Chili Sauce

DSC_0622

Emptied out the freezer today.  People throw hot peppers at me.  Peppers everywhere.  There are these pepper people who pass peppers around because people of France don’t use hot peppers in their food.  So us pepper people peddle peppers.

When I get enough peppers, I make chili sauce.  It all started with Substance P.  Substance P is a neuropeptide and an important element in pain reception in the brain.  Thus, my sauce.  I wanted to make something very, very hot.

Substance P wasn’t all that hot.  I took out the seeds.  It is important to wear gloves when you seed hot peppers.  I didn’t.  For a week my fingers were very sensitive to hot water.  My NK1-receptors were on fire.  Totally burnt out.

But the sauce was not that hot.  So I made other sauces as follows;

  • Substance P
  • P-Funk
  • P++
  • Cement Shithaus
  • and The Mothership

Each with their own ingredients.

Today, I share with you The Mothership.

DSC_0620

Chuck this into a pot:

  • all your hot peppers without the tops
  • apple cidre vinegar, 1 cup
  • ginger nub
  • garlic
  • pepper corns
  • brown sugar, 2 tbs
  • water, 1.5 cups
  • salt

boil for thirty minutes or so

let it cool

blend it

You need to taste it to make sure it’s rounded out.  It will need more salt and maybe a dash of sugar.  I add a special ingredient, but I couldn’t possibly share.  For this is the Mothership.

Ameoba blender shot:

DSC_0621

Lazy Man’s Foie Gras

DSC_0470

I’ve had my fair share of fancy sauces.  I’ve made foie gras in jars to be served cold.  But by far, my fav is seared foie gras served with chutney.

DSC_0468

Secure foie

De-vein

Pre-heat oven to hot

Salt, pepper and nutmeg the foie

Take raw garlic and smear on cast iron pan.

In a cast iron pan, sear that baby.

Remove foie

Empty fat …. save for foie gras fat potatoes for breaky tomorrow

Put foie back in and stick the chunky bits in the oven. ( if there are smaller bits, like in the photo, set those aside cuz they is done )

DSC_0471

Slice in slices. serve with chutney.  Mango would be great or French man said fried fig, but we had a bunch of green tomatoes last year, so Green Tomato Chutney paired with our foie gras.  … easy peasy.  yummy yummy.

Saves you making sauces.  Sear a liver and chuck a chutney at it.

Grilled Avocado

Grilled Avacado

Oh grilled avocado how I love thee.  Who knew that such a simple concoction could fuel so much drool and want.  While Katty was whipping up her stunning Cabbage Sacks, she pulled out a ripe avocado from her veggie basket and said, “I’ll cook this!”  She’d not stuck an avocado on the grill before.  The avocado was perfectly ripe so not much was needed other than the two secret herbs and spices (salt and pepper, ssssh), some olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar.

Cutting Avacado

Avacodo With Oil and Vinegar

Ingredients:

  • ripe, avocado or two or three … like the dark, dark ones
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar or a nice fancy pants vinegar could be nice

Do to it:

  • cut in half and pit (hell stick the pit in water and grow a tree!)
  • pour a touch of olive oil in the center
  • pour a touch less vinegar in the center
  • pepper and salt that baby
  • stick on grill skin side to the heat  (don’t flip it!)

Serve:

We share here at Girl On Grill Action, so everyone gets a half.  No whining! Katty had this lovely meal with some red wine of the region, but a girly white like a Riesling or a Sauvignon Blanc could do the trick just fine.  Champagne goes without saying as it goes with everything.  Or whatever you crazy Californians use for white wine.  Put that wine cooler down!  A wine cooler is neither “wine” nor “cool.”

avocado gettin' hot

regional red wine

Katty kept the avocado on the grill while the other stuff was cooking.  I can’t imagine that you can over cook an avocado.  This dish was too easy and too good to not provide for your vegetarian or carnivorous guests.  You could even get all fancy and stick some chopped tomatoes, cilantro and onions in the center and call it  wanky guacamole.  Oooooo. I might try that!

You Make Me Want To Trout!

The Trout Looks Good

Three Trout

Fish is such a tricky little bugger to grill. Sure you can pouch it or wrap it in banana leaves or parchment or bacon, but how is that different from cooking on the stove? So we here at Girl On Grill Action decided to stick the whole damn trout on the grill and see what happened. Grillmaster Adie, a recovering vegetarian, stepped right up to handle the slithery, slimy beast. Sure she was apprehensive. Sure she was wondering if this was such a good idea. After she shoved lemon, fresh herbs and a wee bit of salt and pepper (pah push it) in its belly, her concerns were off having a drink at the pub. As she walked the little monster to the hot grill, she was reminded of the crush she had on the drummer of Lake Trout. So many drummers, so little time. The trout (fish) was popped on the grill and grilled for awhile and then simply flipped for symmetry. The fish came out perfect with all the juicy oils still intact. This trout business will not dry out on the grill. She flaked some big chunks on the plate over a little puddle of pesto. A few cucumber spears and some overcooked broccoli and you’ve got yourself some gourmay-I-have-some-more-please shit. Also noted was the wow factor bringing trout on the road. Bring an entire fish, eyeballs and all to a labor day barbeque and looky whose going to be Ms. Popular. We loved the trout, much better than Cats, we’d do it again and again.

Slimey Fish Giggling Girl Wiith My Bare Hands?

Icky!

Adie Used:

Trout, whole with eyes

Lemon

Rosemary

Basil

Salt and Pepper

Trout With Herbs and Lemon

Evil Eye

Tada

Tongs!

OOoooo Peaches, Baby, Peaches!

Amber and Natasha mushing

There is something so sexy dare I say sticky about grilled fruit. You don’t really need to do much to them. For this peach madness, Amber and Natasha used:

Peaches
Lemon
Nuts
Fat
Cream
Sugar
Nutmeg, whole nut

yummy peaches!

Quickly skimming the ingredients list with the fat, sugar and fruit, you can hardly mess this concoction up. A few nectarines were tossed in the mix as peach season has not arrived in the Northwest. Smooching in butter to the nuts is the yummiest way, but a dash of interesting oil would work too. Crème Fraiche was simple to use as a dash of cream, but for those vegans out there, soy whipped cream is tasty as all get out.

The peaches were halved then dripped with lemon juice. Amber tried two ways to cook the peaches, a few on the grill with the rest in a little, foil pouch. For this girl, both peach cooking strategies worked. The right on the grill version took advantage of the whole grill thing while the pouch peach got so steamy hot with a drop your panties aroma.

it's peach in a pouch hot peach juice on nuts lemon falls on peaches

While the peaches were making magic, Amber and Natasha mashed the fat into the nuts with some sugar. Crack open the cream, sip your Tangosa while you ready yourself for hot peach action.

Assembly is easy. Hot, halved peach, pop some nut mix in the center with some cream on top. Get your girlfriend to grate some nutmeg on top then bite. A treat so yummy forks quickly became optional. It’s like peach cobbler mobility. To crank up the fun factor, pour the peach juices over the nuts or over the peach itself. Peach juices are perty.

Truly, though, a Zen peach simply heated up on the grill then eaten naked would do the trick. No need to get all fancy with the nuts. Hot fruit done simple will woo your friends leaving more time to mingle.

amber no fork

buttah -n- nuts look!  yum!

halving peaches two ways amazing
peach for you

Three Pizzas On The Grill

Pizza on grill

Grilling pizza seems an odd concept to grasp at first, but once you do it, there’s no going back. Rachel whipped up some lovely pizza. Here are the bits and pieces she laid down.

Figgy one

Pizza One:
Figgy, Cheesy, Hamness
This was the best pizza of the three. Maybe even the best pizza I’ve ever had. I don’t even like figs unless they’ve been Newtoned and still it was yummy. It was more complicated than the other two only in that you had to mix stuff into the Ricotta, no biggie.

bring me some figgy

You need:
Some ripe figs
Blue Cheese
Ricotta
Fresh basil
One little bit of a Garlic bulb
Prosciutto

Fold and pile leaves chop girl

Cut the figs in half. Done with figs.
Chiffinade the basil ( or “Bah-zil” for the commonwealth ). Itsy bitsy the Garlic. Then, smoosh the Garlic with the basil with a bit of salt. Mix the pasty stuff in with the Ricotta. That’s your sauce. Put that on first and pile the rest on top.

premelty pizza

Pizza Two:
Simple, basic pizza with a little punch.

You need:
Fresh mozzerella
Basil
Tomato Sauce
Cappicola (this is the punch)

Nothing fancy here. Lay down the sauced. Invite the ham to join in. Pop on the mozz and basil, presto.

simple pizza

 

yummmmmmm

Pizza Three:

A little something for the veg heads. Rachel took advantage of the heat and grilled up the veggies first, then readied the dough.

grilled veg

You need:
Eggplant
Some pretty looking pepper (or capsicum. We’re here for you Australia)
Pesto
Balsamic vinegar
Fresh mozzerella

soft and grill like

Debitter the eggplant with a little salt, pepper (or “salper” as an old friend used to say) and vinegar. Rachel got a little carried away with the quick pour vinegar and still it was lovely. Grill ‘em up and set aside. When you’re ready to top, pesto first, veg then cheese. The grilled veggies were AMAZING. I thought it would take awhile to get soft and flavored, but oh no, it was quick. I love heat.

Salper the eggplant hot hot hot eating pizza

Rachel Does Pizza Grill

This is Rachel

Pizza on the grill, that’s right. You’ve heard it at parties. It sounds fancy. It sounds fun. More importantly, it’s EASY. Amaze and dazzle your friends and give them an anecdote for the water cooler (or dentist or proctologist whatever). Rachel did it. She bought a pile of stuff that sounds good, a wad of pre-made dough and let impulsive, gut driven mastication take over.

Dough, Melty, Bits and Pieces

Shopping List:
Pre-made pizza dough
Something saucy
Something melty
Bits and Pieces … go with it, you know what to do and if you don’t

Dough:
The quick and easy way to do pizza is to lean on your local yuppie marts, your Trader Joes, your Metropolitan WankMarts … whatever, they’re out there even in Kansas (I love you Kansas, don’t get me wrong). There you will find pre-made pizza dough. It’s like under two bucks. You can let the dough get to room temperature and massage it with a little flour as to avoid a sticky ball. Trader Joe’s dough tends to be sticky. Rachel brought frozen dough, but with a little microwavic coercion, it was cold but malleable and still got its pizza on. Rachel picked up dough from Delaurnti. This is an Italian yum yum wet dream. They have everything you’d ever need; even cute, little jars of Nutella. Located in Seattle where they throw the fish.

Charcoal lighting Warm

Grilling Pizza:
First, fluff your grill. Get it nice and hot.

Roll out or toss the dough. Rachel was a roller, she tried tossing dough, but giggled uncontrollably.

Tossing Dough Tossing dough is a no go

Rolling the dough

Have your pizza toppings, sauce and the rest ready and near. Then …

Rachel forgets toppings, quick!!!

(Rachel runs to get the toppings. Silly Rachel)

Place the dough on the grill and cover. Don’t walk away, this bit is quick. After a quick conversation about how you really need to get that new Britney album because sure she’s having some moments, but she still has amazing producers, give it a peak. At brown and an apparent crispness, give it a flip.

Dress your pizza. Cover and wait for the melting to happen.

That’s it. Ah yeah, that’s it. Serious.

Put it right on the grill, no fear, just like burning your bra Peaky peaky Dressy dressy

Playing with coals:
Rachel played around with direct and indirect heat.

1. Charcoal in a nice pile in the middle for both sides.
Result: a bit burnt on the second side
2. Charcoal in the middle for the first side. Then scooting the charcoal to the side for the second side.
Result: yummy crunch, dare I say perfect?
3. Indirect heat for both sides. That is, charcoal scooted to one part of the grill for both pizza sides.
Result: okay, but took longer. With our girl Rachel, this was a bad technique as she kept opening the lid to check if it’s done yet. Is it done yet? How about now? With her lovely Oxford accent and snapping tongs. Oh yes, smart and sassy this one is.

Chewy ooey yum

Three pizzas were made and three pizzas were eaten lickety split. There is no going back. The fling of pizza and the hot grill is the kind of magic only elves are capable of.

Fig, cheeses, fancy ham and more

This way to more pizza grill photos –>

Tamra On Lamb

Tamra Grilling

This was a straightforward, simple concoction. A little protein and a little after sweet. We didn’t even use a full chimney. However, a hotter grill would have been quicker and slightly tastier.

Menu:

Lamb Burgerettes
Grilled Pear

Lamb, Pear on the grill

Shopping List:

Ground Lamb
Fresh Parsley
Pears
Onion
Egg
Chevre
Salt and Pepper
Walnuts
Balsamic Vinegar
Ketchup
Mini Pita, Whole Wheat
Champagne, please don’t go cheap (or something non-alc, fizzy and fancy)

Some Ingredients
Girl On Grill:

Tamra Myers, Girl On Grill Action

A quick scrub of the grill. It was a happy August barbecue when last this beast was used, so it needed a little clean. This girl hadn’t scrubbed before, but with a little pep talk, manage to persevere.

Pretty Please, clean the grill Thank You

Cleaning grill after pep talk Light that fire

We had this puppy prepped, hot and cooking within an hour. Chop some parsley, light the chimney, have some champagne, make some burgers and it’s grill time. Once the little burgers achieve shrinkage and get all brown and firm, you can eat them many ways.

And we wait

Tamra popped them in a warmed mini pita with some red leaf lettuce and chevre. Or some prefer to say it with ketchup. The parsley, onion, egg thing unites the ground lamb to take on any vehicle.

Tamra Myers, Girl On Grill Action

The pears were even easier. Of the three we tried, the whole pear was by far the best. Sweet, juicy with texture like buttah. Nothing says fall like snuggling in to a warm pear after your friend made you barbeque in sub fifty Fahrenheit.

Chew, crunch, munch Munch, crunch, chew

Follow me to the full on photo shoot →

Lamb Burgerettes

Lamb Buregerettes

Lil’ Bo Peep lost her sheep and finally got around to find them. Still holding a grudge, got pissed one night and made lamb burgers.

Ground Lamb
Parsley
Onion
Egg
Salt
Pepper

Parsley Choppin’

Here’s a simple one, easy to shop for and you get all medieval with the egg.

Forplay:
– Chop the parsley leaves, uh. Choppin’
– Chop the onion into itty bitty bits
– Standby egg

It’s on:
1. Throw down the ground lamb and get dirty.
2. Make a cute little volcano to dazzle your friends.
3. Put the egg in the hole. Ta da!
(good time to ask friend for a sip of champagne)
4. Squidge the volcano, continue to massage until everything is well mingled.
5. Sprinkle parsley on top. Work it.
6. Set in the onion play some more.
7. Make small patties and place on a plate ready for the grill.

Once cooked, the vehicle for eating these babies are limitless.  We popped the bugerettes in a mini, whole wheat pita with a dab of chevre and some red leaf lettuce.  Though a high risk for being sassed,  a few drops of ketchup is also yummy.

Lamb Volcano

Squidging

Patty Cake