We just finished up a nice long weekend here for Memorial Day.  It is a time for us to remember and to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.  It also marks the start of the unofficial summer vacation season.  I love a nice long holiday weekend to kick off the summer season!  That also means that it is hotter outside so the swimming pools are now open.  It also means that the kids are almost done with school.  Where did the time go?   The weekend was just long enough that we could host different parties and come up with all types of fun menus to celebrate.  Some traditional favorites on the grill are burgers and hot dogs.  The local supermarkets now have corn on the cob and it has been so tasty and sweet.  I love corn on the cob so much I think I could eat it every single day in the summertime.  If I have any leftover I cut it off the cob and it goes great over salads.  We also found some limited edition beers that had different flavors such as blueberry, strawberry and apple.  They were very refreshing sitting poolside and relaxing.

We spent time over our holiday weekend doing it all, swimming, hanging with friends & family while cooking up some of our favorites on the grill.  We also decided to kick it up a notch, surf and turf style!  I spent the last week away with my daughter and her class traveling to Cape Cod, MA.  It was such a fun trip.  We got to see so much in a few days where we visited museums and also went on two boating trips to do some whale watching.  We actually got to see quite a few whales!  What was even better was going out for our lobster dinner.  It is so fresh, you can’t visit Cape Cod and not try the lobster!  It was fun to see all the adults sitting at the table with their lobster bibs on just waiting for that beautiful seafood to arrive at our table.   I highly recommend that you wear the plastic bib they hand you at the restaurant.  There tends to be water inside of the those lobsters so they can to be messy to eat!  I think I even lost part of my claw to someone across the table; as I cracked it, it shot across the table!!  We had a lot of laughs eating our lobster dinner.   You had to work for that dinner cracking each part of the lobster but it was so worth it in the end.  I enjoyed every last bite of it.

Lobster Dinner, Cape Cod

After a visit to the Cape, it got me thinking about what I could come home and cook up over the holiday weekend.  So naturally, I thought of surf and turf.   Instead of lobster again, I decided to grill up some nice large shrimp and served them over a big juicy filet mignon steak.  Of course, I just had to make some corn on the cob! It was all so delicious.  I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and start to the summer season.  Feel free to share if you have any fun holiday traditions.  I would love to hear from you.

Mangia! Enjoy!

Surf & Turf w/Filet Mignon & Grilled Shrimp

Makes approx. 4 Servings

Ingredients

Steaks:

4 (4 oz.), Filet Mignon Steaks

3 Tablespoons, Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped

1-2 Teaspoons, Worcestershire Sauce

S&P

Drizzle, Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon, Garlic Salt

Shrimp:

16, Large or Jumbo Shrimp, peeled & deveined *tails on

1 Teaspoon, Fresh Lemon Thyme, finely chopped

1 Teaspoon, Fresh Chives, chopped

1 Teaspoon, Olive Oil

2 Cloves, Fresh Garlic, minced

S&P

 

Instructions

Place the filet mignon steaks into a baking dish or onto a large plate.  Drizzle with olive oil and then season with the fresh rosemary, S&P, garlic salt and Worcestershire Sauce.  Using your hands, press the herbs into the meat on both sides.  Cover and place in fridge until ready to grill.  You can let the meat marinate for an hour or longer.  The longer they sit the more they will soak up the flavors.

Filet Marinating

Once shrimp is clean, peeled & deveined place them into a small baking dish.  Pat the shrimp dry with some paper towels.  If the shrimp isn’t dry it will not hold the seasonings.   Drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil.  Season with lemon thyme, chives, fresh garlic and S&P.  Set aside for about 20-30 minutes.

Shrimp Marinating

Heat grill to medium-high heat.  Place the filets onto the grill to get a nice sear on the bottom side.  After about 3 minutes, slightly turn the meat to get a criss/cross pattern-grill mark on bottom of meat.  Cook for about another 2 minutes.  Cook with the lid closed on the grill.  Flip meat over, move them to part of the grill that isn’t quite as hot or turn the burners down to medium.  Continue cooking for about another 5 minutes.  Remove from the grill and set aside to rest.

While the meat is resting, cook the shrimp.  Place the shrimp on the grill and cook for about 2 minutes per side.  Once the shrimp has turned pink in color and opaque they are done.  They cook very quickly so keep an eye on these.  If you want to serve them hot put them on grill after removing the steaks.  You can cook the shrimp while your meat is resting.    Remove from the grill and serve with your filets.

To Plate:  Place the steak onto a plate and top with about 4 large shrimp per person.

Mangia! Enjoy!

Optional Side Dishes

Some optional side dishes are: 

• Corn on the Cob
• Potato Salad
• Rice
• Beans
• Mashed Potatoes
• Hasselback Potoates
• Baked Potatoes
• Salad
• Any veggies you like!

Cooking time on Filet Mignon varies (depending on size of filets).  Here is a good rule of thumb when cooking your steaks: 

3-4 oz., 1″ thick Steaks cook time: 

• 10-12 minutes, medium rare (until it reaches 145 degrees)
• 12-15 minutes, medium (until it reaches 160 degrees)

3–4 oz., 1 1/2″ thick Steaks cook time: 

• 15-19 minutes, medium rare (until it reaches 145 degrees)
• 18-20 minutes, medium (until it reaches 160 degrees)