Grilled Endive

Growing up lettuce was normally the iceberg type, and reserved for salads, burgers, and – well that was just about it.  The idea of grilling lettuce would be unthinkable.  Today, however, supermarkets carry multiple varieties of lettuces.  One of the most unique looking and expensive is endive. I first learned of the lettuce from watching a Martha Stewart cooking show. It was foreign and I remembering wondering why would someone want a bitter lettuce.  Fast-forward a few years, after being exposed to a wider world of foods, and I find endive worthy of its price and place in the pantheon of lettuces.  Grilling endive brings out a subtle sweetness that adds a bit of flavor contrast that is richly satisfying. 

Ingredients 

2 heads of endive

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon canola oil

 

Step One

Preheat grill or grill pan to high. Slice the Endive in half, long ways.  Salt the endive and brush oil on each side. Cooking spray may also be used.

Step Two

Place endive on the grill cut side down.  After one minute turn the endive over to grill the other side for 1 minute, and then remove the endive from the grill.  Serve immediately.

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken is a wonderful dish, and  it is rather ubiquitous on most Indian restaurant menus in the United States.  With it's bright red colored, it makes a visual statement that complements its bold flavor. I was, however, saddened when researching for this recipe to learn a lot of places add red food coloring. The red color is given naturally from pepers spices found regionally, but since Americans have come to expect the bright red color and often the key pepers are not always available  red food color is added. This preparation skips the food coloring. The result is a Tandoori chicken, sans the tandoor, that is delicious, tender, and reminiscent  of most good Indian restaurants.

Tandoori Chicken

1/2 cup plain or Greek yogurt
1 Lime Juiced
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon  ground cumin
1 tablespoon  korean chili power (1/2 teaspoon Cayenne)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon Garam Marsala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon  salt
3 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast cut into large chunks
1 Large white onion quartered.




Step One:   In a medium bowl mix the first 12 ingredients. Move mixture to a zip top bag and add chicken moving chicken around to ensure each chunk is covered.  Refrigerate and allow to marinate for 8 hours. 





Step Two:   Heat a grill to high heat. Remove chicken chunks from bag and disgard marinade.
Place the chicken on the grill.  Cook until done rotating the chicken half way though so that each side is charred, but not burnt.  





Step Three: Reserve chicken and add onion to the grill and cook until the onion is charred on each side.

Baby Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes are a perennial favorite dish through our the south eastern United States. The dish rose to national and international fame following the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. Tomatoes are a berry that normally turn red as they ripen. Green tomatoes are tough and  a bit tart.  Most tomatoes found at your supermarket are actually shipped green; they bruise less because they are tougher, and then exposed to chemical to trigger them to turn red.  Green tomatoes will not be carried in most supermarkets. They are, however, found at many farmer's markets usually during the months of June and July depending on the region.  This preparation uses small or baby green tomatoes sliced thin  and fried crispy.  They are great as an appetizer, or just a fun snack.

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/2 cups thin sliced small green tomatoes


Step One:
Combine the first three ingredients well in a bowl.  Add the oil to a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Divide into three batches. Toss tomatoes in the corn meal mixture in preparation for frying one batch at a time.

Step Two:
Add one batch of the tomatoes to the skillet in a single layer and cook for 1 minute.  Turn them over and cook for another minute. Remove the cooked tomatoes to a paper towel lined plate, and repeat until all the batches are fried. 

Sesame Seed Encrusted Grilled Tuna

As I suspect for many of you, when I was growing up tuna was a fish in a can that didn't have much flavor until it was made into tuna salad, or a casserole.  Times have changed; now fresh tuna has caught on big time in the US.  It served in wide a variety of restaurants, and is available at most supermarket fish counters.  There are various types of tuna, and some are more sustainably caught than others. For more information regarding sustainably caught fish please visit  the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program website. 

Particular types and cuts of tuna are prized in sushi, and prices for those prime cuts can be very very expensive. This preparation uses the sashimi grade tuna from my local super market.  Sashimi grade tuna is a commonly found high grade of tuna. It is used in most sushi restaurants, and in beef terms would be comparative to USDA Choice.  Tuna is delicious on its own, however when pared with sesame seeds it takes on an otherworldly quality.  There's just something about the flavors of the toasted sesame seeds and the fresh tuna that bring out the best in both. This simple recipe follows the same cooking guidelines as our steak recipe. Tuna should never be cooked well. The flesh should always have some pink. Medium rare is the most if should be cooked any longer and it will become dry and tough. At that point you might as well simply have purchased canned tuna and made a tuna salad with a hint of sesame oil added at the end. 

Ingredients:
4   quarter pound 1 inch thick tuna steaks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds


Step One:

Season both sides of the tuna steaks with salt and pepper. Place the sesame seeds on a plate, or a shallow dish. One at a time press the tuna steaks on to the sesame seeds rotating them until tall the surfaces of the tuna steak are covered with sesames seeds.

Step Two:
Oil and preheat the grill or grill pan to high heat.  Place the tuna steaks on the gill for 4 minutes. Turn the steaks over and grill for another four minutes more. Remove to a plate and let the steaks rest.

Spicy Garlicky Kale

If you haven't noticed, kale is popping up all over the place. It's in everything from chips to salads and juices. Kale's popularity should not be surprising. It is one of the simplest vegetables to cook, and per WebMD, and USDA kale is one of the healthiest foods around. Green curly kale, like the variety used in this preparation, can be found in most supermarkets. Don't be surprised, however, if you find more than one variety in your super market's refrigerator case; Cornell Cooperative Extension lists 48 varieties, and there are actually more than that.

This preparation aims to not squander the goodness of kale by over cooking it, or cooking it with cured and smoked animal parts.  Instead of masking or overpowering the kale, the peppers and garlic complement the kale. Together they form an amazing alliance of flavors.

Ingredients:
2 pounds kale
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1  Jalapeño pepper, diced
2  spicy banana peppers, diced
5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/3 cup water


Step One:
Wash the kale under cold water.  Remove the stems, and tear or cut the kale into 4 inch pieces.






Step Two:

At the vegetable oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add the peppers, and stir until softened.  Add the garlic, and stir until fragrant. Stir in the salt and the crushed red pepper.





Step Three:  Add the kale to the pot, and combine with the pepper and garlic mixture. Add 1/3 cup  of water to create steam and to prevent the kale from burning.  Cover and cook, stirring periodically for ten minutes.