So, while this blog has devolved into a few really lame posts about tomatoes over the course of this summer I keep thinking about our other aspect, that is, food. While toiling over the grill this summer, I more than once though “I should share this dish with my loyal readers (well, both of them)” But , I’ve often been reluctant since better than half of what we cook every weekend is whatever ideas Mark Bittman had. So it always seemed somewhat derivative to just fluff somebody else’s blog which is why I have resisted. But for god’s sake, the recipes usually work. As published.
But then I figured what the hell, I’m not doing anything else. And besides, since the tomato season has ended a bit early (thank you cool and rainy summer) there’s not much else to write about so here goes with our initial “WWALW”
Firs off, I should point out that due to the crazy schedule I work, I rarely get the chance to do much cooking during the week. Between driving to football practice, picking up at aftercare and whatever activities the Principessa has going on it’s usually a miracle if anything home cooked gets put on the table that’s not leftovers. So the weekend is when we let hair down. So to speak.
This past weekend we kicked off with (‘natch) a Bittman recipefor mussels and pasta. Whenever Bittman posts something involving seafood be it in Bitten or The Minimalist (or both) there’s a good chance we’re going to cook it on Friday night. Not that we’re religious fanatics or anything, it just works out that way. Anyway, killer recipe, will do again.
Saturday was an Indian feast, Jerzeetomato style. Steve Raichlen’s “Tandoori Style Beer Can Chicken” but instead of beer we used some wine from the packing crate in the fridge. The Principessa made raita, some wonderful cauliflower and a pilaf from Julie Sahni’s “Classic Indian Cooking” and we also did some chapatis on the grill from (you guessed it) Bittman. Lots of work for this meal and lots of clean up, which prompted the Principessa to refer to it as “Fricking Indian Thanksgiving”
Sunday, keeping it simple since it was the kickoff for the NFL season and we wanted to spend quality time with the flat screen, we grilled bison steaks we got at the Montclair farmer’s market and made a version of “Ass the Potatoes” from Mom’s first book. (someday we’ll share the story of how that dish was named, but for now, buy the book) Potatoes were fingerlings from the “organic guy” at the farmer’s market.
And one more Bittman on Monday. We managed to crank out the Pork Skewers with Peanut Basil Sauce and had them with some leftover pilaf. Good stuff and we realized that the peanut basil marinade/sauce would be good on just about any kind of skewer. Or just eaten from the bowl with a spoon for that matter.
It’s official. A recent inventory of my garage revealed SEVEN different types of charcoal.
“Give me two bricks and an oven rack and some wood, and I’ll cook you a better steak than any expensive gas grill, hands down. It might look good in your garden, it might be more convenient, it might impress your friends, but it’s not going to cook you a better steak.”
-Chris Schlesinger, Owner, East Coast Grill, Cambridge, MA
I take a pretty hard line when it comes to the debate of charcoal versus gas for grilling. When someone tries to extol the benefits of gas to me I usually reply with a comment along the lines of ”If I wanted to cook with gas, I’d stay in my kitchen” I took a class with Chris Schlesinger once, who, when asked about cooking times for a gas grill on whatever he was making replied: “I don’t know. I don’t cook with gas.”
When I lived in an apartment and gas was all I could get away with, I used gas. But ever since we moved into our current house, I have sneered at the gas-aholics whenever the subject came up.
Until a few summers ago. That’s when after years of toiling in our non-centrally-air-conditioned kitchen I hit upon the idea of usuing a gas grill as a sort of “outdoor oven” to keep the heat down in the kitchen. With a company awarded gift certificate we aquired a cheap s*#t gas model from Sears. Since then we’ve baked bread, tarts, crumbles and roasted oven-dried tomatoes in the damn thing. Between the heretic gas grill and the BGE, we rarely turn the kitchen oven on at all during July and August.
Memorial Day weekend traditionally kicks off the summer grilling season, so I ask you, loyal readers to weigh in. The gloves are off. Which do you prefer?
Mom sent me a link to this recipe for a porchetta inspired pork shoulder. We cooked it in the Big Green Egg for about 8 hours without any wood chips and it was the tastiest, juciest roast pork I’ve had in a long while.
