Hot is HOT!

 For the past two summers, my husband and I have taken a road trip to visit our son in the City of Brotherly Love. 

 

 

 This summer we decided to do something different. We flew to Tucson, Arizona. Quite the contrast to the eastern United States.

 

 

While I knew this is a desert environment

 

 

with very little green vegetation or flowers,

 

 I was amazed at how hot it gets in Arizona.

Yes, I know it is a "dry" heat, but hot is hot!

Speaking of hot temperatures, summer is a great time to get out of the kitchen and do a little grilling. This Flank Steak Pinwheel with spinach, roasted red peppers and a bleu cheese sauce is an easy grilling recipe.

Flank Steak Pinwheels with Bleu Cheese Sauce

6 to 8 bacon strips

1 beef flank steak, (1 ½ lb)

1 cup fresh baby spinach

1 jar marinated roasted red peppers, drained

Seasoning (like Greek seasoning or salt and pepper)

1.Microwave bacon strips 2 or 3 minutes until partially cooked.

2. Butterfly the steak by cutting horizontally from the side of the steak to within ½ in of opposite edge. Open meat so it lies flat; cover with plastic wrap and flatten meat to ¼ inch thickness. Remove plastic wrap.

3. Sprinkle with seasoning of choose. Place spinach on top followed by the red peppers.

4. With the grain of meat going left to right, roll up jelly-roll style. Wrap bacon strips around meat and secure with toothpicks.

5. Slice beef across the grain and between each bacon slice. Sprinkle with more seasoning.

6. Grill over medium heat until meat reaches desired doneness.

7. Serve with Bleu Cheese sauce:

     3 oz cream cheese, ¼ cup milk, ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese

      Cook over low heat until melted and smooth.

Enjoy...

Slushburgers, Wimpies or Yip Yips

After a long day at school, 

 

 when I am tired and not in the mood to be in the kitchen for any length of time, one of my favorite meals to prepare is a simple and quick ground beef sandwich served on hamburger buns. This simple dish has numerous names depending on where you live. They are called Yip Yips (Missouri), Wimpies (northeastern Pennsylvannia), Slushburgers (Montana) and Dynamites (Virginia). However, in my neck of the woods they are called Sloppy Joes.

 I must confess that I usually purchase a certain well know sauce version in a can which is added to browned ground beef when I make sloppy joes. Recently I came across an easy recipe for homemade sloppy joes that was very good. And as my husband said, "It's a keeper!" 

Sloppy Joes (adapted from Pinch My Salt)

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 small can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup water

1.Sauté onions, green peppers and garlic in oil until softened.
2.Add beef and cook until beef is done. Drain fat.
3.Add the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until thickened. Add more water if it gets too thick.
4. Serve on hamburger buns with grated cheese.

Enjoy....