Grilled Peaches

Summer fruits are my favorites - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines, cherries, and peaches. I love them fresh, in pies, cakes, cupcakes, etc., but I have never tried to cook fruit on the grill. I was already going to make chicken on the grill and had an apricot marinade going (see Monday's blog) and I wondered how a grilled peach would do to accompany it? Answer - DELICIOUS!

Here is what I did...

3 large peaches
2 tablespoons olive oil
Chipotle powder, light sprinkle on each
Sea salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp brown sugar per peach
1 pat of butter per peach

• Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits; I looked for firm peaches (I thought that if they were too ripe, they might fall apart). Pour olive oil on a baking sheet or plate and lightly coat the peaches. Sprinkle with Chipotle powder, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Place butter over seasonings.

• Place on hot grill over high to medium-high heat, seasoned side up. Grill for 3-5 minutes. The skin should have a slight char and the butter & sugar should be melted.

• Remove from heat and eat up!

These were really easy to make and everyone loved them. You could make more than 3 - I did one per person. You could also make this a dessert and serve them with ice cream or whipped cream. I thought that they paired well with the grilled chicken though. The peaches were sweet, but also had a little heat from the Chipotle pepper and they were perfectly cooked - not too firm and not mushy.

Apricot Grilled Chicken

Time for me to make dinner, time to get out and grill up something yummy! For this meal, I had boned, skinned, chicken breasts and a request for more grilled polenta. Here is what I came up with...

Ingredients
4 chicken breast, halved
1/4 cup Apricot jam
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup Chardonnay

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine jam, garlic, ginger, onion, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper and Chardonnay; whisk until well combined. Remove 4 tablespoons of the marinated to a smaller bowl, cover and refrigerate.

• In a large zip locked bag, add the chicken and the majority of the marinade; close the zip locked bag, coat well and refrigerate the chicken for at least 1 hour.

• Prepare grill and get the temperature to medium-high. Add the chicken and cook for approximately 10 minutes per side. You don't want to overcook the chicken or it will be really dried out and burned - so check it and adjust your grill as needed. When you have about 2 minutes left to cook, baste the chicken on each side with the marinade that you removed earlier.

I served this with the grilled polenta that I blogged about earlier - the grilled polenta has become a family favorite and grilled peaches (see Wednesday's blog). I think that this would have also made tasty kabobs, you would just need to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, soak some skewers and cut down on the cooking time. I thought that the marinade lent itself well to the chicken and I enjoyed the balance of savory and sweet.

Vaction Food, Part 2

In my real life, I don't get to cook much.  I've mentioned it before, but my husband has a crazy/awful work schedule (he gets home at 9:30 pm), so I don't get to cook dinners the way I'd like to.  When you have to reheat dinners, you tend to go with things that won't dry out in the microwave...argh!  The mister's schedule is the bane of my existence.

One awesome part of being on vacation was getting to actually COOK a few meals.  I even grilled a few times (that's a big deal for me since I don't own a grill, thank you very much).  Here's one of the better meals I made:

Argentine Grilled Steaks with Peppers and Onions
I found this yummy sounding steak rub called Argentine Steak Rub while wondering around Cost Plus prior to vacation.  The spice rub contains salt, pepper, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, and fennel.  Unlike Greta, I love fennel (side note: have you ever tried grilled fennel? OMG...so amazing!).  Since the spice rub was already mixed and ready to go, I thought this would be an easy option for vacation cooking.

I bought a packet of sirloin steaks from the grocery, rubbed them down with a generous amount of the Argentine Steak Rub and then grilled them over a hot grill.  I like my steaks bloody (red and dripping!) but the hubs prefers his meat to be more on the "done" side, so I let the steaks go a little longer than I would have if I were just cooking for myself.  I let the meat rest and then sliced it up.  I was happy that there was still some pink, even if the blood wasn't running the way I like it.  I squeezed a lime over the sliced meat and served it with tortillas, peppers, onions, and guacamole.

I love fajitas--the combo of onions, peppers, and meat can't be beat!  So to add to my dinner, I sauteed some red, yellow and orange peppers with a Walla Walla sweet onion in olive oil.  I threw in garlic, salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of sugar to the peppers/onions and let them get good and cooked.  Nothing is better than caramelized onions and peppers!  I usually add thyme to my onions and peppers, but I wanted to keep things simple since I knew the meat was going to add all the herbs and spices I needed.

I also smooshed up an avocado together with a few cloves of garlic, a few scoops of already-made (store bought) salsa, and the juice of a lime.  I've been craving guacamole ever since my molcajete experiment, so I did a quick and easy version to satisfy my culinary urges.  Let me say this right now: I am freaking awesome with an avocado!  Though my quick guac paled in comparison to the real deal I made recently, it was fresh and yummy.  I even got my husband to try some and he actually liked it (this is a big damn deal!).

To finish the dinner off, I threw some tortillas in foil and tossed it onto the grill.  The bottom tortilla got slightly burnt by the grill, but this was a happy accident.  We used it to scoop up the guac when we were done with dinner, and I swear--that was better than any dessert I could have whipped up!

Burnt tortillas & guac--a happy accident!

Even though I had to cook and my poor (but well-fed) husband had to clean, this was one of the best meals we had all vacation.  I still have no plans to buy a grill, but I could get similar results on my grill pan, in the dead of winter when I need to conjure up some summertime memories.

Beating The Summer Heat

When the mercury rises, I lose my appetite for heavy, rich foods. In their place, I find myself wanting lighter, grilled fare. To help weather the summer heat, I break out my grill as often as I can and eat my meals on the shaded deck outside.

This past week, it really felt like summer in the Seattle area. Although not the searing heat that the East Coast is suffering through, it was still hotter than normal out here. To get through one of the hotter evenings, I was asked to cook the whole meal on the grill (so that the oven/stove didn't heat up the house anymore than it already was). The other request was that the meal contain shrimp and veggies. My response was shrimp and veggie skewers with polenta and Rainer cherries.

Here is my recipe for the meal:

Shrimp and Veggies
Ingredients
2 lbs shrimp
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 large onion

Marinade
1 1/2 cups Chardonnay
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 of a fresh squeezed lime
2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper (use more if you like)

• Place skewers in water and allow to soak (the longer the better).
• Add all marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
• Clean, peel, and devein the shrimp.
• Cut all veggies into bite sized pieces.
• Add the shrimp and veggies to a large zip lock bag and pour in the marinade; coat well.
• Refrigerate mixture for at least 2 hours.
• Divide the shrimp into 4 equal servings and place on skewers.
• Divide the veggies and place on skewers.
• Preheat the grill.
• Add the veggie skewers to the grill and cook over medium-high heat for ~3-5 minutes per side. Once cooked to the desired doneness, move to the upper rack (to keep warm).
• Add the shrimp skewers and cook for ~3 minutes per side.
  

Grilled Polenta
1 tube of polenta, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (~12)
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
chili powder

• Place polenta slices on a cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with olive oil.
• Brush both sides of the polenta slices with olive oil.
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili powder.
• Place the slices on the grill - I use a grill sheet, but you could add them directly to the rack. Cook on medium-high heat for ~5-7 minutes per side. I flipped mine 3 times to make sure that I had a nice crunch on both sides.

Serve everything up and enjoy! This is a pretty low calorie meal, is super tasty and perfect on a hot summer night.