Posts tagged grill
the review: cuban pork chops with herb rice and black beans
the review: cuban pork chops with herb rice and black beans

Let’s talk about what is really important first. Our second oldest daughter is back from a three week trip to India. She’s tired and trying to readjust to life as usual around here but she is full of cool ideas and beautiful images and new words and concepts. She told us last night that she understands that she won’t learn big things if she stays in her comfort zone. She is excited to be an explorer of the world. She is excited to share that perspective with her brothers and sisters. It is great to have her home.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxgrill, pork, rice, kidsComment
the review: grilled steak with toasted spice vinaigrette
the review: grilled steak with toasted spice vinaigrette

Last night’s dinner was good. It wasn’t great, but it was good. It was so easy to prepare that the preparation more than made up for the less than mind blowing final product. Like any grilled steak, this one needed just the right amount of seasoning before grilling and I may have under-seasoned it a bit. But it was grilled perfectly (thank you, Rob) and the combination of the heirloom tomatoes and toasted spice vinaigrette made for an excellent summer meal.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxsteak, grill, dressingComment
the review: citrus brined pork loin with peach mustard and smashed fingerlings with jalapeños
the review: citrus brined pork loin with peach mustard and smashed fingerlings with jalapeños

Before we dive into the week’s reviews, let’s go back for the abbreviated weekend review. Friday night, we were expecting a crowd and had only four. We ate out. Saturday night, we had a lovely bucatini all' amatriciana, which was simple and tasty despite not being able to locate any guanciale. We substituted pancetta (which was sliced thin rather than cubed) and everyone was quite satisfied. This menu change means that we did not try the moroccan chicken brochettes that were originally scheduled for Saturday night. Those will be appearing on the menu again in the near future. If you made them, please send me a little review. I’m all ears.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxpork, potatoes, grill, summerComment
the review: shrimp and grits, take 2
the review: shrimp and grits, take 2

I think shrimp and grits might be making a comeback as a trendy food. It seemed to be on every menu in Houston last month, I’ve seen quite a few versions on Instagram recently, and two of the magazines that I reviewed over the weekend had recipes for shrimp and grits. It is totally fine with me if shrimp and grits is the new doughnut/macaroon/cupcake. I happen to love grits. And what’s not to love about adding cheese to anything?

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reviewsadrienne robideauxshrimp, southern, grillComment
the review: skillet fish on the grill
the review: skillet fish on the grill

I had THE BEST dinner last night. Sorry for the yelling but it was so good. And unfortunately for the rest of my family, I was the only one really eating. That’s not entirely true. The littlest people each ate a piece of fish (along with leftover pizza). It was like pulling teeth to get them to try the fish, but once we got over the initial hump, they both actually liked it.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxfish, grill, summer Comments
the review: rotini with asparagus, basil, and balsamic glaze
the review: rotini with asparagus, basil, and balsamic glaze

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I made that seemingly difficult but really quite simple balsamic reduction and then totally forgot to serve it with my meal? Right. I put it in a jar and put it in the pantry. Probably a major cooking foul, but considering that the recipe came under the header of “pantry”, I went with it. Anyway, that, and the two bunches of asparagus from our produce basket, was the only reason that I chose to make campanelle with asparagus, basil, and balsamic glaze (The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, page 179) on Monday night. The balsamic reduction made the dish.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxpasta, summer, grillComment
the review: gnocchi, gorgonzola, arugula, lemon & balsamic
the review: gnocchi, gorgonzola, arugula, lemon & balsamic

Warning: The photos of this meal do not represent in any way how tasty this meal actually was. Sometimes, you just have to trust the chef who is still very much behind on her food styling and photography skills.

This week’s menu called for some serious grilling. It is summer and it is time to cook outside. Oh, but did I mention that it is snowing as I write this? In the middle of June? What the heck am I doing living here?

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reviewsadrienne robideauxgnocchi, grill, italian, cooking with kidsComment
the review: barbeque chicken and ribs
the review: barbeque chicken and ribs

I have already mentioned that my husband has this thing about making ribs on Father’s Day. And, honestly, as the father of seven kids, if he wants to make ribs once a year, let him. I don’t particularly care for ribs and that does not matter in the slightest because not only is it “his day” (please, people, you and I both know that father’s day is more work for dads than the average Sunday) but also because he cooks them. Perfect. I’ll have bread for dinner.

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adrienne robideauxgrill, chicken, ribs, saladComment
the review: lamb skewers and farro salad
the review: lamb skewers and farro salad

It turns out, I was right. My husband did want ribs for Father’s Day. And he rocked them. But more on that later. I really wanted to try the lamb skewers that I had scheduled for Sunday, so we had a little switcheroo on the menu. Lamb skewers on Saturday night, ribs and barbeque chicken on Sunday afternoon. We were fortunate to have all of our kids at home on Saturday night (not so for Sunday), which meant another change in the menu since the farrotto recipe (via Collards and Carbonara) was not vegetarian friendly. A little flexibility goes a long way.

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reviewsadrienne robideauxlamb, grill, farro, saladComment
the review: grilled tequila chicken fajitas and key lime bars
the review: grilled tequila chicken fajitas and key lime bars

People, I can’t take a picture of a taco to save my life. I know, I probably should have taken a nice photo of the whole spread – tortillas, chicken, grilled limes, sliced jalapeños, grilled onions and peppers… I didn’t. We had friends over and it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do to make everyone wait to eat. The original photos from Confections of a Foodie Bride are lovely. So there. Take my word for it, these chicken fajitas are good.

What’s better than how they tasted is that I didn’t cook them. My husband did all the work. Marinated the chicken all day, prepped and grilled the veggies, even set the table. I can’t in good conscience review something that I didn’t make. But you should. This was tasty chicken.

I did, however, lift a finger for something related to Saturday night’s dinner. I made dessert. Not just any dessert. Key lime squares with coconut crust. Hello little bites of heaven!

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lagniappe, reviewsadrienne robideauxmexican, grill, cookies, dessertComment
the review: halibut with asparagus and smashed potatoes
the review: halibut with asparagus and smashed potatoes

We’ve had a few changes to the old menu already this week and it is only Tuesday. On Sunday night, we (my husband) opted out of halibut in favor of Kings’ playoff hockey at the local watering hole. I went with a pretty tasty turkey club and the Kings won. I’m sure the two are connected. We moved our lovely halibut to Monday night, thinking we would push everything on the menu back by a night, only to find that our oldest daughter, freshly back from college and entertaining a visiting friend, will be joining us for dinner tonight. I just can’t see serving lo-mein as planned. I think we might go with the fajitas. 

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reviewsadrienne robideauxfish, potatoes, grillComment
the review: citrus grilled salmon
the review: citrus grilled salmon

Um, wow. Let me start by saying that neither my mom nor I are salmon people. My mother grew up in Louisiana where red fish and trout were king (along with shellfish, of course), and where most often, fish was fried. I grew up influenced by Cajun cooking and by my mom’s culinary experiences. Salmon was just not a part of the picture.

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adrienne robideauxfish, grillComment