Ingredients

• 8 (4‐ounce) top sirloin steaks
• 1 (13.8‐ounce) tube pizza dough
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup prepared tomato basil sauce
• 8 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat grill on high and reduce to medium when hot. Season steaks with salt and
   pepper; grill to desired doneness. Move steaks to cutting board and rest for 5 minutes.
2. Unroll and cut pizza dough into four equal pieces. Roll each piece to 1 1/2 times the original size and cut each piece in half. Brush with olive oil and grill about 2 minutes per side. Turn off flame to half the grill. (If using a charcoal grill, push coals to one side.)
3. Place grilled dough on the cooler side.
4. Thinly slice steaks. Top each dough piece with tomato sauce, steak, blue cheese and mozzarella cheese. Shut grill lid 3 to 4 minutes for cheese to melt; serve.

This comes from eHow and comes out great.

Well the Steamy Kitchen says, use a lot of salt and let it sit for an hour before you are ready to grill.

Buy a cheap cut of "choice" meat, then salt, salt, salt the heck out of that thing—for only one hour before grilling, and then pat it dry. By doing so, your salt is breaking in your meat and loosening some of its protein strands, making it hold flavor better and cut like the steakhouse commercials of your dreams

• Use kosher or sea salt, not table salt <– that is important. It will not work well with tiny tiny grains of table salt.
• Use steaks 1″ or thicker.
• Check out her chart below on how much salt you use for each side.
• After you are done, rinse off the salt and pat to dry.

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From Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools

The Jaccard SuperTendermatic 48 blade meat tenderizer is simply the best tool I have ever found for turning tough but flavourful cuts, like flank steak and skirt steak, from chewy and hard to eat into tender and easy to bite and chew. To use the tenderizer you simply place it over the piece of meat on a cutting board and push down like an ink stamp forcing the blades through the meat. I am a professional chef and serious foodie from Texas, and I simply cannot imagine making either a chicken fried steak or a good fajita steak without it.

I spent years perfecting a marinade for beef fajitas, fine-tuning my seasonings, timing, cooking, and carving. I wasn't satisfied with the finished product until I found the Jaccard tenderizer. I now a have a beef fajita that is tender, delicious and moist. When you take a bite it separates instead of pulling the whole piece of meat from your fajita. Likewise, my chicken fried steak was a real challenge. Traditionally a steak is run through a cuber which "tenderizes" the steak using a pair of rollers with interlocking grids to mechanically crush the steak. In my opinion this method smashes and "mushes" (highly technical term there) the meat without tenderizing. Yes, it does result in a "softer" mouth feel, but it does absolutely nothing to create a steak that is easier to bite through and chew. The Jaccard, by cutting through the muscle fibres and connective tissue, actually creates a steak that is easily bitten off and chewed without the smashed / mushy mouth feel.

To be fair, we do use a hammer-style tenderizer to flatten and shape our chicken fried steaks, but without the Jaccard you can pound a flank steak until it falls apart without making it any easier to bite or chew. However, if you smash it flat and use the Jaccard the same piece of meat will fall apart in your mouth. This tool is so superior to the traditional hammer-style tenderizer that I use it on almost every beef, poultry, or pork cut I cook, and I cannot stress enough how awesome it is.

• You can purchase it at Amazon.com for under $24

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 4 tbsp margarine
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups milk, scalded
• 1/2 Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 salt
• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
Boil cauliflower florets in 4 cups water.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Drain, reserving one cup of liquid.  Melt margarine in fry pan and cook onion until tender.  Blend in flour.  Add broth and stir till texture is smooth.  Stir in cauliflower liquid, milk, Worcestershire, and salt.  Add cauliflower.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Puree in blender.  Pour into saucepan and add cheese.  Sprinkle with parsley and blend in.

Source: Inn On the 10th Soup Cookbook

Ingredients

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped tomato
• 2 8-inch whole wheat flour tortilla (warmed)
• Bottled salsa

Directions

1. Coat an unheated large non-stick skillet with non-stick cooking spray.  Preheat over medium heat.  Add bacon; cook until browned.  Add sweet pepper, cumin, and crushed red pepper.  Cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In a small bowl, slightly beat eggs with a fork.  Add eggs to skillet.  Cook without stirring until eggs begin to set on the bottom and around the edges.  Using a spatula or wooden spoon, life and fold the partially cooked egg mixture so the uncooked mixture flows underneath.  Continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes or until egg mixture is cooked through but is still glossy and moist.  Remove from heat.  Stir in tomato.  Spoon onto tortillas and roll up.  if desired, secure with wooden picks.  Serve with your favourite salsa.

To warm tortillas, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wrap tortillas tightly in foil; bake for 5-8 minutes or until warm.

Source: Eat Better, Lose Weight

It’s May Long Weekend (Victoria Day Weekend for you monarchists out there) and I have been busy putting together recipes for our weekend with friends and family at the lake and since many of them came from The Cooking Blog, I thought I would post them here.

• First of all, you need to learn how to grill the perfect steak.
• Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese Sandwich Recipe
• Barbecue Beef Tenderloin Recipe
• Fried Bannock Recipe
• BBQ Poppers Recipe
• The Original Tommy’s Burger Recipe
• The World’s Best Pancake Recipe
• Beer Barbecued Chicken Recipe
• Chocolate Cherry Brownies (@ 101 Cookbooks)
• Coffee rub for whatever you are planning to grill this weekend
• Beer Can Chicken Recipe :: You can use near beer, a can of grapefruit pop full of spices, or just water and spices as well.
• Grilled Corn on the Cob with Dill Butter Recipe
• Cheesy Barbecue Corn on the Cob Recipe
• Cattle Boyz Burgers Recipe
• Classic Chef's Salad
• Thai Steak Salad Recipe 
• The Shake Shack Burger Recipe 
• Grilled Pizza Recipe :: A great meal on a warm night that doesn’t require adding any more heat to the cabin.
• Quiche Lorraine Recipe :: A favorite breakfast at the cabin and pretty easy to make.
• Parmesan Potato Skin Chips Recipe
• Seven Layer Salad Recipe

Let me know how your weekend turned out in the comments below!  Also, if you have any favorite summer recipes that I am missing, send them to me and I will add them to the site.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 12 ounces lean boneless pork, cut into thin bite-sized strips
• 2 cups sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 cups shredded napa cabbage
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat.  Add pork; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until pork in slightly pink in center. Remove from pan; set aside.  Add mushrooms and garlic to saucepan, cook until tender.
2. Stir in chicken broth, sherry, soy sauce, ginger, and crushed red pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in pork, napa cabbage, and green onion.  Heat through.  If desired, toss in the cilantro.

Makes six servings.

Jordon has been on a bit of a soup kick lately.  Here is one his favorites.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 cup finely chopped green and/or red sweet pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cups fresh corn kernels or one 16 ounce package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups fat-free milk
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined cooked medium shrimp
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup plan yogurt
• Fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions

1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add sweet pepper and onion; cook about 4 minutes or until pepper, stirring occasionally, Add curry powder, salt and pepper, cook and stir for one minute.
2. Stir in corn and chicken broth.  Bring to boil and then reduce heat.  Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until corn is tender.  Cool about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the corn mixture to a blender or food processor.  Add 1/2 cup of milk.  Cover and blend or process until mixture is nearly smooth.  Return pureed mixture to saucepan; stir in remaining 2 1/2 cups milk and shrimp.  Heat through (do not boil).  Stir in snipped cilantro.
4. To serve, spoon soup into soup bowls.  Top individual servings with yogurt and cilantro sprigs. Makes 4 servings.

In case you are wondering what to get your mother this Mother’s Day, I published a Mother’s Day gift guide made of stuff from Jordon Cooper Outfitters and our cabin weblog.  Take a look around and let me know in the comments here what you think.

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cloves Grilled Garlic, mashed
• 4 boneless lean, tender beef steaks, such as beef tenderloin or top loin steaks (4 to 6 ounces each), 1 inch thick.
• Fresh ground or cracked black pepper
• 2 medium yellow onions
• Olive Oil
• 4 French rolls
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 small tomatoes, sliced.
• Mixed greens

Directions

1. Prepare Grilled Garlic
2. Spread garlic onto both sides of steaks; season generously with pepper. 
3. Slice onions into 1/2 inch slices, brush lightly with oil.
4. Insert wooden picks into onion slices from edges to prevent separating into rings (soak wooden picks in hot water for 15 minutes to prevent burning)
5. Lightly oil hot grid to prevent sticking
6. Place steaks in centre of medium hot covered grill.  Place onions around steaks.
7. Grill steaks and onions until medium rare (or desired doneness) turning once.
8. Remove steaks from grill; keep warm.
9. Move onions to centre of grill until tender and golden done.
10. Grill rolls, cut sides down, until toasted. 
11. Slice steaks into thin strips. 
12. Arrange strips over grilled rolls; top with blue cheese, onions, tomatoes and greens.

4 servings
Source: Great Barbecues with Kingsford

Ingredients

• 2 (2 inch thick) steaks beef tenderloin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon meat tenderizer

Directions

1. Rub meat with olive oil and crushed garlic. Sprinkle with tenderizer. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for medium high heat.
3. Brush grate with oil, and place steaks on the grill. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side, or until done.

Ingredients

• 1 or 2 heads garlic
• Olive Oil

Directions

1. Peel outermost papery skin from garlic heads.
2. Brush heads with oil.
3. Grill heads at edge of grid on covered grill over medium hot heat for 30 to 45 minutes or until cloves are soft and buttery. 
4. Remove from grill; cool slightly.  Gently squeeze softened garlic head from root end so that cloves slip out of skin into small bowl.  Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to one week.

Source: Great Barbecues with Kingsford