Tailgating (cont'd)

Bourbon Cured Dolphinfish


This dish was definitely a homerun (sports pun intended). And this little trick of curing fish before you put it on the grill is a great way to add flavor to into an otherwise very mild fish.


Start by mixing 2 cups of coarse salt with one cup of sugar in a large bowl, add a cup of bourbon to the mixture and mix well. Spread half of the bourbon, salt mixture in the bottom of a pan big enough to hold the filets in one layer. Lay the fish onto the salt and spread the remaining mixture over the fish. Refrigerate for 25 minutes. Remove the fish from the salt, rinse well and pat dry. Store the fish in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

To cook, place the fish on a well oiled, very hot grill. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Thanks to the cure, there is no need to season the fish befor eit hits the grill.

To finish the dish I simply julienned some apples and poured a little bourbon over them. Next I mixed in a bit of mayo and threw it on top of the fish. Local apples, fresh fish and super simple preparation- it's perfect parking lot cooking so leave the burgers at home and take your tailgate party to the next level.

It's amazing how nice people are when you have a camera crew with you. As we were cooking up the dolphinfish, the people tailgating a few cars down from us decided to wander over, smile for the camera and give a beautiful piece of tuna that had been caught just the day before. Suddenly, the challenge was on. my crew put me to the test and wanted to see what I could make out of this beautiful, fresh tuna. Lucky for me, I had a big batch of wax beans, tender young haricot vert and fresh cannellini from the greenmarket that I had cooked off the night before (I never leave the house without 'em). My man next door Rip (take a look at the picture and see ifd you can guess which one he is...) had his secret pork sauce with him. The coarse mustard and horesradish in the sauce was the perfect thing to tie together the fresh beans, some local tomatoes and the jewel-like cubes of raw tuna. Honestly, I think this salad was the best thing we made all day. Funny how things work out sometimes....

The Art of the Tailgate

This past Sunday brought together a few of my favorite things- warm, sunny skies, football and tailgating. It was a perfect morning that was all about local food and even included a few surprises.

Our menu began with the two things that no self respecting group of men could gather outide a sports stadium without- maet and beer. Toss in a locally grown sweet peppers and you've got a sandwich tailor made for the pre-game parking lot.

Start off with a foil pan on the grill get it nice and hot, then toss in some sliced peppers and onions and about 12 oz. of beer. Let those simmer for a bit until they get tender. While those are cooking, put your sausages on the grill until they're done. Transfer the sausages into the pan with the beer, peppers and onions- adding more beer if the pan starts to dry up. Let them all hang out together for 5-10 minutes, toast up your buns, break out the spicy mustard and you'll be ready to eat.

The rest of the menu...
Bourbon Cured Mahi (Dolphinfish- it was the Jets v. Dolphins game, get it?) with Apple Slaw
Raw Hudson Canyon Tuna with Local Summer Bean Salad
Just you're typical tailgate fare, right? Stick around for the recipes and see that it actually is

How to Boil Water...

...and make something that actually tastes good.

It doesn't get much easier than this. A pot of boiling water, fresh summer beans from the green market, some vinegar and good olive oil.

Fresh bean need to cooked in lots of boiling salted water. Whether its haricot vert, yellow wax beans or delicate young flagolet, they should be simply dropped into rapidly boiling water until completely tender then immediately removed and refresed in cold water to stop the cooking process. It's important to cook all of the beans separately as they each have different cooking times.

Once the beans are all cooked and cooled, I simply toss them with olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar and some crunchy sea salt. Now just surround that with some perfect, end of the summer tomatoes and crumble a little cheese. This perfect way to savor the best of what our local fields have to offer.

Distractions

Alas, numerous enticing football matchups and my own... um, let's call it a 'Grassroots Celebration of National Bourbon Heritage Month,' kept me out of the kitchen this weekend. But a gorgeous day at the Union Square Greenmarket has me ready to get back to the stove. I spent my morning working the local farmer circuit with the chefs from Daniel, Aaron Sanchez and Todd English with his film crew.

What did I find? Summer beans are exploding! Yellow wax beans, haricot vert, fresh flagolets and cannelini are and will become more abundant in the next two weeks. (This morning, flagolets weren't on display. The one's I picked up were hidden behind a couple of boxes on the back of the truck.) Coming soon... a delicious, simple summer bean salad.

National Bourbon Heritage Month

Well it seems that the fellas in Washington (DC) have finally broken down the walls of partisanship and banded together to do something worthwhile, something that is long over due. Congress has officially named September 2007 National Bourbon Heritage Month. Sounds to like a great reason to sit back a bottle and enjoy. In fact, I'll take this occasion to break the seal on Cherry Bourbon -that has been sitting for about 6 weeks now- while I think about so recipes to celebrate our 'Native Spirit'.

In the meantime, NY Apples are just beginning to show up at the Farmer's Market; which makes me think...

New York State Apples, Southern Style

Ah the south— warm weather, beautiful women, accents and of course, bourbon. What’s not to love? But now I’m in New York— it’s freakin’ cold, the women are still beautiful, the accents are not quite as cute (Staten Island, I’m looking in your direction) but we do have some of the country's best apples. To celebrate these delicious, locally grown apples, I came up with this recipe that warms me with thoughts of home. Or is that the bourbon that warms me? Oh well, it doesn’t matter. The effect is the same, just be sure to start with fresh Golden Delicious apples from your local New York state apple farmers. They’re perfectly crisp, have just the right acidity to stand up to the bourbon and sugar.

New York State Apples, Southern-Style

4 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup bourbon (your choice)
a pinch of salt
Lots of vanilla ice cream!

Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the apples and salt to the pan and cook, stirring often so they don’t burn. When the apples are tender to the tip of a knife (about 5 minutes), toss in the brown sugar and remaining butter. Quickly stir together until the sugar dissolves and coats the apples.

Crank up the heat, throw in the bourbon and stand back. If the bourbon doesn’t ignite, carefully tilt the pan toward the open flame to burn off the alcohol. If that scares you (even after you take a couple nips off the bottle) or if you have an electric range, just leave the pan over high heat and all the alcohol will evaporate anyway. When the sauce is nice and thick, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, get your bowls out of the freezer and start scooping up the ice cream.
Spoon the apples and theirs juices over the ice cream and serve immediately.

If you and your friends are anything like me and mine, you might want to serve a little extra bourbon on the side… and don't forget to let the apples cool a bit or they'll melt your ice cream right away, like mine...