Both of my parents were born in Hungary, and, lucky for me, my Mom still loves to make Hungarian dishes. Stuffed Cabbage is a family favorite, especially in the colder months, and I’ve adapted my Mom’s recipe a little bit over time. If you decide to make the dish, be sure to set aside enough time (1-2 hours for prep, 4 hours or longer for cooking time). This is a great leftover meal, as it tastes better when reheated.

Paprika is a key ingredient in Hungarian cooking, so when using it, take the time to look for a good quality Paprika, preferably Hungarian. Hungarian Paprika is a little spicier than Spanish Paprika, and provides a wonderful color as well as needed flavor to the dish. Our local supermarket carries Hungarian Paprika in the spice aisle (Pride of Szeged Hungarian Paprika), and we buy a lot of our spices from Penzey’s – they have several varieties of Paprika, but I prefer to use the Hungarian Sweet.
Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 medium Green Cabbages
• 1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef
• 1 pound Ground Pork
• 1/4 cup non-instant Rice
• 1/4 pound Bacon, diced
• 1 medium sweet Onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons Flour
• 1 bag of fresh or one large can Sauerkraut
• 1 Green Pepper, diced
• 1Tomato, diced
• 4 tablespoons good quality Paprika, preferably Hungarian
• Kosher Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• Sour Cream for garnish, if desired

Core cabbage(s). Bring enough water to a boil so that the entire cabbage will be emersed. Boil cabbage (one at a time if using two) for approximately 5 minutes or until leaves are starting to pull away from core. Remove from water and let cool. Once cooled off, carefully remove green leaves until you reach the tougher white leaves. Do not use the white ones for rolling as they are difficult to fold, but roughly chop a few of them to add to the stock pot.

Parboil rice for 10 minutes. While the rice is cooking, combine ground beef, pork, 3 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl; mix well to incorporate salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, brown bacon in medium to large stock pot. Remove bacon and half of the grease that was rendered (discard grease). Add onions to remaining bacon grease and cook until translucent. Remove half of the onion mixture and add it along with the rice to the meat mixture; stir to incorporate the onions and rice. Add the flour to the remaining onion mixture in the stock pot and stir for a couple of minutes; this will help eliminate the flour flavor, but help to thicken the base. Add paprika and four cups of water. Stir and bring to a soft boil.

Rinse the sauerkraut in a strainer. Add the diced green pepper and tomato and gently toss to incorporate them together.

On a cutting board, trim off the tough stems of each cabbage leaf as shown in the picture below; this will make the rolling easier.

Put about a tablespoon (depending on the size of the leaf) of the filling into each leaf, and fold bottom to the middle, then each side into the middle, then roll leaf (will resemble an egg roll, as pictured below).

To assemble, put some of the leftover cut-up cabbage leaves into the bottom of the stock pot, then add a little of the sauerkraut mixture. Lightly salt and pepper contents in the pot.

Next, place cabbage rolls in a circle, and fill in gaps with the meatballs. Cover with more cut up cabbage leaves and another layer of the sauerkraut mixture. Lightly salt and pepper again. Continue until you are out of cabbage rolls and meatballs. Finish off with the sauerkraut mixture on top. Add enough water to barely cover mixture.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer/soft boil for at least 4 hours, as you are cooking raw pork. The longer you let it cook, the more flavor you will get out of the dish. Oftentimes, this dish is served with a dollup of sour cream. Enjoy!

Being married to a former pizza place cook isn’t easy…my husband is a pizza snob. Needless to say, we have tried just about all of the pizza places here and none have met Andy’s approval. We started to buy frozen dough from a really good bread store in order to make our own pizza (then we could blame ourselves if it wasn’t good). However, the store is not in town, and I don’t get up that way too often, so it became an inconvenience. One day I picked up the book The Bread Bible and in it, among the 600+ pages, was a recipe for homemade pizza dough. I made the recipe (only a single serving), and it was good, and over time have just added one ingredient (olive oil) and quadrupled the recipe (we use half and freeze the rest). This really couldn’t be easier, and, if you are like us, you won’t want to buy frozen or delivery pizza ever again – this tastes better and is a lot less expensive!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plus 4 tablespoons Unbleached Flour
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm Water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil

Combine the flour, sugar and yeast and stir. Add the salt right before you are ready to add the water, as salt can kill the yeast. Make a well, and pour the water and one tablespoon olive oil into the well.

Stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients and wet ingredients are fully incorporated together (I start with the wooden spoon and then use my hands). Form into a ball and put the other tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the bowl. Rub the oil on the entire ball of dough, place back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

If you are using the dough within four hours, let sit out to rise. Otherwise, put it into the refrigerator. Once you are ready to use it, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, separate the dough that you need, and work the dough back into another ball and let it sit covered for 15 minutes to allow it to rise again.

Liberally flour work surface and roll out dough into desired shape/thickness. Add sauce and toppings, bake and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 – 6 Chicken Thighs
• Lime wedges to garnish
• Chopped, roasted peanuts to garnish
• Rice Stick Noodles

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup natural Peanut Butter
• 4 tablespoons Tamari Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha Chili Paste
• 4 finely minced Serrano Peppers
• 4 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• 6 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce and blend thoroughly until smooth.

Marinate the chicken with half of the marinade and set the other half aside to be used later. Marinate for 30 – 60 minutes.

While the grill is pre-heating, cook the rice stick noodles as directed on the package. They will be just fine if the noodles are cold or room temperature when the chicken is ready. Grill the chicken over medium heat until done.

Serve the chicken over the rice noodles and spoon some of the reserved sauce over the top. Garnish with the peanuts and lime wedges.

Ingredients

• One whole Chicken

Rub

• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Hint of Cinnamon

Marinade

• Approx 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 big bunch Basil
• 5-6 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Rub (recipe above)
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2 tablespoons Honey

Basting mixture

• 1 stick Butter
• 1-2 cloves Garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon Rub (recipe above)
• Zest of 2 Lemons

As you can see this is a lot of basil.

Mix all of the seasonings together to make the rub.  This will go into the marinade and the basting mixture as well.  Blend all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor. Put all of the ingredients for the basting mixture in a small sauce pan and set it aside.

One of the easiest ways to grill a whole chicken is to butterfly it.  To butterfly the chicken, you just need to cut the back bone out with a knife or a pair of poultry shears and press it down flat.  By doing this, we maximize the grilling surface of the chicken and cut down on cooking time since it is flat.  Season the bird with the remainder of the Rub.

Coat both sides of the chicken with the marinade and get it under the skin.  Refrigerate for 4 – 6 hours or overnight.

Grill the butterflied chicken indirectly at about 400 – 450 degrees for about 30 – 45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

For the last 10-15 minutes grill over direct heat and baste with the butter mixture.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of Ground Pork
• 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 teaspoons Fennel Seed
• 1 teaspoon Parsley Flakes
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• ½ teaspoon Granulated Onion Powder
• ½ teaspoon Granulated Garlic Powder

Mix all of the ingredients very well until combined; it’s important that you do not have pockets of unmixed seasonings in the sausage mixture.

When combined, refrigerate for an hour to let the seasonings merry with the pork.

Shape the sausage into thin patties and place them on a hot grill.

Ingredients
1 pound of Ground Pork
1 heaping tablespoon fresh Basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh Parsley
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
½ teaspoon Toasted Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Paprika
½ teaspoon Oregano
½ teaspoon Garlic

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Let pork mixture rest for at least one hour in your refrigerator so the spices can sink in.

Shape into thin patties and place on a hot grill.

Cook until done.

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs

For the marinade:

• Juice of half a Lemon
• Zest of a whole Lemon
• ¾ cup of Coconut Milk
• 1 Serrano pepper
• Approximately 2 inches/nubbins of Ginger, peeled (size like your thumb, a nubbin!)
• 4 cloves of Garlic, peeled
• 1 Shallot, peeled
• ¼ large Red Onion, peeled
• Approximately 1 cup fresh Cilantro
• 1 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

Place all of the ingredients for the marinade into a food processor.

Blend until everything has been minced up well. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the marinade to use as a sauce later (do not place reserved sauce with raw chicken).

Marinate for about 4 hours if you’re using the thighs.

Tip: Don’t do like I did and just dump the bag of chicken out on the grill, you’ll have a mess.

Strain out all of the solids from the reserved sauce so that it is smooth and lump-free.

• Boneless (I’m using 2 here)
• ¼ of a Pineapple, cubed.

Sauce:

• 2 small Red Peppers, not too spicy like wax or cherry
• 1 handful of Cilantro
• ¼ red Onion
• ½ Banana
• Juice of one Lime
• 8 ounce can of crushed Pineapple
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• ¾ cup Coconut Milk
• 2 teaspoons kosher Salt

Blend all of the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor.

Cut the pork into large cubes.

Place the pork and pineapple cubes in a disposable tin suitable for using on your grill.

Cover the pork & pineapple with the sauce. You should have some extra sauce left over. The sauce that will be in with the pork will be excellent but will contain a lot of fat. If this bothers you, cook the remaining sauce separately and serve that.

Cover tin with foil and cook indirectly on your grill for about 3 hours at 300 degrees.

About 3 hours later the pork should be tender…try some!

Pick out the pork pieces and grill them for about 5 minutes. Set the pineapple pieces aside.

Serve with rice and some of the sauce. I like to just mix it all up.

Served with: guacamole and fresh tomato salsa.

I marinate the chicken in olive oil, salt and pepper; keep it simple so it does not compete with the condiments for flavor. Marinate for a few hours.

Place the chicken on to the grill.

Grill the peppers and onion; the onions will need to come off first.

Grill the chicken until it’s done.

Spray the tortillas with cooking spray and grill them very shortly until pliable and warmed through.

Serve chicken with tortillas, grilled vegetables, and other condiments.

First, you need to get a hot fire going; you want your chamber to be about 500 – 600 degrees. I am using some charcoal & mesquite wood to achieve this.

Next, salt the chicken and place it on an indirect place of your grill or smoker.

Cook the chicken until it is golden brown and the juices run clear. Cooking times may vary, but mine roasted for about 45 minutes.

• Chicken (I’m using my boneless skinless chicken thighs today)
• ¾ cup for the marinade
• ¼ cup for sauces and dipping
• ¼ thinly sliced red Onion
• 1 baby red Bell pepper, thinly sliced
• Minced Parsley
• Kosher Salt

Marinate the chicken with the vinaigrette; reserve some for use later.

When grilling, be careful not to burn the chicken, as the marinade has sugar in it.

When plating, top the chicken with the onions, peppers and parsley; drizzle some of the reserved sauce on top. Finish the dish by seasoning to taste with kosher salt.

Ingredients

• Chicken (I’m using boneless, skinless chicken thighs today)
• Juice of two whole Lemons
• 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
• 3 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
• Handful of fresh Parsley, roughly chopped

Mix all of the ingredients, excluding the chicken, in a bowl. Place the chicken in a plastic bag and pour contents of the marinade into the bag. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Place chicken on the grill.

Ready to come off of the grill!

Dig in!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of thinly sliced Skirt Steak or Flank Steak

Marinade:

• 4 tablespoons of Peanut Oil
• 2 stalks of Lemon Grass, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
• About 20 Kaffir Lime leaves, julienne
• ½ Serrano Pepper (or to your taste)
• 1 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, loosely packed
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

For the salad:

• Rice Stick Noodles (I am using fresh ones today)
• Julienne of Carrot
• Bean sprouts
• Green Onion, chopped
• Chopped mixed herbs such as Cilantro, Mint and Thai Basil
• Limes and peppers to garnish

Heat a pan up with the peanut oil and fry the lemon grass, Kaffir limes leaves, garlic and Serrano’s for about 3 – 4 minutes over medium heat. This will help extract some of their luscious flavors.

Add the vinegar, water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt adding the wet ingredients first to help dissolve the sugar instead of caramelizing it (that will come later on the grill). Lightly boil for 10 minutes uncovered reducing the liquid somewhat. After 10 minutes, pour the marinade into a bowl and let it completely cool down; you don’t want to add the meat to a warm marinade for bacteria reasons.

Whatever cut of meat you use, make sure it’s sliced real thin – this is a key part to help the marinade do its magic and to get maximum charring surface for caramelizing.

When the marinade is cool, reserve about a half cup by straining out the solids to make a smooth sauce. Place the meat in the rest of the marinade, chunks and all. Refrigerate this way for 4 – 8 hours.

Preheat the grill to smoking hot! Prep the salad ingredients and make the rice stick noodles according to the instructions on the package. When the noodles are done, run them under cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other and to cool them down to stop the cooking.

Grill the meat directly over an intense fire, scraping off any solids from the marinade while laying down the beef.

Let the meat caramelize well. Note: There is a thin line between caramelized and burnt!

Assemble the salad as shown or however you like. Serve the reserved sauce on the side as sort of salad dressing. Everything can be served cold but if the meat if warm that’s okay.

Ingredients

• Thick cut Pork Chops. (I’m using 2 today)

For the marinade:

• Juice of two whole Lemons
• 4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon of kosher Salt
• 4 cloves of Garlic, roughly chopped
• Handful of fresh Parsley, roughly chopped

Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade. Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the marinade for “Basting” while grilling.

Marinate the pork chops for 2 to 6 hours. While the chops marinate, the lemon in the marinade will start to “cook” the pork and turn it white, don’t worry about that, it’s normal.

Place the chops on a hot grill. Spoon some of the marinade on top while they cook.

After you flip the pork chops only baste with the reserved marinade. Grill until done.

Ingredients:
Flank Steak

For marinade:
Juice of Lemon
Zest of Lemon
Juice of Lime
Zest of Lime
1 Serrano Pepper
¼ cup Soy Sauce
¼ cup Fish Sauce
2 cloves Garlic
1 Green Onion
2 teaspoons ground Coriander
Handful of Cilantro
3 tablespoons dark Brown Sugar

Place all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Slice flank steak across the grain into thin strips.

Place the slices of flank steak in a bag along with the marinade. Marinate for a few hours.

Weave the strips of beef onto some skewers.

They should cook up very fast.

Served with Sweet Corn, Red Pepper & avocado Relish

Ingredients:

• 4 split Chicken Breasts
• Sharp, aged Cheddar Cheese
• Pepper Bacon, about 8 – 10 slices
• Salt & Pepper

Slice the chicken breasts in half and pound them as thin as you can get them without shredding them. Season lightly with salt & pepper and place a good sized slice of cheese in the center of each one.

Tightly roll chicken up around the cheese and wrap the bacon around the chicken, using about 2 slices per piece of chicken depending on how big your bacon strips are.

Carefully place the bundles indirectly on your grill. Depending on your grill, you may need to make sure that no flames are directly below the bacon wrapped chicken. Warning! Be very careful not to let flames near the bacon or you could have a grease fire! Cook for about 15 – 20 at 450 degrees or until chicken is cooked all of the way through.