Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Grilled endives with ribeye, and a special night

This is a special post for a few reasons...
1. Amy's birthday month continues and this a special dish for her.

2. We've wanted to cook endives for over 9 years and never got around to it.

3. Both of the main ingredients were on sale at Fresh Market in Normal IL and the wine (2007 Napa Cellars Zinfandel) was on sale at Wine.com I'll get right to it, all three suprisingly exceeded expectations! Have a look at the wine and let me know if you want to order some (I paid for free shipping for the year and am glad to order some with my loyal followers).

4. We are just back to Normal after a nice little summer break so this was a perfect opportunity for food, fun, and fire.

Endives: slice down the middle, the long way. Drizzle the sliced side with olive oil, then hit it with a nice layer of salt and fresh ground pepper. Don't be shy with the pepper and go coarse!

Grill the endives "sliced" side down over indirect medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side. I went for 10 minutes total tonight and I think that was plenty and they might have had more flavor if less cooked.

Note... When the endives are half done, get the ribeye on the grill. Like our other weeknight steak adventures, again this time we cut them horizontally for smaller/thinner steaks. See my other posting for espresso rubbed ribeye. The espresso rub would have knocked this meal out of the park but I went more conservative with just coarse pepper, coarse sea salt, garlic, and olive oil.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Pecan crusted walleye

Felt daring and hungry one day and found some freshwater walleye on
sale.

Some fun things about this dish:
1. You get to use that side burner you've probably never used.
Cooking fish in butter can stink up the house and can be messy.
2. Fish is good and good for you but I think most people are
apprehensive about cooking new things. Trust me, it is easy; just
relax and have fun. Buy good fish though as it is safer and healthier.
3. It looks impressive and tastes delicious. The pecans get candied in
the butter with the sugary syrup.

Salt and pepper then cover with a thin layer of real maple syrup. In
a pan, melt butter and heat to medium. Roll the walleye in crushed
pecans (meat side only) then sear in the pan. Once seared, finish on
the grill (indirect medium heat) until meat easily flakes off but be
careful not to overcook. One trick, cook a small tester piece first
to get your method down. Fish gets a bad reputation because it is too
often over-cooked by over-cautious chefs.

One last thought... A maple mayo might be nice with this. I'd suggest
a 1:5 ratio of maple syrup:mayo. Maybe a little lemon and some salt
too.. Let me know if you try it.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Basil (and whatever) stuffed tomatoes






Had an epiphany with this one. Saw these juicy red organic tomatoes and thought about everything that "goes with" tomatoes, then checked the fridge to see what we had.

Chopped red onion, fresh basil, fresh parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper. Mixed in a bowl, cut out the center of the tomatoes, stuffed them and grilled indirect for about 15 minutes. Finish with a little balsamic vinegar (that good stuff I told you to get a while back).

These came out great and the flavor reminded me of Grandma Andaloro's sauce (certainly not as good as hers).

Other ingredient ideas (think pizza toppings and think fresh)... Shallots, garlic, pine nuts, mushrooms, chopped olives, jalapeƱos, mozzarella, cooked sausage...


I tried both hollowing out and slicing laterally. The hollowed out method seemed to work better on the grill. Another thought is to use smaller tomatoes and serve as an appetizer.

Robust flavor, healthy, low carb, fun, colorful, easy, inexpensive, great with white or red wine...

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Flank steak with crumbled blue cheese on new stainless steel grates!

Olive oil, favorite seasoning, sear both sides... Cook indirect until
rare then add crumbled blue cheese.

Good times.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Sweet mustard mayo shrimp

Here's another original and party favorite at the Harris house. The
ingredients are approximate ratios.

Fire up the grill to medium...

Sauce: combine the following...
1/2 cup mayo (I usually use light. Don't use fat free.)
2 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs maple syrup (I used to use honey but one day when we ran out I
substituted and loved the unique flavor. Thanks to Jamie Schnur I have
a massive jar of REAL maple syrup made by his mom and dad; Dawn and
Bob Dalton of Hemlock MI. Liquid gold!!!)
1 tbs minced garlic

Add soy sauce for an Asian flair...

Salt and pepper raw peeled/de-veined shrimp.

Grill the shrimp until about half done over direct medium heat,
rotating frequently. When the tails start turning more red but the
bodies are still slightly "clear", move the shrimp away from the
direct heat. Generously coat the shrimp on both sides and allow to
finish cooking so that the sauce bakes on and shrimp are a nice white
color all the way through.

Before removing from grill, sprinkle fresh lemon over the top.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

First sign of spring/Caprese salad

Bells Oberon was released yesterday and arrived here in central Il
today.

Auntie is in town so we are celebrating her visit and spring.

We kicked off the night with caprese salad. Thick sliced tomatoes,
fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, red onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar,
salt, and pepper. Stack it and eat it. Food and fun. No fire right
now. Kicking back with Oberon, auntie, and Amy. So good.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Baked brie with sauteed mushrooms over baby arugula

The cheese stands alone.

Ok, here's what happened. I was hungry, alone, and ready to relax. The
Toad Hollow unoaked Chardonnay and the Brie were calling my name.

This dish has pretty much all of my favorite non-meat items:
mushrooms, brie, strawberries, green apples, arugula, balsamic
vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Here is what I did:
Sauteed mushrooms with olive oil and goat butter.
Take a slab of Brie, cut laterally. Cover the bottom portion of the
Brie with a layer of mushrooms. Put the top layer of the cheese back
on then cover the Brie with the remaining mushrooms. The goal here is
to marry the cheese and mushrooms. Get 'em as close as possible then
put it in a pre heated oven (200 degrees) for about 15 minutes. Not
too long or the Brie will be all soupy.

With the cheese in the oven: thinly slice apples and quarter
strawberries, then plate. Throw some baby arugula in a non-stick pan
and sautee with a touch of water until warm and plate with the fresh
fruit.

When the Brie is ready, gently place (using a spatula) on top of the
arugula.

Add fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and drizzle the most expensive
balsamic vinegar you can afford.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Afternoon cheese tray

Clockwise from granny smith apples, Delice (French triple creme),
mushroom brie, Danish blue, Ricotta salata (Italy), then blue cheese
stuffed olives in the middle.

Pick a wine, any wine!

No fire, just food and fun

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Herb crusted rack of lamb

Inspired by a recipe that came with my Weber gas grill... We've cooked
this numerous times and it is definitely in the top ten.



Sear it, cover with Dijon mustard, roll in Italian bread crumbs/
Rosemary garlic seasoning, drizzle with evoo & minced garlic mix, then
grill to medium rare.


Served with arugula. Mixed 3 parts olive oil with 1 part balsamic vinegar (get the good stuff).




Sunday, March 14, 2010

Smoked steelhead salmon










Definitely a party favorite in the Harris household. Recipe from Terry
Newkirk of Grand Haven, but we also credit Chris and Nikki Sheele for
making it "a thing".


Combine 1 part soy sauce with 1 part Italian dressing. Marinate up to
24 hours, but really only a couple hours are needed as fish marinates
quickly.
Isn't the skin beautiful?


Today I'm smoking it on the gas grill since it is a bit windy and cold out. Our charcoal smoker doesn't get very hot when it is windy and cold... time for a new one here soon. The gas grill does great. I soak hickory chips for at least an hour. When you're ready to cook the fish, place the chips near the direct flame. Cook the fish indirect (away from direct flame) on low-medium heat for about 45-60 minutes. Times will vary based on outdoor conditions.


It's done when it looks like this...





Serve with diced red onion, capers, cream cheese, and water crackers.







Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Grilled Sashimi Tuna

Marinated in sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, and
garlic. Throw it on a blazing grill then cover with sesame seeds then
a bit of sea salt (no coarse ground this time). Sear 2-3 minutes on
each side. Leave the grill uncovered. Must be served rare or might as
well eat tuna from a can (yuk!!!). $9.99/lb at Fresh Market; 6oz
serving/person is plenty.... No fat here.

Patti Johnson: we did consume with Bibb Lettuce and home made
dressing. -Credit to Mike Fox, my dressing mentor and Gandy Dancer in
A2 for the Martha's Vineyard dressing as the foundation for the recipe
which you'll all see some other time.

Wine idea: Toad Hollow unoaked Chardonnay.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Bacon wrapped scallops

Amy did the hard part. All I had to do was not burn these nuggets of
love.

The best thing about wrapping food in bacon (apart from the flavor) is
that it is nearly impossible to over-cook (unless you're terribly
distracted and/or over-served). Always grill bacon items away from the
flame as bacon grease catches on fire oh so easily. Once the bacon
looks cooked, you're done. Serve with Cholula hot sauce.

Salmon with Potlatch seasoning

Our favorite store bought rub (Williams-Sonoma) on our favorite fish.

First doused with olive oil and just a bit of pepper. Threw some
hickory chips on the gas grill to give it a rustic smoked flavor. Hit
it with fresh lemon when almost done (acids must always be last).

Don't be afraid to serve it cooked medium, trust me.

Espresso rubbed ribeye

Amy found ribeye on sale at Fresh Market and had them cut it in half laterally. We didn't really need to each consume 18 ounces of meat on a Monday night so this was perfect. We'd much rather have less steak more often than more steak less often. It wasn't really espresso, it was Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that Alison and Adam gave me for Christmas. I used the same coffee for the ribs that Eric and I made a few weeks ago.


These were grilled medium rare and enjoyed with Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.