D&D Wine Review

Crusty French bread - sliced on the diagonal

1-2 Yellow Summer Squash - sliced

1 Zucchini - sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper - sliced

1/4 cup Vidalia onion - sliced

1-2 TBLS. garlic-infused Olive Oil

Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese

Put olive oil, salt, pepper and all vegetables into a bowl and toss until coated, Roast in 425 oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Let vegetables cool before dicing.  Toast French bread, top each slice of bread with roasted vegetable mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese before serving. Enjoy with crisp white wine, such as Lucas and Lewellen 2006 Chardonnay.

A great way to use all those delicious summer berries.

5 Cups Fresh Fruit (Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums, etc.)

1 Graham Cracker Crust

2/3 Cup Orange Juice

1/3 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Sugar (add more to taste)

2 Tbls. Cornstarch

Whipping cream for garnish

Combine ingredients OJ through Cornstarch in a saucepan over Medium/high heat.  Let mixture come to a boil and continue boiling for 1 minute.  Let mixture cool, fold in fruit.  Pour into crust and refridgerate for at least 1 hour.  Garnish and enjoy with a chilled white wine!

Well this is actually Chris’ recipe and not Leslie’s - but we wanted to post because it came out so wonderful and went along with the Pinot Gris we reviewed.

If you haven’t heard of them - the Big Green Egg is a ceramic & charcoal grill - and well once you’ve eaten off of one, you become obsessed.    Its kind of nice, because now Chris offers to cook dinner on a very regular basis.  We’ve had grilled pizzas, smoked pork loin, smoked turkey, smoked chicken and even seared NY Strip at very high temperatures.

We got the idea for this salmon on the Big Green Egg forum -  and we modified it slightly based on our preferences.

First, take cedar boards and soak them for 3 hours.  Around the same time you start soaking, take salmon filets, skin on, and coat the skinless side with potlatch seasoning.  The link to the forum has the ingredients for making it from scratch - we used a pre-made potlatch seasoning blend from Williams Sonoma and were very happy.  Wrap the salmon in saran wrap and store in the refrigerator until a few minutes before you are ready to cook.   When you are ready to grill, get the egg started and up to 400 degrees.  We also threw a few wood chips on for addition flavor (pecan in this particularly instance).  Place the salmon on the planks and place on the grill.  I believe we cooked it for about 20 minutes - you may want to have a squirt bottle of water ready to help with the flames and the planks.

The salmon was so moist and delicious - we were so thankful to have extra for leftovers!  The potlatch season really complements the smoky flavor and the salmon.

We highly recommend not only doing salmon on planks, but we believe everyone needs to go out and buy a big green egg.  We haven’t cooked on our gas grill since we got it.

If you get to try this out, or enjoy a big green egg - please comment and let us know.  Enjoy!

Cajun Jambalaya 

12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast

Black pepper

1-2 tablespoons canola oil

4 oz. smoked chicken or keibsa sausage, cut into ½ inch thick slices

1 onion, chopped

1 green or red bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery w/ leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup long grain brown rice

2 cups canned chicken stock

1-2 Bay leaves

Fresh Parsley

1 clove garlic

1 can tomatoes, 14-16 oz.

1 teaspoon hot sauce

½ cup green onions for garnish

1. Cut chicken, sprinkle with black pepper, place in heated skillet with oil until brown.  Remove and set aside.
2. Add Sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, garlic and thyme-Sauté over Med/High for about 5 minutes.
3. Add Rice, stir and cook for 1 minute (or rice can be cooked separately and added when you serve)
4. Add Chicken stock and bay leaf, simmer on low, tightly covered for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.
5. Stir in tomatoes, chicken and fresh parsley season to taste with hot sauce.  Allow to cook on low for 20-30 minutes.
6.   Garnish with green onions serve.

*Variation-Use Shrimp instead of Chicken

*Variation-Omit Rice and serve with crusty French bread

Use this Rub on any cut of beef, from Filet Mignon to flank steak.  It is wonderful!

1 Tablespoon crushed black or mixed peppercorns

1 Teasoon Kosher Salt

1 Teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 Teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions: Rub peppercorn mixture evenly over steak. Grill or pan sauté to desired doneness, garnish with chopped parsley.

Maple Glazed Salmon

This easy and delicious Salmon recipe has a just the right amount of sweet and spice. Look for wild Salmon at your grocery store and remember to check for bones before cooking.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Preparation:
Prepare grill, heating to medium. Combine first 5 ingredients. Sprinkle fish with salt; rub with paprika mixture. Place fish on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 7 minutes. Drizzle fish with syrup; grill 1 minute or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 salmon fillet)

Source: Cooking Light, MAY 2003