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!

Grilled Cheese Recipe: Balsamic Spinach and Strawberry, Sliced chicken, Walnut Grilled Cheese

Wow. The name and ingredient list is pretty long, but this grilled cheese was an amazing experimert that made my amazing roommates think I'm crazy.  The Italians would never put strawberries into a sandwich or a salad, let alone a grilled sandwich. Almost a week later, I'm still getting teased.  I don't really mind.  I know I'm not crazy. This combination was wonderful! So I made it twice.

This grilled cheese is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous colors.

I used a Walnut cheese that I randomly found in the supermarket.  It is a spreadable cheese with whole
chunks of walnut throughout. I decided to see how it is and I've decided it's really delicious. It is a mild tasting cheese, not overly pungent, with the lovely warm flavor of walnuts.  And the walnuts added a bonus crunch.
My grilled cheese also involved some strawberries for sweetness, some spinach dressed in a thick balsamic vinegar, and slices of chicken breast for protein. Again, AMAZING

Ingredients:
2 pieces of white bread (I would actually prefer whole grain, but I didn't find any at the store that day)
butter
Walnut cheese
2 or 3 strawberries sliced finely
Spinach
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
3 or 4 pieces of thinly sliced chicken or turkey breast

Spread your walnut cheese onto one side of each slice of bread.  If you can't find walnut cheese, I would use

Walnut cheese and Strawberry amazingness

a spreadable cheese like Laughing Cow or even Cream cheese because they are both mild in flavor. If you use one of these alternatives just add some fresh walnuts to your sandwich. Four or five broken into chunks should add just enough crunch and flavor to your sandwich.
Then on one slice of bread add a layer of strawberries.  You can add strawberries to both sides but I think it would make the grilled cheese a little difficult to eat because of the additional moisture.
In a separate bowl, mix your spinach, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  I use an Italian balsamic that is thick and creamy, but that can be hard to find in the states. You can use a regular vinegar (just don't overdo it or the sandwich will get soggy) or you can make your own balsamic reduction by cooking balsamic vinegar, and a touch of sugar in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.  The flavor of the balsamic will intensify and sweeten and really add a nice kick to your sandwich (if you want to go to the extra effort). Place to the side.
Put a couple of pats of butter into a pan and heat over a low flame.  When the butter has heated and begins to sizzle, place your bread dry side down into the pan.  Shake your pan every now and then so it doesn't burn. The bread should grill for a couple of minutes or until it becomes golden and crisp. It will not take very long, so do not leave it unattended! You definitely don't want the bread to burn.
Remove from the heat.
At this point, you can close your sandwich and enjoy your strawberry walnut grilled cheese or you can go all out like I did.
I added a handful of the balsamic spinach, which is a nice complement to the strawberries.

Spinach and Strawberries: This was a different day, but the colors were
too pretty not to post. I should have added even more strawberries.

Then I added the slices of chicken breast and closed my beautiful crispy grilled cheese.  The cheese was warm and melted quite nicely while the spinach added a beautiful crunch and the chicken was mild enough in
flavor that it melded nicely with everything else.  The bread got to the perfect golden color, so it was crisp and butter on the outside as a wonderful contrast to the creamy cheese and juicy strawberries.
The sandwich can get a little messy so be careful!  The walnut spread does not get sticky like some other cheeses so it won't hold the strawberries perfectly.  You may wind up with some runaways!

Valentine's Day Restaurant Review: Ketumbar

Another Valentine's Day Single. Sigh... 

No really, I don't actually mind.  This year I spent my day teaching and perpetually working which was surprisingly fun. 

I even had my little 5 year old Valentine, Georgio who is an absolute love and adorable. He surprise hugs me all the time. He and the other kids made my Valentine's day very entertaining because we made cards and flowers out of construction paper.  

A lot of effort, but a lot of fun. 

Then after dinner I went out to dinner, a nice single girl dinner.  

We went to a restaurant called Ketumbar in Testaccio. 

It was quite interesting and not very typical as far as Italian restaurants go.  It used a lot of locally grown organic products and also had some combinations of foods that I had not seen before.  

For example, I decided to try a tonnarelli (a typical Roman pasta) with a twist. This tonnarelli dish was made with shrimp and avocado.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect

because I've never seen the combination before. The result was surprisingly good. The avocado created a lovely, creamy sauce that was lighter than a traditional cream based sauce.  The shrimp was handled delicated and cooked perfectly.  That being said, there wasn't enough of it. In my entire dish there were only 3 or 5 chunks of shrimp which is certainly not enough shrimp for a €14 dish.  The head of the shrimp was part of the presentation so be warned.  I didn't mind it, but I known a few people who get antsy when they see eyes.  The pasta itself had a good flavor

but it was a bit undercooked for me. It was definitely more than a little al dente.  

If I go back again I would consider trying one of their traditional Roman dishes (which are a little less expensive) or I might even consider trying a second because Endira's Tagliata, a cut of beef was quite delicious.  As was the Cicoria. We got the organic cicoria and it was utterly fantastic. You could really tell that it was organic by the taste, it was crisp and light and bursting with flavor.  

The wine was also quite good with a full body of flavor so I would consider going back to

eat there, maybe for an aperitivo or brunch rather than a full and more expensive dinner.  My only real qualm with the restaurant was the service.  The waiters and waitresses were generally inattentive which was unfortunate because we didn’t actually require much attention.  It took a long time to order, and then even longer to get a wine menu in order to get some wine. The food did not take terribly long to come which is nice  however, it also would have been nice if the waitress had mentioned that Endira’s steak actually came with a baked potato seeing that she ordered potatoes. It could have been an intentional ordering of two helpings of potatoes but it wasn’t. It would’ve have been nice for the waitress to mention it. 

I know Italy is known for slow food, so I didn’t mind that our waitress left us to our own devices. We were not remotely rushed while eating, but it was a little excessive to sit with our empty dishes in front of us for more than a half an hour.  Then the dessert menu was brought promptly but she didn’t come back to see if we wanted anything for another twenty minutes or so. By that time, I didn’t want dessert anymore.  When I said that we were okay, the waitress looked at me and said, “What a shame, the dessert here is fantastic,” and walked away.  I really did have the urge to tell her that if she had come a bit sooner I probably would have ordered dessert. Waiting made me realize that I was actually full and didn’t need anything else. On one side this is good because I

beautiful and cozy seating for two

saved my money and waist line but honestly I would have loved to try a dessert. I was quite curious about their tiramisu since it was made with “birra artigianale” or artisanal beer which is anything but traditional.  That being said I was completely irritated with her attitude and behavior by the end of the night.

Normally I do not get annoyed in restaurants. I very much appreciate how difficult the job of waitressing must be, however, this waitress was quite rude to us and then didn’t bring us the bill for another half hour.  We spent more time waiting around than eating which I am usually fine with. But again this was excessive.

I don’t know that I’d go back for dinner. There was live music and the atmosphere was very calm so I would consider going back for an aperitivo or buffet style dinner where being left to our own devices would be welcome. 

All in all I had a great night because I was in great company and then we also made friends with the table next to us; two ladies visiting from Milan. One was originally from Rome and the other from Sicily, but they live in Milan now (they are not thrilled with this turn of events) so they were really happy to talk to us about food in Rome and I now have an excellent list of restaurants to try in the area.

I’ll post up the list soon and then update as I try the various locales. I’m super excited about it actually!!

gorgeous decoration in the restaurant