We use our grill year-round, but it gets frequent use during the hotter months. Last weekend, we grilled stuffed chiles and then chicken under a brick. This grilled chicken with an Italian name comes from Mario’s Italian Grill
. In the introduction of the book, he explains that Italian grilling isn’t so different from that in the US. However, in Italy, nuance is important as there is only ever minimal interference with the primary ingredient. There are no thick sauces, and the marinades are simple. I read this a year ago and enjoyed Mario’s wit sprinkled throughout the book. In the tuna like fiorentina recipe after suggesting a cooking time for a rare tuna steak, he wrote: “If you want your tuna more cooked than that, throw the steaks directly into the trash bin and buy some cans of good tuna instead.” That made me chuckle. Last summer, I tried the clams in cartoccio and the tuna and calamari spiedini. Now, that I’ve flipped through the book again, I remember there’s a simple recipe for homemade ricotta to use in the marinated zucchini with ricotta and bottarga, and I just mentally bookmarked that. And, look at that, I haven’t cooked, or grilled, from the vegetables chapter yet. I do get distracted when I have a cookbook in front of me.
Back to this grilled chicken. It was very easy to prepare and was seasoned with only fennel pollen, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Speaking of fennel pollen, when I made the charred tuna spiedini last year, I headed off to the grocery store with every confidence that I would find some there. Two grocery stores and phone calls to two other markets later, I was not able to locate any fennel pollen in Austin and might have been somewhat frustrated by that. Eventually, I placed an order with Market Hall Foods and since then, fennel pollen has had a home in my spice rack. So, my shopping list for this dish was: chicken. The backbone was removed, and I saved it for stock, and the breastbone was cracked so the bird could be flattened. Once the herb/spice mixture was patted onto both sides of the chicken, and under the skin as is my habit, it was wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for several hours. While prepping the grill, a brick from the backyard was wrapped in a double layer of foil. It was set on the grill to pre-heat. The chicken was removed from the refrigerator, allowed to come to room temperature, and rubbed on both sides with olive oil. It was placed on the grill, skin side down, and the hot brick was set on top of it. After 15 minutes or so, the brick was set aside so the chicken could be turned, and the brick went back on top. After another 12 minutes or so, the chicken was done.
That was the fastest and easiest method of grilling a whole chicken I’ve used. The under a brick concept is nothing new, but I’d never actually tried it. As Mario promised, it produced a cooked chicken with incredibly crisp skin and succulent, juicy meat. Fennel pollen is like ground fennel seed only more intense. It has an herby aroma, and it adds incredible flavor to meat and fish. The flavor of the fennel pollen and thyme permeated the meat, and this was one of the best tasting chickens off a grill that I can remember. It couldn’t have been simpler to prepare, and the flavors were straightforward and perfectly combined. The brick trick definitely works wonders.
. In the introduction of the book, he explains that Italian grilling isn’t so different from that in the US. However, in Italy, nuance is important as there is only ever minimal interference with the primary ingredient. There are no thick sauces, and the marinades are simple. I read this a year ago and enjoyed Mario’s wit sprinkled throughout the book. In the tuna like fiorentina recipe after suggesting a cooking time for a rare tuna steak, he wrote: “If you want your tuna more cooked than that, throw the steaks directly into the trash bin and buy some cans of good tuna instead.” That made me chuckle. Last summer, I tried the clams in cartoccio and the tuna and calamari spiedini. Now, that I’ve flipped through the book again, I remember there’s a simple recipe for homemade ricotta to use in the marinated zucchini with ricotta and bottarga, and I just mentally bookmarked that. And, look at that, I haven’t cooked, or grilled, from the vegetables chapter yet. I do get distracted when I have a cookbook in front of me.Back to this grilled chicken. It was very easy to prepare and was seasoned with only fennel pollen, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Speaking of fennel pollen, when I made the charred tuna spiedini last year, I headed off to the grocery store with every confidence that I would find some there. Two grocery stores and phone calls to two other markets later, I was not able to locate any fennel pollen in Austin and might have been somewhat frustrated by that. Eventually, I placed an order with Market Hall Foods and since then, fennel pollen has had a home in my spice rack. So, my shopping list for this dish was: chicken. The backbone was removed, and I saved it for stock, and the breastbone was cracked so the bird could be flattened. Once the herb/spice mixture was patted onto both sides of the chicken, and under the skin as is my habit, it was wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for several hours. While prepping the grill, a brick from the backyard was wrapped in a double layer of foil. It was set on the grill to pre-heat. The chicken was removed from the refrigerator, allowed to come to room temperature, and rubbed on both sides with olive oil. It was placed on the grill, skin side down, and the hot brick was set on top of it. After 15 minutes or so, the brick was set aside so the chicken could be turned, and the brick went back on top. After another 12 minutes or so, the chicken was done.That was the fastest and easiest method of grilling a whole chicken I’ve used. The under a brick concept is nothing new, but I’d never actually tried it. As Mario promised, it produced a cooked chicken with incredibly crisp skin and succulent, juicy meat. Fennel pollen is like ground fennel seed only more intense. It has an herby aroma, and it adds incredible flavor to meat and fish. The flavor of the fennel pollen and thyme permeated the meat, and this was one of the best tasting chickens off a grill that I can remember. It couldn’t have been simpler to prepare, and the flavors were straightforward and perfectly combined. The brick trick definitely works wonders.
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There was just one little issue with this roaster contraption, or maybe it’s not the contraption at all but was just a twist of fate regarding the size of jalapeños being sold locally last weekend. Several of the chiles I used slid right through the holes on the roasting rack. Maybe they were slenderer than usual. The banana peppers were definitely smallish and thin, but I didn’t think the jalpeños looked any thinner than normal. To hold our chiles in place, Kurt took charge of placing little rings of foil on the rack to fill out extra space in each opening, and that worked fine. The stuffed chiles went to the grill as secure as can be, and we eagerly awaited the end of their cooking time. They sat on a medium-hot area of the grill for about 18 minutes total, and Kurt turned the rack once after 10 minutes. The wait for the molten centers to cool enough so as to only burn a little seemed like an eternity, and I worried the jalapeños would be too spicy even though the membranes and seeds had been removed. We were surprised to find the jalapeños were very mild tasting as if the grilling had tamed them. The simple cheese filling worked well as it allowed the character of the chiles themselves to play a bigger part, and the time over charcoal was a key element in building the overall taste. The jalapeños were terrific, but we found that we were gravitating to the flavor of the banana peppers, and they oddly had a bigger hint of spiciness. Roasting the stuffed chiles was as fun as I’d imagined it would be, and I predict we’ll be doing this pretty much every time we light the grill.
The next morning, the dough was removed from the refrigerator and allowed to come to room temperature. It was then cut into two pieces which were left to rest for 15 minutes. A combination of amaranth, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, anise seeds, and fennel seeds was spread on a baking sheet. Each piece of dough was to have been formed into a football shape. Yes, I know what a football ball is. However, I failed a little at this shaping step, and I’m going to blame this on the fact that I have no interest in the sport of football. Maybe in my mind, the shape of a football is a little longer and thinner than regulation size. The shaped or mis-shaped loaves were then spritzed with water from a water bottle and rolled in the seeds, and I had no problem with with that step. The seeded loaves then sat, top-side down, on a baking sheet topped with a floured cloth with some of the cloth pinched up between the loaves to keep them separated. They were covered with another floured cloth, and then all was slid into a plastic trash bag where they proofed for three to four hours. I really hoped this would be the only time these loaves would see the inside of a trash bag.
My finished bread was nicely burnished and well-crusted. As I mentioned, they were longer than a football and therefore not as tall as they might have been. I fretted for a couple of hours, with a complete lack of confidence that the inside would seem right, while they cooled. Then, finally, I picked up my bread knife and with a here goes nothing, I cut into a loaf and was pleasantly surprised. Just as the bread had been described in the recipe’s intro, it was lighter than most multigrains. The inside was moist with a fairly open texture. I tasted a slice and understood right away why Silverton raved about using this bread for a turkey sandwich. The flavor of the grains and the sourdough with the crunchy crust would make this a fantastic sandwich bread. I was so proud of my starter and what it had achieved, and I’m curious what wonders it will produce next.
I’m sure blueberries would also be great in this cake, and plums were another suggested fruit option. However, the fresh cherries were divine, and the crumb topping was in perfect proportion to the tender, buttery cake. I may need to hide this book from myself to prevent a nonstop, baking-marathon frenzy from consuming my every waking hour, but so far I’ve been extremely pleased with each recipe I’ve tried.
The dough is a quick brioche which is started with warmed milk, yeast, and flour. That mixture is left to bubble and rise for 20 minutes before it’s added to butter, sugar, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour in a food processor. There’s a tiny error in the breakfast ring recipe. You are instructed to follow the quick brioche recipe through step six, but you should actually only follow it through step four. That was no problem though; it’s obvious that you’re done at step four. The mixed dough was then chilled for an hour after which it was rolled into a rectangle on a floured surface. The filling included softened butter, light brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and chopped pecans, and that was spread over the rectangle of dough. The dough was rolled up jelly-roll style, transferred to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and then formed into a ring. Of course, I worried over the evenness of the circle. Where the ends meet, it forms a smaller cross-section that the rest of the ring, but a little coaxing and sculpting left it looking good enough.
The ring shape was smoothed and slightly flattened down from the top. Using scissors, cuts were made all around from the outside perimeter to about three-quarters of the way toward the center. Each piece was twisted to one side to expose the filling. You have to lift and pull a little to get the cut and turned pieces to sit nicely next to one another. After the twisting and flipping, the finished ring sat until doubled in size. An egg wash was applied, more chopped pecans were sprinkled on top, and it was baked. Once cool, it was dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Happily, it was sturdy enough to be transferred to a clean tray, but I feared that step and took photos prior to moving it.
Crispy rice bits, well-seasoned sauteed squash and mushrooms, crunchy carrots, and sesame seeds were just some of the varied textures. And, the garlic and sesame with the chili sauce was a delicious blend of flavors. The gochujang was a little spicy but also somewhat sweet and vinegary, and I see now that it was worth the trip to the Korean market. It really is different from other chili sauces. Bibimbap is often served with a fried egg on top, but we had indulged in a large frittata for brunch earlier in the day so I skipped the egg. It may also be served with beef or chicken, but I stayed with the vegetarian approach of the recipe. I’m kind of proud to have successfully created a bibimbap and I’ll definitely be making it again.
Next, you get to apply this fluffery to the cupcakes, and that is almost as much fun as eating it. You swoop and swirl and let the frosting take whatever crazy shape it can. Because of the lightness of the frosting, this is one that is best applied liberally. My spinning instructor was surprised and delighted by the cupcakes, and he offered to share with everyone—after class of course. Luckily, everyone felt like they deserved a cupcake or two after that class. 