Grilled Peach Salad

At the beginning of the summer Matt liked a lot of impromptu "clean out the fridge" lunch salads I was making. So I wanted to make an intense dinner salad that had some warmth to it, but had no meat or seafood. Also, the recent addition of the grill pan to my arsenal meant that I was grilling whatever I could get my hands on. And so I created the Grilled Peach Salad And it is very simple.

First thing, is to take a couple small handfuls of pecans and toast them. While they toast, prep the peaches. They toast quickly though, so keep your nose alert so that they don't burn.

Take two to three large peaches that are ripe, but not too ripe (you want a little firmness still) and quarter them. When I first told Mom about this recipe she was surprised that I didn't peel the peaches. So was I, but since the peaches are not getting really cooked through, the skin doesn't get tough and it is an unnecessary step in this recipe.

Take the quartered peaches, toss in olive oil and a generous sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper. Place in a grill pan (or on an actual grill you lucky people out there with decks and yards) over medium heat and turn a couple times until all sides have a few grill marks. On my stove with my grill pan this usually means about 2-3 minutes to a side. Don't cook too long or over too high of a heat, or the peaches will get mushy and the skin will toughen. When peaches are done, remove to a cutting board and slice the quarters in half.

Meanwhile...make a vinaigrette of 1:3 balsamic vinegar to extra virgin olive oil. Toss mixed baby greens with a little salt, some black pepper and the vinaigrette. Chop the toasted pecans.

To plate: place mound of greens on plate, arrange peach slices, sprinkle on pecans, a couple spoonfuls of crumbled Gorgonzola, and one spoonful of dried cranberries.

Grilled Pork Shoulder Braciole

Braciole on the Grill? Braciole made with Pork? Yes, yes, and it is an interesting recipe from Mario Batali. This is what Mom requested for her birthday meal. The rest of the spread was comprised of green beans with summer savory..a wonderful herbal addition to the meal, a nutty and tangy orzo and chickpea salad with olive tapenade and just the right touch of lemon, and luscious panzanella (one of the perks of a mid-August birthday is the bounty of tomatoes).

The pork shoulder is pounded out, just like traditional braciole. The filling is made of bread crumbs, salami (we used finnochiona), orange zest, parsley, mint, romano, and olive oil. I used a few TBS more then what the recipe called for and then wished I has used even more. I think I might also in the future put in just one TBS of fresh squeezed orange juice for a little more moisture.

If you follow Mario's instructions on a charcoal grill you will have incinerated rolls. Even with the coals at a "medium high" heat it's tricky to not dry these out, plus pork shoulder is pretty fatty, so there were a lot of flame ups, causing some of the braciole to become blackened. I followed the recipe mostly, halving the times over direct heat and indirect heat and we still had rolls that were too dry. Also, I'm not sure why the recipe calls to cook to an internal temp of 185. Trichinosis dies at 140, which is when I took our braciole off the grill, and they were MORE than cooked through.

Overall, they were tasty. I really like the idea of salami as a braciole filling, and the fennel in the one we used was well complemented by the orange and mint. We had no leftovers, but we all agreed they were too dry and needed a little tinkering.

Think about it...beef braciole is from a tough cut of meat too. But it is simmered in moisture-ful tomato sauce. To cook a tough cut like pork shoulder in a dry method over even medium heat for more than a couple minutes would of course be overkill and drying.

My plan for this recipe in the future is: Grill briefly to sear the outside (I'll be using my trusty Lodge Cast-Iron Grill Pan), then place in a skillet and finish in the oven at 300 until done. Remove and use skillet to make a pan sauce with shallots, white wine and orange juice. I'm thinking to also mount a little butter in the sauce, but Mom thinks that would be overkill. Thanks to my brother-in-law Mark for the awesome photographs with his new spiffy camera.

Smoked Baby Swiss Panini

Amongst other rituals, a trip to my hometown of Walpole, NH for me means that I come home with Boggy Meadow Farm Cheese. Their Baby Swiss is a favorite of mine for snacking. This recent trip though, I came home with their Maple Smoked Baby Swiss with plans for upgrading the recent Saison and Panino Pairing.

I use our everyday bread (Organic Italian loaf from Whole Foods) for most of our panini. It has a tight grain, but is not heavy and two slices make a perfectly sized panino meal.

So, this panino takes two slices of Italian bread, about a 1/2" thick and 1/8"+ thick slices of the smoked baby swiss. I used Brae Burn apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly. I then tossed the apple slices in a 1:1 mixture of cider vinegar and honey. And of course, onions beer-melized in our Saison with salt and black pepper. (I plan to post specific beer-melized onion instructions in the future). Layer the apple slices between a liberal layer of the onions and cheese. All that's left now is pressing and eating.

Matt and I could not believe the flavor profile of this panini. Smoky and nutty from the cheese, sweet and tart from the apples, spicy and herbal from the onions, all in a fantastically crispy and melty package. Paired with the Saison it was out of this world. Matt stated it perfectly when he said that he did not have to re-calibrate his mouth between bites of sandwich and sips of beer.

Wine Tip from Mom

Since we regularly have high quality home brew on tap and and I'm the only one in this house that drinks wine...I have traded my wine drinking days for beer drinking days. Not that I'm complaining. A high quality craft beer, even if not made at home, is often less money than middle of the road wine. And I've found that food pairings are a little more flexible with beer as well (and more exciting, especially with home brew!).

However, from time to time, I still want a glass of wine. Or better yet, I want to use some wine to deglaze a pan for a scrumptious sauce. But what I don't want is to have to plan multiple days of consumption and cooking in order to rationalize the cost of opening a bottle of wine. At Mom's this weekend (more on the birthday meal later), she poured me a glass of pinot grigio when I arrived. I inquired as to what the label was. Turns out, it's from a box. Specifically, Black Box. Great find Mom!

I picked up a box of it today and I'm so happy to have a glass of wine, but to not feel pressure to have more than a glass or decide what I'm eating and drinking tomorrow because of an open bottle. I would put this wine into what I call "good table wine". It is a classic pinot grigio with light citrus notes and stone fruit, and is not too dry, but dry enough to not be sweet. If I spent $10-12 on a bottle of this, I would have been satisfied in its being a balanced wine without too much acidity or mouth-puckering. Instead I spent $19 on the box, which is 3 liters of wine.

Of course, box wine has been around forever. And although personally, this is my first box purchase, I've tasted plenty of awful, insipid, cloying, and downright vile box wine. I am blown away by the find of this box. This is the perfect solution for single people, or those who are the lone wine imbiber in their household who still want good quality wine without paying good money for a bottle when half of it will oxidize into undrinkable swill. The box states that it lasts for four weeks. It has a very tight spout and the vacuum sealed bag feels solid...so I'm inclined to believe it. But I'll put up an update next month and let you know!

Good, Awful, So-So....it's very unpredictable!

We go to Beerworks at least once, sometimes twice a month. We have had absolutely sublime meals. We have had awful meals. We have had unremarkable meals. The service? Also a crap-shoot. One time, it was so perfect I called the restaurant the next day to applaud our server to the manager. And then the other times...

What brings us back is the beer. The beer is exceptionally good, with many choices, and even though they don't always have my favorites on tap, I always wind up drinking something I thoroughly enjoy. Matt especially likes their IPAs and Kolsch, I'm a fan of the reds and ambers.

There is also a hopeful bone in our bodies that brings us back. Because we remember the time we had the sausages in an apple cider glaze, which were perfectly grilled, with a satisfying snap and earthy flavor that comes from blending beef and pork. And the server that watched our glasses and brought us another beer as we took the last sip from the first. But then there was the night when we ordered salads to come before our meal and although we were two of maybe 15 people in the place, and there were four cooks visible in the open kitchen....our salads did not arrive for over 15 minutes and when they did, my dressing was incorrect and Matt's Caesar was as soggy as a dog caught in rain.

Lately I have been enjoying their nachos. The first couple times I had them...WOW. No question, the best restaurant nachos I have ever had. Tons of melty, gooey wonderful cheese layered in on each layer of chips amongst generous quantities of jalapenos, tomatoes, scallions, and black olives. This past Saturday night? Over cooked, hardened cheese, very few vegetal accompaniments; below an initial layer of chips and practically ossified cheese...only broken, dime sized pieces of chips and no cheese.

I believe that if Beerworks chefs and managers gave the same attention to detail and high standards to their line cooks and servers as the brew masters do to their brewers....Beerworks' planets would be in perfect alignment any day of the week.