Grilled Lamb Chops with Mulberry Salsa

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Here’s a spicy treat and a good way to use up excess mulberries. Any number of commercial rubs work well for the lamb chops, or you can simply use red chile powder or hot paprika for the rub.

Ingredients

  • 4 thick lamb chops

  • Commercial rub of choice

  • 1 cup mulberries

  • 1 cup diced melon, such a cantaloupe

  • 2 serrano chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced

  • 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine

  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley

  • 1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Instructions

Place the lamb chops on a plate and sprinkle with the rub. Press the rub into the meat and let stand for 1/2 hour.

In a bowl, combine the mulberries, melon, chiles, red bell pepper, onion, lemon juice, oil, parsley, and cilantro and mix well. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Grill the lamb over a medium hot fire until done; medium rare approximately will take 5 to 6 minutes per side, depending on the heat of the fire and the distance the meat is from it. The internal temperature should be 150°F.

Place the lamb on a plate and top with the salsa.

Yield: 4 servings

Heat Scale: Mild

 

Skewered Spiced Peruvian Beef and Chicken (Anticuchos)

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These are the famous Peruvian appetizers, sold by street vendors, and grilled to order. The customers just eat the beef right off the stick. Traditionally they are made with beef heart, but we like to use more tender and flavorful cuts of beef, plus chicken. With the highly acidic marinade, you can use tougher cuts if you marinate them longer. The chiles of choice here would be the native ají chiles, but virtually any small, hot fresh chiles can be used. Serve wrapped in a corn or flour tortilla. You can also serve the anticuchos as an entree with escalloped potatoes and green beans. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

Ingredients

Simmer the cumin seeds in the oil for 5 minutes. Strain the oil and discard the seeds.

Combine with all the remaining marinade ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Toss the meat and chicken in the marinade, place in a nonreactive bowl, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and longer for tougher cuts of meat.

Thread the meat on skewers and bring to room temperature. Simmer the marinade for 20 minutes over low heat. Grill the beef over medium-hot fire, basting frequently with the marinade for about 4 minutes a side, until the beef is done. Cut a sample to check for doneness. Serve over greens with your favorite dipping sauces.

Instructions

Cured and Pecan-Smoked King Salmon with Hot Sauce

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The key to preparing salmon this way is to make certain that your smoke is rather cool, about 100 degrees. If it is warmer, decrease the smoking time. This recipe takes a fair amount of time, but most of that is spent waiting rather than working. The selection of sauces served is up to the cook, so feel free to experiment. A horseradish sauce will work also. The salmon can also be served on bagels, as pictured here. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

Ingredients

For the Cure:

  • 2.5 cups kosher salt

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon ground oregano

  • 1 teaspoon crushed dill weed

For the Salmon:

  • 2 large salmon fillets, about 2 to 5 pounds each, or 5 small but thicker fillets

For the Sauce:

  • Commercial habanero hot sauce

  • Commercial sherry pepper hot sauce

  • Commercial spicy mustard

  • Commercial creamy horseradish sauce

Instructions

For the Cure:

Combine the ingredients for the cure in a bowl and mix well. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on an aluminum baking pan and spread about a 1/8-inch thick layer of the cure blend and place the fillets on the plastic wrap. Top the fillets with 1/8-inch of cure. Cover the fillets with plastic wrap and cure in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours; a 4-hour cure is preferable. Remove the fillets from the wrap and rinse the cure off each fillet. Allow the fillets to air dry for about 2 hours.

For the Salmon:

Prepare a fire in the smoker’s firebox with pecan wood or other fruit or nut hardwood of choice, such as apple, apricot, peach, or walnut. When the fire stabilizes and the smoke is no longer hot, place the fillets skin-side down on racks or on the aluminum baking pan.

Smoke the fillets for 4 to 5 hours, depending on their thickness. Regularly check the fire and fillets to make sure that the fish is smoking, not rapidly cooking.

Serve the salmon over crackers of choice topped with any of the three sauces as an appetizer. Refrigerate any leftovers, which will keep for weeks.

Margarita-Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Quesadilla

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This is one of those cross-over dishes that can be served whole as an entree or cut into wedges as an appetizer. Feel free to substitute chicken pieces for the shrimp if you like.

Ingredients

Tequila, Jalapeno Chiles, Shrimp, Tortillas, Guacamole, Cheese

Instructions

This is one of those cross-over dishes that can be served whole as an entree or cut into wedges as an appetizer. If ever there were such a thing as a “Grilled Shrimp Mexican-Style Pizza,” this would be it. Feel free to substitute chicken pieces for the shrimp if you like. Would you dare serve this with Tropical Rum Slush? Well, why not? We do.

Margarita Marinade

  • 1/4 cup tequila

  • 3 tablespoons triple sec

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

  • 2 serrano or jalapeño chiles, seeds and stems removed, finely chopped

  • 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder

The Shrimp and Final Preparation

  • 1 pound small shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled and deveined

  • 6 7-inch flour tortillas

  • Vegetable oil

  • Guacamole (two mashed or finely chopped avocados mixed with
    1/2 chopped onion, 1/2 chopped tomato, 1 minced serrano or jalapeño
    chile, and a little lime or lemon juice)

  • 1,5 cups shredded Monterey Jack or asadero cheese

  • Chopped fresh cilantro.

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a nonreactive bowl. Toss the shrimp in the mixture and marinate for one hour.

Place the shrimp in a grilling basket and place over the fire, shaking the basket often to make sure the shrimp is grilled on all sides. Grill for about 4 minutes over a medium fire, or until the shrimp just turn pink and are opaque. Remove from the fire.

Brush one side of 3 tortillas with the oil. Spread the guacamole over the other side of each oil-brushed tortilla, divide the shrimp among each, sprinkle with the cheese and cilantro, and press firmly together. Top with the remaining tortillas and brush with oil.

Grill the quesadillas over medium heat either by the indirect method for 5 minutes, or direct method for 3 to 4 minutes or until the tortillas start to brown and the cheese melts, turning once–carefully.

Cut the quesadillas into wedges, top with a dollop of guacamole if desired, and serve.

Yield: 16 to 24 wedges

Heat Scale: Mild

Genghis Khan Barbecue

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No, this is not barbecued camel, but you could use it if American supermarkets would only wise up and stock it. (“Special Bactrian Hump, Just $12.95 a Pound!”) This Mongol specialty is our take on a nomadic campfire feast. So if you would like to camp in your backyard, this would work fine over a hardwood fire. You could also use your Lynx Grill.

Ingredients

For the Marinade:

  • 2 tablespoons rice wine

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons minced leeks

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil

  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic

  • 3 jalapeño chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced

  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

 For the Lamb:

  • 1 ½ pounds lamb, sliced 1 ½ inches thick

  • Red Wine Chile Dipping Sauce

  • 1/3 cup dry red wine

  • 1 green onion, minced including the green

  • 1 jalapeño chile, stem and seeds removed, minced

  • 2 teaspoons chile oil (chiles steeped in vegetable oil)

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • Chile Garlic Dipping Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or substitute 2 tablespoons rice wine)

  • 4 red serrano or jalapeño chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced

  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 1 teaspoon peanut oil

  • The Vegetable Barbecue

  • 12 cremini or button mushrooms

  • 1 leek, cut in 3-inch lengths, then cut in strips

  • 4 green onions, cut in 3-inch lengths

  • 1 small bell pepper, thickly sliced

  • 1/4 pound edible pea pods

  • 2 jalapeño chiles, stems and seeds removed, cut in strips

Instructions

Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Place the lamb in a glass dish and pour the marinade over it, coating it thoroughly. Marinate the meat for 3 to 4 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.

Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauces in two bowls and allow to sit at for at least an hour to blend the flavors. Place the ingredients for the sauces in a blender or food processor in two batches and process until smooth. (Rinse out the blender between uses.)

Drain the lamb and transfer the leftover marinade in a saucepan. Simmer the marinade for 20 minutes. Toss the vegetables in the marinade and transfer to a vegetable grilling basket.

Over a medium fire, grill the lamb and the vegetables. The lamb should be cooked until medium rare about 10 to 12 minutes, then cut open a sample to check for doneness.. The vegetables should be shaken often and cooked until easily pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes.

Serve the lamb and vegetables with the rice and the dipping sauces on the side. Of course, you can pour the dipping sauces over the entire meal.

Variation; Thread the meat and vegetables on skewers to grill.