What’s on the Grill #88a, 88b, & 88c

Hello,time?  Believe it or not, I thought August would yield a ton of free time.  Although I did some fun grilling over the last week, time to write about it was about zero.  To complicate matters more, I spent most of my weeknights running cabling for Mom & Dad’s new house and then took off more time from work to play drink beer in a charity golf scramble.  As a side note, I do not golf well…but I can drive a mean golf cart.

So since I am behind, this post will sum up what has been happening on the grill!

Rosemary & Orange Marinated Lamb Chops with Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus

I love lamb, and anytime I have the opportunity to grill it, I will.  I used a recipe for the chops from the Williams Sonoma Essential of Grilling book (p.113 or at least it is in mine, it is an older edition):

1/3 cup each fresh orange juice & dry red wine

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon each grated orange zest & chopped fresh rosemary

The ribs were marinated for just 30 minutes and then cooked direct for approximately 5 minutes a side.  A hot and fast cook is imperative. 

I tend to repeat, and thus kill anything I really like.  So, in keeping with my spirit of tradition, I again made prosciutto wrapped asparagus.  Lightning did strike twice as they were just as good as the first time I made them.  For some unknown reason, I also find they make great leftovers (if you happen to have any).  Usually we just pitch any extra asparagus, but when they are wrapped like this they heat up in the microwave really well.  It’s got to be that wonderfully salty meat!

While cruising through Kroger, I came upon a stack of “wood sheets”.  Think cedar plank, but cut really, really thin.  Not only did they have cedar, but they also had alder and hickory too.  It sounded like a neat idea, so I picked up a pack.  For their maiden use, I decided upon a stuffing of shrimp, lime and both fresh jalapenos and Thai basil from the garden.  I soaked the cedar roll in a thin layer of Sam Adams Octoberfest for about 15 minutes.  Once wrapped, I grilled them on indirect for approximately 12 minutes.  The shrimp were a tad overdone, so I will have to revisit this in the future.  I like the idea and the flavor was rather nice.

For desert, I was able to finally try out the BBQ banana dish which comes from Andreea at Glorious Food and Wine via Marisa at Slashfood.  Stated simply: incredible.  Click on Andreea’s link for the full recipe.  The before and after pictures are below.

I have pretty much come to the conclusion that these are inside out banana splits because with a little bit of vanilla ice cream, that is exactly what you have.  Next time I plan on using better chocolate and will probably add nuts.  There are literally a million combinations you could try.…this weekend, give it a shot yourself and see!