Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [150]
SWEET POTATOES
Fire-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Root Beer–Rum Butter
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
If you like sticky-sweet sweet potatoes with marshmallows or maple syrup, try this combo. You’ll need a charcoal grill or campfire with burned-down embers. Burying the sweet potatoes in hot coals is cool as hell and guaranteed to make you a grill master.
INGREDIENTS:
4 orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (3 to 3½ pounds total), pricked several times with a fork
½ cup Root Beer–Rum Butter
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
DIRECTIONS:
Light a charcoal grill or campfire grill. Leave the grill grate off so the coals are accessible. When they glow bright reddish-orange, rake them to make a coal bed at least 2 inches deep. Bury the sweet potatoes directly in the coals, raking the coals to nearly cover the potatoes. Cook until a skewer slides in and out of the center of each potato easily, about 45 minutes, turning once or twice. Using tongs, brush off any loose ash, and then remove the sweet potatoes to a platter or plates. Let cool for a few minutes, and then cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise and mash the flesh of each half with a fork. Drizzle with the root beer–rum butter and sprinkle with the orange zest.
CELERY
Grilled Celery, Apple, and Sour Cherry Slaw
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Slaws are such a common accompaniment to grilled food, it only seems fitting that they experience fire on their own. Here, we briefly grill celery stalks and carrots then toss them with crisp raw apple, sweet and sour cherries, chopped walnuts, and a creamy blue cheese dressing. Just the side dish to make a cookout of grilled burgers and dogs a whole new kind of meal.
INGREDIENTS:
Dressing:
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 very small shallot, minced
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
Salad:
8 ounces celery (about 8 ribs), trimmed
1 small carrot, trimmed and scrubbed
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small apple, cored and cut into matchsticks about 1½ inches long
½ cup dried sour cherries
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
For the dressing: Combine the vinegar, sour cream, mayonnaise, shallot, salt, pepper, and blue cheese in a serving bowl.
For the salad: Light a grill for direct medium-high heat, about 400°F. Cut the celery ribs and carrot in half lengthwise and toss with the oil until well coated. Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Grill the celery and carrot so they are perpendicular to the bars of the grate, directly over the heat, until nicely grill-marked yet quite firm, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a cutting board and cut the celery and carrot into matchsticks about 1½ inches long. Add to the dressing along with the apple, cherries, and walnuts. Toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day.
FENNEL
Grilled Fennel, Orange, and Olive Antipasto
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Fennel’s heady scent of anise is frequently paired with oranges in the cuisines of the French and Italian Riviera. The combination breathes bright aromas into this light antipasto, in which sliced fennel is slowly grilled and basted continuously with a mop of white wine. Fennel bulb is the vegetable form of fennel weed, which is an herb. Buy bulbs that are round and heavy for their size, and avoid specimens with lots of stalk, which is fibrous and unusable here. The feathery fronds aren’t terribly aromatic, but they make an attractive garnish, so save them when you trim the stalks.
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced lengthwise ½ inch thick
½ cup crisp, fruity white wine such as ribolla gialla or pinot grigio
2 seedless oranges, cut into supremes
½ cup grill-roasted