Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Grilled Radicchio and Belgian Endive

Whenever we grill fish, meat or poultry, we also grill some vegetables to go as a side. Halved tomatoes, whole mildly spicy peppers like Poblano, Anaheim or sweet Korean; asparagus, mushrooms, and basically whatever vegetable we find appropriate for a certain dish. Our recent favorite to go with a whole grilled fish are radicchio and Belgian endive.

Grilled Whole Trout

Grilled whole fish has become one of our most favorite casual dinners. As I have mentioned before, we’re happy owners of a Green Egg, a ceramic charcoal grill, that is perfect for grilling, smoking and even pizza baking.

When grilled right, a whole fish has a beautiful thin, crispy skin and tender and moist flesh.

Pizza, Part IV: Baking

In winter, we bake pizzas in the oven on a pizza stone; in the summer, we prefer cooking it on the Green Egg. Here’s how it goes:

Pizza, Part I: the Dough

I’m a big fan of pizza and have been perfecting my recipe for a long time. Still haven’t reached the ideal, but getting close with practice.  

Grilled Sardines

Ilya and I love sardines and buy them whenever we come across them in stores. Usually at Uwajimaya and occasionally at Whole Foods. If you haven’t tried them yet, I encourage you to. They have a distinct pleasant flavor and delicate oily consistency, which resemble those of mackerel and herring.

A Perfect Steak: Some Thoughts

The secret of a good steak is quite simple. All you need is a proper cut of a good quality meat, delicious marinade, right cooking technique and a reliable way to figure out when the steak has reached the desired doneness.

Folded Chinese Buns with Kalbi Marinated Flat Iron Steak, Quick Pickled Carrots and Soy-n-Peanut Sauce

Kalbi marinade is very versatile and works not only for short ribs. Yesterday, I used it to marinade a beef flat iron steak, which then was grilled and served in folded Chinese buns along with some relishes.

Grilling Season: Grilled and Marinated Bell Peppers

Grilled bell peppers are no less tasty treat than grilled Anaheims or Poblanos. To my taste, however, whereas mildly spicy green peppers are great served as they are, almost right from the grill, bell peppers become even better and develop more complex flavor after being slightly marinated.

Grilling Season: Grilled Aneheim or Poblano Peppers

One of our most favorite summer treats is grilled peppers. Especially, mildly spicy peppers like Anaheim or Poblano with their deep, earthy, a bit sweet and slightly bitterish flavor that matches perfectly a variety of meats, poultry and fish.

Grilling Season: Skewered Prawns with Paprika, Cumin, Garlic and Lemon

There are places that have four distinct seasons. Like my hometown in Russian. Like most of the places in this country, where there is no chance you would confuse spring with fall. In Seattle, however, we seem to have only two seasons: rain and no-rain. The latter is ruefully short and usually lasts from July to mid-September and the former takes up the rest 300 days.

Muhammara

Muhammara is a Mediterranean dip made of roasted red peppers, thickened with ground walnuts and breadcrumbs. Since my husband is allergic to walnuts and somewhat to pecans, I make my muhammara with almond meal. I’m planning to try some other ground nuts as well. I think my next choice will be pistachios.

Lebanese Eggplant Salad

In Russia, when we really enjoy a meal, we say, it tastes so good you can swallow your tongue! Well, I almost did when I first tried this eggplant salad in a neighborhood Lebanese restaurant. Light, with an extremely velvety texture and amazing smoky flavor, for me it tasted even better than baba ganoush. And if you only knew how much I love baba ganoush...mmmm.

Our Dinner the Other Night

Please, meet whole grilled Golden Pompano:

Minced Lamb Kebab

Grilling season is coming soon (Hopefully - keep your fingers crossed!) and here’s one good recipe for you. If you are not big on lamb, take not too lean ground beef or poultry instead.