It's SUMMERTIME! Light some candles on your back porch, fire up the grill, kick off your shoes and invite your friends for a laid-back evening of cool drinks, easy conversation and, of course, delicious food! This menu is super-easy to shop for and prepare. You can even prepare things ahead of time, which I'll note in the descriptions below. Fire it up!
Make this salad in advance if you wish! It only gets better as the flavors have an opportunity to get acquainted. This will keep very nicely overnight, or you can just throw it together the evening of your dinner.
Serves 6
3 cups medium-grain bulgur wheat
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, juice of
1/2 cup hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, or almonds, toasted and chopped
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, with fronds, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries, or currants
1 cup mint, chopped
2 cups parsley, chopped
To prepare the bulgar wheat
Cook in a ratio of 1:2 (wheat to water). Place the bulgar wheat in a large bowl.Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and then pour over the bulgar. Allow the bulgar to sit for about 30 minutes to absorb the water. Drain the bulgar through a strainer and then fluff with a fork.
To make the salad
To the cooked bulgar, add the olive oil and the lemon juice. Then jazz it up! Add the chopped nuts, the finely chopped red onion, the diced fennel, the dried fruit and the mint and parsley. Taste the lovely mixture. Would you like more lemon? More salt? Do the proportions look good to you or would you like more fruit or herbs? This is up to you! Play with it and make it yours.
Serves 6
2 pounds tomatoes
2 English cucumbers, 1/2 for garnish
2 red bell peppers, 1/4 for garnish
1/2 red onion, 2 tablespoons for garnish
1/2 cup parsley, dill, or basil, 2 tablespoons for garnish
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Tabasco
Preparing the veggies
Prepare the tomatoes by cutting them in half through the middle. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds, trying to also remove the stem as you lift out the flesh. Slice the cucumbers down the middle and de-seed them with a spoon. Roughly chop 1 1/2 of the cucumbers for the soup, the remaining half dice for garnish. De-stem, de-seed and roughly chop both peppers. Save about 1/4 of one and finely chop for garnish. Peel and roughly chop 1/2 red onion. Save about 2 tablespoons of the onion and finely chop for garnish.
The garnish now consists of: finely chopped cucumber, red pepper and red onion. Add 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, dill, or basil) for nice color and flavor. Set aside, covered, in the fridge.
Making the soup
The soup will be made in two batches.
Place about half of each of your veggies in the blender with about 3⁄4 cup of cold water. Start the blender with a rough pulse and then work your way up the dial to "liquefy". With the blender running, add a healthy pinch of sea salt, the balsamic vinegar, a few turns of the pepper mill and taste. Add the olive oil for body and the Tabasco for a little zing! Taste your soup. Are you happy with the balance of sweet, sour/tangy, salty and spicy? If you are, great. If not, begin adding salt, vinegar, Tobasco in small increments until you have the perfect balance. Repeat with the remaining veggies.
Chill the gazpacho for 3 hours, or overnight, if you can! Serve with a dollop of the garnish.
You can make these yummy croutons in advance. Just store in an air-tight container, and pop in the freezer if you are going to keep them for more than a couple of days.
Makes 5 cup of croutons
5-6 slices of stale white bread
5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoons cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons parsley, dill or basil, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Trim the crusts of the staled bread and cut the bread into desired crouton size. In a large mixing bowl, toss the croutons with the chopped garlic, salt and fresh ground pepper and at the olive oil. Sometimes we like to add a small handful of finely chopped herbs!
Spread the croutons on a baking sheet, or two and give the sheet a shake so that the croutons are in one even, single layer. Pop them in the oven and intermittently check on them to see how they are coming along, give the pan a nice shake when you do.
This is the marinade we used in class. But another option would be to combine the tops of fennel, garlic, lemon zest, half an onion and blend in a food processor then rub on the pork loin. This works best for larger loins.
Serves 6
2-3 shallots or 1/2 red onion, diced
1 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed
To prepare the pork marinade
Combine the shallots, the wine, the allspice, olive oil, the salt and pepper, in a non-reactive bowl (i.e. glass or plastic) and marinate the meat, covered in the fridge, for at least 3 hours. Do not marinate for more than 24 hours because the wine will cure the meat!
Grilling the pork
The pork will cook fast, especially if it is thin, so give it only about 7 minutes on each side before testing. You want to pull your pork at 145°F. If the pork is very thick, then grill on all sides and finish in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes or until the temperature reads 145°F.
Whichever way you cook the pork, allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. This is the part when the meat relaxes and releases its juices so don't miss this step! Loosely cover the meat with foil if you are concerned about losing heat. When ready, slice nice medallions of the loin, if you like, pop them on the grill for a minute or two a side to get some nice grill marks to finish the job.
Sauce can be made in advance and re-heated.
Makes 1 cup sauce
2 shallots or 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 cup port
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup pomegranate concentrate
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Sauté the shallots in butter with the peppercorns. When the shallots are just tender, and not browned, add port and red wine. Simmer gently until the liquid is reduced by half. Then add the pomegranate concentrate, orange juice, the chicken stock and vinegar. Reduce this by another half.
At this point, you can strain it and swirl in a knob of butter for a velvety sauce, or just serve it with the meat as we did in class. Plate the meat with the sauce basted over and under, and garnish with mint springs, and pomegranate seeds if in season, for what will make a beautiful plate to set on the table.
Another way to ensure that your chicken is lovely and tender is to soak it in a simple brine.
Serves 6 as a side salad
1 quart water
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup salt
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-2 teaspoons cayenne
3 teaspoon garlic powder
4 pounds chicken, bone-in, skin-in, trimmed
Preparing the brine
Combine the water, the sugar and the salt in a small pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer and stir until all of the sugar and salt have dissolved. While the brine is cooling to room temperature, trim the excess fat of each piece of chicken and set aside. When the brine has completely cooled, place the chicken pieces in the brine, immersing them completely. Place the chicken in the fridge and soak 1 1/2 hours.
To make the rub
Mix together the chili powder, ground cumin, sweet paprika, cocoa powder, cayenne, and the garlic powder. Pop this in a plastic bag and combine well. Set aside.
Rubbing the chicken
Once the chicken has brined, take the pieces out and dry well. We like to put ours on a cooling rack over a sheet tray in the fridge and let them air dry. Once they are dry, evenly coat the chicken pieces with the rub by placing them in the plastic bag and gently massaging the chicken so the rub gets evenly distributed. The chicken can hang out like that for several hours or even overnight.
Grilling the chicken
Pull the chicken out of the fridge to warm up for a few hours before you pop it on the grill. When you are ready to go, start skin side down on a hot, clean, lightly oiled grill. Once you have a nice sear, turn frequently until the chicken is cooked through. The chicken is ready when you can slit the middle with a knife and the juices will run clear. Do not cook until it is dry, we want juicy!
Serves 6
16 ounces balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
6 ripe, but firm peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
8 ounces mascarpone
2 tablespoons Amaretto liquor, optional
To make the balsamic reduction
Place the balsamic vinegar and 3/4 cup sugar into a saucepan. Turn the heat to high and let bubble and reduce by about half. Then, turn the heat to low and stir as you assess the reduction. When it just begins to get thick and coat the back of a spoon, remove from heat. The reduction will continue to thicken quite a bit as it cools.
To prepare the peaches
Slice the peaches, remove the pit and perhaps enlarge the center hole with a spoon.
To prepare the dish
Heat up the grill! When it gets nice and hot, place the peach halves flesh side down. Baste each peach, at the grill, with the balsamic reduction. After they have grilled with pretty hatch marks on them, place peaches in an oven safe dish with a dollop of mascarpone cheese on each half.
Place the peaches under the broiler for 5 minutes, but not more, and then drizzle with as much Amaretto as you can get away with before people raise their eyebrows at you.
You have many options when preparing chicken for the grill! A wet marinade is a great way to add flavor and tenderize the chicken.
Serves 6
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lemon, zest of
4 pounds chicken, bone-in, skin-in, trimmed
Combine all of the above ingredients and marinate the chicken for three hours. The yogurt will ensure that the chicken is very tender!
When ready to heat, heat the grill to high. Lightly oil the grill grates and pop the chicken on, skin-side down. Get a nice crispy skin and then reduce the grill heat to medium.
You can make this up to one day in advance, but not too far in advance unless you wish to make really strong Sangria!
Makes 14 glasses
3 oranges
2 limes
2 bottles of red wine
1/2 bottle of mango passion juice (found at Trader Joes), or any juice you like
1/2 cup orange liqueur
Cut the limes and oranges into about 1⁄4” thin slices and plop into your pitcher. Muddle gently! Add the red wine, 1/2 bottle of mango passion fruit juice and the orange liquor. Mix.
Fill a lovely glass with ice and pour the sangria. Be sure to garnish with some yummy, booze-infused fruit!