When we lived in Europe there was (and still is) a wonderful fall culture of grilling at country houses, and the cool bracing air out in the country really worked up people's appetites. In the spirit of this fall grilling, here a few easy and delicious ideas you can adapt.
Escalivada
This is a Catalán dish of grilled vegetables (traditional for this dish are eggplants, peppers, and onions), but our Chef Jesús tweaks the traditional recipe by marinating the vegetables in olive oil and chopped fresh herbs and then mixing the finished grilled vegetables with roasted garlic, which can even be prepared ahead--the heat of the grilled vegetables will warm the roasted garlic enough for your guests.
From "Simply Recipes"--How to Roast Garlic:
Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
Mixed Sausage Grill
In Europe people often do a mixed sausage grill in the fall. This is not hard if you stick with three or max four types of sausages and you know how many minutes to grill each type. Just as with a cheese platter, try to have different types of sausages such as fresh and cured or more sweet and less sweet and maybe a spicy type.
If you want to up the flavor you can marinade the sausages briefly with your favorite grilling marinade or use special woods or fresh herbs on the heat source, but this is not necessary.
Set out a nice chimichurri or salsa verde, an alioli, and a remoulade, or any three sauces you like for your guests--buy the sauces at a gourmet shop if you're pressed for time. People love the interactive aspect of choosing their sausage type and trying each type with the different sauces.
Shrimp Platter with Trio of Sauces
Grill seasoned shrimp or boil it with shrimp boil. Put a large amount of shrimp on a couple of large platters or in large bowls, Set out next to this pile of shrimp a trio of sauces (amounts given make for about 4-6 guests; multiply accordingly):
Lime-Poblano Crema--One of our signature sauces/spreads. Mix 1 cup Mexican crema or sour cream with 1-2 roasted poblanos, blended to a puree, and the juice of 2-3 limes
Red Pepper Mayo--Blend roasted red peppers (1/4 to 1/2 cup) with 1 to 1 1/2 cups mayo--depends on how much you like red peppers. If too briny add a little fresh or dried dill or fresh basil
Asian Dipper--Mix wasabi mayo or miso and mayo with ginger and chopped chives
Enjoy!
Kristina
Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com
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