Food Handling Tips for a Summer Grilling Event

If you’ve been following my blog, I’m sure you’ve heard of Kitchen PLAY.  Each month Kitchen PLAY hosts a Progressive Party with six food bloggers assigned to create a course of their own.  This month, I’m one of the 6 lucky bloggers chosen to create an iconic grilling recipe, sponsored by the Ad Council.  This month’s Progressive Party is a bit different from the previous events on Kitchen PLAY as our focus is on “safe food handling behavior”, not just the recipe itself. 

Therefore, this post will provide some useful information on how to handle food safely for grilling, which is perfect for the summer!




FACT: Did you know that one in six Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year alone?

Yikes….That doesn’t sound like fun at all.  Let’s do it the right way and make food safer for our family, shall we?!  Here are the basic 4 steps to follow:




Step #1:  Clean
Illness-causing bacteria can survive in many places around your kitchen, including your hands, utensils, and cutting boards. So, wash your hands and the utensils the right way to prevent the spreading of bacteria.  Yes, there is such a thing as 'the right way' for hand washing!


Here’s how we should do it.

• Wet your hands with warm or cold running water and apply soap.
  
• Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well. Be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. Bacteria can hide out here too!
  
• Continue rubbing hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum “Happy Birthday” from beginning to end twice.
  
• Rinse your hands well under running water.
  
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.
  

See picture below? Yes, those are my hands!  Beautiful, huh?  Oh no, I meant to tell you to look at the background, not my hands.  See that hand soap dispenser?  It’s one of those with motion sensor.  So, it’s really handy when you got both of your hand dirty and no one nearby to pump you any soap! LOL.  After all, you should not be touching the soap dispenser pump when your hands are dirty, to avoid cross contamination.
 

Besides your hands, make sure the utensils and working surfaces are clean as well.  Also, wash the fruits and veggies, but not meat, poultry, nor eggs!  Because washing raw meat and poultry can actually help bacteria to spread when the juices from the raw meat splash onto the sink and/or countertop, which will increase your chances of cross contamination!  For more details.  Check out the Food Safety site here.


Step #2: Separate

Use separate cutting boards and plates for produce, meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.  I love these boards because not only there are in different colors but there is also an actual picture of what each cutting board is meant for. 

It is also important to keep meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separated from all other foods at the grocery and in the fridge.

 

Place raw meat, poultry, and seafood in containers or sealed plastic bags to prevent their juices from dripping or leaking onto other foods underneath.  If you’re not planning to use the foods within a few days, freeze them instead.

 



Step #3: Cook



FACT: Did you know that the bacteria that cause food poisoning multiply quickest in the “Temperature Danger Zone” between 40˚ and 140˚ Fahrenheit?


Take the “guess work” out of the equation by using a food thermometer!  (Yes, it is my beautiful hand again holding the food thermometer below!)

 

What’s the “right” temperature, you might ask.  Here’s a chart for your reference.  I recommend you print a copy and stick it on the fridge like I did.    


Step #4: Chill

FACT: Did you know that illness-causing bacteria can grow in perishable foods within two hours unless you refrigerate them? (And if the temperature is 90 ˚F or higher during the summer, cut that time down to one hour!)

Please remember to refrigerate perishable foods within two hours.  Never thaw or marinate foods on the counter.  Last but not least, know when to discard the food.  Here’s a helpful time chart to check on that.

I hope you all learned something new today.  I certainly did with all the helpful information from the Food Safety Website.



Make This Recipe Safer on Facebook!


The campaign sponsors also have some handy-dandy refrigerator magnets to remind you and your family about food safety while cooking. Click here to receive your FREE magnet! Then share photos of your magnet, your personalized safety tips, and/or the dishes you've cooked safely on the Kitchen PLAY facebook page. (Be sure to tag FoodSafety.gov and Ad Council!).


Let's work together to Make Our Recipes Safer!

 



Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post by the Ad Council and Kitchen PLAY.  However, all opinions are 100% my own.

The American Classic—Hamburger with Caramelized Onions and Spicy Mayo:
Printable Recipe

Serves 4

For the Burger: 
1 1/2 pounds freshly ground chuck
steak seasoning
vegetable oil for brushing the patties and the grill
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 hamburger buns
1 tomato, sliced
8 butter lettuce leaves
1 recipe of caramelized onions (click here for the recipe)

For the Spicy Mayonnaise: 
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Sriracha Chili Sauce (replace with 2 tablespoons of ketchup for kids)

For the burgers:
Preheat the grill to high.  Divide the ground beef into 4 patties (6 ounces each).  Make a dent/well in the middle of each patty (as shown from the picture on this post).  As the patties cook up, they will be flat instead of having a “bump” in the middle.  Season both sides of each patty with steak seasoning. With a pastry brush, brush oil on both sides of the patties.  Grill for 5 minutes on each side.  During the last 2 minutes of cooking the second side, place a slice of cheese on each patty until melted.  Don’t forget to check the temperature of the patties with a food thermometer (minimum of 160F degree for ground beef)!    Make sure the tip of the food thermometer is in the middle of the patty without touching the grill.

For the Spicy Mayo:
In a small bowl, stir the mayo and Sriracha Chili Sauce (or ketchup) until well combined.

To Assemble:
Slather the bottom of the hamburger buns with spicy mayo, top with a lettuce leave, a slice of tomato; top with a grilled hamburger patty, caramelized onions and top each with the bun top.

Recipe Shared with:

On the Menu Monday
Made By You Monday
Mingle Monday
Mouth Watering Mondays
Foodie Friday

BBQ Galore

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day.  In the States, it’s the “official” BBQ day.  So, here we go.  A recap of what we had to celebrate 4th of July with family and friends.



What’s a celebration without some bubbly?  Plus, the person who “man the grill” needed a chilled drink too, especially with the hot weather.  It was nice to add a few frozen blueberries to keep it super cold.



On the menu, we had baby back ribs, citrus marinated chicken wings and chicken drumsticks.  We also had some shrimps and sweet onions skewers marinated with olive oil and thyme.
 


BBQ shrimps are the best when you’re hungry, they were done in just a few minutes. 



Of course we needed more veggies.  I used to roast asparagus in the oven and thought they were good.  After trying these grilled version, I can totally start the grill just for them!  They were so flavorful!  The grilling really enhance their natural sweetness and added a lovely charcoal flavor at the same time.  These asparagus were really tender, yet still had a great crunch to them.  nom, nom, nom….



Corn was another wonderful item to BBQ.  These were particular sweet and juicy.  I had some crimini mushrooms wrapped in foil too, but they were all gone before I had a chance to take pictures.



The chicken wings are my favorite items to BBQ as well (I really have that many favorites!)  With a coat of honey at the end, they are out-of-this-world-succulent.  Yes, wings are a little messy to eat, but totally worth it because they are finger licking good.



I totally forgot to take a closed up shot for the chicken drumsticks, the wings are too distracting!  LOL.  The drumsticks were juicy and flavorful with a hint of smoky flavor.  Not bad at all.



By the time the baby back ribs were done, I was quite full already.  But, still can’t help but to cut myself a piece or two. 




For dessert, we had Nutella Macarons, Mixed Berries Sorbet with Meyer Lemon and Basil, and lots of ice cream!  We’ll have another BBQ party coming up soon to celebrate baby girl’s birthday.  Can’t wait to enjoy more BBQ goodness with my family and friends.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday
Sweets For Saturday

Thanksgiving Feast

As promised, I took pictures of the Thanksgiving feast and here they are.  If you’re interested in getting the recipe of anything you see below, please leave me a comment and I’ll try to get the recipe for you.

                                   

“Self Serve” California Rolls—These are so much fun to eat, and delicious.  Take a piece of nori (seaweed) and wrap the sushi rice, crab meat, avocado, sesame seed filling to create your own individual roll.  Not to mention, it’s great idea for parties because there’s minimal prep work and the nori stays crispy.



Egg Rolls—Filled with vegetables and glass noodles.  Crispy and delicious!



Mixed Salad—which is, to mix your own vegetable with the store bought dressings next to it!  Hahaha…



Honey Glazed Ham—Nothing represent holiday food better than a leg of honey glazed ham…oh, maybe besides the turkey!  Almost forgot about the turkey :P



Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage and Shitake Mushroom—This is one of my favorites!  Sprinkle with a little bit chopped green onions on top and I can eat just that as my Thanksgiving dinner!  :D



Cheesy Penne Pasta with Broccoli and Cauliflower—Cheesy and delicious.



Korean Spicy Stir Fried Pork—This dish demonstrates the well balanced of the sweet and spicy!  I want to get the recipe to make it again at home!



Cream Corn—A holiday staple side-dish.



Orange Juice and Spices Brined Turkey—Juicy, flavorful and delicious.  I believe it looked beautiful too before it was carved.  :P



Creamy Mashed Potato—Smooth and creamy.



Roasted Beef—Great BBQ flavor and beefy.




Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow—Another holiday staple side-dish in our family.



Garlic Knots—Check out the recipe from my last post here.



Rice Cake with Red Bean Paste and Walnut—Not too sweet, the edges are crunchy and the center is chewy, very yummy.


I bet you don’t believe we only have one type of dessert for the Thanksgiving feast, right?  I need to confess that I totally forgot to take pictures when we started to eat the desserts!  :P  This particular picture was taken before dinner was served.  The rest of the goodness were all in our tummies and memories.  We had custard tarts, pumpkin pies, smoked almond turtles, taro cakes, flan, etc.  They were all sweet and delicious.  Oh well, I’ll make it up to you by posting something sweet on my next blog post.  ;)

Zero Cleaning (Afterwards) Barbequed Baby Back Ribs with Roasted Vegetables

We’re in the packing stage of the move, which means chaos in the house!  That also means we’ve got the house we like! Yay….While I'm busy with packing, I don’t have too much time to cook these days.  So, I love this easy recipe that doesn’t dirty any pots and pans.  Yes, you heard me right, ZERO dirty pots and pans!!!   Isn’t it amazing?  Well, I guess all of us love an easy and convenience recipe like this one every now and then.  These baby back ribs and vegetables are roasted in the oven.  They are already delicious!  I couldn’t wait to cook them on a grill (after I get an outdoor grill at my new place, hehehe).  I bet grilling will add some smoky flavors to them, which means more deliciousness!  But until then, I’m happy with these scrumptious ribs as is.



As I started packing, I couldn’t believe the volume of junks we’ve accumulated over the past few years.  I found so many “surprises” in the storage areas that I don’t even remember we had them.  If something stay in the storage for so many years without being used or noticed, I strongly believe they belong to the trash.  Why move them to the new house and use up the storage space?  Well, this is the chance for the major clean up!           
 


Besides all the junks that I have found, there are also some useful things that I’ve forgotten.  I found a few old cookbooks in the kitchen and they’re definitely moving to the new house with me.  :)  Guess I’ll have to cook up a few dishes from these cook books after we settled down at the new place.  Maybe bake up a couple dozen of cookies to make the new place feel more like home.    



Meanwhile, I’m afraid we might have to enjoy a few more nights of baby back ribs before the move.  They are juicy and flavorful.  Don’t think anyone would mind having these more often.  And yes, I prefer a home cook meal any day over take outs, even during the packing and moving.  Oh well, maybe until I pack up the very last baking sheet in the kitchen, I guess! 








Barbequed Baby Back Ribs And Roasted Vegetables:

Ingredients

Dry Rub
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

2 whole slabs pork baby back ribs
2-3 tablespoons BBQ sauce (any brand you preferred)
1 pound asparagus
2 pounds tomatoes on the vine
 
In a bowl, combine all dry rub ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a baking sheet lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Massage and pat the dry rub into the meat. Marinate the ribs for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Cover ribs over the baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Bake the ribs in the oven for 2 hours.

Wash and pat dry vegetables.  Trim off 2-3 inches of the asparagus ends (toss the ends or save them to make stock).  Place vegetables on a baking sheet lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on top.  Gently toss them for even coating. 

Remove ribs from oven and brush the BBQ sauce onto the ribs. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.  Return ribs to oven uncover and bake with the prepared vegetables for 15 minutes. Slice each slab into 2 rib bone portions. Serve with roasted vegetables.

Notes: I really love this dish because when you’re done cooking and eating. Just toss the aluminum foil and you’re done! Minimal clean ups, except you might have to lick your fingers clean!  :P