Grilling Weather
No one wants to turn on the stove or the oven these days. I don’t blame you one bit. Even with air conditioning the thought of hot foods aren’t appealing as usual unless someone says, “Let’s grill!” Somehow outside cooking mitigates even the hottest summer temperatures as we fool ourselves that we’re leaving all the heat outside.
When I floated the idea for this week’s Dishing the Dirt, I was admonished that not everyone eats meat. Oh, like grilling has been embargoed grilling to anyone other than omnivores. Poppycock! Even consumers of meatless meat products like to grill, but we won’t go there.
Sure, burgers, sausages, steaks, and chops rein when it comes to a Big Green Egg, but have you ever had a peach half kissed by hot coals and drizzled with honey? To really live dangerously, put a dollop of ice cream in the divot where the pit was and let it melt over the warm fruit.
Hot coals are every bit as useful and versatile when it comes to vegetables. Much of the produce in season right now lends well to grilling. Peppers, tomatoes, onions, and zucchini get brushed with olive oil blistered to perfection. Corn on the cob still in its husk and potatoes wrapped in foil can even go directly on to the coals. If you really want to be brave, try putting beets and turnips directly on to the coals using their tops as handle to turn and retrieve them. Ever tried grilled cabbage? My sister served it up at a family vacation years ago and now I’m hooked.
Some vegetables don’t lend well to a grill as they would easily fall through the grate, but thanks to a gadget sometimes called a grilling basket or a grill pan, it’s easy roast up things like okra and those amazing Italian flat beans. And what guy can resist another grilling gadget?
Hot weather may signify salad season but putting your salad stuff on the grill takes classic dishes to a whole new level. Those delicious little paste tomatoes—the San Marzanos and Tigrellas hold up well to heat. Simply cut in half, grill until caramelized and bubbly before plopping down a slice of fresh mozzarella on top and sprinkling with fresh basil and good olive oil. It’s like a Margherita pizza without the crust.
If you’ve turned your nose up to radicchio due to its bitterness, cut the head in half, brush with olive oil and grill. Heat does wonderful things to this Italian chicory. Toss while warm with crumbles of blue cheese and toasted walnuts. Similarly, try grilling your Caesar salad. Cut the Romaine in half, brush with oil and grill before topping with dressing, cheese croutons.
Occasionally I’ll hear the complaint, “It’s just me.” Well, it’s just me, too, but I make the best out of torching off my personal fire pit with grill, griddle, and open flame. Cooking outdoors does not limit you to eating only those items for a single meal. Consider grilling an entire fresh chicken or a nice slab of fish and then using leftovers for meals the rest of the week. I know there are plenty of folks into meal prepping. Here’s your chance.
Have you noticed all those gorgeous eggplants at market lately? Nothing makes better babaganoush than truly grilled aubergine. There’s something about that smokey flavor that you can’t get from the oven. It’s also salsa season. Grilled jalapeños can turn good salsa into great salsa. One of my summer rituals is grilling peppers, letting them cool and then freezing them whole so I’ll have them handy in the dead of winter.
Let’s not forget the fabulous fungi. Those big portabellas when grilled can double as a burger for the non-meat eaters. For the meat eaters, they’re great stuffed with sausage and slow roasted on the hibachi.
If seafood is more your thing, anything out of the water tastes great cooked over an open fire. I’m thinking about swordfish, tuna, and salmon as well as lobsters. Remember that grill basket for the vegetables? Try using that with softshell crabs.
And then there’s always kebabs. Meats, vegetables, and fruits skewered cooked over flames. What a perfect way to feed a crowd leaving plenty of time for socializing.
We’ve got summer temperatures heading our way for the next few months. Plenty of time to try grilling all the fantastic finds at the market.