Hello Summer.....Hello Spiedis!

Today is Memorial Day. Although it's about remembering those who have served our country, which would include more than a few of my uncles and some of my cousins and.....oh yeah....my brother, it is celebrated as the first day of summer fun. People all over are dodging the storms and tornadoes to light up the grill and throw on the hot dogs and hamburgers.
I think as a child, summer is "freedom"! Freedom from school and homework and the cold that keeps you indoors. At least that's how it was when I was growing up. Nowadays kids spend far too much time in the air conditioning exercising their thumbs on some video games instead of running outside to play.
Also, the food is amazing. My husband, who has been on seven day weeks for the past month or so had a long weekend. He spent most of the time working on putting our garden in. The tomatoes and peppers and squash and cucumbers and this year lettuce. The fresh vegetable are wonderful.
My all time favorite is something that takes me back to Endicott, where every summer we went around the 4th of July for a family reunion. There, my aunts and cousins would pull out the metal skewers and begin the long task of skewering lamb, pork, beef, and chicken that had been marinating for days. The smell, while it is grilling is enough to drive a person crazy, but that first bite is the best and then after that it just gets better.
Spiedis!
In Endicott there are actually places called "char pits" where you could get a spiedi sub. Last time we were there I went in and asked if they had lamb spiedis and this young girl looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "No!" she said with an attitude. Apparently, chicken and pork are the way to go, but I still prefer beef and lamb.
We have family movies that show my grandfather sitting with his straw hat on behind a homemade charcoal grill constructed out of cement blocks. The long skewers cradled by the blocks, the smoke rising and wafting through the neighborhood. In Endicott, most people were probably making them. Here in Ohio, people just wondered what that great smell was.
Although our family name is Salamida, we are not directly related to the famous Salamidas that make Salamida's Spiedi Sauce. I heard that they were fifth or sixth (or so) cousins. I have bought this stuff on line just so I could give it away for Christmas.
When it isn't available, (I haven't seen it in these parts, but I did buy some in Florida about 11 years ago), I use Italian salad dressing. Any dressing. And then I add sliced garlic and other seasonings. Mint is very good, although I didn't have any this time, and actually, it's best with lamb. But other Italian seasonings will do. Be creative. Parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary.....they're all good.
The key to good spiedis is the longer they marinate the better they are. I bought my meat on Friday, cut it into 1 inch (or so) cubes and put it and my marinade into Ziploc bags in the frig. So it's been in there for four days. I've never had it go bad, I think the marinade keeps it from turning.
We use to use metal skewers. The last time I used mine, it was to help my neighbor jimmy the lock of his car door because he locked his keys inside. It worked well, but was never the same. These days it's just as easy to use wooden skewers. And you want to spray them with a non-stick spray before you begin to put the meat on them. This will work wonders. When we were kids getting the meat off of the skewers was so hard that sometimes it would slip and fly across the table. Spraying the skewer will help prevent putting someones eye out with a piece of beef.

Spiedis

1-2 pounds of meat - cut into about 1 inch cubes
(beef, chicken, pork, venison, lamb....etc. whatever you prefer)
1/2 to 1 - 16 oz. jar of spiedi sauce or Italian dressing
As much sliced garlic as you like.
Italian seasonings
Wooden skewers sprayed with non-stick spray

Throw all ingredients into a Ziploc bag and let marinate for 24 hrs - 3 days (in the frig). You may also do them way ahead of time and freeze them. Then thaw them the day before. They will still be good and if you are doing it for a crowd, it will save you some time.
Stick about 4-7 pieces on a skewer. Place on medium heat on the grill and WATCH CLOSELY! Cook them to your "likes" (rare, medium, well done).
An easy way to take them off of the skewer is to take a piece of bread and palm the meat with the bread (wrapping it around the meat while it's still on the skewer) and pull it off. You got yourself an automatic sandwich!
These are great with salad and rice and grilled vegetables. Today we're grilling marinated portabella mushrooms with our spiedis. I cleaned them and marinated them as long as the meat, but in a separate bag. You grill them just like a hamburger. They taste like steak without all of the fat.

Try them and let me know what you think!

Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket.....Put Them In A Pan And Fry Them Instead!

I always find it amazing how our tastes somehow change through the years. Growing up, I liked eggs. They were just...you know...okay.
But Now? I love them. I want to eat them every morning and for lunch and dinner. I really think it's my age.
I've never like creamy salad dressings. Now I can't get enough of them and vinegar based dressings (which is all I use to eat), just don't do it for me anymore.
Also, I have always been a carb person. Give me your pasta, your bread, your huddled masses of rice yearning to be eaten.
Now? I love meat. And I say this with a bit of a growl to my voice. Like a neanderthal brandishing a club and grunting in a butcher shop.
Call it my age, the change of life, menopause....whatever. I just don't like the same things I did five years ago.
Anyway...back to the eggs. They were actually one of the first things I learned to cook. And I cooked them with anything. You name it, it could be thrown into a pan of fried eggs. Balogni...salami...onions...peppers...hot peppers...ham....barbecue sauce. Fry 'em up and throw them between two pieces of bread and you got yourself a great meal.
My very favorite is fried peppers and eggs. I find it incredible that this is now served in restaurants. It makes a great sandwich. I especially like it on rye or a crusty ciabatta bread.
The other thing is something I began to make years ago after seeing it prepared in a scene in the movie Moonstruck. Recently I saw a blog with this featured and their little twist made it even more delectable. I call it "Eggs in a Nest".
My last is a family classic. Pepperoni and eggs. This also makes a great sandwich.
So let's eat eggs!

Peppers And Eggs For One

Olive Oil (about one tablespoon)
1 hot banana pepper (or 1/4 green bell or red bell pepper or a combination of both)
2 large eggs (beaten with a fork)

First clean your pepper. If it's hot, make sure you get rid of all the seeds, unless you like your food extra spicy (which I do). Also, you may want to take the vein out of the middle of the pepper. This also adds extra heat. Cut the pepper into quarter inch cubes. Toss them into a small frying pan of heated oil. Let them fry until they are just beginning to get translucent. Add your beaten egg (with salt and pepper to taste). I also sometimes add garlic powder for flavor. Move the peppers around the egg as you move the egg in the pan to make sure it doesn't stick. You want your peppers throughout. When your peppers and eggs are golden....you're done.
I like to toast my bread and add some butter. Then put it on the bread. Some people like mayo on their sandwich. I like the flavor of the olive oil. Mayo will ruin that. It's up to you.

Eggs In A Nest

2 Tbls olive oil
one slice thick crusty bread
one large egg

In the movie Moonstruck, Cher and Olympia Dukakis are eating this topped with a fried or roasted red pepper slice. I tried it. It's great!

I like to start with a crusty bread. Again, my favorites are ciabatta or rye bread, although Italian bread works well. Slice the bread fairly thick. About 3/4 inch. For the next part I use a drinking glass that has approximately a two inch round opening. I turn the glass upside down onto the soft part of the slice of bread and turn it back and forth until I could pull a 2 inch circle out of my bread. (Sort of like a cookie cutter).
In a pan, heat oil. Fry one side of the bread until it's just slightly golden. Flip it over. Gently break your egg over the opening in the bread and drop your yoke into the opening.
I don't like gooey yoke, so I usually break my yoke and let it spread around the bread more. When the egg and bread are very golden on the bottom, I flip the bread again to cook the top side. If you want wet yoke, you may want to just cook this slowly with a lid on it (without flipping it). This way you get that little "skin" over the yoke, but you can still dip your bread. Just check under the lid fairly frequently to make sure you are not cooking your yoke until it hardens.
Again, a piece of red pepper adds a zing to this. My family loves this and I make two each sometimes for supper in my big electric fry pan. I also take the round piece of bread that I cut out and fry it also. It's really good.

Pepperoni and Eggs (for the masses)

About ten years ago we had a family of seven living with us. The father of the family would only eat certain foods. Certain boring foods. Here we go: hamburgers, meatloaf, spaghetti (with pepperoni sauce), pizza, sandwiches made with sandwich pepperoni, and corn on the cob. He also liked eggs. One night I suggested that we make pepperoni and eggs. I thought Mike would die. Absolutely not. I asked him "Do you like eggs?"
"Yes."
"Do you like pepperoni?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll like this." His wife, Chris, to be on the safe side, made some plain eggs. To my astonishment, Mike tried the pepperoni and eggs and liked them.

Ingredients:
One stick pepperoni (chopped into small chunks)
One dozen eggs (beaten with a little milk)
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

In a very large pan fry the pepperoni over medium high heat. You will not need oil or butter because as the pepperoni fries, it excretes it's own oils. (Some people like to add a little chopped onion to the pepperoni oil for more flavor).
Let the meat fry until it darkens. Make sure you move it around the pan so that it doesn't burn. Now by darkens, I don't mean blackens. You don't want it burned. When meat darkens in color, add eggs a little at a time, stirring with a spatula consistently so that they don't burn. When eggs are no longer runny and have a golden tint to them, you are ready. Again, this makes a great sandwich.
Sometimes I will combine the hot peppers and pepperoni and make the eggs with both. Not very often, it's very spicy and can produce killer heartburn.
But, ah me, it's worth it!