So I continue to be lazy...no real surprise there. I REALLY have to get back into cooking! In truth, I have been doing some recently, but not much from Weber. We hit that snap of cold, rainy weather and I was totally ready for it! I love that kind of weather, and the cooking that usually goes along with it, particularly braising. This week, however, has some ridiculously good weather, and so I feel compelled to maximize it with a few grilling sessions. Similar to my last entry, I have been squatting on a recipe that I did quite some time ago, and I also just grilled tonight, so this entry will be a quick one as I am sure that I am hazy on some details.
Let's start with a fish dish that I grilled some weeks ago, the Teriyaki Mahi Mahi With Mango Salsa on page 292. I selected this recipe because I had recently spotted Mahi Mahi at one of the fishmongers down at Findlay Market. Capitalizing on that opportunity, I drove down and picked some up while it was still available.
The recipe calls for a quick dip in a marinade, so I pulled that together. Teriyaki, from what I can gather, is just soy sauce and sake.
The best route, I figured, was to use the Ziploc Bag Approach.
Salsa is salsa. Chop up stuff and mix it together. Oh, and do your best to stop "sneaking" bites.
Here it is, fresh from the grill! Here is something I've learned about fish: trust temperature, not color. If you look closely at where the fish is "parting" down the middle, it looks slightly pink, and thus you might think underdone. If you use a temperature probe, however, you will see that the fish is to the proper temperature, and is, in fact, done. If you decide to keep cooking, the fish will quickly dehydrate and you will be left with overdone fish, of which few people enjoy.
After some easy plating, it was time for dinner, so I called The Bride in from her TV session and we enjoyed a nice meal.
Overall, from what I can remember, this meal was not very flavorful. Either it needs more time for marinating than what the recipe calls for (which would be dangerous as the acidity of the marinade would start to "cook" the fish, leaving you with what is called ceviche) or it needs more seasoning afterwards. I've never had Mahi Mahi before, but I can tell you that this is the perfect fish for fish tacos. It shreds into taco-sized pieces quite naturally, and seems almost misused in this recipe. The salsa was pleasant, but not something I would bring to a party. Inside a taco with the fish, however, might be a good idea.
Now that we are up to speed, here is today's session! Yes, I know it's October, but my heirloom tomato plants are FINALLY starting to produce. It's been a rough summer for them, but now they are getting out of hand. All summer long I had been saving some tomato-driven recipes, waiting for my heirlooms to be ready so that I could really maximize these recipes. I've even resisted picking up heirlooms at the farmers' markets this summer for these recipes. Here is what I collected, all from just today:
The first recipe that I had reserved for my heirlooms is the Steak And Tomato Salad on page 358.
Usually I have seen flank steaks receive a rather lengthy marinade time, but this one only calls for twenty to thirty minutes. This seems short, but that will be addressed later.
So I brushed it on and went about preparing the rest of the salad while The Forge achieved Scorned Woman.
I cut my heirlooms in half (can you guess which one is called Mr. Stripey?) and later would brush olive oil on them before being grilled.
The flank steak came off the grill looking like it should, and instead of the customary five to ten minutes, this recipe has you rest the steak for at least twenty. I don't know if this helps the normally tough flank cut relax, but like a good soldier I followed my orders.
While the steak was resting I grilled the tomatoes and brought them back inside to cool down while I finished the remaining bits of the salad.
As I began to slice the steak I was quite pleased with how it had turned out. It was perfectly medium, but when I tasted a slice, I realized that it was a little bland and still just a little tough for my liking.
But as I mentioned earlier, this would be addressed. Upon completion of the slicing, I further cut the steak into salad-sized pieces, and then the recipe has you toss the pieces in more of the dressing. The acidity in the vinaigrette would help break down the fibrous steak further, making it more tender and flavorful.
Believe it or not, under that pile of steak are grilled heirloom tomatoes, and supposedly some green healthy stuff.
There, that looks better.
The Bride's eyes opened with amazement and she stated, "Holy crap! Those are awesome tomatoes!" I thanked my lucky stars that she liked them, because I figure that she has been quite patient with those stupid plants, how much space in our back yard they take up, and just how long they have taken to do anything. Maybe now she'll let me grow them again next year! I think she even liked the rest of the salad, as she went back for seconds. Overall, I liked the salad as well. When I was able to get a piece of steak, a tomato, and some green stuff all on the same fork, the textures and flavors really played off each other well. I had never really had hearts of palm before (one of the ingredients you can barely see in my crappy photos) but they were nice and I think added to the overall enjoyment of the salad.
As for the milestone I mentioned in the title, my next post will talk all about that! However, I did reach a minor one sometime during the last post...I now have over 2,000 views! WOW! Thanks everyone!
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