grilled chicken with south carolina sauce, grits, and gherkin salad

My father's side of the family is without a doubt German. His mother's youngest brother Ed lives out west near Brady, Montana. Ed takes care of himself out on the prairie, working outside and cooking most of his meals. While my father and I were out there visiting a few years ago, Ed showed me how to make gherkin salad. I was thinking of him and how tasty the dish is, especially in the heat of summer. In addition, I was contemplating the low country of South Carolina were my fiancee grew up. Apparently they eat a substantial amount of grits down near Charleston. In fact, Charleston is known for having the best shrimp and grits around. I thought it might be fun to somehow fuse a meal with these elements in mind. Since I had a whole chicken and the grill, I decided to cut the bird into equal halves up the back and down the breast. Grilling a chicken with the bones side down is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to cook a chicken I've discovered yet. South Carolina is also known for its barbecue with their own take on sauce incorporating mustard. Mustard, gherkin salad, chicken, and grits... kind of a low country, German, barbecue.

The only place to start with this meal was the gherkin salad. It really takes a couple hours to prepare properly.

INGREDIENTS
1 large English cucumber
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly chopped dill
salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Slice the cucumber as thinly as possible. Place the slices in a bowl, cover with salted water and refrigerate for at least one hour. This helps remove some of the bitterness and seasons the slices in the process.
Drain cucumber slices and add buttermilk, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, dill, salt and pepper. Mix gently and thoroughly.
Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. This way the flavors have a chance to meld.

Next I lit the charcoal grill. We still prefer the taste of charcoal over gas. And having used my Weber for a decade, I'm pretty comfortable knowing exactly how it's going to cook. I always oil, salt, and pepper the chicken before cooking it. This time I went a step further by applying a liberal amount of freshly chopped thyme and marjoram. When the grill was hot and ready, I placed the chicken halves bone side down, covered, and walked away. The FDA recommends cooking chicken to 180 degrees fahrenheit, but I prefer to cook it to 160 degrees to keep it on the moist side. I've been doing this for my entire cooking life and never once been sick. I checked the chicken by probing the thigh with a meat thermometer. A three pound bird generally requires about half an hour on my grill.

The sauce was the fun and experimental part. Traditionally, South Carolina barbecue sauces include cider vinegar, yellow mustard, brown sugar and spices. I made my sauce just a little differently, using a leftover sauce I made for wings the previous week.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 half stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup Louisiana hot sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Reserve enough sauce to put on the table for dipping.
Apply liberally to chicken at fifteen-minute intervals.

The last part of the meal was the pan of grits. I always try to use stone ground grits from local vendors if possible. Christy likes her grits creamy; so, I made them special for her with milk instead of water.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup stone ground grits
4 cups cold milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a cold pan and bring to a boil. This will keep the grits from clumping.
After coming to a boil, reduce heat and simmer lightly for 15 minutes.

This meal came together quickly once the chicken was to my liking. After the bird rested under a foil tent for roughly 15 minutes, I quartered and plated it. Next to the chicken I placed a portion of grits. This was a great idea as the chicken continued to lose juices which the grits were more than happy to absorb. I used cold bowls to hold the gherkin salad which was quite refreshing. I think the whole meal worked pretty well in terms of textures. In addition, gherkin salad with its creamy crunch is a perfect substitute for coleslaw if you're making barbecue.

The story of barbecue is the story of America: Settlers arrive on great unspoiled continent, discover wondrous riches, set them on fire and eat them. ~Vince Staten

mahi mahi and sweet potato mash with lemon cream sauce

So you may be thinking that we sure eat Mahi Mahi often. The fact is we couldn't pass up a sale and stocked the freezer with half-priced Mahi Mahi. Until recently, I had only ordered it in restaurants and never really entertained the idea of adding it to our books of ever-growing recipes. However, we do enjoy it as an alternative to wild-caught Salmon and Grouper. There are a couple things I have learned about Mahi Mahi. The first of which is that it is easy to overcook, leading to a tough texture. Traditionally, fish is cooked a total of 9 minutes per inch of thickness (4 1/2 minutes per side), but these days I see chefs often cooking it less so that it remains shiny and moist inside. The second is that this fish is pretty high in cholesterol. This could be potentially useful for those who are on restricted diets.

I prepared this meal last week. The focal point of the dish for me is the sauce. This is often the case as I truly love sauces.

INGREDIENTS
2 6-ounce Mahi Mahi fillets
salt and white pepper
3 ounces butter
1/4 cup dry white vermouth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 lemon, zested and juiced

DIRECTIONS
Slice the Mahi Mahi fillet on a bias into 6-ounce portions.
Gently saute the Mahi Mahi in 1 & 1/2 ounces of the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Transfer the Mahi Mahi to a plate lined with a towel (to absorb excess butter).
Pour the fat out of the saute pan. Gently mop out any remaining fat with a paper towel.
Deglaze the pan with the vermouth and white wine and reduce by 2/3.
Add the cream and reduce to the desired consistency.
Add the lemon zest and half of the juice to the sauce and cook for 1 minute.
Finish the sauce by whisking in the remaining butter.
Strain the sauce through a fine mesh into a small saucepan.
Adjust the seasonings and serve over or around the Mahi Mahi.

The sweet potato mash is pretty simple and straight forward. This is an excellent alternative to mashed potatoes and compliments just about any meal-plan.

INGREDIENTS
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup milk
salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Boil the potato cubes for 20 minutes.
Strain the potato cubes and return to the pot.
Heat the milk and butter and add to the potato cubes.
Mix and mash the potato cubes, milk and butter.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

For this meal, I also made a spinach salad with a shallot-thyme vinaigrette. I learned how to make this salad from Hugh Acheson at Five&Ten. This is one of my favorite salads of all time. It consists of organic, baby spinach leaves, thick-cut, non-cured, apple-wood smoked bacon, crumbled bleu cheese, candied pecans, and pear. My version does differ from his in that he no longer uses the candied pecans or bacon. For the shallot-thyme vinaigrette, I used the following recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup olive oil
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 large shallot, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients and blend until emulsified. If you like infusions, make this dressing the night before and strain before using.

This meal took me about an hour to put together, but it was worth it. I plated the food by placing a portion of the sweet potato mash just off center. I leaned the Mahi Mahi against the mash and sauced around and over. The salad involved dressing all the spinach in a large bowl, portioning to cold bowls, and adding the other ingredients on top. I like to slice the pear thinly to form a fan for fun.

If organic farming is the natural way, shouldn't organic produce just be called "produce" and make the pesticide-laden stuff take the burden of an adjective? ~Ymber Delecto

perfect lemonade

Muggy Sunday afternoons seem to be the perfect time for a glass of lemonade. You might be thinking that making lemonade is simple. However, finding the perfect balance between the sugar and lemon juice is always the trick. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
6 lemons, juiced
5 cups of water

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in your favorite pitcher and stir. Serve over ice and garnish with mint.

When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat. ~Mark Twain