Now is one of my favorite times of
year. We are getting the freshest possible seafood and all of the glorious
springtime produce is becoming available. Beyond that the farmer’s markets are
beginning to hit full swing. Locally produced veggies and herbs are now at my
disposal and man do I plan to put them to work in my kitchen. There is nothing
really as cool to me as walking through a market on a beautiful day and seeing
the stuff that I will be cooking with, laid out before me, knowing that it had
been in the ground a few hours earlier. Fresh don’t get much better than
this. Now is the time that I
instinctually try to start stripping down ingredient heavy recipes to the very
basics. If you have fantastic products, baby, let them shine. So here we go
with a couple of recipes for some very simple side dishes that will accompany
your back yard grilling because as soon as the weather turns nice we should all
be out cooking in the great outdoors; or at least the backyard.
So for the first little dish I am harnessing
the awesome power of my Grand once again. There are few things in this world
that I know my Grand loved more than words: her family, a little nip of
something before dinner and the glory of asparagus and bacon. So I give this to
you in honor of the springtime and my Grand. This can be used as a side, an
appetizer, or as part of a breakfast dish that I know that Toby drools over as
soon as he hears that it is being made. The cool thing about it is that it has
three ingredients and is wicked fast. You also look like a rock star when you
serve it. How can you beat that? I am not sure but it rules.
Bacon
Wrapped Asparagus to the tune of Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
A bunch of
fresh asparagus
1 lb maple
smoked bacon
1 lemon
-Trim the
bottoms of the asparagus. There is a bit of a debate about how to do this. One
is aim for the change in color of the stem, tan to vibrant green, and cut
there. The other is to flex the stem and it will break where the tenderness
starts. Either way will work and I have no preference at all. Just do one or
the other to get rid of the woody bits at the bottom.
-Wrap each
stem with a slice of side bacon. You should not need to salt this dish as the
salt from the bacon should do it for you.
-Slap them
on the grill and let them work. You want the same look as you would if you were
making bacon for breakfast. By the time that the bacon is done the asparagus
should be too.
-Yank them
off and finish with a squeeze of lemon and you are done. Killer.
Now you have one of the sides done.
I always like to do a salad as part of any grilling meal that I put together.
This one worked out great and was super tasty and fresh. A couple of little
hints for you all first of all. For the dressing that I make for this salad I
use a Balsamic Vinegar reduction, sounds fancy huh? Basically you take some
moderately priced balsamic and chuck it into a pot and let it cook down for
about 45 minutes or until it is reduced by half. This intensifies the sweetness
and the subtle flavors of the vinegar and you are left with something that is
amazing for salad dressings or even for finishing veggies. It keeps in fridge
for a long time. The second little tip is that I sort of pseudo candy the nuts.
Basically you toast your almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts or whatever you are
using and in the last couple of minutes add in a tbsp of brown sugar, a squeeze
of honey, and a touch of water. Let it cook down so they are sticky and no
longer wet. Remove from the heat and let them cool. You will be tempted to give
them a try hot out of the pan. Resist. Trust me after many burns to the
fingertips and tongue, I now know to let them cool. A special thanks to my friend
Fyfe for constructing this salad while I was ripping around do other things. So
we will call this salad a la Fyfe.
Spinach
Salad with Strawberries and Goat’s Cheese A La Fyfe to the tune of Baba O’
Reilly by the Who
Salad Part
Big bowl of
well washed spinach
8-10 strawberries
sliced the way you like them.
Some
crumbled goat’s cheese
Pseudo candied
almonds and sunflower seeds
-Chuck
everything in a bowl and toss... Done.
Dressing
Part
Equal parts
olive oil and Balsamic reduction
Salt and
pepper
-Toss everything
in a bell jar and shake the crap out of it. Dress the salad like you are going
out for a night on the town. Done.
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