Guests Bram and Monica Meehan: Summer Grilling

Excellent Ingredient Equipment of the Week
A note from Stacy: This week, the excellent ingredient is actually a piece of equipment — your grill. Its good for so much more then just hot dogs. Monica and Bram have all kinds of creative ideas for your grill and if all else fails check out Mark Bittman's 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling.

Charcoal? Propane? Whichever suits you and your style of cooking. The important thing is to use that grill in the hot summer months by trying out all kinds of meats, seafood, vegetables, and fruits. We'll often just look around at what we've got and what's fresh and on sale and then, as Stacy noted, let Bittman tell us what to do with it.

Salmon Grilled Between Romaine Lettuce Leaves

This old standby comes from Bob Blumer, who gives us a delicious way to grill fish without having to worry about it sticking to the grate. Monica will usually make an artichoke heart-lemon-chive-olive oil tapenade that gets wrapped with the salmon, the remainder passed at the table. The other day we substituted Swiss Chard for the lettuce, and grilled up rest of the stems and leaves quickly beforehand for a wilted salad.

Ingredients
four 3-foot pieces of twine, or other non-flammable natural fiber
four 6 oz. salmon fillets or steaks — fillets are easier to eat, steaks are easier to wrap and cook
eight large outer romaine lettuce leaves
2 teaspoons olive oil
three lemons — two juiced, one sliced thinly
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Procedure
Soak twine in hot water for 5 minutes. Rinse salmon in cold water and pat dry with towel. Repeat the following for each piece of salmon: rinse two romaine leaves in water, shake off excess water. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of oil over the inside (concave) side of leaves. Place salmon fillet in the center of one leaf (concave side up). Pour the juice of 1/2 lemon over salmon, trapping the drippings with the leaf, then season with salt and pepper. (or top with artichoke tapenade.) Place the second leaf, concave side down, over salmon. Fold the ends of the bottom leaf up to keep juices trapped, and wrap the string around the leaves to seal. Tie string in a knot.

Cook lettuce-wrapped fish on hot grill for no more than five minutes a side. For added drama, serve wrapped and have guests remove the string; the leaves are edible, and, if not too blackened, pretty good.

artichoke tapenade

Ingredients
1 can artichoke hearts
olive oil, to taste
juice and zest of 1 lemon, to taste
chives, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure
Chop everything well, and mix, tasting as you go. This recipe is not an exacting thing, obviously!

Grilled Mussels with Herb Butter

Our most recent discovery is grilled mussels — it's really absurd how easy this recipe is. A pound of mussels (around 40) are inexpensive (even in Santa Fe) and will feed two people with some grilled bread and a salad; remember to discard any mussels that stay open before they're uncooked and that stay closed after they're cooked.

Ingredients
fresh mussels, about 1/2 pound per person
1/4 cup butter (or more)
parsley and/or other fresh herbs
lemons

Procedure
In a small pot, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Heat grill to medium-high.

Place mussels on grill in a single layer; they won't fall through the grate, but work in batches if necessary. Grill two lemon halves, cut side down.

Cook until mussels open and lemons are warmed through and browned, about five minutes. With tongs, transfer mussels to a large platter. Pour herb butter over mussels; sprinkle with coarse salt and ground pepper. Serve with lemons.

Chicken Satay Sandwich with Peanut Sauce
and Cucumber-Onion-Pepper Relish

This simple recipe from SheSimmers takes the components of a traditional Thai Satay meal and turns it into a grilled sandwich.

Ingredients
Satay marinade — recipe here
Thai peanut sauce — recipe here
cucumber relish — recipe here
boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Ciabatta rolls
cilantro

Procedure
Marinate the chicken for a few hours. Grill chicken over medium to medium-high heat until cooked; lightly grill rolls. Allow your guests to assemble their own sandwiches, topping with the cucumber relish and peanut sauce (and maybe some kimchi).

Pressed Nicoise on Baugette

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
This is the sandwich version of the salad Nicoise. You can find it in various forms all over the Mediterranean coast where it is made. And you make it ahead of time because in this case a little soggy is the plan.

Ingredients
1/2 loaf crusty French baguette
1 clove garlic, cut in half
4-6 basil leaves
1 (6oz) can Italian tuna packed in oil
3/4 cups Nicoise or Kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 jar or can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (optional)
1/4 cup blanched French green beans, sliced into thirds (optional)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Procedure
Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Remove some of the insides of the bottom half to create a trough into which the filling will go. Brush both halves with a little extra virgin olive oil. Rub each with the garlic. Line the half with the trough with the basil leaves. In a mixing bowl, combine the tuna, olives, red bell pepper, onion, parsley, artichoke hearts and green beans. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice into the olive oil until it is emulsified. Pour the vinaigrette into the tuna mixture and stir to combine. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. When you are ready to assemble; spoon tuna mixture into the trough of the baguette over the basil leaves. Wrap sandwich well in plastic. Crush it down by placing a brick or heavy cast iron skillet and refrigerate, preferably with the weight, overnight. When hungry, cut sandwich in half. It tastes better if you are in France.

Artichoke Pie

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I had never heard of Artichoke pie till I was in New York in October and my pal Peter said something about having to call and order two pies for Thanksgiving. What are you talking about? Don’t you know about the Artichoke Pie from Joe’s Busy Corner? They only make it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Who knew? So I went over there to try to convince them to give me the recipe or make me one, neither happened. But I did get one last week. So this is the best I can do to try to mimic the recipe. This is a work in progress and as I come closer to the flavor I remember I will update the recipe.

Ingredients
oil based pastry for double crust 9" pie
2 (6 oz.) jars artichokes, drained and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
16 oz. ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 tsp. dried tarragon leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1 Tbsp. heavy cream

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 9" pie pan with one half pastry; roll the other half into a 10" circle. Cover and set aside. Prepare artichoke hearts and set aside. In heavy skillet, cook onions in olive oil until tender. Set aside. In large bowl, combine ricotta, sour cream, eggs, Parmesan and swiss cheeses, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Add chopped artichoke hearts and cooked onions. Pour into prepared pie shell.

With extra pastry round, cut lattice strips and overlap on top of pie. Seal edges with a little egg wash. Brush with 1 Tbsp. heavy cream. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is set.