26 Things to Grill This Summer

It's that time of year again.  Grilling time. Summer is meant for grilling with friends.  Currently, living in Italy

Grilling time!

means no grilling for me. I don't have a grill (I do have my trusty grill pan which kind of works) and it's not as popular here.
I love grilling with friends. It's the laughter, the camaraderie and then of course there's the food.  The char marks, the smoky flavor. I don't love smoke in my eyes, but everything else about barbecues and grilling is amazing.
As soon as I get back to the states I would love to have a bunch of barbecues with family and friends. And I would absolutely love to try grilling some new and fun recipes.  I don't want to do the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers. No as per usual I want to experiment.

Burgers and Hot dogs grilled on my grill pan

Last year I started my experimentation with Stuffed Burgers. Cheeseburgers inside out.  I'll have to repeat my favorites and post up the recipes too.  Jack Daniels burgers stuffed with spicy jack cheese (did I mention that I often make alcoholic burgers to grill?). Lime Tequila Burgers stuffed with swiss cheese (although I will be modifying these and making them with ground turkey instead because I think it'll match the lime and tequila better).
But there are so many things that I want to grill. Therefore I'm keeping a list, to see how many exciting things I can grill. I definitely won't be limiting myself to burgers alone!

THE LIST

1. Stuffed Jack Daniels Burgers
2. Stuffed Lime Tequila Turkey Burgers
3. Grilled Romaine for a beautiful Caesar salad
4. Portabello mushroom Steaks
5. Grilled Asparagus with a balsamic reduction
6. Chile Lime Shrimp Skewers
7. Grilled Sweet Potatoes with garlic butter (instead of plain old white potatoes) 
8. Grilled Lobster with Sriracha butter
9. Grilled Whole Carrots
10. Grilled Polenta with Grilled Italian Sausage and Grapes 
11. Grilled Apples stuffed with Sausage and Sage (found this idea on Buzzfeed, and it looks AMAZING!)
12. Bacon wrapped Eggplant bites
13. Grilled Savory French Toast
14. Grilled Avocado
15. Grilled Blueberry Steak
16. Mexican Grilled Cheese (Refried beans, cheddar, salsa, avocado)  
17. Apricot Salsa Grilled Quesadillas
18. Chicken and Red Pepper Skewers
19. Beer Can Chicken
20. Basil, Bacon and Peach Grilled Brie
21. Grilled Peaches and Cream
22. Grilled Apple Pie
23. Grilled Blueberry Muffins with basil butter (or ice cream!)
24. Strawberry S'mores
25. Grilled limes for Tequilla shots
26. Grilled Strawberries for Daiquiris 

Ok... So that's my list for now. I could keep going, but I'm going to resist at the moment.  I have the entirety of August and some of September to make all of my grilling dreams come true.  For now, I'll use my grill pan to see what I can make!

The Brooklyn Smorgasburg

Welcome to the Brooklyn Smorgasburg!

Mmmmm as I was saying in my last post the Brooklyn Smorgasburg was absolutely fantastic!  The Smorgasburg is every Saturday in Williamsburg and every Sunday in DUMBO from 11am to 6pm. It is free entry and there are vendors from all over New York with so much delicious looking food it's not even funny.  There were bbq vendors, different types of Asian foods, vegan foods, desserts, foods from different Latin American countries...
We were right under the Brooklyn Bridge and it was a great spot for a picnic meal with sun and a breeze on the grass.  It was crowded with people but there was a lot of space to occupy so we could still relax and not be too close to other groups of foodies.
I didn't try a lot of food (I wasn't super hungry yet). In fact, I really wish I had tried more but I can always go back next week! What I did eat was absolutely scrumptious and I honestly can't wait to have another serving or two or three!
I had salteñas for teh first time ever. They are a type of baked empanada typical of Bolivia and are a type of savory pastry filled with beef, pork or chicken (sometimes there are also vegetarian options) mixed in a sweet and sometimes spicy sauce. The filling is typically of a thick stew consistency and is served with hot sauce and cheese on the side.  As I was wandering around, I spotted them and knew I was going to have to try. The smell that was wafting over to me was utterly irresistable so I ordered one with beef inside. I found them at a booth called the Bolivian Llama Party which is also a restaurant in Brooklyn.  They were also serving freshly carbonated on the spot sodas in flavors like mango and lemon lime and lemonade rose and hibiscus blackberry. You could ask to try samples of the soda. I'm not usually a soda or carbonated drink kind of gal and these were absolutely fantastic and quite refreshing which was a nice contrast to the spice in the saltena. My favorite of the sodas was the Hibiscus blackberry and the Mango too was wonderful. I've never had anything quite like the saltena but it was a great blend of spicy and sweet and the beef was juicy and flavorful. There was an egg cooked perfectly inside the flaky crust as well.  I also got to try a bite of the pork saltena and it was also delicious although I preferred the beef.  Both were full of flavor and super moist. I would definitely recommend having a spoon handy because the inside can get a bit messy... but TOTALLY worth it!

Freshly made Salteñas served with spicy sauce and deliciously crumbly cheese

delicious pork buns

 My friends tried the lobster rolls and said they were delicious (in fact it was so good that the lobster roll didn't even make it tour picnic seating area because they ate it without sharing) as were the pork buns and barbeque. I had a bite of the barbeque pork and it was absolutely tender and wonderful. As a testament to that fact, the line was at least 30 people long and wrapped around the corner. I lazily waited for my friend to wait on the line but after having a small bite, I realized that the line was well worth it.
Next time I go there is a very long line of savory food that I still have to try. There was a Grilled cheese stand and a ramen stand and there were fish tacos.  I could have stayed there all day munching except we had other things to do in the city that day.

As we were leaving though, we decided to get some flavored shaved ice (made right in front of you and ice pops. There were some unique and refreshing flavors and I'm so glad I ordered mine before we went.  Super light and refreshing. I decided to get the rhubarb tarragon flavor because I've never seen the combination before. It was sweet without being too sweet.  A friend of mine tried the lemon mint and that was quite nice and refreshing as well.  Some other friends tried some of the ice pop flavors and they were incredible too.  You cannot go wrong with Peoples pops!  I will definitely try another flavor next time I go.

All in all, I highly recommend going to the Smorgasburg and trying some of the delicious treats. There were all sorts of things that looked amazing that I just couldn't get too like the s'mores pie and vegan ice cream... And so much more too... GOOOO!  You should definitely check it out and try EVERYTHING!