grilling Archives - Page 2 of 2 - A Calculated Whisk

Parrilla Mixta Italiana

May 19, 2015 By Becky 8 Comments

This Italian summer grilling post is sponsored by Colavita.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

To me, a mixed grill is the epitome of summer eating. When I spent a semester in Buenos Aires during college, I loved to go out with friends and order a parrilla mixta, which usually consisted of grilled steak, chicken, chorizo, and often organ meats as well, with a big bowl of herby chimichurri sauce and an even bigger bowl of french fries on the side. Add a bottle of wine and you have yourself one happy evening!

I don’t know why it took me so long to recreate a parrilla mixta at home, but when Colavita asked me to write a post on the theme of Italian summer grilling, this was the first thing that came to mind.

Here I’ve given the Argentine parrilla an Italian twist, marinating the steak and chicken with Italian seasonings and adding capers to the chimichurri. Argentine cuisine is heavily influenced by the food of Italy to begin with–even the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires sounds uniquely reminiscent of Italian–so Colavita’s oils and vinegars work really well with all the components of this South American meal.

Grilled Adobo Chicken & Sweet Potato Bowls with Jicama Guacamole

April 22, 2015 By Becky 8 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As a Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I have a bone to pick with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

I mean, there aren’t any actual bones in there to pick, but I’m trying to say I have a problem with them. Ninety percent of the time I eat boneless, skinless chicken breasts, they’re no good! Dry, flavorless, and boring. One hundred percent of the time, I would much prefer chicken thighs.

(Side note: Back when I was a kid and McDonald’s still used dark meat in some of their chicken nuggets, I would refuse to eat the white meat ones. I would actually take a bite out of each nugget to check and only eat the ones that passed muster, which was usually 2-3 per order. I was a super fun kid. Thanks, Mom, for putting up with me!)

Anyway, chicken thighs are one of my go-tos (and luckily, McDonald’s chicken nuggets no longer are). I love bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for pan-searing and roasting or braising. I am even willing to go to the trouble of deboning thighs myself to make Nom Nom Paleo’s amazing cracklin’ chicken. And I love boneless, skinless chicken thighs for grilling and making curries. They’re moister and more flavorful than breasts, and won’t dry out even if you overcook them slightly. I’m super paranoid about making sure my poultry is fully cooked, so I like that extra flexibility.

Garlic Honey Grilled Shrimp

June 4, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Yesterday I really wanted to fire up the grill and make some shrimp. That is, I wanted my boyfriend to fire up the grill and make me some shrimp. To be totally honest, I don’t know how to grill. Coals and lighter fluid and all that–it’s a mystery to me. Give me a hot grill, though, and I’ll totally stand there and flip. I’ve got that part under control.

Anyway, Ben wasn’t excited about grilling. I, however, was super excited about the yummy garlic honey marinade I’d dreamed up, and decided I could just broil them. I’ve made skewers of shrimp in the broiler before and they always come out great. But, at the last minute, Ben changed his mind and fired up the grill. I guess he didn’t like the thought of what a 500 degree oven would do the temperature in our apartment on this 90-degree day. So, I got to grill in the end and we had a great time lounging on the patio, flipping shrimp skewers.

We ate these on top of this salad and it was a very satisfying combination.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined,
tails on

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic paste

2 1/2 tablespoons honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

Pinch of cayenne

Soaked wooden skewers (soak in hot water for 30 minutes or more to keep them from catching fire)

Mix the olive oil, garlic, honey, and spices, and pour over the shrimp. Toss to coat. Marinate for up to 30 minutes at room temperature or 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Prepare the grill, or preheat your broiler.

Skewer the shrimp–I like to thread the skewers through each shrimp twice so they are easy to flip on the grill. I used six skewers for this recipe, with 5-6 shrimp on each skewer.

Grill or broil for about 3 minutes per side, or longer as necessary, until charred in spots and opaque throughout. Serve hot.