Waiter, We're Tropical Grillin'

The gas grill has gotten a workout this summer. Grilled salmon, pork, chicken, Italian turkey sausages, ribs, plus pounds and pounds of summer squash have all been grilled by Sweetie. He presents quite a picture sitting by the grill with Merlin the cat on his lap, smoke swirling up from the grill, and a good book drawing his attention away from the food...but never for too long.

One day he came in while the pork roast was still cooking away and held out a tray of bannana halves that he has cooked on the grill. They were warm and sort of gooey in a good way, like caramel but a little firmer. The flavor was smoky and sweet and very tropical.

When Jeanne of Cooksister announced that this month's Waiter event was "Waiter, there's something in my... meatless barbecue", the grilled bananas immediately came to mind. Should I make grilled bannana financiers? Grilled bannana bread? Grilled bannana and peanut butter sandwich? A tart with grilled bannanas and mango curd? Too many possibilities.

Then decision was easy once we purchased some fresh pineapple. Grilled bannanas and grilled pineapple spears would go perfectly with some coconut pineapple ice cream garnished with a little toasted coconut. Tropical grillin' at it's best. The hot bannanas and pineapple contrasted nicely with the cold sweet ice cream and slight crunch of the toasted coconut. The great thing about this recipe is that it will work anytime you have ripe bannanas and some good fresh pineapple and the weather is OK for grilling. You could also grill other kinds of fruit to add to the fun.

A mention should be made about the ice cream. I used some store bought pineapple coconut light ice cream and it was very good. The part that I didn't anticipate is that the hot fruit melted quite a lot of the ice cream. If I did this again, I would make scoops of the ice cream and then freeze the scoops on a try in the freezer until they were very solid. That way the ice cream would start out hard and the hot fruit would soften it nicely instead of melting it into pools. Live and learn. I wrote the recipe with the addition of freezing the ice cream balls.

Tropical Grilled Fruit over Ice Cream with Coconut

1 pint HaagenDaz Rich and Light Pineapple and Coconut ice cream (or a flavor of your choice)

3 medium bannanas, sliced lengthwise, skins left on

1 tsp. light olive oil or salad oil

3 spears fresh pineapple

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Scoop the ice cream into balls. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Leave in freezer until after fruit has been grilled.

Lightly brush the cut side of the bannanas with the oil. Place the bannanas and pineapple on a tray.

In a small cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan, toast the coconut, stirring often, until most of the coconut is lightly toasted. Set aside.

Over medium heat, grill the bannanas, cut side down first, and the pineapple spears, turning once as soon as the first side carmelizes where it touches the grill, about 4-5 minutes. Continue grilling on the second side until the bannanas are softened and the pineapple carmelizes where it touches the grill. The bannana skins will hold the softened bannanas like little boats. Return to the tray and cut the pineapple into chunks.

Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer and place two or three in a bowl. Place pieces of the grilled bannana and chunks of the grilled pineapple in the bowls and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Serve at once. Serves 3 or 4.

A Duo with Mint

The sun is shining. The grape leaves are large, but young and supple. The zucchini are blossoming on the rediculously large number of plants I planted this year. The mint has grown tall in the lower field near the grapes and ollaberries. I need an entry for Waiter, There's Something in My...Stuffed Fruit/Vegetable, being hosted by Jeanne at Cooksister.


Inspiration came twice. First I decided to make dolmas, a dish that I've long enjoyed, but never made. Dolmas are grape leaves stuffed with a mixture that usually contains rice and mint. Sometimes they have ground meat, sometimes currants, cinnamon, allspice or other spices. I found a recipe that only needed a few changes at Great Party Recipes website.

My version uses yellow onion, a different amount of tomato and green onion, and more lemon zest. It also used fresh grape leaves, since I have them in abundance. We don't have a vineyard, but there is a prolific set of vines in the lower field and they are very happy this year.

The next idea I had was to make stuffed zucchini flowers. The stuffing recipe I decided to use, which I found at the CUESA website, also used mint. I followed the recipe closely, except that I made mine minis by putting a couple of stuffed flowers into small souffle dishes.

The dolmas were easy to do, but took some time. A good tip is that when preparing the mint, roll a few leaves together and make a chiffonade like with basil, then cut across the shreds to mince them. I discovered that because I was using fresh grape leaves that they were different sizes and needed differing amounts of filling. I also found that placing the filling far enough into the leaf that I could fold the stem end on top of it, rather than placing the filling right at the stem, seemed to work well. After they were cooked and cooled I sampled one. It was even better than at the deli. The taste was fresher and the lemon was zingy. I'll be doing this one again.

The stuffed zucchini blossoms were delicious, but the blossoms themselves sort of got lost in the filling and crumbs. If I make them again I'll go easier on the crumb mixture. There was left over filling from both recipes, so, for lunch, I mixed them togehter in a skillet, added freshly steamed zucchini slices and heated it all up. That went very well with the stuffed zucchini blossoms.

Fresh mint and even zucchini blossoms are available in season at farmers' markets. You can purchase grape leaves in brine. These are both tasty dishes for a meal when you are doing small dishes. Dolmas make great appetizers, too. Ones with meat are served hot and ones without meat are served at room temperature.

Dolmas

35-40 large fresh grape leaves, rinsed to remove any impurities, or 8 ounces grape leaves, in brine (about 40-45 leaves)
¼ cup olive oil
2 cups cooked long grain rice
2 green onions or scallions, finely chopped
½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
1 tablespoon zest of lemon
½ teaspoon fresh lavender flowers, chopped (optional)
Salt to taste
1/2 cup pine nuts, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup olive oil
boiling water (about 1 cup)

Blanch the grape leaves in boiling water, drain in a colander, running cold water over them to cool them. Set aside to cool while making the filling. Alternately, if you are using grape leaves in brine, place them in a large heat-proof bowl. Pour just enough boiling water over the leaves to cover and let them soak for about 20 minutes. Drain again and rinse under cold running water.

Filling: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir often to keep them from burning or becoming too brown. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the rice, mint, lemon zest, lavender, and pine nuts. Mix thoroughly; making sure the rice is well-coated with oil. Taste and add salt if needed, to taste.

Line the bottom of a shallow pan or skillet, with a tight fitting lid, with grape leaves. Take the rest of the cooled grape leaves to your work area. Spread out one grape leaf in front of you, vein side up and stem end toward you. Place 1- 2 teaspoons of the rice mixture in the center, fold stem end over the filling, bring the sides of the leaf toward the center and roll tightly, forming a cylinder. Repeat until all the filling or all the grape leaves are used. As you finish each cylinder, place it on top of the grape leaves in the skillet, seam side down, placing the cylinders close to each other, touching. If at all possible, keep them in a single layer.
Drizzle with the lemon juice and ¼ cup of olive oil. Add enough boiling water to almost cover the dolmas. Cover the pan tightly and simmer for ½ hour. Remove from heat and let the dolmas cool in the pan. Serve at room temperature. Garnish serving platter with lemon slices if desired.

Adapted from a recipe at www.greatpartyrecipes.com