Grillin'

Hey, the grilling season could not come fast enough for me - so glad it's here. I've just had a weekend full of sausages, burgers, etc., which I love, but that gets old fast.

So let's share some ideas -- two things you love to grill, that perhaps aren't the first thing you'd think of? Two from me:

1) Grilled asparagus (alot grown locally around here, so it's fresh and plentiful during the short season) - I usually just toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper, sometimes with a little lemon zest and a touch of fresh lemon juice.

2) Grilled mango, so easy, just halve them and then score the skin well in a diamond pattern - once grilled for just 3-4 minutes, the skin will peel off easily, flip kind of inside out. Great with fish.

What are your great grill-finds?

Sortof Sushi

I saw this recipe on some food show on PBS, can't remember which one, but it was for a quick Ahi Tuna dish. It is indeed very quick--I whipped it up for JB & me in about 15 minutes, but it tastes all gourmet n stuff. (The least I could do for him letting me crash all week in his Brooklyn pad). Sort of like a version of the avocado tuna cucumber roll, but without the seaweed. So, here's the recipe. Serves 2:

Shopping List:
1 lb Ahi Tuna
2 lemons
Yoghurt
One Cucumber
One Avocado
Brown Rice (or any kind you prefer)
SeaSalt & Coarse Pepper

The sauce
Plain Yoghurt. The fattier the better, though lowfat is fine too, it just tends to be soupier. One cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded (scoop out with a spoon), and chopped. Whip the yoghurt up with a sqeeze of 1/2 lemon, a tad bit of salt, and throw in the cukes.

The Avocado
Peeled, Pitted, and sliced. Squeeze on the other 1/2 lemon.

The Fish:
Heat a large skillet to HIGH heat, cover bottom of pan in Grapeseed Oil or some other oil good for cooking at high heat (not OliveOil, which I know now thanks to Dean the Dream). Season the tuna with a lot of pepper, and a little seasalt (i think i used too much, but it was balanced out w/the yoghurt and no salt in the rice). Sear it quickly on each side; you really only need 30 seconds or up to a minute on each side, depending on how rare you want it. The meat is so good, I think it's best the rarer you cook it--which of course makes it closer to sushi, but it's good for people who shudder at sushi too. Slice and plate over rice, stack in the avo, and drizzle it all with the sauce. Yummers.

Pasketti & Meatballs

I've been hungry for meat lately, not sure why, but I decided to try making meatballs. I'm usually not a huge fan of pasta, but I had some leftover whole wheat spaghetti from when Dean was here, so I figured why not make Sketti&Meatballs. I think it turned out pretty well... Here's the recipe, made from a tip here and a tip there off the lovely FoodNetwork. Any suggestions/variations are invited...

Sauce:
I actually only had Muir Glen organic sauce in the house, no tomates or paste, so I just used that, but spiced it up a bit... threw garlic, onions, 1/2 red & 1/2 green bell peppers, chopped thickly---i like chunky sauce--- into a pan w/evoo. Added in the sauce after, then abt a 1/2 cup of chianti, a few bay leaves, and a little sugar.

Balls:
I had a lb of grassfed organic ground beef from Ard's Farm Market, added in the other half of the onion, 3 cloves garlic, an egg, paprika, sweet basil (wish i had fresh parsley), salt & pep, 1/4 cup parmesean, and two pieces of wholegrain bread run under the faucet and sqeezed out. Oh and a splash or two of chianti. Rolled into balls and seared in HIGH heat, then thrown into the sauce to cook the rest of the way.

It was really easy, only took abt 25 mins, and was super yummy and a little sweet. Perfect for a rainy night (it's still chilly here in central PA) and a movie.

Langano Lounge

You can't tell from the photo, but Ethiopian food is taking place here. It was unspeakably delicious. Somewhere, just past the border of this photo, Neil Young blares from a jukebox.

Look at me! I'm Bobby Flay!

Awfully quiet around here.