Grilled Panzanella Salad

Summer has finally arrived in South Carolina!!  The weather here has been so murky lately -- clouds and rain -- totally atypical of springtime in the South.  This past week has been a total change -- sunshine and in the 80s!  This kind of weather gets me in the mood to fire up the grill!  My husband is in charge of the grill in this house and he does an amazing job -- but I'm always looking for unique recipes that include grilled food -- and this recipe fits the bill perfectly!  

I love panzanella salads because they incorporate my favorite things -- fresh veggies, meats, cheeses and bread, all in one fabulous bowl!  And this salad is particularly fabulous with it's tangy dressing, sliced salami and grilled veggies.  Yum.  This is the perfect side dish to your weeknight or weekend grilling!  

Grilled Panzanella Salad (serves 6-8)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 small clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper

3 medium tomatoes, halved

6 scallions 

2 large bell peppers, any color, quartered

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise

one 10 oz loaf ciabatta, halved lengthwise

1/2 c. fresh torn herbs (basil, parsley)

1/4 lb thinly sliced salami, cut into 2 inch ribbons

1.  Preheat grill to medium high.  Make the dressing: whisk extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.  

2.  Brush grill with extra virgin olive oil.  Put tomatoes in bowl; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill about 2 minutes and transfer to baking sheet.  Oil and grill all veggies and bread.  Cool.

3.  Cut up veggies and bread into bite sized pieces.  Add herbs, salami, dressing and any veggie juices.  Toss and serve.

Fried Oysters w/ Green Tomato, Sweet Corn, Pickled Okra and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

If you are looking to make a truly Southern dish in your own home then this is it!  This is a recipe from Hank's Seafood Restaurant Cookbook.  Hank's is on list after list of a must-see restaurant if you head down to Charleston and this salad is on their current menu.  I saw this recipe about a year ago in Southern Living magazine and I have been dying to try it out so I finally bit the bullet.  My husband, who isn't a huge oyster fan, absolutely loved it -- although pretty much anything is good when it's fried.  

The recipe calls for green tomatoes, but I used regular red tomatoes because I simply couldn't find green tomatoes anywhere!  How is that possible? 

So what I love most about this salad is the pickled okra.  If you haven't had pickled okra before then good Lord, get to the store and buy a jar immediately!  It is so fantastic I could die.  I ate the entire jar in one day.  Yummy!

Fried Oysters with Green Tomato, Sweet Corn, Pickled Okra and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (makes 4 salads)

2 c. cracker meal
1 c. cornmeal 
1 c. all purpose flour
salt and pepper
peanut oil
2 large handfuls arugula
16 oysters
4 to 8 halved pickled okra

Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
2 ears fresh corn
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 c. diced green tomato
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped mixed herbs
3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1. For vinaigrette: cut corn from cobs, reserving cobs.  Heat oil in saute pan, add corn and cook 1 minute.  Cool.  Combine stock and corn cobs in saucepan.  Boil then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.  Pour mixture through fine wire mesh strainer.  Cool to room temperature and refrigerate.  Stir green tomato into corn and stir into stock.  Just before serving, add in herbs and blue cheese.
2.  Pour 1 and 1/2 inches oil in a cast iron skillet; heat over medium high until temperature reaches 350.  
3.  Whisk cracker meal, flours, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in shallow bowl.  Dredge oysters in mixture, shaking off excess.  Fry in batches 2 to 4 minutes or until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels; sprinkle with salt and pepper.  
4.  Spoon vinaigrette onto 4 serving plates.  Top with oysters and okra. 

French Bistro Burgers

Who doesn't love a perfect burger?  I believe that the most important part of a burger is the bun and I'm constantly on the search for the perfect hamburger bun.  Honestly, I've thought of baking them myself but let's not kid ourselves....I might be getting a little better in the baking department but when it comes to baking bread...that is a completely different beast.  No.  So on I went looking for an airy bun that is burger-worthy. The grocery stores  just don't have the good stuff....I was about to start checking small bakeries when I hit the jackpot.  My husband and I were eating lunch at Fuddruckers' and I looked up and realized, "OMG, they sell their buns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  So there you have it.  Perfect burger buns for your home grilling!  And at 3 bucks for a half-dozen, you're getting a better deal than most grocery stores!  I am one happy girl!  

The next step in a great burger is to use a grill press like this one.  And I know the comments will flow out like, "oh, these press all those delicious juices out of the burger and you end up with a dried out hockey puck". Not so.  We used our grill press last night and trust me on this -- we still had juicy burgers and we also had burgers that fit on our buns and didn't shrink up on the grill -- I hate that!

Ok so here's the deal with this burger -- it's pretty much the best burger we've ever made in this house -- and we've made a lot of burgers.  I actually attribute most of its deliciousness to the bun but hey I'll throw myself a bone on the toppings as they were amazing.  If you're not a fan of brie then go ahead and use any cheese you prefer -- but the burger will no longer be "French". Sorry.   Bon Appetit!

French Bistro Burgers (makes 4)

4 hamburger buns, split
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
1 large onion thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
8 slices bacon, cooked
1 small wheel of brie, sliced 
4 lettuce leaves

1.  Form patties by seasoning sirloin with salt and pepper and dividing the beef into 4 patties.  Set aside until ready to grill.
2.  Caramelize onions:  In a large pan over low heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and add onions, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook onions over low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are cooked through and caramelized.  Set aside.
3.  Grill burgers until desired done-ness (medium-well is preferred).  Butter each hamburger bun and place on grill until toasted.
4.  Assemble burgers:  place lettuce leaf on bottom half of bun.  Top with burger, sliced brie, bacon and onions.  Top with bun and take it to the mouth!