…except for the oops.

Wednesday, I got together a perfect dinner for the grill:

Marinated pork brochette from Fatted Calf,
New potatoes from Marquita Farm,
Romano Beans from Iacopi Farm and
a lovely spring onion.

When I lit the grill, it caught rather slowly, I just closed the lid and went in the kitchen to finish prepping the vegetables. But I had this nagging thought… “could I be out of gas?”

The timer went off at 15 minutes to signal the grill is hot and I went to the back porch only to find the grill temperature about 250°F, not the 600 it should be. No panic, just get out the cast iron.

I got the gas grill because it takes less time for the fire to be ready, and clean-up is way easier than charcoal. Conversely, it’s not as aesthetically swell and unlike charcoal, you cannot tell when you run out of fuel. For the first couple years, I kept a log of when I used the grill, so I’d know when I was nearing the tank’s 20 hour capacity. That was cumbersome, and I gave it up.

Pork and onions and beans will cook nicely in the cast iron grill pan, just fry the potatoes in the cast iron skillet.

Except for the grill pan throwing off some serious smoke, that worked fine. It ain’t the same as grilling and we could tell, but that pork — I’m not sure how or in what it was marinated — was fabulous. Just goes to show… start with good stuff.

Y’know, sometimes I’m inclined to write about a meal just because the pictures are good (not to mention that the meal was good). That might be the case here.

So Carol said, “What a good dinner.”

Wow. Don’t hear that very often. The thing is, it was dead simple: looed chicken over rice, roasted Costaluto Genovese tomatoes, faux grilled Mexican corn; but I do have some ‘splainin’ to do.

LOOED CHICKEN
I wrote about that last September when I unearthed my recipe from back in Jerusalem days. On this occasion, I did three bone-in chicken thighs. I removed the skin before looing… the skin would just add fat to the sauce and not really contribute any flavor to the chicken as it would if it were fried or roasted. Good and juicy and yummy. There’s no way to screw it up.

RICE
For small amounts of straightforward long grain boiled rice, I cook the rice in my new favorite throw-it-in-boiling-water-like-pasta method. Throw whatever amount in boiling water; 10 minutes later, taste for doneness and strain it. Keep it warm in the strainer in the same pot with the lid on over a little bit of hot water.

ROASTED TOMATOES
I wrote about roasted tomatoes just last May 2010 when I discovered Costaluto Genovese tomatoes. I did the same way with bread crumbs (fresh from an Acme Herb Loaf) and a bit of butter and cheese — this time mozzarella remaining from what I used for a pizza last week.

Instead of roasting in the oven, I put the pan on the grill while I was grilling the corn (10 minutes). Didn’t really get any “grilled flavor,” but didn’t have to heat up the oven.

CORN
I’m not a fan of corn-on-the-cob, but I am a fan of grilled corn. I have a recipe for Mexican Grilled Corn that I like from Readers Digest Recipes – probably a newspaper insert – in 2007. (Guess what, Mark Bittman did an almost identical recipe in the New York Times in 2010.) In any case, I made it my way for off-the-cob eating.

I just mixed the butter, mayo, parmesan and chili powder together and mixed that up with the hot corn cut off the cob. I used a little less parmesan and a little extra chili powder. My convoluted reasoning was that when you roll the corn-on-the-cob in the Parmesan, you don’t use it all, so use a little less to mix. Likewise, when you sprinkle with chili powder, that’s right up against your lips, so it’s like mainlining chili powder; thus, mixed in, use a little more. Carol thought it was pretty spicy (just the way I like it).

and that was dinner. yum

Mexican Grilled Corn
Readers Digest Recipes 2007

4 ears corn, cleaned
1 tablespoon butter
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
lime wedges

Brush corn with butter and season with salt & pepper.
Grill over high heat, turning every 2 to 3 minutes until tender and slightly charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Rest 2 to 3 minutes.
Brush corn with mayo and roll in cheese to coat. Sprinkle with chili powder. Serve with lime wedges.

July 23, 2010
Grilled Corn, Mexican Style
NYT Mark Bittman Yield: 4 servings.
Time: About 20 minutes

4 ears of corn, husked
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. Prepare a grill, with heat medium-high and rack about 4 inches from the fire. Put corn on grill and cook until kernels begin to char, about 5 minutes, then turn. Continue cooking and turning until all sides are slightly blackened.

2. Mix together mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder and some salt and pepper in a small bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more lime juice or chili powder if you like. Serve corn with chili-lime mayo.

There are other options: olive oil, chopped basil and Parmesan make an unexpected and very good combo; crumbled feta mixed with plain yogurt, lemon juice, oregano and cumin is amazing; and you can’t go wrong with mayo mixed with minced garlic, pimentón and parsley.