Ma What's For Dinner?

Oh, Tyler Florence, how I love thee.  You’ve been my constant cooking companion for years.   You make the best quacamole, by far, your chimichurri sauce is to die for, and once again, you’ve raised common street fair food to an art.  Oh yes, I’m talking about the grilled corn with chili lime butter.  I was inspired walking around a street fair on the upper west side of Manhattan this weekend by all the scrumptious smelling grilled corn.  I love it, because it’s sort of like food on a stick, but slightly higher brow.  It’s like the aristocrat of corn dogs.  So I ran home to fire up the grill and make one of my favorite all time summer bbq staples.  Try Tyler’s recipe, it’s delicious.  Love ya, Ty!

12 ears fresh corn, unshucked

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 limes, zest finely grated

1 bunch fresh chervil, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound queso fresco, finely grated

1/4 cup chili powder

Soak the corn in a large container of water for 1 hour. Prepare the grill. Put the soaked cobs on the hot grill and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, turning frequently. The corn is done when it feels soft when you press on it.

While the corn is grilling make the lime butter: In a small bowl add the butter, lime zest, chervil, chili powder and salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well and spread onto a large plate.

Take the corn off the grill and carefully peel back the husks (it will be hot). Remove the corn silk and tie the husks in a knot so you can hold on to it like a handle. Roll in the lime butter.  Place on a large platter and serve immediately.

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I know, I know you’ve been waiting for all the BBQ recipes from Brady’s birthday party.  Well I can tell you about them, but Ma drank a bit too much vino and forgot to actually take pictures of the food.  So, you’ll just have to trust me when I say the burgers and dogs were great.  The chicken wings and steak tips went really quick and the New England Steamers were amazing.  So now I have all these leftover and what’s a girl to do?  Well I grabbed some prepared burger patties (I know, oh the horror) and sprinkled them with steak seasoning, grilled ‘em up and dressed them to look like a Philly Steak and Cheese Sub.  This ain’t your average leftover burger!

Serves: 6  Prep Time: 20 minutes  Cook Time: 15 minutes

6 burger patties

2 T steak seasoning

1 onion sliced thin

1 bell pepper sliced thin

2 T olive oil

2 T butter

2 T flour

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 t ground nutmeg

S&P

6 sub rolls

Turn on your grill and heat it to medium high to grill your burgers.  Let the meat sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before you put them on the grill.  Sprinkle with steak seasoning and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Grill to desired doneness.  Let rest under some tin foil for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile heat 1 large skillet and a medium saucepan over medium high heat .  Add 1 1/2 T olive oil to the skillet and 2 T butter to the saucepan.  When the skillet is hot add your onions and peppers.  Season with steak seasoning and allow to saute for about 10 minutes or so, until nice and soft.  Once the butter has melted in your saucepan, whisk in your flour.  Cook for about 1 minute.  Slowly stir in your milk whisking constantly.  Bring to a boil then roll the heat back to about medium low and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.  Season with S&P and grated nutmeg.  Stir in your cheese and allow to simmer on low until your burgers are ready to go.

Split a sub roll in half, toast if desired.  Top with burger, pile on your onion and peppers, then slather on your cheese mixture.  Philly Cheese burger style!  I ran out of buns, so the hubs had to settle for a bulkie roll…sorry babe.

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Serves: 10  Prep time: 15 minutes + 1 day  Cook time:  6 hours

For the dry rub:

3 T paprika

1 T garlic powder

3 T brown sugar

1 T dry mustard

3 T coarse salt

1 t liquid smoke

1 t dried oregano

¼ cup olive oil

For the Sandwiches:

1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

2 T prepared mustard

2 packages Hawaiian bread  rolls

2 cups BBQ sauce

In a food processor combine the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, liquid smoke, and oregano.  Turn in the processor on and add in your olive oil until you have a nice paste.

Rub  your pork butt with the prepared mustard then slather on your spice mixture.  Be sure to massage it in well and get it into all the nooks and crannies.   Let in marinate in the fridge for as long as possible, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Place the marinated pork in a roasting rack and roast at 300 degrees until an instant read thermometer reads 170 degrees F, about 6 hours, when the pork just easily falls apart.

Pull the pork into small pieces and serve on a Hawaiian buns with BBQ sauce and cole slaw.  MMMMmmmm!  So good!

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