A Good BBQ For Food Americana

 

Our most recent Cook the Books Club selection is Food Americana  -The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America's Favorite Dishes, by David Page. This round hosted by Simona, of Bricole.  

Not my usual sort of reading material.  This is a lovely club/ reading group, which gets us all out of ruts! :). .. My usual sort of rut being escapism, light mystery fiction, or non-fiction totally based on what project I'm involved in or researching.  At the moment, improving my chocolate making.  Just finished making a fermentation box, and it's cooking away at the moment. So much for that.  This book, on the other hand, is about food in America.  In case you weren't aware of it all, and with background on the various types: Hamburgers, BBQ, bagels, spaghetti, ice cream, etc. etc. including those not so American, i.e. Mexican, sushi and Chinese food.  According to the publishers:

"David Page changed the world of food television by creating, developing, and executive-producing the groundbreaking show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now from this two-time Emmy winner comes Food Americana, an entertaining mix of food culture, pop culture, nostalgia, and everything new on the American plate.

The remarkable history of American food. What is American cuisine, what national menu do we share, what dishes have we chosen, how did they become “American,” and how are they likely to evolve from here? David Page answers all these questions and more.

Engaging, insightful, and often humorous. The inside story of how Americans have formed a national cuisine from a world of flavors. Sushi, pizza, tacos, bagels, barbecue, dim sum―even fried chicken, burgers, ice cream, and many more―were born elsewhere and transformed into a unique American cuisine."  I would beg to differ.  These items may be what we or some of us eat, but they are not our National cuisine.  We obviously don't have one.  

Our Big Fat Jackfruit Adventure

My first experience, face to face, with a jackfruit.  People grow them here, but you don't generally see them in the market.   Well, occasionally in the farmer's market, cut up and wrapped in saran.  This all started when I went with a friend, to a local vegetarian restaurant, an excellent one, by the way - Sweet Cane Cafe - specializing in locally grown, organic  produce, wanting to try the now almost cult fruit, prepared like pulled pork.  The owner said she didn't use jackfruit for that purpose, just ripe ones in smoothies.  So I managed to talk her into selling me a whole, unripe specimen.  Luckily she had just taken delivery on a bunch of them, so I was able to stagger out, with one of the staff helping me to carry it. This is a fruit you don't want falling on your head out in the orchard.

Me negotiating said purchase. The next job was researching how to cut it open, prepare for cooking and use in some recipes. Verizon has told me I'm down to 10% due to excessive data usage.

Pineapple-Bourbon BBQ Sauce

For the weekly theme at IHCC, (I Heart Cooking Clubs) it was Fresh & Fruity with our reigning chef, Curtis Stone.  Just in time for your Fourth of July barbecuing , was my thought, not to mention all the pineapples ripening up around the old ranch.  Which meant a change from the original recipe: for apple, add in a pine.

Fried Green Tomatoes and Salad of Arugula, Avocado, BBQ Chicken Slices and Gorgonzola

I didn't even get everything in that title.  This salad also had romaine and radishes.  Altogether a nice combination, especially with the side of Fried Green Tomatoes.  I loved that movie, and have been (in the back of my mind - the food file) wanting to give them a try ever since.  So, humming along the produce aisle the other day, I came upon the fruit and veggie guy unloading tomatoes into a bin, and there were these green ones in with the ripe reds.  Why would anyone pick tomatoes that green, unless for this dish?  Tell me that.  Tomatoes should ripen on the vine, shouldn't they?  Am I naive?  At any rate,  you now have the back story on my supper.  I'm sure you all were curious.

As for our salad,  I had  left-over Teriyaki Chicken, since Bob has been Barbecuing almost every weekend, some fresh arugula and Gorgonzola, which sounded like the perfect accompaniment for our fried side.  You do not need to buy prepared barbecue sauce.  I am going to divulge my secret Teriyaki Chicken recipe here (this is almost a staple in Hawaii).  We'll start with that.  Cooked chicken is not all that photogenic however, so just imagine the scent and flavors coming off your grill.  Unbeatable really. 

Deconstructed Tenderloin BBQ

In line with the theme of using more of what is growing outside, I have come up with a new take on an old standard around here - Teriyaki Sauce.  In Hawaii, Teriyaki BBQ'd Chicken is a year-round staple. However, I just couldn't see having Bob go through firing up the BBQ and getting a bunch of charcoal to white hot, for like 2-3 minutes on each side of cooking, which is all this tenderloin, cut in 1/4 inch strips, took to broil.  I can stand the oven being on for that amount of time.  Besides which, he was recovering from a bad cold.  Poor guy.  So, this is a deconstructed Steak Tenderloin Teriyaki, with off the skewer zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper.

Isn't the fruit weird looking?

I'm using more of my Kaffir Lime leaves and fruit lately.  Before it was just the leaves occasionally in Thai cooking. Now we're finding uses for the fruit itself.  I used the zest recently in Ono with Pia and a Shrimp Risotto.   For this Teriyaki marinade, thin slices of the limes were added, which gave the meat a wonderful limey zing. It's now on my personal, internal, teriyaki recipe card.  There's no real recipe for teriyaki sauce, you just start adding spices to your base of shoyu (soy sauce).  But, in this case, I'll list what ingredients I included.

Teriyaki Marinade

1 cup shoyu (preferably naturally aged)
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons Mae Ploy  Sweet Chili Sauce
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 Kaffir lime, thinly sliced

For the Deconstructed BBQ

1 lb. beef tenderloin, sliced about 1/4 " thick
1/2 zucchini, sliced thinly
1/2  red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, cut in thin wedges

In a dish large enough for the meat and marinade, mix all the ingredients together well.  Add the meat and marinate for about 15 min.., then add the vegetables, stir together, and remove from marinade.  Arrange in a roasting pan with the meat on top.  Set oven on broil and grill about 4" from flame for 2-3 minutes on each side.  Or, until as done as you prefer.  I like mine still pink inside.

Use more vegetables if you like.  That's just what I had on hand.  This recipe was enough for 2 adults and 2 children (who don't care if they have any vegetables anyway).  But, I served it with a big ripe tomato, sliced and tossed with basil leaves, and rice on the side.We usually have a piece of tenderloin, as is.  Just barely done, and it is enough.  This is just over the top of awesomeness.  And, those strange little kaffir limes are going to be getting a lot more use around here.