THE LAST GRILL OF SUMMER?

Fire up the grill! It’s the last weekend of August—occasion for, maybe, the last cookout of the season. The days are getting shorter, the evenings cooler (although the mosquitos haven't abated yet). Soon I’ll be happy to turn on the oven again. But, for now, it’s a grilling feast.

 

Meal on the grill--swordfish kebabs, chicken, foil-wrapped ribs and, tucked into the coals, potatoes and onions.

Even though there are only four of us for dinner, I’m making two racks of spareribs, a small chicken and swordfish brochettes. Wrapped in foil and tucked into the coals are potatoes and small, sweet onions. Some tiny eggplant from the garden will be grilled, whole, when the meat comes off. Split open, they need only salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil for a sensational side dish.

I’ve got a huge sack of carbon de encina, charcoal made from wild holm oak, to supplement the olive wood sticks. They make fragrant coals. A twig of rosemary adds a piney aroma.

The ribs I marinate in garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and Sherry vinegar for several hours. I wrap them in foil and grill about 20 minutes per side or until tender. I remove the foil and brush them with a barbecue sauce—Spanish molasses, ketchup, more garlic and vinegar. The grill meister (son Ben) lets the ribs glaze, about 5 minutes per side.

The chicken, a wee bird, is spatchcocked (backbone removed and breastbone slightly flattened). It marinates in the same garlic-thyme-parsley-vinegar mix as the ribs. The chicken needs only about 15 minutes per side over direct heat. (I’m thinking, this grilled chicken is going to be great cut up and folded in pita with tahina for tomorrow night’s dinner.)

The swordfish brochettes are a treat. Many years ago swordfish was very common in local (Mediterranean) fish markets, displayed on the slab in its enormous entirety, including the impressive head with its “sword.” I cooked it frequently.  Now, I find swordfish only in pre-cut steaks and I’m never sure where it’s coming from. (This is labeled—it comes from the southeast Atlantic and has been flash-frozen and defrosted for sale.) In Spanish, swordfish is pez espada, aguja palá, espardate or emperador.

Cubes of swordfish skewered with tomato, onion, pepper.

This is one of the ways I learned to cook swordfish way back in the village tapa bar where I learned Spanish cooking. In the kitchen there, the kebabs were laid on top of the gas flame. They can also be cooked on a plancha (griddle) or, best, on a wood-fired grill.

How long to grill them? Obviously, it depends on the fire. These needed about 5 minutes per side (the grill rack is not close to the coals).

The vegetables may not be done in the time it takes to grill the swordfish. If you prefer the onions and peppers cooked softer, skewer them separately and give them more time on the grill.

Swordfish Brochettes
Brochetas de Pez Espada

If swordfish is not available, any “meaty,” solid-fleshed fish can be substituted. Possibilities are monkfish (rape); dogfish shark (cazón) or tuna (atún or bonito).

To make 5 or 6 brochettes:

1 ¼  pounds swordfish fillets or steaks
Salt
1/3 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (5 cloves)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Red pepper flakes (optional)
¼ teaspoon cumin (optional)
Tomatoes cut in wedges
Onions cut in wedges stem to root
Green peppers cut in squares
Lemon wedges

Remove skin and center bone from swordfish. Cut the fish into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle it with salt.

In a bowl combine 1 teaspoon salt, parsley, garlic, oil, lemon juice and red pepper flakes and cumin, if using. Add the swordfish cubes and mix gently. Cover and marinate, refrigerated, at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

Remove swordfish from the marinade, saving the marinade. Thread the cubes on metal skewers, alternating with tomato wedges, onions and green pepper.

Light a grill. Before placing the brochettes on the grill, brush them with some of the remaining marinade. Use a lemon wedge stuck on a fork to wipe the grill rack (prevents sticking). Grill until fish is lightly browned on one side. Brush with any remaining marinade and turn the brochettes. Grill until done on reverse side. Serve accompanied by lemon.

Marinated swordfish doesn't need a sauce.

GRILLING THE SPANISH WAY

Vegetables on the grill for escalivada.

When you think about traditional Spanish cooking, I bet you never think of grilling. Yet, cooking on a parilla, a grate or grill; a la brasa, over hot coals, or on a plancha, a metal hot plate set over coals, are all traditional cooking methods in Spain.

On the Mediterranean coast, fishermen haul their boats in at dawn, laden with fresh sardines. For breakfast, they make a fast fire on the sand, skewer the sardines on sticks, stick them in the sand before the fire. Simple and delicious.

Basque fishermen set a grate over a fire for cooking whole besugo, red bream, basted with a feather until the skin turns crisp and golden. In the wine region of Ribera del Duero, vineyard workers grill tiny lamb chops over a fast-burning fire of vine prunings. Hunters in La Mancha make a fire from holm oak to grill rabbits and other small game.

Char-roasted peppers, eggplant, onion and tomato.

In Catalonia, spring onions with their green tops—calçots—cooked on the grill with sausages and chops are an excuse for a party. Another Catalan dish, escalivada, combines eggplant, peppers, onions and tomatoes that have been grilled, skinned and dressed with olive oil.

While Spain may not be as famous for grilled steak as the US or Argentina, I gotta say that the best char-grilled steak I ever had in my life was at the Basque farmhouse restaurant, Baserri Maitea http://www.grupozaldua.com/baserri/, in Forua, a short drive from Bilbao, where chef Juan Antonio Zaldua has taken grilling to new heights of complexity (squid grilled over lavender; whole sole grilled over pungent holy herb; meat grilled over holm oak).

Beef for grilling at Restaurante Baserri Maitea

That steak was a thick rib chop from a 7-year-old grass-fed vaca (cow), heavily marbled, cooked medium rare, then carved off the bone.

The steak I grilled tonight was not so great. (My butcher misled me this time.) The sauce/marinade, Canary Islands mojo colorado, red chile sauce, with its touch of vinegar, complemented the beef and the grilled potatoes. Escalivada was right-on as a vegetable side.

Charcoal grilling, to me, seems wasteful—it takes such a long time to get the coals up to temperature, then, after the steaks come off the grill, residual heat could cook another meal. What I like about escalivada is that the vegetables can be put on the grill early on or at the very end. In fact, I sometimes make the vegetables at the end of a grill meal to be served cold the next day. The smoky flavor makes it all worth while.

Escalivada is a Catalan dish of grilled eggplant, peppers, onion and tomato.

Escalivada
Grilled Eggplant and Peppers

Serve escalivada as a starter, rather like a salad; as a side dish with grilled meat; heaped on a hamburger bun, or as a topping for pizza. You can also roast the eggplant and peppers under the broiler instead of over charcoal.

Serves 4 as a tapa or side dish.

Peel off charred skins.

1 medium eggplant
1 large red bell pepper
1 medium onion
1 large tomato
1 small head garlic
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare coals (charcoal or wood fire).

Pierce the eggplant and pepper with a sharp knife in 3 or 4 places (to prevent steam from building up inside the skin). Slice the top off the head of garlic.

Place all the vegetables on the grill (or under the broiler). Grill until eggplant and pepper are charred on one side. Use tongs to turn the vegetables. Grill until charred on all sides. (If tomato softens before other vegetables are ready, remove it.) Remove charred vegetables to a bowl.

Let the vegetables set until cool enough to handle. Peel the eggplant. Chop or shred the flesh and place in a bowl. Peel and cut pepper in strips and add to the eggplant. Peel onion and cut in lengthwise slivers. Peel the tomato, discard seeds and chop the flesh. Combine the vegetables and season them with salt and pepper

Squeeze the softened cloves of garlic out of the skins into a small bowl. Mash them with a fork. Stir the vinegar and oil into the garlic paste, then stir it into the vegetables.

Serve room temperature.
 
Mojo Colorado
Red Chile Sauce

Use this as a marinade for meat or chicken, as a dipping sauce for tiny new potatoes, or as a sauce with grilled or steamed fish.

3 tablespoons pimentón (paprika)
1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped, or cayenne to taste
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Sauce keeps one week, refrigerated.