Grilled Chile Lime Steak Fries

Ingredients

- 3 large russet potatoes

- 2 limes

- course salt

- cracked pepper

- Chile powder or Ground Red pepper, any red pepper or Chile blend

- garlic powder

- EVOO

Directions

You need to partially cook your potatoes. I do so by leaving them in the bag they came in from the store (minus the metal tie) and popping them in the microwave for about 8 or 9 minutes. Once they come out I let them cool in the freezer for about 20 or 30 minutes.

Once they are cool enough to handle. Quarter them up!

Coat them with a good amount of EVOO. Grate lime zest of two limes into a small bowl.

Sprinkle on Chile powder, salt, pepper, lime zest, and garlic powder very heavily!

You know what to do now! Throw that shit on a hot grill until they have a nice crust and are cooked all the way through.

 Hit them with some parsley! Serve them with your grilled meats, and always have a cocktail in hand!

Grilled Mexican Burgers with Guac.

Ingredients

- Pepper Jack cheese (or jack, Colby jack, cheddar, whatever!)

- Ground Beef ( I mix 80/20 chuck, and 93/7 lean. You use whatever!)

- Chopped green chile's (Mild or Hot)

- Chipotles in Adobo sauce

- Kaiser Rolls

Easy Guacamole recipe to follow this recipe**

Directions

Place hamburger in a large mixing bowl. Remove all of the chipotles from the can and chop them on a cutting board. After that add the green Chile's and chipotles to the meat, and mix with your hands until mixed well.  

Time to make patties. I don't know how you make patties but I make large thick patties. I generally take one whole hand full of meat and roll it up in a ball, GENTLY!!! I then GENTLY press down to form a nice thick patty. I see so many people slap, and press down, and hit the meat with a frying pan. You want your hamburger to have that air in them, and you want some room for all the juices to build up. So be easy on that piece of meat. It didn't do anything to you! 

Light your grill! Once again, have a cold side and a hot side! Make sure you have your cheese and buns handy because you'll need to melt the cheese and toast the buns on the grill later.

When you cook hamburgers, it is imperative that your grill is hot. When I light my coals, I make sure that the grate I'm going to use to cook on is over that fire when I light the coals. If your grill top isn't hot enough 1. your burgers will not stick, 2. they won't char and 3. It just sucks! Also, don't press on the burgers! Remember be gentle! Once you put them on the grill close the lid and walk away for about two minutes and let the flames and hot grill top do it's job. You want crispy on the outside and soft and juicy in the middle, unless your one of those freaks who likes hockey pucks, lol. To each is own!

the one on the bottom right is for my son ; ) no peppers

Once they are done to your likeness, move them aside or to a top holder and toast up your buns and melt your cheese.

Once they're done, your ready to eat. Just place a nice spoon full of Guacamole (recipe below)  right on top of the burger. Serve them with grilled Chile-Lime steak fries (You can find recipe on this blog site)

Easy Guacamole Recipe

- Cilantro

- 2 limes

- 4 or 5 avocados

- salt

- red pepper

- cumin

- chopped white onion

- minced garlic

- 1 can Rotel

Obviously your going to need some ripe avocados. If you pick one up and it's purple and is hard as a rock, throw it into the next isle! They need to be dark and soft. Sometime stores will put stickers that say "ripe" on them. If your not sure, ask the 16 year old that works in produce that probably won't know either.

Remove the pit and skin of the avocados and put in a large mixing bowl.

Add Rotel, and onion. Chop, or cut (like my wife is doing) some cilantro in as well.

Once you have all of that in just add the salt, cumin, red pepper, and lime juice until you have reached a flavor that is good for you. We generally have a bag of tortilla chips sitting around so we can try and tweak as we go. That's the fun part!

That's it!

Margarita Chicken Lollipops with Drunken Jalapeno's

Ingredients

- Boneless chicken breast tenderloins

- skewers (soaked in water)

- Margarita mix with Tequila

- EVOO

- Margarita Salt

- Jalapenos

- Parsley

Directions

Put your tenderloins in a Ziploc bag with the jalapenos. Pour in Margarita mix until chicken is covered, and add a tablespoon of EVOO. Seal the bag/bags and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Note: When you chicken comes out it will be white on the edges. This is a result of the chicken actually being cooked a little by the citrus and Tequila in the mix. It's normal! Similar to a Ceviche'.

Preheat your grill. Pour out marinade, and skewer up your chicken and jalapenos. Add some of the Margarita Salt to the chicken right before you grill them.

When your grill is nice and hot, place the chicken on the grill in a 7 to 2 o'clock position for a minute, then to a 5 to 10 o'clock position for a minute or so. Flip, and repeat until you have a nice char and grill marks. If you have thicker chicken, make sure you move it to the cold side and close the grill and bake it until it has reached it's proper temperature.

That's it! Sprinkle on some parsley, pop in some Bob Marley, and shake up a mixed drink to go with it!

Grilled Blackened Black Cherry Chicken

Ingredients

- 3 Bone-In split Chicken Breasts

- EVOO

- Black Cherry preserves or jam

- Blackened Seasoning

Directions

Coat your split breasts in enough Olive oil to coat each one. Add the blackened seasoning heavily in all the crevices and rub it in really good.

Pour jar of jam or preserves in a small saute' pan and add about 3/4 cup or so of water. Make sure your grill is preheated and plenty hot. Make sure you have a cold side and a hot side. First heat up the jam over the flame until it is hot and syrupy. It will still have some black cherry pieces which I pour overt the chicken at the end.

 Place the breasts bone side down first to start cooking the meat around the bone until it has a nice char and carmelization.

Turn breast over to sear and brown the meat side. Always remember if you want nice grill lines. Start them on a 7 to 2 angle for a couple of minutes, and then move them slightly to a 4 to 10 position for another couple of minutes. As long as your grill is hot enough, they should form good cross markings. 

Start mopping or brushing on the Cherry glaze each time you flip. Do this a couple of times until you have good carmelization without burning.

Once you have the chicken blackened up to your liking, move them over to the cold side and continue to mop on the glaze and turn. Make sure your chicken reaches a safe temperature for consumption. I believe 165 or 170 is good for split chicken. The 3 I cooked took about 30 minutes of  baking with the grill closed. 

Make sure you dump the rest of the glaze right on top of the breasts the last few minutes o f cooking. Top with chopped parsley.
Plate up and serve with rice or a veggie or anything. I ate mine with Chinese Cole slaw left over from my sons 6th birthday.

Note: If you want more black cherry flavor in the chicken, I would suggest marinating the chicken in black cherry juice, and a little EVOO over night.