From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8 servings.
Ingredients
4 ripe medium pears, peeled, halved and cored
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons walnut oil
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
8 ounces crumbled Cabrales blue cheese, or other creamy blue cheese
8 paper-thin slices Serrano ham,
other Spanish ham, or prosciutto
Handful of mixed greens
Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, to taste
Directions
Place pears in shallow dish.
Pour oil over pears and turn them to coat evenly. Sprinkle with brown sugar and let them sit while you prepare the grill.
Fire up grill, bringing heat to medium (4-5 seconds with the hand test).
Drain the pears, reserving the oil- sugar mixture.
Arrange pears on grill cut-side down. Grill pears over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning once. Drizzle a little of the oil-sugar mixture into cavities of pears. If you plan on serving them immediately, sprinkle the pears with cheese and remove from grill. Serve atop mixed greens on individual plates beside nicely arranged ham slices while pears are still warm and cheese soft. Alternately, let pears cool, then add cheese crumbles and arrange ham. In either case, drizzle with just a bit of vinegar right before serving.
Grilled Vegetable Platter
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8 or more servings.
Ingredients
Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt, to taste
Freshly milled pepper, to taste
Vegetables:
1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch rings
1 whole large red, orange or yellow bell pepper
1 pound eggplant, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch rounds
1 small fennel bulb, sliced
1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick through stem end
1 zucchini, about 1/2 pound, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch- thick lengths
4 small heads radicchio, quartered through stem end, or 4-6 endives, halved through stem end
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Relish:
2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or parsley
1 tablespoon flavorful olive oil
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
For serving:
Capers, caper berries, green or black olives or parmesan curls, made with a vegetable peeler (optional)
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
Directions
For Vinaigrette: Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper in small bowl.
For Vegetables: Run a thin metal skewer through each onion slice to hold it together.
Brush vegetables with about 3/4 of the vinaigrette. Give eggplant heaviest coat.
Fire up grill, bringing temperature to medium (4-5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill vegetables, in batches if necessary. Plan on grilling times of about 12-15 minutes for pepper and onion slices, 8-12 minutes for eggplant, radicchio and endive, 6-8 minutes for zucchini and 4-6 minutes for tomatoes. Arrange tomatoes cut-side down to start. Turn pepper on all sides to cook evenly, and rest of vegetables 3 times, brushing with remaining vinaigrette as they cook.
Cook until tender, removing each vegetable as it is done.
Transfer pepper to plastic bag and close to let it steam and loosen skin.
When cool enough to handle, pull off any loose charred pieces of skin. Slice pepper into thin strips, discarding seeds and stem.
Arrange vegetables attractively on platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
For Relish: Just before serving, stir together tomatoes, basil, oil and salt. Top the platter with the relish.
For Serving: Top platter with any of the optional garnishes, if desired, and a sprinkling of salt.
Planked Salmon
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8-12 servings.
Ingredients
1 plank, preferably alder or cedar, long enough for salmon, but short enough to fit inside grill
1 1/2 to 3-pound salmon fillet, skin-on or off, or full side of salmon, preferably 1/2- to 3/4-inch in thickness
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste Ingredients
Soak plank in water, at least 30 minutes for a one-time-use plank, and up to 2 hours for a 1/2- to 1-inch thick board.
Weight it down if it wants to float.
Stroke surface of salmon, feeling for tiny pin bones. Remove any that you find with tweezers. Coat surface with oil and then season generously with salt and pepper. Cover salmon and let it sit at room temperature about 30 minutes.
Fire up grill to high heat (1-2 seconds with the hand test).
Transfer salmon to plank, skin-side down if there is skin. Place plank in center of grill and close grill cover, to hold in smoke from wood. Cook for 8-10 minutes over high heat. You should see a light plume of smoke emitted during the whole cooking process. If you see a billowing dark cloud emerging, or any other sign that board is burning instead of smoldering, open grill carefully and douse any flames with spray bottle of water.
Turn off or shut down heat and let salmon sit in covered grill approximately 8-10 minutes longer. (The plank helps shield the salmon from the heat, making the cooking time longer than if you were cooking it directly.) The smoke will brown the surface, and the high heat will nicely crisp it, an effect enhanced by the coarse spices. The salmon is done when just barely opaque, with a touch of darker translucence remaining at center.
Use a pair of heatproof mitts, preferably easily rinsable, to remove plank with salmon from grill. Transfer plank to upside-down baking sheet placed on work surface near grill. The bottom of the plank will be sooty, so be careful about what you put it on, even after it’s cooled.
Definitely show off your salmon on the plank before divvying it up. The easiest way to serve is to bring the plates to the plank.
If you want to serve the salmon at the table, cover baking sheet with a washable large cloth napkin or other fabric that can be cleaned easily. Then place plank with salmon on napkin and take the whole thing to the table to serve.
Be sure to let plank cool completely before you think about stashing it somewhere or tossing it out. Rinse well, whether you plan to use it again or not.
