time to kick the peaches up a notch or three.
Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit. Season with cinnamon, nutmeg (just a bit) and white sugar. Do this before you start grilling dinner. when you have pulled the main course off the grill, put a mound of brown sugar in the center of the peach half, and drizzle some peach schnapps or peach brandy on it. Place on grill and let the residual heat do its magic.
when you are done with dinner, the peaches will be ready. Serve in a bowl, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
As far as planking goes, try this
Cedar planked maple glazed Cajun salmon. Place a salmon fillet on a soaked cedar plank. Season with Cajun seasoning (Fish magic or similar) and drizzle with maple syrup. Toss on direct heat.
You can also cook chicken on a cedar plank. Damn good too. Brine a cut up chicken in a salt water/ brown sugar brine for about 4 hours and then cook turning once 1/2 way through. Pretty damn wonderful.
Bread pudding, noted. Is it still “in”? I know it was really fashionable for a while there, I feel like I’ve been through every conceivable variation, so I assume by now it’s gotten old.
Have you tried na’an on the pizza stone? It’s a LOT more like traditional because they place it on the inside wall of the oven. Gives the nice bottom and all the bubbles on top, brush with a little garlic butter, takes me right back to Goa.
Foil packets are okay, look a bit too much like any random picnic. But I might try papillote.
Exactly what I was going to suggest. It would be great with your baba ghanouj, or you could make a grilled mango or pineapple chutney to go with it. Perfect first course.
Or you could do a grilled pizza. Forget the stone–at that point you’re just using the grill as an oven, which is awesome in itself but not in the spirit of what you’re doing here. Do it right on the grate. There are plenty of tutorials about it on the web (including a great article in Cook’s Illustrated a while back, if you have access). Top it with rosemary, salt, and good olive oil for a first course, or something a little more substantial for a second. One of my favorite combos is pear, gorgonzola, and pumpkin seeds.
I also think the grilled salad is a great idea. Radicchio and endive grill up particularly well, and they’ve got enough flavor that you can dress them with just a little oil and lemon juice.
Love the planked salmon, too.
Instead of an actual mini-burger, you could do what I call the Swarovski Krystal–grill a nice London broil or flank steak to medium rare, slice it paper-thin, and serve it on mini-buns with homemade red onion relish.
The idea should be showing off all the crazy things you can do with your awesome grill. To that end, if you’re doing seven courses, I’d make three or four of them meatless. A lot of people never even think to do anything but meat on the grill, so even as simple a foray outside that zone as grilling up sliced zucchini can blow people’s minds.
No, I really love the stone. A standard kitchen oven really struggles to get up over 500 degrees. With all four burners running wide open this sucker is up over 900. I’ve done the grilled bread thing before, but it wasn’t until I plopped it down on a crazy hot stone did I reach nirvana. I really think it produces and amazing result, akin to having my own tandoor. It’s a texture thing that’s hard to match: crispy bottom, bubbly air pockets, soft interior Heaven.
I like the flank idea, but I’m not thrilled with the idea of slicing it, tends to be a hassle outside, and if you end up with a piece just a little too thick it’s sort of off putting.
