Welcome to My Kitchen

Barbeque season traditionally begins during Memorial Day weekend. Weather is usually conducive to outdoor dining by then, and an extra day off from work or school gives many folks time to prepare for a summer of al fresco meals.

Start by making sure the grill is ready to use. Follow the manufactures instructions for cleaning and fueling your unit. Then you will be set to grill your favorite foods, as well as trying some new recipes.

My favorite steak marinade is Great Steaks Marinade. The tart, slightly sweet blend of balsamic vinegar and rosemary produce a robust, full flavor steak without being too spicy.

Great Steaks Marinade

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp crushed rosemary

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4-1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a gallon zip closure bag. Add steaks and seal the bag, turn and roll bag around to coat meat with marinade. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or for best flavor, overnight. Turn bag every 2 or 3 hours, more often if refrigerating just 4 hours, to keep marinade coating steaks.

Grill to desired doneness. Yield: about 1/2 cup marinade, enough for about 4 pounds of meat. This marinade is also good on lamb chops.

I haven’t tried this yet, but I plan to. If you like the sweet flavor of tomato/brown sugar in basting sauces but don’t have time or inclination to stand around the grill doing the basting, add 1/4 cup of your favorite barbeque sauce to your favorite grilling marinade, blend well and marinate your choice of meat as usual. You will get the flavor of the sauce more fully infused into the meat and less mess on the grill. If you give this a try please let me know the results so we can compare notes and report on it in a future column.

Grilled hamburgers are a favorite in any season. Favorite B.B.Q. Hamburgers is the recipe I use year round, grilling or frying. Often I make a double batch, forming all the patties at once, freezing the extra for future meals.

Favorite B.B.Q Hamburgers

2 pounds lean ground beef

3/4 cup finely diced onion

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Fresh ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except the black pepper and mix thoroughly. Form into half to three quarter inch thick patties. Grind fresh pepper on top and press in slightly. Grill to desired doneness. Serve on Barbecue buns with your favorite toppings. Yield: 8 large patties.

Note: when freezing these hamburger patties, I wait to add the ground pepper until thawing. Grind it on just before cooking.

Susan Ryan sent via email, Saving Berries. This method is supposed to keep fresh berries from molding in the refrigerator, up to a week for raspberries and 2 weeks for strawberries. The results are not in yet, but I have a test berry in the refrigerator now, so will have a report in my next column.

The key is to wash the berries in vinegar. Vinegar kills or prevents growth of mold spores and other bacteria that cause fruit spoilage.

Saving Berries

Vinegar Fruit Bath

1 part cider or white vinegar

10 parts water

The formula that I used was 1/3 cup white vinegar and 4 cups water.

Place mixture in a large bowl. Dump in berries and swish them around. Drain well. Note: you can rinse if you like but the mixture is quite diluted so you won’t taste vinegar. I did not rinse, and there was no vinegar after taste. Refrigerate immediately. Raspberries will last a week and strawberries almost 2 weeks. We shall see, but if this trick works as it says it should, this is a great money saving tip.

Speaking of berries, I think a bowl of blueberries with whipped cream would be delicious served with these White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies. Lecia Fink submitted this recipe and it contains all the lovely spices we associate with blueberry recipes. These are a good summer time take-along cookie.

White Chocolate Topped

Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, or grated fresh

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses (I used mild)

1 egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown.

Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into the center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Yield: about 4 dozen cookies.

Note: I placed waxed paper between the cookie layers in the storage container. These cookies freeze well.

Share your favorite recipes by sending them to Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA, email them to therecord@odessaoffice.co

m or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Water your fruit trees to prevent fruit drop.