La Belle Cuisine

Time to break out the grill!

Recipe source:
Outdoor Pleasures: Picnics,
Parties, and Portable Feasts
by Elizabeth Sahatjian, 1985, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.

May is fast drawing to a close, which means that Memorial Day is upon us.
(Already?!?) And that can mean only one thing: Outdoor pleasures await us.
The summons of long-anticipated summer... The grill, the swimming pool, the
beach. Or perhaps for you, it is fresh, clear mountain air that beckons. In any
case, we will be heading out-of-doors, will we not? And we would prefer NOT
to have to do a whole lot of work to have a great meal, right? Right! With
that in mind, I offer you the following menu (serving 6 to 8):

Yellow Pepper Soup
Chili Corn Bread
Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese
Grilled Skirt Steak
Grilled Vegetables
Carol's Salsa
Dessert Suggestions:
Mexican Cinnamon Rice Pudding with Fresh Fruit
Cherry and Peach Cobbler
Granny Manning's Peach Cobbler
Citrus Pound Cake

Yellow Pepper Soup

2 tablespoons sweet [unsalted] butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large yellow [bell] peppers,
cored, seeded and sliced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
6 cups chicken stock
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper

To serve:
Sour cream
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Fried corn tortillas, cut in 1/2-inch strips

Melt the butter in a medium skillet, add onion, celery, and garlic and sauté over medium heat until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add peppers and sauté 5 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly. Turn peppers into a food mill or processor and purée.
In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, Tabasco, and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in pureed pepper mixture, season with salt and pepper,
and simmer over medium heat for a few minutes longer. Serve hot,
garnished with sour cream, chopped cilantro, and tortilla strips.

Chili Corn Bread

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sweet [unsalted] butter,
melted and cooled briefly
1 cup fresh sweet corn kernels
1 cup white corn meal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 green poblano chili, roasted, peeled, and chopped, or
2 ounces canned chilies, drained
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees [F].
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, and corn
and blend well.
Combine corn meal, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour liquid gradually, but quickly, into corn meal, mixing just until dry ingre-
dients are moistened; do not overmix. Turn batter into a greased 8-inch
square cake pan. Sprinkle chilies and cheese over the top and bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese

4 ounces fresh, mild goat cheese, softened
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet [unsalted] butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
One 5-pound roasting chicken
1 cup lime butter (recipe follows)

Combine goat cheese, butter, and cilantro in a mixing bowl or food
processor and blend or process until smooth and thoroughly mixed.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Carefully loosen the skin over the breast of chicken with your fingers
and stuff goat cheese mixture between skin and breast meat, patting
the mixture out as evenly as possible. Pull skin back into place. Truss
chicken. Brush generously with lime butter.
Place the chicken on a grill 4 to 6 inches from very hot mesquite coals
and grill, basting with lime butter and turning chicken every ten minutes
so that it browns and cooks evenly for about 45 minutes, or until the
juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

Lime Butter

2 cups sweet [unsalted] butter, softened
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons grated lime zest

Place butter, wine, half-and-half, lime juice, and grated zest in a blender
or food processor and process until smooth and well blended. Brush over chicken and vegetables while grilling. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Grilled Skirt Steak

One 3-pound, 1 1/2-inch-thick skirt steak
2 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Rub steak liberally all over with cut side of garlic cloves. Brush with oil
and season well with salt and pepper. Place steak on a grill 4 to 6 inches
above very hot mesquite coals and grill to desired doneness – 3 to 4
minutes on each side for medium rare. Slice steak diagonally into
1/4-inch-thick slices and serve hot.

Grilled Vegetables

1 cup lime butter (recipe above)
8 ears sweet corn in the husks
2 butternut squash, cut into wedges and seeded
8 whole red, yellow, and/or purple peppers
8 miniature white or purple eggplant,
halved lengthwise
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup orange juice

Brush lime butter generously over all vegetables. Place corn and squash
on a grill about 4 to 6 inches from very hot mesquite coals and grill for 2
to 3 minutes. Add peppers and eggplant and continue grilling vegetables, turning and brushing with lime butter, until tender and evenly charred,
about 8 to 10 minutes longer. Total cooking time for corn and squash is
10 to 15 minutes; for peppers and eggplant, 8 to 10 minutes.
Blend maple syrup and orange juice. Remove vegetables from the grill,
drizzle orange mixture over squash wedges, and serve hot.
(You may substitute about 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, scrubbed and cut into lengthwise slices about 1/4-inch thick for the butternut squash if you like, coating and basting them with the lime butter, and grilling 8 to 10 minutes. Omit the orange juice mixture.)
Accompany the steak and grilled vegetables with warmed flour tortillas
and salsa.

Carol’s Salsa

4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
(white and tender green part)
1/2 fresh jalapeño chili, minced
One 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, drained
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
[We add a couple of cloves of garlic, minced.]

Combine tomatoes, scallions, fresh and canned chilies, lime juice, cilantro,
and salt in a medium mixing bowl and mix together well. Let stand at room temperature for at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to blend. Makes 2 1/2 cups.
 

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