Beef and Veggie Kabobs

Eating steak is not eating on a budget, but there are some exceptions like a London Broil.  This cut is not usually too expensive, but also not usually very large and can be very tough if overcooked.  We were looking to feed our housemates without spending a ton on meat, so we decided to try to stretch the beef by making kabobs.  Marinating the meat and vegetables all day add delicious flavor and tenderized the meat.  These were an absolute hit.

Added bonus - picky eaters can remove the vegetables they don't like easily.

Ingredients:
1 lb. London Broil, cut into cubes
1 zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick (or wedged, however you prefer)
2 cups mushrooms, quartered
1 cup onion, cut into large chunks

Marinade ingredients:
Olive oil
Vinegar
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Fresh basil

Recipe:
Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl, using equal parts olive oil and vinegar, adding just enough for the beef to sit in a thin layer of the marinade. Marinate for 4-5 hours, shaking every so often to redistribute the marinade.

Marinate the vegetables in olive oil, salt, pepper and basil. (Omit the vinegar as this acts as a meat tenderizer.)

Skewer the beef and vegetables.  Grill over medium to low heat until the beef is cooked to your desired temperature.

Campfire Bacon and Eggs

Camping trips are great - drinking all night, your buddy with the guitar who thinks he sings well, not being able to eat s'mores, passing out using a pillow for a rock, having to find your way to the bathrooms in the woods with the merciless sun shining in your eyes saying, "this is what you get for drinking so much!"  Really waking up after a night of camping is just awful. And then comes breakfast, when all of your fellow campers can chow down on granola bars, but you'll be lucky if you remembered to bring fruit AND if you remembered not to use it as a pillow.

Please pardon the mini gluten-filled bagels.  Not everyone is as intolerant as some of us.

Enter this fantastic little number - bacon and eggs over a portable grill with no clean-up.  Is there a better way to make your hangover more tolerable than with god's gift to man - bacon?  No. Certainly not.

Ingredients:

Eggs

BACON!!

Cooking spray (make sure to avoid the potential for sneaky gluten)

Salt and Pepper

Disposable muffin tin

Recipe:

Cut the bacon in half (or however long it needs to be to line the muffin tin without too much overlap)

Spray the muffin tin with cooking spray.
Line the edge with bacon.

Crack an egg into each compartment.

Throw it on the grill, cooking until the egg is done.

Use a knife to separate the bacon from the tin.

These can be a little greasy, but you should probably be thankful for that as the grease makes removing them easier.  Be careful because these come out very hot!

Enjoy!

Balsamic and Blue Cheese Covered Pork Chops

The pig is nature's gift to man.  This meal was an attempt to take that gift and cover it in wrapping paper and put a bow on top.  That wrapping paper was balsamic and red wine covered onions and mushrooms.  That bow was blue cheese.  Sometimes, the gift wrap can add to the surprise and wonder of a gift.  This is one of those times.

Ingredients:
1 pork chop (bone-in, as nature intended)
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Red Wine
Salt and Pepper

Recipe:

• Rub the pork chop down with salt and pepper to flavor. Grill in your preferred method:
• I like to go hot on each side to sear followed by a lower heat roast to cook it all the way through (medium rare for me).
• Sautee the onion and mushrooms in olive oil, adding balsamic when the onions are softened. Reduce the heat.
• Take the grilled chop, plate it, and add blue cheese on the top.
• Go back to the onions and mushrooms, add some red wine, give it a quick stir, and pour over the chop.
• Give the blue cheese a little time to melt between the heat of the chop and the vegetables.  It is worth the wait.

Bloody Mary Hummus

No vodka, but plenty of flavor.

Nothing cures a raging hangover or sets off a great day-load quite like a Bloody Mary.  If you try hard enough, you can even convince yourself that it is a health drink.*  But sometimes, it just isn't acceptable to be indulging in the spicy-tomatoey-vodka goodness.  Fret not, for we have created a recipe to deliver that kick-you-in-the-face-spice without having to suck down tomato juice sans vodka.  We gladly present to you

Bloody Mary Hummus

We started with a basic recipe for hummus and then slowly started adding our favorite bloody fixings and tasting as we went to score the perfect flavor.

The Inspiration

Ingredients:

3 15 ounce cans chick peas

3 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons olive oil

Tomato Juice

Worcestershire Sauce

Horseradish

Tabasco (or other hot sauce)

Fresh ground black pepper

Old Bay Seasoning

1 tomato (garnish)

• Cook the chick peas in the liquid until softened (15-20 minutes)
• Starting with about a quarter cup of chick peas and a little of the cooking liquid, grind the chick peas in a blender until they begin to become smooth.  Add a teaspoon of tahini and olive oil, another quarter cup of chick peas with some liquid and blend until smooth.  The key here is to slowly add each ingredient and to empty the blender as needed.  The hummus can get pretty thick and it is difficult to continue adding chickpeas if the mixture is too thick.** You will be adding more liquid later, so don't make the base hummus too thin.
• When you have a fairly thick batch of hummus, put it all in a large bowl that will allow for mixing.  Prepare for the fun part.
• Add about 5 dashes each of Worcestershire and Tabasco, 2 tablespoons of tomato juice, and 1 tablespoon of horseradish to the hummus.  Mix well.  Continue adding whichever ingredients you prefer in your bloody until you find the right mix of tomato and spice.  We like horseradish in our bloodies, so ours leaned this way.
• As you are mixing, liberally add black pepper and Old Bay, making sure to mix these in well.
• Continue until you have the taste you desire, being careful to avoid over spicing the hummus if you are making this for a crowd.
• Fun option - remove the seeds from one plum tomato and dice.  Mix the tomato with Worcestershire, Tabasco and Old Bay.  Use this as a garnish in the middle of your hummus (as pictured).

For serving, provide some standard Bloody Mary garnishes - celery, cherry tomatoes, olives, pickled asparagus, and bacon all make great delivery devices for this appetizer. We also provided carrots, our preferred hummus dipper.

Enjoy the burn!

*Fun story - I was playing rugby one fine Saturday morning, when Brittany struck up a conversation with another slightly older female spectator.  This lovely woman decided to tell Brittany all about her brand new "health food diet" and the amazing benefits.  She then proceeded to ask Brittany about the contents of her 32 ounce bottle of "health drink" which contained at least a solid 5 ounces of vodka.  Breakfast of Champions.

** Alternate option: don't be cheap skates like us - buy a food processor.