The Heat is On!

July/August 2008 Issue | Posted by Elizabeth Foss in What's Cooking

By Elizabeth Foss

It’s summertime and the living is easy — at least theoretically.

Most summer weekends find my family on a soccer field, and as surely as the referee is going to blow the final whistle, we are going to invite someone from the sidelines to come for dinner. The day will be hot, the sun will fade, and we will share good food with good friends. The children will play soccer in the back yard into the dark, and then we’ll flip on the outside lights.

A beckoning barbecue grill conspires to make summer suppers a happy convergence of nutritious and delicious … if you plan ahead.

Fresh Berry Pie

I love this recipe because the fruit isn’t cooked, so it retains a crisp, fresh texture — perfect with grilled foods!

baked pie shell

1 quart fresh strawberries or blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water (plus some extra for the

cornstarch)

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

whipped cream

For strawberry pie, fill pie shell with 3 cups of strawberries (I slice them in half). Crush 1 cup of berries in pot. Add sugar and water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and whisk slowly into berry mixture. Cook until clear and thickened. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice. For strawberry pie, pour glaze over filled pie shell. For blueberry pie, pour 3 cups of blueberries into glaze and stir until coated, then pour into pie shell. Chill and serve with whipped cream.

When I have unexpectedly run short of berries, I’ve added sliced fresh peaches to make up the difference. This addition only makes the pie more beautiful!

Blackened Fish

Blackening seasoning is widely available in supermarkets, but you can make it at home easily, and adjust the heat level to your preference.

fillets of meaty fish (snapper, tuna, or swordfish)

For seasoning, mix the following:

5 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Drizzle fish fillets with olive oil and lemon juice about a half hour before cooking and refrigerate while getting grill ready. When grill is hot (you want the fish to cook quickly with as little handling as possible), place fillet on grill and quickly sear each side.

Remove and place fish in a foil packet, coating top side with melted butter and blackening seasoning. Add red peppers, squash, zucchini, or asparagus to the packet, if desired. Place packet on grill for about 15 minutes, until fish is cooked through. Remove and serve immediately.

Basic Burgers

A barbecue classic — tender and delicious!

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck

1/4 cup cream or half-and-half

salt

ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 Kaiser rolls

Pour cream into the ground beef and mix with your hands until it’s absorbed. Form beef into 4 tight patties about 3/4-inch thick. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees for medium doneness, turning once halfway through grilling time. Serve on lightly toasted rolls with Grilled Tomato Ketchup (recipe follows).

Grilled Tomato Ketchup

Give this unique recipe a try — you’ll never miss the bottled high-fructose corn syrup stuff!

1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and

quartered
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss the tomatoes in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and place on doubled thickness of heavy-duty foil folded up on the sides to make a rim. Grill on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until soft. Transfer tomatoes to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Strain tomatoes, pressing against the solids with a wooden spoon to extract and save as much pulp and juice as possible.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions and garlic until translucent. Add tomato pulp and juice and other ingredients and cook uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

­Fresh Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad

When garden tomatoes are plentiful and the basil plants are small trees, this simple salad turns up at almost every meal.

4 to 6 tomatoes
1 pound fresh mozzarella
15 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Slice tomatoes and mozzarella and arrange by layering with basil leaves on a large platter. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at room temperature. This recipe is easily adapted to using cherry or grape tomatoes. Bite-sized pieces of cheese can be tossed in a bowl with the basil and oil and small tomatoes. For a bit more substance (or a Friday night supper), serve a crusty bread for dipping.

Grilled Veggies

Most vegetables work well on the grill. Be sure to start with a clean grill. Cut the vegetables into consistent size pieces no more than 1-inch thick so they will cook evenly.

•Broccoli becomes unexpectedly kid friendly when tossed with olive oil and minced garlic, sprinkled with salt, and wrapped in foil for grilling.

• Corn on the cob should be cleaned of its silk without removing the husks. Soak the corn in cold water for about half an hour. Pat it dry and then rub the kernels with butter and place the husks back over the kernels. Twist husks shut and grill for 5-7 minutes.

• Vegetables like asparagus, zucchini, and peppers grill easily right on the grill grates. Sliced vegetables handle better when speared on pre-soaked wooden kabobs or wrapped in heavy duty foil. Vegetables cook better if brushed with oil.

• Watch grilling vegetables closely; they are more delicate than meat. For added flavor, sprinkle grilling vegetables with fresh herbs or mix up a simple marinade:

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup minced sweet onions

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black

pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Marinate cut vegetables for 4 hours and then use the marinade to brush onto the vegetables while grilling.

Grilled Garlic Chicken

This chicken is such a family favorite that we grill it even in the dead of winter. But it’s much improved by the addition of garden-fresh summer herbs.

1 roaster chicken, 6-8 pounds, butterflied

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon

regular salt)

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Optional: a child-sized handful each of

basil and thyme, finely chopped

With a double layer of heavy-duty foil, fashion a baking sheet with a rim large enough to accommodate the butterflied chicken. Rinse chicken. With poultry shears or knife, split chicken lengthwise along the backbone. Cut up both sides of the backbone and remove. With breast side up, pull up on two sides of back and press down firmly on breast until bones begin to crack and chicken is reasonably flat. Insert your hand under the skin to separate it from the meat without removing it.

Combine olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper (and herbs if desired). Distribute evenly between the flesh and skin. Place on rimmed foil on the grill (low or medium heat) and cook until a meat thermometer in the breast area measures 170-175 degrees. Let the chicken sit for about fifteen minutes before slicing. It should be tender enough to fall off the bone. Time varies quite a bit based on your grill — mine takes 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes.

Busy mom note: After I discovered that someone had used my poultry shears to prune the roses, I stopped butterflying the chicken. Now I just leave it whole and grill it in my roasting pan.

Grilled Steak Salad

I love this one for large parties. It makes a beautiful centerpiece for an outdoor summertime buffet.

3 pounds flank steak, round steak, or

sirloin

large bottle of Italian dressing

bottled teriyaki sauce

3 pounds red-skinned potatoes, cleaned

and quartered

3/4 pound spring mix

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 red pepper, chopped

14-ounce bag of frozen peas

Marinate the steak overnight in 1 cup Italian dressing and 1 cup teriyaki sauce. Grill the steak in the morning, reserving the marinade. Boil the marinade while the steak is grilling. When it is medium-rare, cut the steak into bite-sized pieces, add the reserved, boiled marinade, and continue to marinate in the refrigerator.

Boil the potatoes until just tender, pour Italian dressing over them while still warm, and refrigerate. When you are ready to assemble the salad, put the steak in the bottom of the bowl and the potatoes on top of the steak. Cover with spring mix. Add a layer of grated cheese. Sprinkle chopped red peppers on top. Defrost frozen peas under running water and ring the perimeter of the bowl with peas. The marinated meat and potatoes provide more than enough dressing for the whole salad.

Safety First!

• Greased Lightning. Keep the bottom tray and grease catch pan of your gas grill clean and free of debris in order to prevent grease fires or midnight visits from wild creatures.

• Extinguisher. If a grill flares while cooking, turn all burners off and move the food to another area of the cooking grate. Never use water to extinguish grease flames on a grill. Keep a fire extinguisher handy — and a carton of salt, for smaller fires.

• Foiled by foil. Do not line the bottom tray of the grill with foil. This could prevent the grease from flowing into the grease catch pan, making grease likely to catch fire.

• A thermometer takes the guesswork out of grilling times, but don’t leave the thermometer in the meat while grilling, as the glass may shatter.

• To avoid contamination, never reuse marinades. If a marinade is also used as a basting sauce, reserve a portion before adding the uncooked foods or bring it to a rolling boil.

Elizabeth Foss