The days are getting longer and the air is getting warmer, which is just begging for you to use your outdoor kitchen!  If you are looking for some yummy food to cook in your outdoor kitchen, here are a few ideas.

Grilled Mexican Street Corn


Also called Elote, this uses your grill to grill the corn, warm it up, and add some texture and color to it.  You can then make a mixture of sour cream, mayo, cilantro, garlic, cotija, and lime juice to slather onto the cooked corn.  So GOOD!

Recipe:
6 to 8 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed
1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons lime zest, from one lime
2 tablespoon lime juice, from one lime
1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
Lime wedges, to serve


Beef Kabobs


Beef (or any meat you want) kabobs are very easy, flavorful, and customizable.  You can choose any marinade, any veggies, and any meat in your kabobs, cook them over your grill and prepare everything right in your outdoor kitchen.

Recipe:
MARINADE
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon black pepper
KABOBS
1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak or sirloin tips, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound baby Yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dijon or whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
8 ounces crimini mushrooms
1 red onion, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 onion layers each)
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces


Grilled Peach Berry Pie


Wait wait wait, grilled peach berry pie?  YES!  With a little ingenuity, people have realized you can make certain desserts on the grill or the flat top.  This one uses fresh peaches and berries, in a pre-made pie crust to create a really tasty and pretty pie.  You can add some vanilla ice cream too!

Recipe:
1 pie crust from a pack of two or you can use a homemade crust
3 cups berries fresh or frozen
2 peaches fresh, halved, quarter and peeled
1/3 cup granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice from ½ a lemon
Zest of ½ a lemon about 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream
2 disposable foil pie pans or square baking pans

Brick Oven Pizza – Brooklyn Style


If you love pizza, you probably opted for a pizza oven in your outdoor kitchen.  This is a really simple brick oven pizza recipe with lots of flavor, fresh ingredients, and a soft and crunchy crust

Recipe:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
6 ounces low moisture mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
½ cup no salt added canned crushed tomatoes
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 leaves fresh basil, torn


Hopefully, this makes some of those creative juices flow!  Anything you can make indoors, you can make outdoors.  In fact, you can make even more things outside because you don’t have to worry about heavy smoke or smells lingering in your indoor kitchen.