Nibbles

Grill Mastery

Nibbles

Ah, yes, weather permitting (and even sometimes not), thousands (millions?) of grills across the country will be fired up to char something with family and friends.

My first tip for the grilling-minded is for barbecue chicken and it comes from Mom. She takes leg quarters and marinates them in Italian dressing (straight from the bottle into a large baggie and if you can let it sit overnight in the fridge, even better), to start, and then pre-cooks them a bit in the microwave. Now, don’t shriek, it’s actually an excellent idea since it’s SO tough to get the chicken to cook evenly on the grill without one part getting over cooked or it taking forty forevers. So you par-cook the legs in the microwave and THEN put them on the grill to finish cooking and get that lovely caramelized finish and a good brush with the barbecue sauce of choice.

Did you know that chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees? Now you do. Get out those meat thermometers and make sure the fleshiest bit is up to temperature before serving yourself or your guests. Pork should also always be cooked fully (no pink!) to reduce the risk of trichinosis. Beef and lamb can be cooked anywhere from 140 (rare) to 170 (well done) without too much worry (though why you’d want well-done lamb is beyond me!).

Most recipes suggest throwing out the marinade once it’s been used but you can actually use it for a sauce IF you bring it to a boil and keep it boiling for several minutes (5 is a good number) to “cook” any of the raw meat juices that are in there.

Finally, a true tale of grilling no matter what. It was my high school graduation party and the house was pretty full of guests. The plan had been to grill but the weather was atrocious: rainy and grey. But, the show must go on so Mom changed into her swimsuit and shorts and went outside with an umbrella to tend the grill as needed. Of course, if you’ve got the grill lid in one hand and tongs in the other, how are you going to hold the umbrella? In your cleavage, of course.

So don’t let a little water dampen your party this Memorial Day weekend.

Nice Ice!

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As the weather heats up, it’s only natural to be thinking about ways of keeping cool. Maybe that’s why ice seems to be a very popular topic (because there’s no such thing as coincidence!).

I loved shaped ice cubes. They’re fun. I started with a set of flexible square cube molds just for something a little different and then, on my first trip to IKEA, found some great cube trays in the shape of wine bottles (though I’ve never actually used them yet). But the folks at Fred Flare are taking ice cube novelty to new heights! Amuse your guests, or just yourself, with frozen smiles, a fossiliced pair, ice invaders, or–my personal favorite–the gin & titonic ice cube trays.

Novelty aside, ice can be very serious business. Both the current Food Network Magazine and Imbibe have ice on the brain. The former has this to say about choosing the ice for cocktails:

No ice for: precisely mixed cocktails, like martinis and Manhattans.
Crushed ice for: concentrated drinks that need some watering down, like mint juleps or swizzles.
Small cubes for: light, refreshing drinks, like gin and tonics and mojitos.
Large cubes for: strong, boozy drinks, like Negronis and straight-up liquor.

–Food Network Magazine, June/July 2009, p.139

And speaking of the mint julep, Imbibe has a great article about Chirst McMillian of Bar UnCommon in New Orleans, Louisiana, and their website features a Q&A with the same about the classic Mint Julep.

Imbibe: What about the actual practicalities of your idea of the perfect Mint Julep? For instance: crushed ice or cracked ice?
CM: I hand-crush my ice. I have a Lewis bag and a large mallet. While I have access to a crushed-ice machine at work, if I had to leave the bar every time I needed to go get crushed ice, it would be a disruption to service, and if I kept crushed ice in the well, it would slush up and become wet. And the coldness and dryness of the ice at the inception of the drink is really one of the key elements of its success. Like people say with everything else, “fresh is better.” From the moment you crush it and take it out of its cold environment, ice is going to start to dilute and melt down. I don’t know if you’d call it cracked or crushed. I’d call it crushed. I pound the shit out of it with that mallet.

–Q & A WITH CHRIS MCMILLIAN, Imbibe Online

Pairings

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The Rule of Food & Wine Pairings used to be: Red with Beef, White with Chicken or Fish and White Zin with nothing at all (okay, that last part I made up, don’t hate me because I hate the cool-aid of wines and I won’t hate you for ordering Filet Mignon well done, though I will feel sorry for the cow). Some people still hold this to be gospel and it’s okay because, well, it make sense: colors match, it’s easy and, for the most part, the heavier the food the heavier the flavor of the wine.

Now, though, most people are fine to live and let dine with whatever your choice of wine. Like Merlot? Drink it! Prefer Chablis? Stock your shelf with a case and enjoy. But don’t be surprised if you fine yourself noticing what does and doesn’t enhance the flavor of your wine or your meal.

This is where pairings come in. It’s a true art form which requires an extensive knowledge of wine, the flavors that go into them, as well as a good knowledge of food. See why we ended up with the red with red guideline? Wineries are actually helping to demystify wine a bit as some will put on the label what foods their wine goes best with and there’s always the helpful Wine Guy at your local store–make friends with him (or her!)–who can steer you in the right direction. Paying attention to menus that suggest certain wines with certain dishes can also give you an idea of what goes with what.

Of course, nothing beats just experimenting at home. Try this: the next time you open a bottle of wine, plan to have a variety of basic foods around to try with it. A few basic proteins, some spreads and dips, anything with a definite flavor and try each with a little sip of wine. Better yet, make it a party: invite some friends, make up some score-sheets and maybe even cloak the bottles so that no one is prejudiced against a particular wine. You know, I’ve been meaning to have a wine party and this might be just the thing!

I’m really surprised to have four more wine-related offerings from Entrepreneur to share, but I guess some things if not recession-proof are at least recession resistant (i.e., drown your sorrows much?). Of course, these gorgeous places may not be the ideal spot to moan about money woes, better to let them envelop you and forget your troubles for a few hours.

I’d happily spend some time in any of these beautiful spots: Wine o’Clock from Brunnel Family Cellar, the Newsome-Harley Winery, Thunderbolt Winery or Tulip Hill Winery & Vineyard. Doesn’t someone want to send me to California, huh? No? Oh, well, I’ll just have to add it to my list!

Cinco de Mayo

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Ah, yes, the 5th of May. Widely remembered for an occasion to eat tons of Mexican food (cheap and filling, you can imagine the number of such restaurants and how busy they get when you’re in a college town!), drink Corona and Dos Equis and, of course, margaritas. Margaritas whose defining ingredient is tequila.

(It also has something to do with the Mexicans defeating the invading French in 1862, but you don’t hear much about that, really. Though it’s amusing to note that a local French restaurant is hosting their own Cinco de Mayo celebration… irony or no?)

As much as I love cocktails (including the margarita–on the rocks with salt, please) I’m not much for drinking hard liqueur straight. On our recent (January, 09) cruise to various places in Mexico, we stopped in at the Tequileria shop in Costa Maya which offers free tastings. I really figured this shop would be lost on me and that it was time to head to the next jewelry store, instead, until some pretty, frosted bottles with pastel liquids inside caught my eye.

Hello, Tequipal. This blend of blue agave tequila, cream and fruit is really very nice served chilled in cordial glasses. I tasted the strawberry and coconut in the shop and liked it enough to purchase the sampler box of 4 small bottles (200 mL each of mango, coconut, strawberry and coffee) for $40 US. Unfortunately it seems like US availability is tough to find, but if you  happen to find yourself in Costa Maya or a similar Mexican port, be on the lookout for this lovely take on a national staple.

Random Appetites: Go Cups

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New Orleans and Las Vegas are the two cities I know of where it’s perfectly legal for you to walk down the street with your beer or cocktail in hand. Consequently, if you’re in a wandering mood, you can request your drink be put in a Go (or Geaux, in The Quarter) cup rather than the usual glass or whatnot and mosey on down the way. While many places use coated paper cups or Styrofoam, some have capitalized on this and have printed plastic cups for their to-go orders. These also make useful “throws” during Carnival season (beads are not the only thing thrown from parade floats, t-shirts, cups, footballs and other items are quite popular).

Of course my recent move was what had me thinking of to-go items and this post has been a result of such stream of consciousness thought. If you’d like something more potent with your Random Appetites, check out these three wine-related articles that came, of all places, from Entrepreneur.com while I get back to digging my way out of cardboard purgatory.

This Winery’s Vintages Speak for Themselves

Art is Science at Six Sigma Ranch

Experience the Luxury of Hall Wineries

And, finally, a quick reminder that next week’s Random Appetites will post on Monday under a new name! Even if you read this through RSS, please stop by the some time next week to see the new, fresh look of Random Acts Comics!