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It's summer. It's hot. Who wants to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when you can be outdoors celebrating the warm months with friends and family? Each of the highlighted links will take you to recipes and information to help you celebrate summer in cool style.
Party Recipes Fourth of July is the biggest summer holiday when we are most likely to be cooking for a crowd. While you're serving up cocktails, be sure to save some beer and tequila to whip up some truly different recipes. Edible flowers and simple garnishes give not only a pretty, but tasty touch to recipes and are sure to wow your guests. Just be sure you are familiar with which flowers are edible and which are poisonous. For the sports enthusiast, get tips and hints on throwing a tailgate party or just a picnic in the park.
Outdoor Foods Most of us enjoy hauling out our barbecues to keep the heat out of the kitchen. Try some great marinades for flavor as you toss the shish kebabs, Jamaican jerk, homemade sausage, or seafood on the grill. Of course, the kids will want hot dogs with ketchup and mustard, while the adults will most likely prefer more mature seasonings such as Worcestershire sauce, exotic spice blends, or just some simple herbs and spices. You'll want some cool desserts to go with those recipes. It's hard to turn down ice cream, and gelatin is good not only as a sweet treat, but also for cool salads.
Cool Cooking with Appliances If you have to use your kitchen, a pressure cooker can dramatically reduce cooking times on top of the stove, and the clay cooker can handle an entire meal in about an hour in the oven. And remember, many of your oven recipes can be converted to the crockpot. A fondue party can get everyone involved in the cooking while keeping the heat out of the kitchen.
Summer Harvest Foods When you're not entertaining, chances are you are looking for a way to can or preserve those great fruits and vegetables from your garden. Summer fruit favorites include blueberries, kiwifruit, mangoes, plums, strawberries, huckleberries, rose hips, and of course watermelon. Sweet onions and garlic are in their prime in summer, as well as mushrooms, rhubarb, and tomatoes. Get some low-calorie snack ideas while you're at it. Even canned goods from the market can be a timesaver while still producing nutritious yet tasty meals. They also come in handy in the case of those power outages during summer storms.
Tips for a perfectly grilled steak
The most primitive style of cooking--meat roasted over an open flame--can't be beat. You can pan-sear and broil all you want, but nothing compares to a grilled steak. The combination of a smoky, caramelized crust and a tender, juicy interior is what grilling beef is all about.
Choose wisely: Favorable grilling candidates include New York strip, T-bone, porterhouse, sirloin, filet mignon and rib-eye.
Size matters: Choose cuts that are 1- to 1-1/4 inch thick. Pay special attention to bone-in cuts of meat: make sure the steak is an even thickness. Meat near the bone will take longer to cook.
Use caution with marinades: Over-marinating can result in tough or mushy meat. For additional ways to flavor-up a steak, try a dry rub or top cooked steaks with herbed butter.
Handle hot coals: Sear steaks over direct heat, then move them to indirect heat to finish cooking. For a 1-inch thick steak, a general guide is 5 to 7 minutes per side for medium-rare (145 degrees F). For an accurate reading--and to avoid cutting into that sublime steak--use a meat thermometer to test for doneness.
- Easy Grilled Tri-Tip
- Sirloin Steak with Garlic Butter
- Smothered Filet Mignon
- Willy's Juicy Steak
- Barbequed Marinated Flank Steak
- Adobo Sirloin
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