Mixed Grill: East Meets West
The Messy Chef does it again… For larger (and additional pictures), click on any one in this post and see more detail courtesy of Flickr.
For the MessyChef show on September 8, 2007, we elected not to take video. Instead, we took photos, which I may turn into a video. Nevertheless, I will outline the meal here. It combines flavors from both “East” and “West,” my two favorites.
- Appetizer: Foccacia Bread with Roasted Red Pepper, Basil/Pesto, and Mozzarella Cheese
- Mixed Grill: Chicken Thighs, Andouille Sausage in a Hoisin BBQ Sauce
- Ginger Rice
- Side: Grilled Eggplant with a Pepper/Tomato Sauce
- Dessert: Gourmet Vanilla Ice Cream with Rum Banana Sauce
Appetizer
I purchased the basil/pesto bread from Panera Bread. I topped it with roasted red peppers, salt, and fresh mozzarella cheese. I next placed it on the grill long enough to begin melting the cheese.
After it came off the heat, I added fresh basil and cracked pepper. It was cut into quarters and served to each diner.
Mixed Grill
I like variety, and decided to combine a no-fuss spicy sausage with an Asian-themed chicken. I marinated the chicken for 25 minutes in soy sauce and Chinese cooking-wine, salt, and pepper. I then added 4 Tbsp. of the sauce (recipe below). The chicken was then grilled until done, turned once, and at the last 5 minutes, coated in the BBQ sauce.
BBQ Sauce
- scallions
- ginger
- garlic
- hoisin prepared sauce
- salt, pepper (lots of pepper)
- olive oil
- roasted sesame oil
- Worchestershire Sauce
I combined this sauce in the food processor, chopping everything fine. The hoisin is sweet, so it cannot go on the chicken “bare” at the start of cooking or else it will burn. You can also lighten this sauce with a few Tbsp. of apple juice.
The sauce was used to top the chicken at the end of cooking and also used on the sausage to unify the flavors.
Ginger Rice
More common to so-called “Asian Fusion” cuisine, messing with the rice is sometimes frowned upon. I used a well-rinsed Thai Jasmine rice, added puréed ginger, and some honey and salt to the water. I prepared the rice in a rice cooker, and garnished it with basil leaves.
Grilled Eggplant
Grilling oiled-eggplants is about one of the easiest and most flavorful ways to prepare this member of the so-called nightshade family.
- Eggplant, sliced in 1-inch slices, coasted in EVOO
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Pine Nuts
- One small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small can chopped black olives
- salt, pepper
- EVOO, balsamic vinegar
- Roasted Red Peppers (I used small spicy ones)
- fresh basil (preferably chopped, and mixed in the sauce ingredients at the last minute)
- one tomato, sliced into eighths
Grill the eggplant until it has significant lines on both sides. It’s important it has a light coating in oil before you place it on the grill. While this is grilling, mix the other ingredients over medium-high heat prepare a sauce. Start wit the onion, garlic, and sun dried tomato in EVOO. Next, add the roasted peppers, tomato, vinegar, salt, pepper, olives, and finally, the pine nuts. Add more EVOO as necessary.
Top the grilled eggplant with this “sauce.” It went-over very well.
Ice Cream with Banana Sauce
This was a simple way to garnish good-quality vanilla ice cream. Combine butter and sugar in a pan, and convert into a light caramel. Add a flavored rum (we used coconut; dark spiced rum would also be good) to make the sauce, combined with two sliced bananas. Spoon the sauce over each serving of ice cream.
Filed by MessyChef at September 8th, 2007 under In the Kitchen