Last Gasps of Summer: Hot Dog Party!

Adam's birthday is at the end of August. It falls right around Labor Day and Boston's unofficial everyone-switch-apartments day but we usually squeeze in a get together. This year instead of a cookout, we had a hurricane tropical storm. Irene wasn't really so bad in our neck of the woods, we just sat on the couch and played a lot of cribbage. It felt like something was missing, though, so on Labor Day we had a little cookout.

We decided that instead of burgers and chicken and blah blah blah we'd keep the grilling focused on my personal favorite grilled food: the hot dog. (Let's be honest, hot dogs are up there in my top 5 favorite foods in all the land.) So to keep things interesting I went a little crazy on the condiments. Instead of a proper recipe today, I present several suggestions for awesome hot dogs.

The German Dog: homemade sauerkraut, whole grain mustard
The Kimchi Dog: chopped kimchi, sriracha if you're feeling spicy
The Chicago Dog: yellow mustard, sliced tomato, celery salt, kosher dill pickle spear, pickled banana peppers, chopped raw onion
The Nacho Dog: salsa (red or green, your choice), pickled jalapenos, monterey jack cheese, sour cream. If your husband happened to make corn tortillas for breakfast that morning, use one of those instead of a bun.
The Everything Dog: All of the above. Yeah, that happened.
The Classic: Yellow Mustard. Maybe relish.
The NIMBY: Ketchup. I didn't even put it out.

So, what do you put on your hot dog? 

Happy 4th of July!

Hello friends! Happy Canada Day to those of you from up north, and Happy Long Weekend Beer Drinking Barbecue America's Birthday to my countrymen.  What are you guys eating this weekend?

If you have access to a grill, my guess is you'll be cooking on it this weekend. Might I suggest these grilled veggie sandwiches from earlier this week? Or maybe try your hand at grilled pizza? Or go meaty! Citrus Ribs! And then perhaps some potatoes to go next to your meat or your veg. Whatever you grill (or saute or broil or poach or microwave), enjoy the weekend, everyone.

Photo: cribbage on the dock, 4th of July at my parents' house two years ago

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

There's a little restaurant in Inman Square Cambridge called All Star Sandwich Bar. Yeah, you guys who've been there, I can see you nodding your heads. This place is ridiculously good and correspondingly popular.


Usually when we walk by on a Saturday around lunch time it's packed with a line out the door, but for whatever reason, two weeks ago at noon there were plenty of tables and since we just happened to be hungry, we stopped.


I ordered the tuna melt, not because I love a good tuna melt (though I do, in fact, love a good tuna melt) but because Adam ordered first and he totally ordered the sandwich I wanted! It's ok, though, because we went halvsies and split both sandwiches. Excellent perk of being married: I'm pretty sure he's legally obligated to share his food with me.


The sandwich in question is the Grilled Vegetable Cubano. Traditionally, a Cubano is a sandwich with roast pork, ham, pickles and swiss cheese, pressed and grilled. It is a totally delicious sandwich, but this all veggie version is lighter and quicker to put together, since, you know, you don't have to roast any pork.



I used some soft crusted baguette-shaped bread I found at Whole Foods, standard baguettes would be too crunchy, so look for something more like a sub roll. What I should also have done is flip the sandwiches and grilled both sides, but I pre-heated the bricks so I assumed I was sort of grilling them both at the same time. Next time, I'll know better!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

inspired by the All Star Sandwich Bar

I made two sandwiches from one 12-14 inch loaf of bread, but we had a ton of veggies left over, certainly enough for another sandwich or two. If you're going to make more sandwiches, you might want to double the mayo. Incidentally, homemade mayo would be outstanding here should you have the time or inclination.

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1-2 teaspoons lime juice

pinch of salt

one medium eggplant

one medium zucchini

one yellow summer squash

one whole red bell pepper

1/2 a red onion

two portabello mushroom caps, or 8 large cremini mushroom

vegetable oil

salt and pepper

4 slices swiss cheese

some sort of dill pickle - I used green beans, but you could slice cucumber pickles to an appropriate sandwich thickness

enough bread for two sandwiches (see note above)

First, mix up the mayo: stir in the cilantro and lime juice and season with salt. You might have to adjust the seasoning with more lime juice or more salt, just make it taste good. Cover it and put it in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the sandwiches. 

Start a chimney full of charcoal for a charcoal grill, or preheat your gas grill. You're aiming for medium to medium-high heat. 

Slice the eggplant on a strong bias into thick slices, between 1/3 and 1/2 an inch thick. If you have time, layer the eggplant with some salt in a colander and weight it down for about half an hour to squeeze out some liquid and leech out some of the bitterness. If you have a fresh young eggplant this may not be necessary. Slice the zucchini and summer squash the long way into the same thickness, maybe a touch thinner. Cut the onion into thick wedges; keep the root end somewhat intact so the wedges don't fall apart. Take the stems out of the mushroom caps. Brush all the vegetables except the pepper with a light layer of vegetable oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. 

On the pre-heated grill, roast the pepper until all the skin is charred. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to steam for 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, grill the onions, mushrooms, zucchini and summer squash. Rinse the salt off the eggplant (if you salted it), squeeze it dry with paper towels, and brush with oil and season. Grill the eggplant. With all the vegetables, you should cook them until they are soft with some grill marks. 

Peel the red pepper and cut it into large pieces. Discard seeds and stem.

Leave the grill on while you assemble your sandwiches. In fact, put your bricks on the grill while you assemble the sandwiches. Slice the bread in half, spread each side with a teaspoon and a half of mayo, or to taste. Starting from the bottom, layer in this order: swiss cheese, red pepper, onion, mushroom, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, pickles, top of bread. 

Wrap each sandwich loosely in foil, then place it on the grill and weigh each one down with a foil wrapped brick. Careful, they're hot! Cover the grill and cook for five minutes or so, then (do as I say, not as I do!) carefully flip the sandwiches over and weigh again with bricks. Cover the grill for another couple of minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sandwich is completely awesome.  Remove from the grill, unwrap the foil, and slice the sandwiches. Serve with potato chips and a pickle, deli style. 

The Grill Option: Fish

I've mentioned previously how owning a grill has already drastically improved our summer dining experience; it's great to have an option for dinner that doesn't require turning on the oven in our already stifling kitchen. However, one thing I haven't discussed here is the learning curve. Not everything we grill turns out perfect, in fact, we scorched a spatchcocked chicken pretty bad a couple of weeks ago (we ate it anyway, picking off the burnt skin bits, and it was still juicy and good).



Then there was this halibut. I knew we would need a grill basket if we wanted to grill seafood or other delicate things. What I forgot was that the grill basket would get hot and the fish would stick to it. I marinated the fish in lemon thyme and olive oil, but I didn't oil the basket. When we tried to turn the fish out onto a platter it came off in big chunks, bits of skin clinging to the hot metal and generally looking quite sloppy.


It still tasted good, and the grilled scallions were a nice smoky counterpoint to the fish. We ate it with some grilled zucchini and grilled lemon wedges (thanks for the tip, Mr. Bittman) and a piece of toasty bread piled high with Foxboro Cheese Company's fromage blanc.

So tell me, oh ye grillmasters, other than oiling the basket better, what can I do to improve my grilled fish? Should I use a firmer fleshed fish? Or a whole fish? Or do I just need to practice more? I await your guidance.

Crispy Grilled Potatoes

Last weekend, we bought a grill. It's just a simple charcoal-burning Weber, but I'm already certain of its ability to drastically enhance my summer eating experience. There's something about standing outside, tongs in hand, watching glowing coals transform your ingredients into your dinner that is primally satisfying.
 


So when my sister called and said hey, we have some meat already marinating in Alyse's secret recipe marinade...can we come cook it on your grill? I said, heck yes. And then I thought dangit, what can I contribute? We've got steak. We've got salad. We need potatoes.



I used a two pound bag of red potatoes, and luckily enough they were all about the same size. If you get to select each potato, having them all the same size is handy; they'll all be done around the same time. These are boiled just to the point that knife slips in easily all the way to the center. Any further, and they'd fall apart too much on the grill.



Then I pressed them with the bottom of a glass (gently!) until they flattened out a little bit and skin gapped enough to expose a few cracks of creamy interior. These spuds are simply seasoned with a brush of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Grilled over medium hot coals they are, I think, the perfect example of the whole being so much more than the sum of its parts.

Crispy Grilled Potatoes
serves 4 as a side dish

When (gently!) flattening the potatoes, it may take you a couple of tries to determine how much pressure is enough, and you will almost certainly smush a few into non-grillable oblivion. That's ok! Save the squashed ones and make hash browns for breakfast tomorrow.

2 lbs red potatoes, ideally all around the same 2 inch diameter
olive oil
salt
pepper

Clean the potatoes and cut out any bad spots. Put them in a large pot and fill with cool water to cover by an inch or two. Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Salt the water generously, then cook the potatoes for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife slips easily all the way to the center, meeting no resistance. Take them out as soon as they are done, do not cook them to oblivion or they won't hold together when you flatten them.

While the potatoes are cooking, start your grill. You're aiming for medium high heat. Give the grill a 15 minute pre-heat, at least.

When the potatoes are done, spread them on a cookie sheet and let them dry for a couple of minutes (the remaining heat will do this for you). Use the bottom of a glass and press to (gently!) flatten the still warm potaotes a little bit. Brush the top with olive oil (maybe a tablespoon or two for the whole batch?), sprinkle generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Flip the potatoes over, oil and season the other side.

Place the potatoes on the preheated grill grate carefully - don't burn yourself! After a couple of minutes, check to see if they need to be flipped. You're aiming for lightly charred. Flip as necessary, and don't be afraid to shuffle them around, parts of the grill will be hotter than others. When both sides are crispy and golden with a few charred spots, remove and serve. These are excellent with homemade aioli or mayonnaise.