Rainy Day Grilling

A rainy day should never prevent you from enjoying your favorite grilled and seared foods. The Le Creuset Skillet Grill can go on the stove top, under the broiler, or in the oven. I have even started to grill a steak in the skillet on the stovetop and then placed the whole pan with the steak into a preheated oven to finish cooking. It may take a few minutes to preheat this cast iron grill pan, but watch out because once it heats up - it's smokin! Of course, a kitchen with good ventilation is a good idea.

Should the sun pop out unexpectedly take this pan to your outdoor grill and place on the side burner or right on the grill top. Another benefit is while your meat or seafood is searing in the pan, the juices from the marinade will keep your foods moist and flavorful.

I prefer the Le Creuset Skillet rather than the many imitators with a similar design currently in the market because Le Creuset uses the highest quality cast iron in the making of this pan. The ribbed base grid sears food evenly plus gives good characteristic grill marks, that adds definate flavor to meats, seafood and veggies. Yes, I grilled fresh sliced fennel on this pan on a TV taping last week. This pan is also perfect for making bruschetta.

Chef George Hirsch, Le Creuset Grill Skillet

Bit of Barry's

One of the best things I brought back from my TV series taping in Ireland was a good box of Barry's Irish Tea. Barry's has been making tea since 1901. When I asked the Irish for their favorite, the consensus was Barry's brand every single time. Every pot of tea I've ever had in Ireland has been great, so I think they're on to something.

You may also find Barry's state-side too, but I encourage you to travel to the Emerald Isle to get yourself some directly - brown bread optional. Lately it's been the cold version of Barry's that I've been enjoying - as an enjoyable refreshing pitcher of iced tea. I find that my iced tea is more thirst quenching sans the sugar and simply topped with lemon and some fresh mint. More flavorful tip: twist the mint leaves and stem in your hands to loosen the oils from the mint leaves before adding to tea. Share and enjoy. 

Homemade Iced Tea

Makes about 2 quarts

5-6 tea bags of Barry’s Organic Blend Tea
5 cups of hot water
4 cups of ice
12 fresh lemon wedges, about 1 lemon
12 sprigs of fresh mint or 12 lemon verbena leaves
Sugar, if desired

Brew the teabags in 5 cups of hot water for 3 minutes. Sugar may be added at this stage. Cool completly (can be made the day before) before placing in the refridgerator. Take the Iced Tea out of refrigerator. Cut lemon into wedges.  Squeeze 6 lemon wedges into tea, and add 6 mint sprigs. Add 3 cups of ice and refrigerate if not serving immediately. Fill glasses with remaining ice, lemon wedges and top with mint. Enjoy!

Whirley Pop

I received this popper as a gift from The Piano Man himself a few years back. It's a classic. It's a great popcorn maker - every kernal pops. 

The 6 Quart Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper is the ultimate popcorn machine. Use any popcorn, as little as a teaspoon of any oil and in less than 3 minutes, there will be 6 quarts of delicious, mouthwatering popcorn to enjoy. Official instructions.

Each Popper is hand assembled and checked for quality. They take pride in every popper made and stand behind their products, with a 25 year warranty. How about that?

Fruit of the Sea

Shrimp can be substituted for almost any shellfish recipe that calls for crab, lobster, crayfish or scallops. Use a little creativity and just follow some suggested ways you can prepare shrimp from the 1994 movie Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise. Apparently Bubba’s mama taught him a thing or two about shrimp...

Bubba: Have you ever been on a real shrimp boat?

Forrest Gump: No, but I've been on a real big boat. 

Forrest Gump: So Bubba was from Bayou la Batrie, Alabama, and his mama cooked shrimp. And her mama before her cooked shrimp, and her mama before her mama cooked shrimp, too. Bubba's family knew everything there was to know about the shrimpin' business. 

Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

To quote Forrest Gump: “That's all I have to say about that.”

images, Aldric D'Eon, Judith Angsten

Hampton Farms

Have you ever noticed you can't just open one peanut shell? I have yet another family tradition to share that puts peanuts center of the table. My family from the south always arrive with the largest bag of Virginia peanuts every year, when they visit each summer. We all sit around the table, break open the bag, crack open the shells, have a few IPAs and talk for hours. Good Stuff!

The other special thing is these peanuts are from Hampton Farms in North Carolina. The Barnes Family has owned and operated peanut farms since 1917. You maybe thinking - but you just said they we Virginia peanuts? Virginia peanuts are the variety of peanut distinguished by two nuts in every shell, a majority of which are grown in North Carolina.