner tonight. She loves shrimp. The last time she was down the shrimp I made was so bad she had a bagel with peanut butter for dinner. This was MUCH better. The salsa was good but the lime sections made it a little bitter. It would have been better without just a little lime juice instead of the imperials from the two limes. On the other hand, the lime pilaf was terrific. I'll make the pilaf often. When I grilled the shrimp, I also grilled fresh pineapple spears on skewers. Sweet redemption.

shrimp
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salsa:
2 limes, all skin and pith removed
1 mango diced
4 red radishes, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, toss the prawns with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Let marinate for about a half hour while you heat up the grill. Grill prawns on each side until they turn pink, about 5 minutes depending on size.

Combine salsa ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Place warm grilled shrimp on a platter and top with salsa.

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, peeled, finely chopped
2 cups longgrain white rice
3 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
Chopped fresh cilantro

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add stock, lime juice and lime peel. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer rice to serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley or cilantro.

Tonight, I went to the Cleveland Indians game by myself. I bought a cheap seat, kept score, and ate a bag of peanuts with a couple dogs and beer. Excellent fun. Unfortunately, the Tribe lost 9-6.

If you've never been to an Indians game you haven't had the wonderful experience of Stadium Mustard. This is great stuff. Friends of mine who've left town often have me send them mustard when they get low. I took Steve two bottles the last time I went to San Francisco. I was shocked when I went to a game in Tiger Stadium and they had plain yellow mustard!

My first dog was bought from a roaming vendor and this was a crime against all that is good and tasty. It was cold and the bun was soggy. Even Stadium Mustard couldn't save this one. This hot dog, and the final score, were the only blights on an otherwise fun night.


I couldn't risk another roaming vendor tragedy so I decided to get a dog hot off the grill. Much better.


I might as well upgrade my seat while I'm up. I know you can't see it in this picture but Grady Sizemore hit a home run on this pitch in the 4th.


If you want some Stadium Mustard you can buy it here.

I don't really know how this happened. It's an amalgam of three or four recipes based on what I had on hand. It was pretty good. Alex loved it. He asked me how I "think of these great sandwich combinations." I was glad he liked it but I felt no pride in it because it was a bit weird.

I served it with mango with sesame oil and chili powder and Terra Chips.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 t Tabasco
1/2 t chipotle chili powder
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T brown sugar

mushrooms, thickly sliced
blue cheese, sliced or crumbled
Italian bread, sliced and toasted
tomatoes, sliced
avocado slices
balsamic vinegar
seasoned salt

Instructions
Saute onions and garlic in oil in a 10-inch skillit. Add Tabasco, chili powder, vinegar, and brown sugar. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and most of the liquid is evaporated.

Stir mushroom slices in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and spread on a baking pan and place under the broiler 4-6 minutes - turning once. Broil the avocado slices.

Build sandwich with mushrooms, blue cheese, avocado, tomatoes, chipotle onions.

For Mother's Day I got my mom an orchid. It was very nice. I also cooked her dinner. That was nice too. My uncle Chuck was in town. My grandma was there as well as Judy, Bob, Ashley, Alex and Nick. I sailed in the morning and didn't get home until around noon. I made the soup last night but everthing else came together pretty easily for the 5:00 dinner. The pork loin was huge - 7# and about 18" long. I trimmed six pork chops from it for later use just so it would fit in the smoker. It was probably still 5#. I'm still learning how to use the stovetop smoker Judy gave me for Christmas but the pork turned out really well - moist, smoky, and delicious. I liked the soup best but most people were raving about the asparagus. It was a good meal. My mom seemed to enjoy it.

I asked Judy to bring the desserts. My sister can cook too.

Ingredients
olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 (3 to 4 pound) boneless pork loin
Salt and pepper

Spicy Orange Vinaigrette
2 cups orange juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Apple Salad:
1 1/2 cups Spicy Orange Vinaigrette
2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sectioned
curly endive
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup toasted pecans
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions
Rub the pork with olive oil, salt and pepper. Smoke the pork loin with alder chips for one hour. Uncover and roast in 350 degree oven until internal temperature reaches 145 degreeds. Put under broiler for final browning - 2-3 minutes. Allow the loin to rest for 5 minutes before carving.

For the Spicy Orange Vinaigrette: Reduce orange juice in a saucepan over medium high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup. Place reduced orange juice, vinegar, shallots, and chili powders in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Add the honey and salt and pepper to taste. For the Apple Salad: Heat 3/4 cup of the Spicy Orange Vinaigrette in a medium sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the apples, and sauté until golden brown, turn over and sauté until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Place the frisee in a bowl and toss with a few tablespoons of the Spicy Orange Vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper and divide among the plates and garnish with pecans and blue cheese. Arrange pork alongside frisee, add apples and drizzle remaining vinaigrette over pork and frisee.

Ingredients
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed
8 oz. Brie, sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Steam asparagus in a steamer until tender but still crisp, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and place in a shallow baking dish. Lay cheese slices over asparagus. In a small bowl combine melted butter, bread crumbs and sesame seeds. Sprinkle over cheese. Bake for 8 minutes. Increase oven to broil. Broil until breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Ingredients
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 T grated ginger
1 T grated lime zest
1/2 t cumin
3 pounds oven roasted sweet potatos, (slip off the skins after roasting)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

Cranberry Relish
1 medium apple, peeled and cut in chunks
1 medium orange, cut in chunks
1 lime, cut in chunks
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

sour cream
grated lime peel

Instructions
In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the celery, onions and carrots over medium heat in about a teaspoon of oil until tender, about 15 minutes. Add in grated ginger, lime zest and cumin. Stir to combine. Add in sweet potato and vegetable stock, stirring to break up any large pieces of sweet potato. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, until flavors have blended. Remove from heat and use a stick blender to puree soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with a dollop of Cranberry Relish and, a little sour cream, a little grated lime peel, and a squeeze of lime juice.

I guess I've been a little grill crazy lately. I hadn't had a grill for a few years until I bought one last Spring. I think I was hesitant to use it last year to avoid the "Man who only cooks on the grill," stereotype. I guess I no longer feel like that's an issue.

There are things that can be cooked on the grill that taste better than almost anything. One is onions and another is corn. I'm looking forward to corn season. I might be eating Szalay's corn cooked on the grill 2-3 times a week.

I used homemade yogurt for the sauce. Good. I would have used beef broth instead of chicken for the pilaf. Damn. I thought I had some beef broth but it was lumpy and disgusting. Overall, this was a damn good meal. Make this. Just make the pilaf with beef broth instead of chicken.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 T coarsely grated ginger
1 t turmeric
1 t cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground allspice
1/2 t cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground pepper
beef cut into cubes
1 large onion coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
1 portobello mushroom, cut into this slices

Instructions
Preheat grill. Combine, oil, garlic, ginger, and spices. Add beef and vegetables and stir to coat. Marinate for an hour. Thread onto skewers and grill until done.

Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mint, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch of salt

Instructions
Stir together and keep refrigerated an hour before serving.

Ingredients
2 shallots, sliced thin
2 Tolive oil
1 T mustard seeds
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 t salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup chicken broth

Instructions
In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan cook shallots in oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add mustard seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Stir in rice, salt, water, and broth and bring to a boil. Stir rice once and cook, covered, over very low heat 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let pilaf stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff pilaf with a fork and serve.

This sandwich was pretty good. I was expecting it to be great but it wasn't great. The Grilled Tomatoes and Onions WAS great. I served it with some leftover mango salso from last night. It was a good meal.

Ingredients
2 baguettes, halved across
4 T red wine vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 portobello mushroom caps
Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
6 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
feta cheese
roasted red peppers, cut into strips

Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, extra-virgin olive oil and garlic. Place mushrooms in a shallow dish and pour marinade over the caps. Turn caps in marinade and season with salt and pepper. Let stand 10 minutes.

Grill mushrooms 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Slice and transfer back to marinade and add the parsley and spinach. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Toast baguettes.

Layer the mushrooms into baguettes and top with feta cheese and red peppers.

Ingredients
several roma tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick and grilled
1 red onion, sliced 1/2-inch thick and grilled
1 T chopped parsley
1 T chopped chives
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons truffle oil

Instructions
Roughly chop the tomatoes and onions and combine with the rest of the ingredients.

Today was the start of vintage baseball season for my baseball team. When we play at home we host a picnic for the visiting team after the games. This is what I brought. I don't know if you could buy mangos (or tortellini) in Ohio in the 1860's but they were both good and seemed to be hits.

Ingredients
1 package spinach tortellini
1/2 pound baby spinach, chopped
1 cup artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 red roasted peppers, drained and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
rind from one preserved lemon, diced
2 T rice vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 T thyme
crushed black pepper
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, coarsely chopped

Instructions
Cook tortellini in boiling water. Drain and cool. Whisk together vinegar, oil, thyme and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat.

Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 cup cooked corn kernels
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions
Mix together. Delicious

This was an great sauce on a mediocre steak. I used Maker's Mark bourbon for the sauce but I was drinking Jameson's 12-year-old Irish whiskey while I was cooking. The sauce was terrific but I just realized I didn't salt it enough. I think the Jameson's may have something to do with why I didn't think to salt the sauce.

For a side dish, I made a marinade of olive oil, basil, and chopped preserved lemons. I chunked a couple portabellos, a yellow pepper and three small tomatoes and added them to the marinade. I grilled the vegetables when I grilled the steak. I didn't expect the lemon flavor to survive the grilling but the preserved lemon peel cooked up wonderfully. The preserved lemons go with tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms like you can't believe. Sublime.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
Strip steaks
2 ounces bourbon
1 T minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 T butter
1/4 cup cream
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T butter
Salt

Instructions
Brush steaks with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill to desired donesness. In the meantime, prepare sauce. In a saucepand heat the whiskey, shallots, thyme and cracked pepper. Reduce by half over high heat. Add 2 T butter, heavy cream, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and reduce by half. Remove from the heat and add 1 T butter. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the sauce over the steak, and serve.

Wow. This was crazy good. It took a little more planning than dinner last night. I had a few uncooked sweet potatoes left over from Easter. I baked them Sunday night and had them in the fridge. The spiciness from the salsa and Tabasco with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes was wonderful. The original recipe called for some brown sugar but I forgot it. I'm glad I did. It didn't need the additional sweetness. I served this with boxed Mexican rice. Alex loved this dish and so did I. I will absolutely make this one again.

Ingredients
2 pounds sweet potatoes
Olive oil
1 small can green chiles
3 ounces butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

flour tortillas
guacamole
salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese (Cheddar or Monterey Jack)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Wash the sweet potatoes but leave the skins on. Rub with olive oil and bake until very tender, about 45 minutes. Cool the potatoes until they can be handled and remove skins. Place in a heavy saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Mash the mixture well, taste for seasoning, reheat.

In a heavy saucepan, sautee onions, garlic in the olive oil. Add the beans, tomatoes, and wine and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat to reduce some of the liquid.

Warm the tortillas in the oven wrapped in foil. Build burritos with potato mixture and black bean mixture and garnish with quacamole, salsa, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

I've needed a night to myself. Tonight was the night. My plan was to get off work, drive straight home, put on some music, make a martini, drink aforementioned martini, read the paper, and make dinner. I had no plans for dinner other than I would make something from what I had on hand - no grocery store visit. In my freezer, I knew I had a nice New York strip, eight beautiful lamb chops, a sushi grade piece of tuna, four nice big dry scallops, and a pound of ground lamb. Surely, I can make something good from that, right? I mentioned my non-plan to Steve and he insisted that I listen to Gogol Bordello - a band described by allmusic.com as "Combining elements of punk, gypsy music, and Brechtian cabaret, Gogol Bordello tells the story of New York's immigrant diaspora through debauchery, humor, and surreal costumes." (I agree. What the hell is "Brechtian?") Steve promised me, I'd "be dancing." Riiight.

So, there I was, bouncing involuntarily to Gogol Bordello, drinking my martini, and looking in the freezer to decide what was for dinner. I ran across two vacuum packed hamburgers. I don't know how to describe what happened next. I made a conscious effort NOT to plan dinner. I tossed the hamburgers in the microwave to defrost and I went upstairs and climbed in bed. Non sequitur? No. I've decided to practice getting up in the morning. I'm terrible at it. I ran across a blog where a guy trained himself to get up quickly in the morning. Check it out. It's bizarre but I'm going to try it. So after being in bed for 22 minutes, (Steve called to make sure I hadn't dozed off and we talked for twelve minutes so I had to reset the alarm and start over.) I got up, brushed and flossed my teeth and went downstairs to have a second martini. Back to dinner - the burgers were defrosted so I fired up the grill. I made hash browns with Fox Point Seasoning and sliced some tomatoes. When the burgers were done, I tossed them under the broiler with some mozzarella cheese. I built the plate with the Fox Point Hash Browns, Hamburgers with Broiled Mozzarella, and Sliced Tomatoes. I sprinkled a little more Fox Point on the tomatoes.

This is what happens when you don't plan. Pretty weird, huh? It was good.