With small-plate dishes, versatility counts for a lot. For entertaining in particular, you want a repertoire of favorites that can function at different times as a first-course appetizer for a sit-down dinner, a cocktail party snack, and as one of several substantial options served for a full grazing dinner. The dishes featured here can play each of those roles, giving you broad flexibility in planning parties for varied occasions.
All are cooked outside, usually on the grill, and most are ready to serve immediately or soon afterward. We enjoy them most perhaps as tapa courses, with several cooked and presented in succession as a full outdoor meal, but you can and should fit them to your own style of entertaining. Tasty as well as versatile, these plates may be small, but they’re always a big hit.
Few foods boast as much appeal as hot melting cheese. We got the inspiration for these scrumptious tidbits from a Dallas friend, Paula Lambert, whose Mozzarella Company cheese is perfect inside these bundles. Use only fresh mozzarella, the kind generally packed in water rather than sold in blocks. This recipe is easy to increase or decrease, because you want one to two bundles per guest, with three-quarters of an ounce of cheese and a radicchio leaf, basil leaf, and slice of prosciutto in each.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Makes 12 bundles
1 cup inexpensive balsamic vinegar
12 large outer radicchio leaves plus a
couple extra
½ pound fresh mozzarella cheese
12 very thin prosciutto slices
12 small fresh basil leaves About
5 tablespoons flavorful olive oil
⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted
Bring the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Continue cooking the vinegar until it has reduced by at least half to make a syrup. Set aside to cool.
Prepare the bundles, first bringing several inches of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Holding several radicchio leaves at a time with tongs, dip the leaves into the boiling water for about 5 seconds, until pliable. Plunge the leaves immediately into ice water. Once cool, drain on paper towels.
Cut the mozzarella in half and then slice each half into 6 portions. Place a portion of cheese on a slice of prosciutto and add a basil leaf over the cheese. Drip about ¼ teaspoon of the oil over the cheese. Wrap the prosciutto up and around the cheese, covering as much of it as you can. Wrap a radicchio leaf up and around the bundle, covering it completely. (The extra leaves are to help in case you have a tear or just need a little extra coverage.) Secure with kitchen twine. Repeat with the remaining bundles. Brush all with the remaining oil. (The bundles can be prepared to this point and left at room temperature for about an hour or refrigerated to hold for several hours. Let sit at room temperature again for at least 20 minutes before cooking.)
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill the bundles uncovered for about 3 minutes on each side, until the radicchio is lightly browned. Turn with tongs to avoid piercing the bundles. Snip the twine off the bundles. Transfer to a heated platter or individual plates. Drizzle with balsamic syrup and scatter with pine nuts. Serve hot.
Grilled Mozzarella Bundles with Salsa Cruda Skip the balsamic drizzle and the pine nuts. Serve the bundles topped with spoonfuls of Italian-style Salsa Cruda (page 68) instead.
Grilled Mozzarella Bundles with Grilled Pepper Relish Eliminate the balsamic drizzle. Arrange a few spoonfuls of Grilled
Pepper Relish (page 71) on each plate and then lay one or two bundles over. Scatter the pine nuts over the top.
Ever wonder how grilled cheese sandwiches got their name since they’re not cooked on a grill? These gems won’t raise that question. Use a cheese that softens but holds its shape when cooked, such as halloumi from Cyprus or panela from Mexico. If you want the dish to look more substantial, serve the skewers over vinaigrette-dressed ribbons of romaine.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Makes 1 dozen skewers
12 soaked bamboo skewers, preferably 6 to 10 inches long
1 pound halloumi or panela cheese, cut into 1- to 1¼-inch cubes, at room temperature
¼ pound country bread, cut into 1- to 1¼-inch cubes
1 lemon, cut into ½-inch-thick rounds and each round cut into quarters
Several tablespoons garlic-flavored olive oil or plain olive oil
Sweet or hot paprika or freshly cracked black pepper
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Skewer 2 cheese cubes alternately with 2 bread cubes, sliding on lemon chunks after each pair of cheese and bread cubes. Brush the kebabs with garlic oil.
Arrange the skewers on the grill with the handles away from the fire. Grill uncovered for about 5 to 7 minutes, turning on all sides, until the bread is toasty brown and the cheese is colored in spots and soft. Serve immediately on small plates or a platter with a bit of paprika or pepper sprinkled over the skewers and plates.
Pears and licorice-scented fresh fennel make a dynamic duo, enhanced in this case with a fruity sherry vinegar drizzle. For extra heft, add some crumbles of Gorgonzola or other blue cheese or curls of manchego or Parmesan cut with a vegetable peeler.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 or more
½ cup sherry vinegar
½ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 medium fennel bulbs, 6 to 8 ounces each, each cut into 4 to 6 slices through the stem end
2 large ripe Bosc, Cornice, or Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon flavorful olive oil
Prepare the sherry-orange syrup, bringing the vinegar, orange juice, and brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Continue cooking the mixture until it has reduced by half. Set aside to cool.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Coat the fennel and the pear slices with the oil and cook uncovered. The fennel will take about 10 to 12 minutes and the pears about 6 minutes. Begin grilling the fennel slices and, after 5 to 6 minutes, turn them and add the pears to the grill. Turn the pears after about 3 minutes. They should be done at about the same time. Arrange on a platter or individual plates, with the sherry-orange syrup drizzled under or over or both. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Open-house (or open-patio) parties-where guests are invited to come and go whenever they want over several hours-generally allow relaxed, easy hosting. You do virtually all of the work before people arrive, and if you’ve planned well, you have little to clean afterward. People expect to serve themselves from finger food already laid out, dishes that will hold at room temperature and don’t often need to be replenished. Because people arrive and leave at different times, the crowd stays manageable and you have an opportunity to talk longer with all your guests.
a Holiday Open House
Cheeses, olives, crackers, and breads
Smoked Trout Nibbles (page 114)
The Big Crudité Basket (page 88)
Double-Smoked Ham (page 544)
Skewered Grilled Shrimp and Piquillo Peppers (page 237)
Basil-Cured Smoked Salmon (page 91)
Lemon pound cake with lemon curd
Holiday cookies
Red and white wine
Medjool dates are a royal treat, worth seeking out for a special occasion. It may sound contradictory, but look for plump, moist dried dates. Stuffing them with blue cheese and wrapping them with bacon balances their honeyed sweetness.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Makes 2 dozen
About ½ cup creamy blue cheese, crumbled, at room temperature, or half blue cheese and half cream cheese mixed
24 plump dried dates, preferably Medjool, pitted
24 almonds, preferably Marcona
12 strips bacon, halved crosswise
Spoon the blue cheese into a pint or quart freezer-weight plastic bag. Mash it in the bag, squeezing it to the bottom. Snip off ¼ inch of one of the bag’s lower corners and squeeze to pipe about ½ to 1 teaspoon of the cheese into each date’s cavity. Don’t fill beyond the top, but get as much inside as you can manage. Fill the remaining dates with cheese.
Slide an almond into the cavity of each date. A little of the cheese may ooze out. Wrap a piece of bacon around each date, covering the stuffed cavity in particular as much as possible. Secure each with a toothpick.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Cook the dates uncovered until the bacon is brown and crisp on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon and the degree of crispness you prefer. Watch carefully and move as needed to avoid flare-ups. Serve warm.
Almond-Stuffed Dates with Goat Cheese Replace the blue cheese with creamy fresh goat cheese, piping in the same fashion.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Almond-Stuffed Dates with Blue Cheese These are not actually grilled, just warmed at the edge of the grill or in a low oven. Pipe or spoon about 1 teaspoon softened creamy blue cheese into each date before inserting the almonds. Warm the dates briefly. Wrap each date loosely with a paper-thin piece of prosciutto and serve two to a plate.
Some cooks think that piping a filling requires too much effort, but in many instances it can save both time and labor. For something like this dish, where you need to get a small amount of a creamy cheese inside a bunch of dates, piping goes much faster than using a spoon. It makes the cleanup easy too, since you simply throw away the plastic bag when you’re done.
Bell peppers take on the distinctive flavor of the grill fire as well as or better than any other vegetable, and their colors are always festive on a platter. Choose thick-walled, meaty peppers, then cook them long enough to get them good and soft, not simply charred on the surface. Mix and dress this as you wish, with olives, capers or caper berries, torn basil or parsley leaves, rolled-up thin slices of salami or pepperoni, shards of ricotta salata or another cheese, and a communal basket of country bread.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 or more
2 plump yellow or orange bell peppers or a combination
2 plump red bell peppers
1 plump green bell pepper
1 or 2 corno di toro, poblano, or New
Mexican green chiles or other large mild fresh chiles
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or French fleur de sel
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill the peppers and chiles uncovered, in batches if necessary. Plan on grilling times of about 8 to 12 minutes for the chiles and 12 to 15 minutes for the bell peppers. Some particularly heavy, thick-walled peppers can take up to 5 minutes longer. Turn on all sides to darken and blister the pepper and chile skins. Grill until tender, transferring each as it is done to a large plastic bag to steam. When cool enough to handle, strip all the loose skin, rinsing your fingers, rather than the pods, as you go.
Slice the peppers and chiles into thick or thin ribbons, collecting all the juices. Arrange everything attractively on a platter. You can toss all the pepper and chile ribbons and juices into a colorful jumble or arrange each hue in a different mound. Serve warm or at room temperature.
A bruschetta party is fun and inexpensive. Everyone toasts his or her own bread slices over the fire, then tops them from a spread that includes cheeses, cut-up vegetables, tapenades, herbs, and meat bits. Select from the suggestions above or add your own creative thoughts. Leave room for a dessert of toasted bread and chocolate. Use squares or thin bars to melt over the bread.
We featured a version of this Spanish twist on bruschetta in an earlier book of ours, Good Times, Good Grilling (HarperCollins, 2005). It disappears so quickly at a party that we decided it deserved an encore, dressed a little more elaborately in this case with paper-thin slices of Spanish serrano ham or prosciutto. If you don’t have the time to dry the tomatoes in an oven or covered grill, substitute a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil.
COOKING METHOD | COVERED GRILL COOKING
Makes 1 dozen large slices
8 red-ripe plum tomatoes ¼ cup flavorful olive oil ½ teaspoon dried thyme, basil, oregano,
or marjoram, optional Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt Freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette, thickly sliced on the diagonal
into 12 pieces
2 plump garlic cloves, halved
12 paper-thin slices serrano ham or prosciutto
Preheat a covered grill or the oven to 250°F. Arrange a piece of parchment on a baking sheet.
Cut 6 of the tomatoes vertically into 4 slices each. Toss the tomatoes together in a shallow bowl with 2 tablespoons of the oil and the herbs if desired.
Lay the tomato slices on the baking sheet and season generously with salt and pepper. Bake in the covered grill or oven for about
2½ hours, until the slices are somewhat dried and shriveled looking but still soft and glistening. (The tomatoes can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to several days. Bring back to room temperature before using.)
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium-low (6 to 7 seconds with the hand
Grill olive oil-brushed baguette slices, rub them with a garlic clove, and top with:
* Provolone or Manchego and capers with the grill- or oven-dried tomatoes
* Fresh mozzarella, fresh or dried oregano or sage, and hot red pepper flakes
* Mascarpone and roasted red bell peppers
* Fresh goat cheese with black olive tapenade
* Fontina and grilled Italian sausage rounds
* Provolone and grilled shrimp with a few snipped chives
* Sharp Cheddar with chutney
* Blue cheese, pear slices, and bits of prosciutto sauteed in olive oil until crisp
* Fresh goat cheese and roasted garlic bits with thyme leaves
* Fresh mozzarella, whole basil leaves, and halved cherry tomatoes
* Mascarpone, grilled asparagus tips, and tiny ribbons of lemon zest
* Pesto and little squares of grilled chicken
test). (If you want to grill other foods simultaneously that require a higher temperature, just arrange the bread around the grill’s outside edges.)
Toast the bread uncovered briefly on both sides, until lightly colored and crisp. Smear all the toast on one side with the cut side of a garlic clove, pressing it firmly. As this garlic half gets used, move on to the others. Brush each toast lightly with the remaining oil. Slice the 2 remaining tomatoes in half vertically and firmly smear the cut sides over the bread slices. When done, you shouldn’t have much left other than the raggedy tomato skins. To serve, top each slice of toast with a pair of oven-dried tomatoes and then a slice of ham.
cooking METHOD | GRILLING
Whole tuna steaks can get a little pricey for entertaining a group, but cut into chunks for a small-plate dish, they give you a lot of flash for much less cash.
Makes about 1 dozen kebabs
Bagna Cauda Sauce
cup flavorful olive oil
2 tablespoons slivered garlic
2 teaspoons minced lemon zest,
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped anchovy fillets ½
teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, or more to taste
Two 1-pound tuna steaks, preferably
yellowfin, approximately 1 inch thick, cut into 1-inch chunks
Soaked bamboo skewers, 8 to 10 inches long
Prepare the sauce. Pour half of the oil into a small skillet. Add the garlic and lemon zest and warm over low heat for about 5 minutes. If the garlic begins to sizzle, the sauce is getting hotter than you want, so remove the skillet from the heat for a few seconds and then return it after it has cooled a little. Stir in the rest of the oil, the anchovies, and the pepper, and heat for a minute or two, just until the sauce is warm to the touch. Pour two-thirds of the sauce into a serving bowl. Reserve the rest to brush on the skewers before cooking.
a Light Bite After Work
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Skewers (page 108)
Seared Tuna Tidbits with Bagna Cauda Sauce
Fennel and Pears with Sherry-Orange Drizzle (page 108)
Pinot Grigio or sparkling water
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to high (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test).
Thread 2 tuna chunks onto each skewer. Brush the skewers with the reserved sauce.
Transfer the kebabs to a well-oiled grate with the handles of the skewers away from the heat. For tuna cubes with a distinctly pink center, grill the kebabs uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes, turning to sear on all sides.
Serve hot on small plates with the remaining bagna cauda sauce.
Seared Tuna and Swordfish Tidbits with Bagna Cauda Sauce Replace one of the tuna steaks with an equal amount of swordfish. Place a tuna tidbit and a swordfish tidbit on each skewer, alternating their positions as you thread each skewer.
You can find so many interesting infused and flavored oils as well as bottled sauces today. We still make plenty of our own, but when we come across a good thing like commercial wasabi oil, or the black-olive and feta
squeeze bottle sauce our local market was recently taste-testing, we add them to our collection of options. Then they’re on hand to dress up anything that comes off the grill. We don’t buy too many at a time, or they get forgotten, but a few well-chosen options keep us ready for cooking out.
Seared Tuna Tidbits with Wasabi Oil
Look for wasabi oil at a well-stocked supermarket or specialty food store. Brush enough of it on the tuna to cover lightly. Plate the kebabs and drizzle with as much additional oil as you wish. Pickled ginger, the kind that accompanies sushi, is good on the side.
Trout take to smoke almost as well as they do to water. Wild-caught fish always taste better, but the farm-raised variety works well in this preparation, too. Serve on free-form crackers with Mustard and Honey Sauce, if you like, and a feathery bit of fresh dill.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 6 or more
Four 8- to lo-ounce trout, gutted and butterflied, or skin-on trout fillets
Olive or vegetable oil
Juice of 1 large lemon
Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Large broken crackers, such as lavash
Mustard and Honey Sauce (page 54) or a
few tablespoons softened cream
cheese
Tiny fresh dill sprigs
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 2 o o 0 F to 25oºF.
* Nestled in endive spears, dabbed with Gribiche Mayonnaise (page 66)
* Arranged with honeydew cubes or topping honeydew slices, garnished with mint
* Topping a bed of watercress with lemon half-moons
* Crowning Granny Smith apple slices, drizzled with Garlic-Orange Vinaigrette (page 63)
* Turned into a creamy Simple Trout Spread (page 117)
* Plated with spoonfuls of Worcestershire Pecan Butter (page 64)
* Topping thin rounds of toasted cornbread with spoonfuls of corn relish or salsa
Spray or rub the trout with a thin coat of oil. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the trout sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
Transfer the trout to a small-mesh grill rack. If working with whole trout, lay them open, like a book. Place the rack with the fish in the smoker. Cook the trout until opaque and easily flaked, 30 to 45 minutes, depending on size. Slice the trout carefully into bite-sized squares, discarding the skin. Serve immediately on crackers or chill for later use. When assembling the nibbles, the sauce is best over the trout, and the cream cheese under iL Top with dill and serve.
You may not want to look an ugly monkfish in the eye, but you’ll relish the rich, sweet, chunky fillets from its tail. As much as we like the dense-textured meat, which welcomes the heat of the grill, a little of it goes a long way. So we often serve it as small-plate skewers, sometimes adding a little embellishment with rounds of Spanish chorizo or small tomatoes.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 or more
1½ tablespoons flavorful olive oil
1½ teaspoons sherry vinegar
1¾ pounds monkfish, any gray membrane
removed, cut into 1-inch cubes Metal skewers
1 large red onion, cut into thin 1-inch-wide chunks 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, preferably Spanish
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or French fleur de sel
Stir together the oil and vinegar in a large zippered plastic bag. Add the monkfish cubes, seal, and toss back and forth to coat evenly. Let sit at room temperature.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to high (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test).
Drain the fish, then thread the cubes on the skewers alternately with the onion chunks. Push the onions right up against the fish so they don’t burn before the fish is done.
a Spanish Tapas Party
Grilled Monkfish Skewers, Barcelona Style
Pan con Tomate (page 112)
Skewered Grilled Shrimp and Piquillo Peppers (page 217) Manchego cheese and olives
Fennel and Pears with Sherry-Orange Drizzle (page 108)
Sangria
Grill the kebabs uncovered on a well-oiled grate for 10 to 12 minutes, turning on all sides. The monkfish is ready when quite firm and easily pierced with a fork (it doesn’t flake). It’s not a fish that you want to serve undercooked; all translucence should be gone from the centers of the cubes. Arrange the skewers on a platter and sprinkle with paprika and salt. Serve right away.
Another fearsome-looking fish, the African snoek, stars traditionally in this delicious spread. We make it at home with more readily available bluefish or mackerel. Serve it with crackers or on grilled toast triangles, preferably from seven-grain or other densely textured bread.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
One ½-pound bluefish or mackerel fillet
About 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon mild-flavored olive oil
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Several drops of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Rub the fish fillet with 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice, sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon salt, and let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
Transfer the fish to the smoker. Cook until it flakes easily, 35 to 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Flake the fish finely, discarding any skin and bones. Mix it in a small bowl with the oil, then add the onion, chives, and Tabasco sauce. Season with 1 tablespoon or more lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate covered for at least 30 minutes and serve.
Smoky Catfish SpreadUse a catfish fillet instead of bluefish. Replace the oil with 4 tablespoons (½ stick) softened butter.
Simple Trout SpreadUse a trout fillet instead of bluefish. Replace the oil with 3 ounces softened or whipped cream cheese.
Smoked Salmon SpreadUse a piece of salmon fillet instead of the bluefish. Replace the oil with 3 ounces softened or whipped cream cheese. Puree for a silkier texture if you wish.
Spreads make good cocktail hors d’oeuvres for stand-up eating, but you can also plate them as an appetizer course. With this you could smear the spread between two similar-sized jagged crackers or crisp extra-thin flatbreads, making the filling thick enough to stand the cracker “sandwich” on end. Then perhaps lay another doubled cracker with spread on its side or add a scoop of the spread to the plate. Scatter with a little citrus zest, snipped chives, compatible dry rub, or chopped nuts.
If you’re serving a lot of shrimp at a casual party, it’s fine to let the guests peel them after they’re cooked. That’s traditional at a shrimp boil (page 243) and we do it also with shrimp we smoke as a main dish (page 240). If you try to grill them un-peeled, you basically steam them in their shells, but when you smoke the shrimp slow and low, the smoke flavor penetrates to the meat. The tasty morsels offer a refreshing twist on the peel-and-eat idea.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 6 or more
Chesapeake-Style Seafood Rub and Boil
2 tablespoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon celery seeds
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1½ teaspoons ground ginger 1½ teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
½ teaspoon freshly grated mace or
nutmeg ¼ teaspoon cayenne ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
2 pounds medium to large shrimp (about 30 per pound)
1 to 2 lemons, cut into thick wedges
Stir the spices together in a large bowl. Add the shrimp and toss with the rub, massaging it into the shrimp’s nooks and crannies. There will be a lot of rub, but much of it falls away in the cooking and peeling.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Smoke the shrimp until lightly cooked through and fragrant, about 15 to 20 minutes. They are ready when opaque, slightly firm, and lightly pink on the exterior. Serve hot or chilled, piled high with lemons. Provide easy-to-reach bowls or plates for the shells.
These oysters get their firm texture and slightly sweet flavor from a salt and brown sugar brine. The intensity of the resulting flavor makes small portions best. Offer them on a plate of peppery arugula or watercress, with toast or buttery crackers on the side. If you shuck the oysters yourself, keep at least a few of the shells-well-washed-for the serving presentation.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 6 or more
Oyster Brine
¼ cup coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
24 medium oysters, shucked
Oyster Rub
cup coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt 2 tablespoons packed light or dark
brown sugar 1 teaspoon onion powder
Extra virgin olive oil
At least 4 hours before you plan to smoke the oysters, mix the brine ingredients with
cup cool water in a large nonreactive bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add the oysters to the liquid and place a plate over them to keep them submerged. Marinate the oysters at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Rinse the oysters and pat them dry. Transfer them to a platter lined with several thicknesses
When we’re entertaining, we usually plan on serving several dishes that can be prepared in advance. That eases party-day stress and allows us to concentrate on one or two prime-time dishes that we finish in front of guests, showcasing these centerpiece courses. Whether it’s burgers on the grill, brisket in the smoker, or seafood in a big-pot boil, guests will fondly remember what you made especially for them as they watched.
of paper towels. Allow the oysters to air-dry for 1 hour, changing the towels if they become soaked with liquid given off by the oysters.
Combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Dunk each oyster lightly in the mixture.
Line the platter with a new batch of paper towels. Return the oysters to the platter. Allow them to air-dry for another hour. Rinse the oysters again and pat them dry. Change the paper toweling on the platter and return the oysters to the platter. Allow the oysters to air-dry for 1 hour longer. The oysters should have a glossy-looking surface. (The oysters can be covered and refrigerated overnight at this point.)
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Transfer the oysters to a small-mesh grill rack or sheet of perforated grill foil and place them in the smoker as far from the fire as possible. Cook the oysters for 45 to 55 minutes, until somewhat shrunken and dried but well short of shriveled and toughened. Place the oysters in a small bowl and drizzle them with the oil. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Robustly flavored, like the oysters in the preceding recipe, these mussels satisfy the most avaricious appetite.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 6 to 8
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or
1 tablespoon dried
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil About a dozen ice cubes
4 to 5 dozen mussels in their shells
Fresh dill sprigs for garnish, optional
Whisk the mayonnaise and minced dill together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Combine the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Put the ice cubes in a smokeproof 8-inch-square or 9 × 12-inch baking pan or in a deep pie pan. Place the mussels in a shallow smokeproof dish large enough to hold them in a single layer, more or less.
Place the mussels over ice in the smoker as far from the fire as possible. Plan on a total cooking time of about 25 to 30 minutes. The mussels are done when all have opened and they are still plump and juicy. Drizzle the lemon-oil over all the mussels when they come off the smoker. Serve the mussels in shallow bowls accompanied by the dill mayonnaise. Pop them from the shells with a fork, dunk into the mayonnaise, and savor.
Smoked Mussels with Saffron Mayonnaise Replace the dill mayo with Saffron Mayonnaise (page 65).
Smoked Mussels with Epazote Butter For a Mexican twist, eliminate the mayon-naise
a Summery Smoked Lunch Party
Smoked Trout Nibbles (page (114) Smoked Mussels with Dill Mayonnaise
Warm French bread or focaccia Sliced fresh peaches and cream
Berry Sparklers (page 80)
and melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter with 2 teaspoons dried epazote over medium-low heat. Set the butter aside for the flavors to mingle while the mussels are smoked. If necessary, melt the butter again to serve.
Smoking leaves a bronze haze on dishes as well as food. You can wash off the film on a dish used once for a short period of time, but you want a smokeproof option for more frequent or lengthy use. Disposable foil pans are one possibility, but it seems wasteful to keep throwing them into the trash on a regular basis. We simply dedicate a few inexpensive pans to smoking. They can go into the dishwasher or sink for sanitizing, but we don’t expect them to lose their smoky patina.
The wing has come a long way from Buffalo. For these toothsome glazed nibbles, we like to use both joints of the wing, easy to separate at home with a cleaver or other heavy knife. Some diners dive immediately into the meatier drummette portions, while others like the crack and crunch of the smaller wing ends.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 or more
Margarita Marinade and Sauce
½ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup orange juice
½ cup silver or gold tequila
¼ cup triple sec or other orange liqueur
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vegetable oil ½ teaspoon salt
3 to 3¼ pounds chicken wings
Prepare the marinade. Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl.
With a cleaver or other large knife, remove the bony tips (good for making stock later) from the wing ends. Then cut each wing in half at the joint. Place the wing sections in a zippered plastic bag and pour the marinade over them. Seal and refrigerate for at least several hours and preferably overnight.
Drain the chicken wings, emptying the marinade into a saucepan. Bring the marinade to a vigorous boil over high heat and boil until reduced by about half. Keep the sauce warm.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill the chicken wings uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 14 minutes total. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, turning to sear on all sides, then brush with the sauce over the next 5 minutes. Let cook for the final couple of minutes without glazing so the sauce crisps up a bit. When done, the chicken should be cooked through and the sauce lightly charred in a few spots and chewy in others. Serve warm, piled high on a colorful platter to eat as finger food. Offer loads of napkins.
Charred Habanero Hot Wings Skip the margarita marinade and sauce. In its place, use Blazing-Hot Guava-Habanero Hot Sauce (page 58), thinned with an additional ½ cup fresh lime juice.
Charred Plum-Hoisin Wings Skip the margarita marinade and sauce. In its place, use Plum-Hoisin Sauce (page 57), thinned with an extra ¼ cup rice vinegar and ¼ cup water.
Smoking chicken livers won’t turn them into foie gras, but there’s certainly some level of alchemy at work that gives them a more buttery and wilder edge. To make them into a sumptuous mousse, chop the livers finely, blend them with lots of onion and Madeira, and let sit for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve with rye crackers or rye bread toast or maybe broken matzo.
a Wingding
Charred Margarita Wings
Charred Habanero Hot Wings
Charred Plum-Hoisin Wings
Honest-to-Goodness French Fries (page 429)
Tequila-Grapefruit Sorbet (page 516)
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Makes about 2½ cups, serving 6
1 pound chicken livers
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or
sea salt, or more to taste 1 medium yellow onion, cut into chunks
1 hard-cooked large egg, quartered
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or chicken fat, melted
2 tablespoons Madeira or brandy, or
more to taste Freshly ground black pepper
cup pistachio nuts, toasted and finely chopped
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Toss the chicken livers with the vegetable oil and salt in a medium bowl.
Smoke in a smokeproof pan for about 25 to 30 minutes, until just uniformly brown and lightly firm. Cool briefly.
Butter a medium serving bowl.
Process the onion and egg in a food processor until minced. Add the livers, butter, and Madeira. Process again until finely chopped but not completely pureed. Season with pepper and additional salt if needed. Pack into the prepared bowl and sprinkle with pistachios. Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours and up to a day. Remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving.
Diminutive quail make a perfectly proportioned small plate. It’s simple to halve them, which makes for easier grilling. With kitchen scissors, cut each down along the breastbone and then along the backbone. In this miniature mixed grill with sausage, finish the dish with crisp olive oil-coated bread crumbs for an extra fillip of taste and texture.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6
1 cup apple juice or cider cup cider vinegar
5 tablespoons flavorful olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage or 1
tablespoon crumbled dried, plus whole leaves for garnish
1 teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or
sea salt
6 quail, about 5 ounces each, halved
½ cup fresh country bread or cornbread crumbs
2 sweet or hot Italian sausage links, 4 to
5 ounces each
At least 1 hour and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill, whisk together the juice, vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the oil, the minced sage, and salt in a small bowl. Coat the quail with the marinade, rubbing it over and under the skin without tearing the skin and tucking sage in where you can. Place the
quail in a zippered plastic bag and refrigerate. Turn occasionally.
Remove the quail from the refrigerator, drain them, and discard the marinade. Pat the skin dry with paper towels. Let the quail sit uncovered at room temperature. In a small skillet, stir the bread crumbs together with the remaining tablespoon of oil and reserve.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on medium-high heat (3 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium heat (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Arrange the quail, cut side down, and the sausages over medium-high heat Grill the quail uncovered for 2 minutes per side and roll the sausages on all sides. After 4 minutes, shift the quail and sausages to medium heat, turning the quail again. Cook the quail for an additional 3½ to 4 minutes per side, until the skin is brown and crisp and the meat turns opaque but is still juicy. Expect the cooked quail to be a little pinker than chicken. Continue cooking the sausages over medium heat for 10 to 14 minutes. After the quail come off the grill, cover them loosely to keep them warm and place the skillet of bread crumbs on the grill in their place. Stir the crumbs occasionally and cook until they are toasty brown and crisp. The crumbs should be done at about the same time as the sausages. Slice the sausages into rounds a little less than ½ inch thick.
Arrange 2 quail halves on a plate, skin side up and legs overlapping a bit at the bottom of the plate. Tuck some sage leaves between the halves and arrange 3 or 4 sausage rounds between and above the quail. Scatter crispy crumbs, 1 to 2 teaspoons per plate, over the quail, sausage, and plate edges. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve warm.
It seems like we always get an unexpected guest or two, usually a friend of a friend who happens to be in town or needs to get out. Be prepared to accommodate the situation graciously. We usually cook a little extra of most things and, if we have leftovers, enjoy them ourselves the next day. If you haven’t done that, quietly serve yourself and your spouse reduced portions, grabbing something from the kitchen between courses if necessary.
If you love to build a blazing-hot fire, here’s your chance. You want to char the outside of this Italian-inspired “carpaccio,” killing any nasty surface organisms, but keep the center of the meat ultrarare. Use only prime or high-quality choice beef from a reputable meat market and be sure to select a thicker center cut rather than a thinner section of tenderloin. The sauce is a garlicky herb slurry, like a pungent Sicilian chimichurri, best made with a mortar and pestle. Small portions are surprisingly filling, and if you’re serving several other tapas dishes, you can easily make this
Stretch easily to feed another one or two lucky guests.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Salmoriglio Sauce
2 plump garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher
or sea salt
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves 2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
One 1½-pound center-cut section beef
tenderloin Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt Freshly ground black pepper Lemon wedges
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or French fleur de sel
Prepare the salmoriglio. Crush the garlic in a mortar, then mash in the salt until a paste forms. Add the thyme and keep mashing and crushing until you have a rough puree. Repeat with the oregano. Add the lemon juice and give it a simple stir. Then add the oil, a tablespoon or so at a time, incorporating it with a stir and a pounding or two after each addition, until you have a thick sauce. Reserve at room temperature while you prepare the meat and fire.
Rub the meat lightly with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to high (1 second with the hand test).
Grill the tenderloin uncovered on all rounded sides just until dark and crusty on all surfaces, about kitchen between courses1½ to 2 minutes per side for a 3- to 3½-inch-thick tenderloin. Go by sight, though, and take the meat off the fire immediately when you reach the desired stage. Let the meat sit for 10 minutes. With your sharpest knife, slice no more than ¼ inch thick. On a work surface, cover a tenderloin slice with wax paper or plastic wrap. With a smooth-surfaced meat pounder, press down lightly (no crushing blows) until the meat is about ⅛ to 1/16 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining slices. For each serving, lay several tenderloin slices side by side on a large plate.
If you want to encourage diners to wrap grilled tidbits in lettuce leaves or garnish with cilantro or other herbs, turn the ingredients into an edible bouquet or centerpiece. Pile up lettuce leaves attractively on a tray or in a basket or bowl. Leave herbs on the stem and arrange them on or are. Tuck inound the lettuc other vegetable bits, such as red bell pepper, cucumber, or carrot strips. Arrange little ramekins of peanuts or sauce around the edges.
Dress with a few squeezes of lemon. Spoon on salmoriglio and scatter the plates with a few flakes of salt. Serve immediately.
Refrigerate any leftover salmoriglio and beef promptly.
When you’re carving thin slices of chicken or beef to cook after they marinate, as in this satay, cut them across the grain to keep them looking as great as they taste. Here we enhance the presentation further by interspersing the satay skewers on a platter with spears of pineapple grilled at the same time. To turn this into a more substantial plate, serve the satay over Asian Noodle Salad (page 483), made with white rice and lots of herb and vegetable bits.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Makes about 2 dozen
Peanut Sauce
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons packed light or dark
brown sugar 1 tablespoon ground dried mild to
medium red chile, such as New
Mexican
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 to 1½ teaspoons Asian fish sauce
Satay Marinade
Juice of 2 large limes 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons peanut oil 1 tablespoon packed light or dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground dried mild to
medium red chile, such as New Mexican
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
¾ pound beef tenderloin, sliced across the
grain into ½-inch-thick strips about
4 inches long ¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken
breast, sliced across the grain into
½-inch-thick strips Soaked bamboo skewers, preferably
6 to 10 inches long Vegetable oil spray
Minced fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped peanuts, or both
Prepare the peanut sauce, stirring the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons water and heat until melted together into a thin sauce. Spoon into a small bowl and reserve at room temperature.
Prepare the marinade, stirring the ingredients together in a small bowl. Place the beef in one zippered plastic bag, the chicken in another. Pour half the marinade in each, rubbing it into the meats your fingers. Seal each bag and toss back and forth to coat the beef and chicken. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature
to medium-high (3 seconds with the hand test).
While the grill heats, drain the beef and chicken strips. Thread them onto skewers, bunching each strip onto the top 4 inches of the skewer. Spray the chicken lightly with oil.
Arrange the skewers on the grill with the handles off or away from the fire. Grill uncovered over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning several times. The beef is ready when done to your liking, preferably nicely browned outside and pink at the center. The chicken is ready when firm and white. Serve the satay hot off the grill sprinkled with cilantro and/or peanuts and accompanied by the peanut sauce.
Yakitori Twins Prepare these Japanese skewer tidbits in a similar fashion, but rely on just a sauce to add glaze, gloss, and that yum factor. Skip the satay marinade and sauce. Cut 6 scallions into inch-long pieces and skewer one at the bottom and top of each beef and chicken skewer. To make the yakitori glaze, simmer together ½ cup soy sauce, ⅓ cup turbinado or packed light brown sugar, ¼ cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine), 1 teaspoon minced orange zest, and 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest in a small saucepan for about 3 minutes, until the sugar is melted. Squeeze in a little orange or lemon juice if you wish to make it a bit tangier. Brush over the skewers before cooking and, with a different clean brush, a minute or two before they come off the grill.
Grilled Beef Lettuce Rolls with Peanut Sauce Skip the chicken and double the number of beef tenderloin skewers. Marinate, skewer, and grill as directed. When grilled, place each skewer on a crisp lettuce leaf cup and add thin strips of fresh mango or Granny Smith apple. Top with spoonfuls of peanut sauce and scatter cilantro and maybe some shreds of scallion over the top, if you wish. Roll up a lettuce leaf, pull out the bamboo skewer, and eat with your fingers.
These quick little appetizer skewers combine sweet, savory, and spicy tastes. We make them regularly at La Combe en Périgord, in Southwest France-where we conduct annual culinary adventuresusing the regional pruneaux d’Agen and chunks of piquant Moroccan merguez lamb sausage. If you can’t find the merguez, substitute another fragrantly perfumed, spicy sausage. Guests may be initially reticent about the combination of ingredients, but the first bite will dispel all doubts.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Makes 12 appetizer skewers
4 to 6 uncooked merguez sausage links, about ¼ pound each, or other spicy sausage, in ¾- to 1-inch chunks
¾ to 1 pound plump, moist pitted dried plums
Soaked bamboo skewers, preferably 6 to 10 inches long
Dijon mustard, optional
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium-high (3 seconds with the hand test).
Arrange several sausage chunks and dried plums on each skewer, alternating them. Brush lightly with mustard if you wish.
Arrange the skewers on the grill with the handles off or away from the fire. Grill uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes, turning on all sides. The skewers are ready when the sausages are cooked through and the dried plums soft and caramelized in spots.
If you like, serve with more mustard on the side for dipping.
With only a nugget of meat at the end of a soaring bone, these appealing lamb rib chops can be something of a tease. One or two good bites and they’re history, which is fine for a small course. The delectable cherry sauce is a little chunky and coarse, almost a compote. We prefer to make it with tart rather than sweet cherries, even when we can find them only frozen. Banyuls vinegar, a deeply flavored French wine vinegar, enhances the sauce, but sherry vinegar will work, too.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6
Mustard Paste
2 tablespoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon cracked mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
12 frenched lamb rib chops, ¾ to 1 inch thick
Sweet-and-Sour Cherry Sauce
1 pound pitted sour cherries
⅓ cup minced shallot
2 tablespoons Banyuls vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or light brown sugar
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or French fleur de sel
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
First prepare the paste, combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside 2 teaspoons of the paste, then smear the rest of it over the chops, including the rib bones. Let the chops sit uncovered at room temperature.
Make the sauce. Combine the cherries, shallot, vinegar, sugar, salt, and reserved mustard paste in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes, breaking up the cherries a bit with a fork as they cook. Remove the sauce from the heat when the juices are very thick.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill the chops over high heat for 1½ to 2 minutes per side. Continue grilling the chops over medium heat, rotating them half a turn, for about 2 minutes per side for medium-rare.
Quickly reheat the sauce and whisk in the butter. Adjust the seasoning if needed. Pool a bit on the center of each plate. Arrange two chops on each plate, bones leaning against each other, scatter a few flakes of salt over the chops, and serve.
Frenching is the elegant-looking technique for stripping the fat off the top several inches of the rib bone, leaving just a good bite’s worth of meat and a long bone. If you don’t see individual trenched chops, ask for a couple of trenched racks of lamb with the requisite number of chops and have the butcher slice them into the desired portions, or do it yourself at home.