On the grill

It is officially summertime. The sun is warm. The skies are blue. The kids are out of school. Round here the wheat is turning a lovely shade of gold as the corn & soy beans are straining to get taller by the second. I'm loving it. And because it is summer, we are using the grill an awful lot more than any other time of the year. (does anyone grill in the dead of winter? And speaking of that, who remembers the Cosby episode where Cliff went out to Bae-be-que in a blizzard?! Loved that one!). Our garden isn't too plentiful yet-we're zone 4ish here-so for now I'm mostly grilling meat. But here are a few of our favorites right now:

Grilled Halibut on Cedar Planks
My favorite fish. Hands down. Nothing local about it, I know. But this fish makes me swoon. Our picky 4 year old even loves it. I grilled it on cedar planks that had been soaked in water for 24 hours. The fish steaks had marinated in lemon juice, salt, and pepper for 30 minutes. After grilling, they were served with a lemon white wine butter sauce. There are one million online. Basically, it's lemon juice (fresh) butter and wine cooked until reduced. I throw in the lemon peels for added flavor. Our son gobbled it up and declared it was "chicken fish!" Whatever it takes, right?

Steak
Now I'm picky when it comes to steak. It has to be tenderloin. Not because I like the cut or the flavor. I have wretched dental work that won't let me chew anything less tender. Boo. When my husband orders a NY strip steak and moans over its deliciousness I ooze envy. Anyhow...we have been giving the steaks minimal treatment...bring them to room temperature, brush with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and put on a high temperature for about 4-5 minutes per side. Voila! Medium rare filets and a happy family.

Chicken
Finally, the grilled entree of my childhood summers. We would eat chicken on the grill's rotisserie each weekend it seemed. That smell, taste, sight sends me straight back to my grandparents back yard in Firestone Park. Two weekends ago we got our first poultry share from our CSA. This round got a lemon butter, charcoal treatment. Nothing compares to chicken cooked over charcoal with a little hickory thrown in at the end. Mmmmmmmmm!

So, what are your favorite summertime grill treats? Clearly we keep them easy here-no recipes involved! Share ideas and inspiration. When veggies start to roll in soon we will br throwing those delights on the grill too, so more to come.