Fast, Fresh & Green (25 page)

I make grilled potatoes just about every way you can, but none of the techniques are super-fast. Nevertheless, I wanted to include a recipe for them in the book, because my friends love these and always ask for the recipe. This technique has a make-ahead component to it, making it easier to adapt the recipe to your schedule.

This is what I do: I boil the potatoes first until they’re tender. (That’s the part you could do ahead, say, in the morning, and refrigerate them until you’re ready to grill in the evening.) Then I toss them in a mixture of mayonnaise and mustard (and plenty of salt) and grill them until they’re brown and crusty on the outside, which only takes about 5 minutes. Because they’ve been boiled first, they have a fluffy texture on the inside. Plus, they’re not on the grill for too long, so they don’t have a chance to dry out. The mayo coating also keeps moisture in.

The bottom line is that these are really yummy, and you can eat them plain or dress them up with a vinaigrette and a few salad greens (or even add them to a composed salad). Here, I’ve included a delicious and quickly made Creamy Lemon Dressing to serve with them. (You can make it while the potatoes are cooking.) What starts out as a very lemony vinaigrette becomes smooth and a little bit creamy when a bit of mayonnaise is mixed in. You can dip the potatoes into the dressing or spoon it on, whatever the occasion calls for.

Creamy Lemon Dressing

2 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

½ TSP FINELY GRATED LEMON ZEST

2 TSP FRESH LEMON JUICE

½ TSP DIJON MUSTARD

¼ TSP SUGAR

¹
/
₈
TSP KOSHER SALT

1 TO 2 TSP MAYONNAISE

1 LB/455 G RED OR YELLOW BABY POTATOES
(about 1½ in/3.75 cm in diameter), halved

2¾ TSP KOSHER SALT

¼ CUP/55 G MAYONNAISE

1 TBSP DIJON MUSTARD

1 TSP FRESH LEMON JUICE

1
To make the Creamy Lemon Dressing:
combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp mustard, sugar, and salt in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly until well combined and emulsified. Whisk in the 1 to 2 tsp mayonnaise until it’s completely smooth. (If you like a thicker and less tangy dressing, put in all of the mayo.) If making ahead, refrigerate until ready to serve. You may need to rewhisk the dressing just before serving.

2
Before starting the potatoes
, arrange a few layers of dish towels on a baking sheet to drain them. Put the potatoes and 2 tsp of the salt in a large saucepan and cover with water by at least 1 in/2.5 cm. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and rinse lightly with cool water. Spread the potatoes out on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate them for at least 10 minutes and up to 10 hours to cool down. (Alternatively, let them cool at room temperature.)

3
Preheat a gas grill
to medium (not medium-high).

4
In a mixing bowl
big enough to hold the potatoes, whisk together the ¼ cup/55g mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp mustard, and lemon juice.

5
Put the cooled potatoes
in the bowl with the mayo mixture and sprinkle the remaining 3/4 tsp salt over them. Use a silicone spatula to gently toss and coat them with the mayo mixture. Using tongs, arrange the potatoes, cut side down, on the hot grill grate. Put the lid down and cook until that side is nicely marked or brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and cook the skin side until it’s browned, 2 to 3 minutes more. Put the Creamy Lemon Dressing in a small bowl and put it on a serving platter. Transfer the potatoes to the platter.

Serves 3 to 4

In less than 5 minutes the components for this dish go on and off the grill. The prosciutto only needs about a minute to crisp up, and the asparagus only 2 minutes (I use high heat). The grilled lemons are mostly for garnish, though sliced paper thin, they’re perfectly edible and many people like them.

Because of the quick grilling time, you won’t want to wander away from the grill. You can bring your handy timer with you, but because things happen so fast (you flip the prosciutto after about 30 seconds and the asparagus after about a minute), you might have to rely on eyeballing. Look for the prosciutto to shrink and crisp up and the asparagus to be nicely marked on the bottom. The lemon slices can hang out while you’re doing all this, as they take a bit longer.

This is a very antipasto-like dish, so serve it as a first course if you like, or alongside grilled fish. This dish is pretty in a rustic kind of way, and the right plates make a difference.

16 THIN ASPARAGUS SPEARS,
trimmed

2 TSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL,
and more for drizzling (or use walnut or hazelnut oil for drizzling)

¼ TSP KOSHER SALT

1 LEMON,
halved crosswise

4 THIN
(but not ultrathin)
SLICES PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA

SEA SALT

WEDGE OF PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

1
Preheat a gas grill to high.
Toss the asparagus with the 2 tsp olive oil and the kosher salt. Cut 4 paper-thin slices from one of the lemon halves. Reserve the other half for seasoning at the end.

2
Arrange the asparagus
, lemon slices, and prosciutto slices, on the grill and close the lid. Cook until everything is well marked on the bottom, 30 seconds for the prosciutto, and about 1 minute for the asparagus and the lemon slices. Turn over each item, close the lid again, and continue cooking. When the prosciutto is crisp, about 30 seconds more, remove it from the grill. Grill the asparagus just until marked on the second side, about 1 minute more, or a total of 2 minutes. Grill the lemon slices until they’re very well browned, 1 to 2 minutes more, for a total of 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the asparagus and lemon slices from the grill.

3
On each of four antipasto or salad plates
(or on the side of four dinner plates), arrange four asparagus spears. Squeeze some juice from the lemon half over all, and sprinkle on a few grains of sea salt. Using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, slice four or five large, wide curls (or shavings) of Parmigiano-Reggiano over the asparagus. Top with a prosciutto crisp and a lemon slice, and drizzle a bit of oil back and forth over all. Season with a few grinds of pepper over and around the asparagus.

Serves 4

I love this method of grilling corn, because it’s mostly hands-off and it yields corn that’s both juicy and toasty tasting. I shuck the corn and rub it all over with butter. Then I wrap it, along with a few herb sprigs, in foil. The corn goes directly on the grill grate for 15 to 20 minutes (you’ll need to turn it every few minutes). Inside, the corn kernels steam, and they also get yummy patches of browning from the butter.

I’ve served this corn with a lot of different flavored butters, but I think Maple Butter is the most delicious. It tastes like great pancakes for dinner. Kids love this, but if you’re looking for a slightly more sophisticated flavor, the addition of lime zest to the Maple Butter is just the thing. (Either way, be sure the butter is well-softened before mixing in the maple or it will not incorporate.)

Obviously, you can double or triple this recipe if you like. It would be great with barbecued chicken and the New Potato Salad with Fresh Peas, Lime, and Yogurt (
page 133
) on the Fourth of July.

Maple Butter

3 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER,
softened

2 TSP PURE MAPLE SYRUP

¹
/
₈
TSP KOSHER SALT

½ TSP FINELY GRATED LIME ZEST
(optional)

4 EARS CORN, SHUCKED,
silks removed

4 TSP UNSALTED BUTTER

KOSHER SALT

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

12 TO 16 SPRIGS FRESH THYME

1
To make the Maple Butter:
combine the 3 Tbsp butter, maple syrup, 1/8 tsp salt, and lime zest in a small bowl and mix well with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

2
Preheat a gas grill to medium-high.
Arrange four sheets of foil (about 12-in/30.5-cm square) on your counter. Rub each ear of corn all over with 1 tsp of the butter (you can use a little less if you like). Season the corn with salt and pepper and tuck 3 or 4 herb sprigs around each ear. Roll each ear up tightly in its foil wrapper (tuck the ends of the foil in as you go).

3
Put the ears of corn
directly on the grill grate. Grill for 15 to 18 minutes, rolling each ear of corn over (about a quarter turn) every 5 or 6 minutes so that each side of the corn eventually has direct contact with the grate. Unroll a little of the foil and take a peek at each ear, which should have some browning patches. If it doesn’t, rewrap the ear and put it back on the grill (in one of the hottest spots) until browned in places, about 5 minutes more.

4
Remove the corn
from the grill and carefully loosen the foil around each ear. Let sit for a few minutes and serve with the Maple Butter for spreading.

Serves 4

I first tried grilling broccoli rabe after reading in
The Zuni Café Cookbook
how chef Judy Rodgers does it; she tosses the rabe in both water and oil before grilling. This is ingenious, because the water helps the tough rabe stems steam while the leaves and florets caramelize. My method varies a bit from hers in that I’ve found that using a grill basket helps to cook the rabe a little more thoroughly than spreading it out on the grate. The leaves don’t get quite as crisp, but the stems cook more evenly. I also like to cut the thickest stems in half lengthwise first.

I think a simple finish of a little lemon and Parmigiano is all this quick and easy vegetable dish needs. If you’re a rabe fan, you’ve got to try grilling it—you’ll love it. If you haven’t tried rabe or are serving it to friends, I recommend trying it boiled first (see cooking times,
page 116
), as boiling makes the raab milder when grilled. Be generous with the Parmigiano and serve the rabe with a simple flatbread or grilled pizza.

8 OZ/225 G BROCCOLI RABE,
bottom 2 in/ 5 cm of stems trimmed, all stems but the very thinnest cut in half lengthwise

3 TBSP EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

KOSHER SALT

¼ LEMON

SMALL WEDGE OF PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO

1
Put a vegetable grilling basket
directly on the grate of a gas grill and preheat it to medium. When the grill and the basket are hot, toss the broccoli rabe in a mixing bowl with the olive oil, 3 Tbsp water, and 1/2 tsp salt, and transfer it to the grill basket. Toss well, close the lid, and cook, tossing frequently with tongs (and reclosing the lid each time), until the rabe is wilted and all of the pieces have some browning on them, 7 to 8 minutes.

2
Transfer the rabe
to a serving platter. Taste and add a little salt if necessary. Season with a light squeeze of the lemon, and, using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, shave as many Parmigiano shavings as you like (8 to 10 would be good) over the rabe. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 3 to 4

Over the years, I’ve made lots of versions of these grilled eggplant sandwiches, and everyone loves them. You can tuck a few into a spinach or arugula salad or serve them with grilled lamb. Remember one tip about grilling eggplant: It browns up fairly quickly on the outside, and tends not to cook through. The best solution to this problem is, after removing the slices from the grill, to stack and wrap them in a foil pouch for 10 or 15 minutes, and the residual heat will finish cooking them. The flesh will be tender and silky, as it should be. Eggplant skin doesn’t bother me, but if it annoys you, score the skin with a fork before slicing or use a vegetable peeler to peel away alternating lengthwise strips of skin. Leaving some skin will help hold the slices together after cooking.