Duck Confit, Part Deux

October 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Good day, it’s time to stick that salty, peppery duck leg and friends in a hot vat of its own fat.

Thankfully I’m friends with a duck farmer who has fat to spare.

Gorgeous stuff, duck fat. Add a couple of fresh bay leaves and a dash or three of thyme. Then, cover that goodness in duck fat. Slowly, as the fat warms and the legs render, you’ll begin to here sounds of the absent-minded professor. Though, instead of an amazing Flubber invention, you will be creating a modest dinner in your future. To really enjoy the moment, dig up your old John Cage records and enjoy the sounds of broken glass hitting concrete, incomplete piano scales, muffled sounds of Milan and the bubble and gurgle of duck confit in the making.

… And you wait. You wait for time and fat to work magic.

I Feel Like Confit Tonight

October 25, 2012 — 2 Comments

Though probably not tonight. Duck confit is a week long extravaganza of preparation, cooking in a vat of fat and waiting.

Today’s step is: salt and pepper the crap out of the legs. The French for this is “genereusement” ( the are some accents in there, but this iPhone don’t make it easy ). Then let it snug overnight.

Oh but what a wait. I heart duck confit.

Little Chef

October 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Cooking in a tutu can give your dish a little “Joe no say kwah.”. Try it sometime.

Blood Sausage On The Grill, muah ha ha

May 30, 2010 — 5 Comments

This sausage is strangely suspicious. And behold, the blood sausage. Also known as Black Pudding or Blood Pudding by the Brits. It’s referred to as Blutwurst by the Germans. And in France, a lovely Boudin Noir which sounds less like a sausage and more like a hot night in the red-light district of Paris. Just about every country has their take on blood sausage. Except, of course, America where we Americans find sausage made with blood a thing of the past. Something Grandma used to eat. But let me tell you right here right now, this sausage is GOOD! When done on the grill, I’d say it’s even better. Seriously, it’s only a matter of time before these babies pop up in the wanky yup-restaurants around town (with hip names of children they never had) and make their way down to a quick morning Blood McMuffin grab. For now, finding one of these sausages will be tricky if you’re in America. I know Seattle has a wonderful German shop in Pike Street Market and that’s all I got.

This particular sausage was homemade with pig blood and bits (by a man Scott with pretty hands). It’s often served with apples of some description, but we had it with warmed avocado and a salad which worked well.

You Need:

A blood sausage, good luck finding one for the Americans in the house!

To Grill:

Stick it on the grill and take it off when you’re ready. I’d say after a couple of glasses of champagne ought to do it. Often times blood sausage is served cold with other cold meat friends so really you need to warm it to your liking as it’s already cooked.

Strawberries and Chocolate, It Don’t Get Much Better

April 7, 2010 — 3 Comments

The Strawberries are showing their ripe little faces early around here. Both France and Spain’s strawberries are available and they are both succulent. … except France’s strawberries are better. The small, funny looking ones taste the best. Something that’s nice to do after everyone is leaning back, pants loosened, going on and on about what a great griller you are is to get out the strawberries and chocolate. I pop about a half a cup or so of heavy cream in a pot and stick in on the grill. After all the food has been cooked, the charcoal is usually just right for a slow warming of cream. I then break up a bar of semi-sweet melting chocolate and add it to the cream stirring slowly. Once it’s all incorporated, stick it in the middle of the table along with the strawberries and dig in. No double dipping!

You Need:

Strawberries – Local strawberries are best. The strawberries grown for shipping (like those sold at Costco) Look great, but don’t taste like strawberries. I’m not sure what they taste like.
Semi-sweet chocolate for melting (Ghirardelli is nice if you can’t get Nestle)
Heavy cream

Do To It:

Warm cream
Break up chocolate bar and stick in cream to melty the chocolate

Voila!

… and nothing goes with strawberries better than a brut Champagne!

Sorta Sangria Starring Mango Puree

August 21, 2008 — Leave a comment

Adie popped by taking the kitchen by storm pulling desirables that when moistened with liquor would make Sangria like no other. Sangria so refreshing that as she sat next to the pool with the breeze blowing through her hair an easy smile happily resting on her face, Seattle’s hottest day of the year went unnoticed. A bottle of wine emptied, most of a bottle of Pellegrino some sliced lemons and clementines popped in and it’s off to puree some succulently ripe mango. This was the magic ingredient. A splash or so of white rum with a sizzle of sugar readied the mix for tasting. A bit more sugar says Adie. After the mix partied with the ice, it was poured into the pretty, party pitcher and garnished with fresh mint. You don’t want to over mint. Too much mint takes all the fun out of Sangria trending to Mojitoland and for that matter all this talk about Sangria when what we’ve actually made was August Punch, but who’s checking. One girl’s Sangria is another girl’s Punch. For this girl, the punch was in the beautiful Anam Cara Riesling. Lacking a dryer wine at peep toe pumps reach and no desire to pop up to the shops, we pulled out the Riesling to give ‘er a go. It went well. The Sangrian August Punch was light, refreshing ( I know I said that already ), not sweet and not too alcoholic tasting. PERFECTO for a hot summer day. Adie girl, you done good.

She ended up using:

Clementines

Lemons

Ripe Champagne Mango pureed in a Champion (the one that looks like a pig)

Pellegrino

Bottle of wine

Cruzan white rum

Organic Sugah

You Grill Girl?

July 23, 2008 — Leave a comment

Then bring it on!

eMail a photo of you at the grill and what you like to throw together. Send to:
girlongrillaction@live.com
we’ll pop ‘er up on the site. It’ll be fun!

Amber and Natasha Brunch Barbie

March 10, 2008 — 3 Comments

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It was a lovely day at the massage school when Amber bounced on a gym ball. Natasha, appreciating the carefree spirit of Amber’s bouncing, took in the “that looks like a lot of fun” moment. Then in her cute-but-short skirt, Amber took a final bounce ass over tea kettle to land in a pile of giggle. From that moment on, Natasha and Amber have been BFF. As for Girl On Grill Action™, they clearly worked the grill together like they’d done it many times before. Yet this was there first time.

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Peach Surprise, Funky Potato Egg and Tangosas to the table. Oh yes and Natasha’s experimental Egg On Grill which both amazed and surprised us.

Every grill girl starts with something bubbly. This morning it was champagne time. But wait! There is some tangerine juice in the refrigerator … sounds like a Tangosa. Natasha put half champagne half tangerine juice to make a lovely drink for the barbeque brunch. Argyle 2002 was used. Its sweetish flavor lends itself quite nicely to morning mixers.

The Peaches were halfed and lemon juiced. Amber put a few on the grill for shits and giggles while the rest went into a foil pouch. When those puppies were ready, the aroma of hot, steamy peaches was unbelievable. The girls popped on the nutty topping with some cream using only their fingers to enjoy the sweet treat. No forks were used in the eating of these peaches.

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During the peach phase, Natasha did a little egg dance before she popped it on the grill shell and all. Having no idea what would happen when you put an egg on a grill, the girls sipped their Tangosas with heated anticipation. The pure joy of Natasha face when she gently cracked the egg to find a beautiful, soft cooked egg was moving. Would she do it again? Perhaps as a party trick.

For the egg dish, the girls worked out a little foil boat for the eggs to cook in. Natasha put a layer of potatoes on the bottom and popped the eggs on top. This dish took a while to get its magic going on. In the end it tasted a tad bit bland. Thankfully there was some pico de gallo salsa to zest it up to make for a DELICIOUS funky frittata of sorts.

Amber and Natasha had a blast with brunch grilling. Who knew it would be so easy as well as tasty. In true Grill On Grill Action™ form, these gals could go all night. Both were scavenging about the house to find other things to try on the grill. Bananas, pecans what have you all thrown to the grill god to for some yummy food experimentation.

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nutmeg grinding bringing friends together

Simple Pots

March 5, 2008 — 2 Comments

Fingerling Potatoes

Maggie Used:
Fingerling Potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

With a pile of fingerlings, who needs fancy? Step aside and enjoy their true flavor. After the pots were scrubbed, cleaned and halved, Maggie popped them in a large piece of foil that would act as a snuggy bed for them to do their magic. Before she closed and crimped the edges, she whipped out the extra virgin olive oil to slather up the potatoes. Adding the two secret herbs and spices, salt and pepper, chopped garlic was added. Crimp the foil into a pouch and it’s grill time. Depending on the heat of the coals, by the time it takes to polish off two glasses of champagne and catch up with the latest American Idol scandal (that guy had gay stripper written all over him. Hot, baby, hot!), check the fingerlings as they are most likely close to done. These simply prepared pots with the smoke of the grill were a total hit. Heated up the next day in Mrs. Microwave Yo, they still had that amazing flavor. I’ve also prepared the pots with an oil mister, which lightly kissed the fingerlings with oil, still resulting in divine potatage yet forgiving to the waistline. I’ve tried two oil misters. The first was the Misto Gourmet. This is a fancy, sleek little number that got me all hot and bothered with its fancy spray. The romance ended a few weeks later when the light spray quickly turned to a steady piss of olive oil. The new mister, the RSVP Endurance (condom or oil mister?), seems to be consistent and reliable, but we’re still in the honeymoon phase.

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Maggie Mags, A Chook and PBR Up the Wazoo

February 26, 2008 — Leave a comment

Maggie, fierce business woman and chef extraordinaire, up in the Seattle area on a business trip carved out some time to pop over and whip up some grub on the grill. Lucky for us, she brought the house down with her chicken and potatoes. Rounded out with some Romanesque Broccoli to tick off the “yes I ate my greens today” box.

She used:
Two Chickens, Organic
Beer or Pabst Blue Ribbon
Onion
Lemon
Beer Probes, Anal
Fingerling Potatoes
Romanesque Broccoli
Tim Tams!! … while you wait
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic
Wine with a cockerel on it for fun factor
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Maggie slickered the chickens up with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. She also used some lemon to squidge on both outside and inside the chook. The chicken was fluffed and ready for what rectal pleasures lie ahead. The beer probe was quite simple to prep. Find the right PBR to pop in the beer hole. Sample a few to make sure you have the right flavor and bubblage. Maggie brought over a case of PBR to broaden her selection. Once the beer was opened, sipped and in, she popped on the chicken … and giggled profusely. Stick an onion down the neck and it’s ready for the grill. Maggie lifted off the top grill of the barbeque and got right in there with the charcoal. She made a ring of charcoal so the chicken could sit comfortably in the middle then put the lid on. Off she went to prep the fingerlings.Again, the fingerlings were left to do their thing with the help of salt, pepper, garlic and some extra virgin olive oil. Mags popped those in a snuggy, foil wrap and placed them next to the chicken. Which left time for a little Tim Tam break. Nothing wets the appetite like the sweet, chocolaty forplay of a Tim Tam. Cuz enough is just never enough. Okay, Romanesque Broccoli time. A bit tricky and Maggie would say that she’d like to give it another try. The end result was a bit dry and came out with brown tips. No matter, the broccoli was but a mere bit part to the spectacular that was chook and pots. Maggie did a quick meat temp check on the two beauties (chicken is 165˚F internal) and the dinner was done. Girrrl / Boyee / what have you, let me tell you me, that chicken was moist, hot and deeelicious. Maggie was so convincing with her tale of how good chicken made this way was, but for us skeptics, you have to taste it to believe it. I’m not into novelty, deep fried poultry type cooking, but seriously, the chicken was amazing and that’s not the PBR talking. The chicken was perfect. The potatoes … don’t get me started on the potatoes. They were also amazing with their barbeque, smoky flavor, fluffy on the inside, firm on the outside texture. Yum yum. Maggie did it all. From charcoal to mouthful she put out a meal simple to construct and powerful in flavor and HOT oh so hot.

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