Kicking off Grilling Season. Photo courtesy of Christina Dugan

Grilling season is back. Despite the spring rain, and the near-constant threat of afternoon storms, the smell of smoke and the char of seasoned steel grates is just too strong to deny.

I love to grill. So much that each season, when winter truly sets in, I go through a little of what I call OSGD, or off-season grilling depression. It’s like seasonal affective disorder, but you’re also hungry for foods you can’t have.

To show you how much I hate NOT grilling, I’ve taken the liberty of altering, ever so slightly, the great B.B. King song, The Thrill is Gone. B.B., plucking away at his guitar as though they were my heartstrings, couldn’t have said it better. Unless, of course, he was singing about Grilling.

The GRILL is gone
The GRILL is gone away
The GRILL is gone baby
The GRILLis gone away
You know you done me wrong baby
And you’ll be sorry someday

The GRILL is gone
It’s gone away from me
The GRILL is gone baby
The GRILL is gone away from me
Although I’ll still live on
But so lonely I’ll be

The GRILL is gone
It’s gone away for good
Oh, the GRILL is gone baby
Baby its gone away for good
Someday I know I’ll be over it all baby
Just like I know a man should

You know I’m free, free now baby
I’m free from your spell (Okay, not true)
I’m free, free now (ditto)
I’m free from your spell (double ditto)
And now that it’s over
All I can do is wish you well

Thankfully, the grill is NOW BACK. And last weekend, to kick of the grilling season, I went with perhaps my favorite grilled chicken dish of all time: Brined Chicken Thighs with Chimichurri.

Although I added in a few breasts for people who don’t like chicken bones (yes, they exist), I LOVE cooking with thighs for a few reasons:

1. They hold up well. The bone inside the chicken acts as a natural conductor of heat, but also helps to keep the flesh moist. So, if you’re distracted, or playing badminton, or whatever, you don’t have to be quite as watchful of the grill in worrying that you’ll make chicken beef jerky.

2. They are CHEAP. I bought what amounted to 34 pieces of chicken thigh for 11 bucks. These were all natural, hormone free birds, too. Not these roid freak water beasts you so often find at grocery stores. So, when you’re cooking for a lot of people, thighs go a long, long way.

3. They are kind of like the mullet of chicken – business in the front, party in the back. In other words, they are like a wing, in that you can serve them and eat them as finger foods (great for a cookout), but those that want to sit down and use a fork and knife will also find enjoyment in the meal.

So, next time you’re grilling, pay special attention to the great grill equalizer that is the chicken thigh.

On to brining.

Brining is something everyone should learn, and a basic brine is a beautiful thing. And, once you’ve found a basic recipe that you like it’s easy to expand on it using different spices. For instance, using Lapsang Souchong, I developed what I believe is the best smoked brine on the planet. Have I tasted all the brines on the planet? No. Which is why I think mine is the best. You can find the recipe, as well as the basic brine recipe for chicken (minus the tea) in my Lapsang Souchong Brine post.

Using the brine recipe, or one that you prefer, brine the chicken for at least 8-10 hours in a large container or cooler surrounded with ice, or in your fridge. A full day is preferable to allow the salt-sugar solution to permeate the chicken meat.

When the chicken is ready, fire up your grill. I add a little veg. oil to the grill when it’s hot and then take the chicken directly out of the brine and place it on the grill. I actually don’t like to rinse the brine from the chicken. But, you should at least pat the pieces dry before placing them on the heat so that you’ll get a nice char on the flesh and won’t cool the surface heat of the grill too much.

I’m always a bit hesitant to provide cooking times, especially for grilling. I can’t possibly know if you’re the slow and steady, indirect charcoal kind of person, or the “I make bullets over my 40,000 BTU gas grill on off days” type. So, I’ll go with a basic recommendation that for bone in thighs, cook the chicken about 15 minutes per side, moving often to avoid flare ups from skin fat dripping into the fire.

On to the Chimichurri. This is a sauce of Argentinean origin, which gauchos favor for use on the country’s beautiful grass fed beef. It’s also quite amenable to sausage – namely chorizo – and chicken.

My favorite thing about this sauce is that you don’t really need a recipe. Below are the base elements, but you should experiment with cumin, curries, red onion, fresh oregano (gorgeous) and other spices. As I know you’ll need at least some place to start, below are the approximations I used to pull it together.

• 2 cups fresh Italian parsley (remove stems)
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (stems removed)
• 1.5 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 whole head of garlic (I like a LOT of garlic)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Just throw all this into a food processor and blend up to a level of your own comfort. I like mine just a little chunky, but also love the fully emulsified sauce.

For this dish, I used the Chimichurri as my grilling sauce, but it’s often reserved for the table, where you spoon it directly onto finished meats. As I use quite a lot of garlic, I like to apply just a bit of heat to it as the chicken nears its final turns on the grill. I find this tempers the heat of the garlic without burning, too much, the parsley and cilantro. I brush the Chimichurri sauce onto the chicken with about 5-8 minutes remaining per side, and, when using a gas grill, turn off one whole side to place the brushed pieces upon so that they don’t burn.

Lastly, I place the finished pieces on a cookie sheet, cover with foil and place into a 350 degree oven. This gives the bone-in pieces a little more time to loosen up and also allows me to move on to more time sensitive dishes for the grill such as vegetables.

Serve with cold beer, grilled asparagus and grilled zucchini.

Enjoy.

The winter once again reminded us yesterday in D.C. that it will not go softly into that goodnight. But, as always, one can use the kitchen and fresh, local ingredients to turn a cold day warm. I’d initially headed to D.C.’s Eastern Market in search of venison, but alas I found none. Instead, I moved toward a tray of gorgeous lamb loin chops. I’d not had lamb in a while and thought it was a good time to revisit it. Outside and across the street, the local produce lady displayed a gorgeous box of small brussel sprouts, which were perfectly firm in the icy afternoon weather.

Brussel sprouts are the unfortunate recipient of a great many sour faces – twisted in the memory of some terrible experience in which the little beauties were simply misrepresented, boiled to a mush, or braised beyond recognition. I admit, I too have inflicted brussel sprouts damage on a fair number of family members.

But, I feel the sprouts are making a comeback. They’re popping up on more and more menus, and the sour faces that once panned them broadly, are starting to look more inquisitive than inquisitor. I’d recently seen a video of Thomas Keller on the today show, blanching and caramelizing sprouts and knew that was the direction for me.

I headed back into the market for some gorgeous bacon from Pennsylvania and remembered a lone potato – from Washington’s Green Grocer – I had at home that, cut into cubes and mixed into the sprouts, would cut the bitterness enough to create a nice balance.

Now, what to do with the chops. I searched around on the interweb for a while and didn’t find anything that enticed me enough to try and replicate or modify it. So, in the spirit of recipe play, I went into the kitchen and stared at my spices and into my fridge. I eyed mustard seeds, whole coriander and rosemary. I toasted the spices gently and then remanded them to the mortar and pestle, where I added a pinch of sea salt that I wanted to grind into the mix. Toasted and ground spices are thing of beauty. Once you smell the slightly toasted exterior of the spices mixed with the oils they give off when heated, you’ll never go back. I poured the ground spices into a bowl and added extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, and finely minced parsley and fresh ground black pepper.

I rubbed this mixture over the chops and let them sit in the fridge, covered, for about an hour.

On to the sprouts. I blanched them for about 3-4 minutes in salty boiling water, which really brings the brilliant green color to the surface. I then plunged them into icy water for a few minutes to cool them down. I boiled one potato for about 8-10 minutes and moved it to a cutting board, where i cut it into cubes and set aside. I took one slice of bacon, which was thick cut, and cut it likewise into cubes, much like lardons.

Moving back to the sprouts, I cut the small nub off the end and then cut them in half, which would give them a better caramelization on the interior part of the sprout.

Remove the lamb from the fridge and put on a plate to allow it to come to room temperature.

Add a quarter stick of butter to a hot pan (I actually added leftover clarified butter from an Xmas rib roast) when it’s bubbling, add the bacon. Cook until the bacon is just starting to color and pop, add the sprouts, interior side down, another pinch of salt and a sprinkling of apple cider vinegar and let sit while you turn to the lamb – this is important for caramelization…I promise, just leave them be for a while.

Add a spot of oil to a smoking hot skillet; cast iron is wonderful, but I used a large dutch oven to create space for the chops.

Add the chops. 4 minutes per side (depending on thickness).

After the first turn of the lamb, turn your sprouts and add the diced potato, a bit more vinegar – maybe small shot of chicken stock – and toss few times. Then let sit while the lamb finishes.

After the lamb is browned nicely on both sides, remove to a cutting board and tent with foil for 8 minutes or so.

Give the sprouts another couple of tosses, checking for seasoning, and add to a warm plate ( I hate cold plates). Add the chops, and pour the juice from the resting period off the cutting board and onto each plate of chops. If you want, you could probably add this juice back to a pan with small bit of butter, some sherry and a bit of stock to make a subtle sauce. I don’t think it’s needed, but it’s up to you.

One of my favorite things about this dish is that it emanates entirely from local producers. The lamb was from Maryland, the bacon from PA, and the produce from Virginia. Now, I am not an absolutist about sourcing locally. There are always going to be ingredients that you simply cannot source near your home. The important thing is to merely buy from people you trust, who care about your food and take care to get it from the farm to your plate in a responsible manner. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. Enjoy the food.

Ingredients

4 Lamb Loin Chops (about 1.5 pounds)

2 handfuls brussel sprouts (yes, that’s how I measured)

1 slice of thick-cut bacon

1 potato, cut into cubs

butter

apple cider vinegar for the sprouts (to taste)

Rub

1 teaspoon of mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1.5 tablespoons of sherry vinegear

pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Will

A nice way to end the weekend

Recipe introduction on the D.C. Examiner Sustainable Food page.

STEAKS

2 6oz. Boneless Rib Eye steaks

Garlic Rub:
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 tblspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon sea salt

Combine dry ingredients together and rub over steak. Then, spread minced garlic over steaks and press into the meat with your hands. Let sit 2-3 hours. Prior to searing, let stand covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.

FARM FRESH SALAD

Green mix ( I used Endless Summer Harvest’s European Spiker mix, which contains frisee, watercress, rainbow chard, mache and arugal.
Crumbled Everona Dairy’s Sheep’s Milk Cheese
1 Bosc pear, cut into cubes
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt to taste

Add oil or fat of choice to hot grill pan or skillet. Depending on thickness, sear 2-4 minutes each side at the most. As my good friend Dustin Pedroia pointed out, for bone-in Rib eyes, you should probably cook 5-7 minutes per side.

Remove from pan and place on cutting board. Tent steaks with foil for 5-7 minutes.

While the steaks rested, I whipped up some softened butter with chopped parsley to serve on the steaks. Open up the foil, put a small dollop of the butter on each and cover for about a minute. By the time you plate the butter will have started to melt.

Add the vinaigrette to the salad, toss and serve on the plate next to the steaks.

Enjoy