Yes, my mom is a grill mistress. She loves the smell of charcoal in the morning. Or in the Afternoon, or anytime, really . . .
Recently she prepared an entire main course on the grill. Time and temperature (it was about 95 degrees outside when she did it) prevented her from cooking the appetizer and the dessert on the grill, but the main course was real grill deal!
First - the meat dish - bacon wrapped chicken with raspberry chipotle sauce. The chicken breast were wrapped with thick cut bacon and then coated in olive oil. Once fully cooked, they were transferred into a casserole dish, covered in raspberry chipotle sauce and set aside to rest.
The sides - corn on the cob and radicchio peach slaw. Folks, nothing is as easy or as delicious as grilled corn on the cob. Simply get the coals hot and put the corn - still in the husk - on the grill. Cook for at least 30 minutes, and turn after 15. Shuck and enjoy!
The radicchio peach slaw was inspired by watching a Gordon Ramsey restaurant show. Mom said she was tired of the same old side dish with steaks and that combined with a dose of watching chefs making outrageous dishes caused inspiration to strike. She took a head of radicchio, cut it into fourths, coated it in olive oil, and then did the same thing with some white peaches. Both when on the grill until the radicchio was wilty and the peaches were tender and had some good grill marks. The radicchio and pears were then sliced up, tossed with berry balsamic vinaigrette, some crushed red pepper, blue cheese crumbles and some asagio cheese. It presented a complex variety of tastes and textures and I drooled enough to make Pavlov proud!
The bread - grilled sourdough loaf with raspberry butter. Mom got a loaf of sourdough, sliced it into thick pieces and buttered the crap out of it. It was then tossed on the grill until done - the butter, as it melted caused some flame ups, but that only gave a nice smoky taste to the bread. Then she took a stick of butter, softened it to room temperature in a bowl and mashed in some fresh raspberries and brown sugar. She also sprinkled some brown sugar on the bread to enhance the toasty, smoky flavors in the bread.
Callie, Sophie and I were three very happy dogs after tasting all that! It was accompanied by a 2007 Rio Seco Torrontes from Mendoza, Argentina. I'm not much of a drinker but even I could appreciate how the slight sweetness and stone fruit flavors complemented the smoky, spicy flavors of the food.
It was tail wagging, backing up against the wall good folks!
And stay tuned for my upcoming blog about mom's "magic" ice cream. No rock salt, no ice cream freeze needed! Just 5 ingredients and a freezer!
So until next time,
Bone Appetit!
Sammy
Sammy, a nine year old border collie mix shares his views and musings on human cooking with a dog's eye view. He also shares his thoughts as he and his human attempt to become a canine therapy team.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Mother's Day Special - Crepes and homemade butter
Mother's Day was in the not too distant past, so I figured I could still post about what we, uh, I mean Mom, made for her mom on Mother's Day. Sometimes the simplicity yields the best results.
Dinner was grilled salmon, grilled ahi tuna and poached scallops. Those were good, from what I hear, because there were no bites available for me to sample.
However, I did get to sample dessert. Mom made sweet crepes - thanks to Alton Brown's recipe from the Crepe Expectations episode - with fresh strawberries and blueberries and creme freshe. Something funny happened when Mom was making the creme freshe. The mixer she was using (it was her grandmother's) was so powerful that it turned the cream into butter! So mom emptied it into a dish, squeezed out the excess cream and let it set up in the fridge! It was delicious! And since it had a bit of sugar, it was truly sweet cream butter! Yummy!
And what do you do when you don't have a spatchula to slip the crepes? You do it the old fashioned way and flip them! Mom did good, she was 7 for 8 (one only flipped over half way) and with the mixer on a more moderate speed, the hot crepes were folded, covered with fresh strawberries in thin slices and fresh blueberries and then topped with heaping dollops of creme freshe!
Mee-Mother (mom's mom) couldn't finish hers so Callie, Sophie and I were given a rare treat!
C'est trien bien Mom!
And as always, bone appetit!
Dinner was grilled salmon, grilled ahi tuna and poached scallops. Those were good, from what I hear, because there were no bites available for me to sample.
However, I did get to sample dessert. Mom made sweet crepes - thanks to Alton Brown's recipe from the Crepe Expectations episode - with fresh strawberries and blueberries and creme freshe. Something funny happened when Mom was making the creme freshe. The mixer she was using (it was her grandmother's) was so powerful that it turned the cream into butter! So mom emptied it into a dish, squeezed out the excess cream and let it set up in the fridge! It was delicious! And since it had a bit of sugar, it was truly sweet cream butter! Yummy!
And what do you do when you don't have a spatchula to slip the crepes? You do it the old fashioned way and flip them! Mom did good, she was 7 for 8 (one only flipped over half way) and with the mixer on a more moderate speed, the hot crepes were folded, covered with fresh strawberries in thin slices and fresh blueberries and then topped with heaping dollops of creme freshe!
Mee-Mother (mom's mom) couldn't finish hers so Callie, Sophie and I were given a rare treat!
C'est trien bien Mom!
And as always, bone appetit!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
just a quick one folks - lamb fondue
Even though Mom and the Coyote aren't a couple anymore, they still can enjoy each other's company . . .and cooking!
The other night they put a twist on their tradition cheese fondue and court bullion style fondue. The cheese fondue was made with smoked swiss and gruyere and served with proscuitto and rosemary loaf. The court bullion style fondue was made the traditional way with beef broth, red wine, and seasonings, but the meat,which is usually steak, was switched to lamb!
The Coyote brought a bottle of Chateau Julien's La Convivance to accompany it. Now, I'm not much a drinker, but even I could appreciate the deep cherry and plum flavors that complimented the lamb cooked in the court boullion, which added peppery spiciness to the meat. And it went divinely with the cheese - smooth and smoky meets rich and dense and fruity - dog fondue heaven!
Callie, Sophie and myself gave it 12 paws up! Because that's what we were after having some good helpings of "dog fondue".
That's all for now ya'll.
Bone appetit!
Sammy
The other night they put a twist on their tradition cheese fondue and court bullion style fondue. The cheese fondue was made with smoked swiss and gruyere and served with proscuitto and rosemary loaf. The court bullion style fondue was made the traditional way with beef broth, red wine, and seasonings, but the meat,which is usually steak, was switched to lamb!
The Coyote brought a bottle of Chateau Julien's La Convivance to accompany it. Now, I'm not much a drinker, but even I could appreciate the deep cherry and plum flavors that complimented the lamb cooked in the court boullion, which added peppery spiciness to the meat. And it went divinely with the cheese - smooth and smoky meets rich and dense and fruity - dog fondue heaven!
Callie, Sophie and myself gave it 12 paws up! Because that's what we were after having some good helpings of "dog fondue".
That's all for now ya'll.
Bone appetit!
Sammy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)