Dancing Spoon

Maple Grilled Swordfish

Ordinary Out of the

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding
If you have never experienced Maple Sunday in Maine, put it on your calendar for next year and go to Dragonfly Farm and Winery in Stetson, Maine, or your closest maple producer. I paired my sample dishes with their wines. I made this maple mustard for dipping and later lathered it on a grilled swordfish. I have made this Maple-Mustard Sauce several time, with the new addition of Raye’s “Bar Harbor Real Ale” Stone Ground Mustard, your senses will reach heightened awareness as the taste of the mustard stimulates your taste buds!

Raye’s Mustard Mill, located in Eastport, Maine, is a working museum with tours given weekdays. Did you know mustard is perhaps the world's oldest condiment. All recorded histories note the cultivation and use of the plant for epicurean and medicinal purposes. Napoleon's armies were supplied with mustard to ward off digestive ailments and make their food more palatable. Modern science has shown that mustard seeds are high in antioxidant properties and in combination with other herbs and spices have antibacterial qualities.

Grilled Swordfish with Raye’s Maple-Mustard Sauce

Ingredients
Serves 2-4
1 pound swordfish steak, about 1 ¼-inch thick
2 teaspoons smoked sea salt   
2 tablespoons Dragonfly Farm Dark Amber Maple Syrup

Raye’s Maple Mustard Sauce
2 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup Raye’s “Bar Harbor Real Ale” Stone Ground Mustard
2 tablespoons Dragonfly Farm Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions
1. Spray gas grill rack with non-cooking spray and heat on high. Pat fish dry, sprinkle smoked sea salt and brush with maple syrup. Grill swordfish about 10 minutes; turn and grill 3 more minutes.
2. Heat butter in small saucepan; add maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and mustard and simmer until heated through..
3. Spoon auce over swordfish and serve.

Wine Pairing Dragonfly Farm and Vineyards-By-the-Numbers white wine.

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You can find Kate Gooding's book, Black Fly Stew - Wild Maine Recipes at Foodie's Emporium! Click here. Kate has published three cookbooks: Wild Maine Recipes and Simple Gourmet Lamb with Side Dishes and Wine Pairings. She is currently is working on her one in the Black Fly Stew series – which carries and an international flair.

More information at www.blackflystew.com

And visit Foodie's Emporium for Unique Kitchen items!

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Goat Cheese Turkey Burgers

Grilling Simple

by J. Michael Wheeler
Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Grilling season opened this weekend here in New England and I was ready with my 1963 Vintage Charbroil charcoal grill. The cooking surface of this old workhorse is solid cast iron and as big as a restaurant grill. For me, the first grill of the season is all about loosening up and getting my chops back, so I like to keep it simple.

We had good friends over and while the day felt like burgers, I was disinclined to go for heavy beef burgers, so I opted for turkey. What I decided on was Goat Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers. As these burgers cook, the goat cheese melts and kind of oozes inside. It adds a great tang and a bit of body to an otherwise lightweight burger.

This technique of burger-stuffing works for all types of ground meats, and all types of cheeses and other stuffings. Try it with meatballs sometime!

Ingredients
Serves 8

3 pounds ground turkey. I used ground dark meat turkey.
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (Out of crumbs, I put a several handfulls of Whole Foods Tortilla Chips in a plastic ziplock bag and let my 7 year old son pound away at 'em till they were good and fine. That's how you teach boys to like cooking!)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
2 tsp chopped thyme, or rosemary, or whatever sounds good to you. (I even thought about sneaking in some red chili flakes, but I worried about the kids and some of the womenfolk.)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
4 oz goat cheese
4 tsp vegetable oil
Combine everything in a bowl, except the oil, with a wooden spoon.

How to Stuff 'Em

1. Divide your ground meat (beef, turkey, lamb, whatever suits your mood) into your own regular burger portions. Then divide each of those portions in half. You now have burger tops and bottoms.
2. Shape each half to the correct size and place about an ounce of cheese (or other stuffing) on the bottom half. Put the top half on the bottom and pinch the edges together.
3. Reshape I like to then reshape the entire burger, making sure the the stuffing doesn't try to sneak out the top. Shape the burgers round and flat. To keep them flat during grilling, put a thumb-indentation right in the center of both top and bottom sides. Now wash your hands.
4. Refrigerate Place the stuffed/formed burgers on a baking sheet or in a plastic container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but better for 6-8 hours. This lets everything firm up before the fire.
5. Grill Get your grill hot: gas grill to high, or charcoals glowing red with a white ash. Brush your burgers with the oil, and grill over direct heat for 7-8 minutes until browned on that side and then turn 'em over and do the same on the other.

Happy Grilling!

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Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

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How Hot Is that Grill?

Basics Grilling

by J. Michael Wheeler
Heat & Fuel
Cooking on an open fire goes all the way back to prehistoric Barbecue-Man. And while he probably wasn't clutching a can of Budweiser in one hand and a can of charcoal starter in the other, the basics of cooking over an open fire remain the same. And it doesn't get more basic than burning stuff and how hot it needs to get.

If you use a gas grill for your outdoor cooking your selection of fuels is, well, gas. But for those of us who prefer to cook on real fire, there are more choices. Here are some of them:

Lump Charcoal Usually made from softwood. It comes in a variety of sizes. Easy to light, but quick burning.

Charcoal Briquettes Slow burning, easy to find. Some claim they give food an unpleasant taste.

Self-igniting Charcoal Briquettes or lump charcoal treated with a flammable substance. Easy to light. Let all of that flammable substance burn away before cooking.

Wood Hardwoods like oak and olive burn slowly and the aromatic smoke imparts a great taste to the food. Wood fires must be tended carefully to keep an even and steady heat.

How Hot is Hot Enough?
"Heat your grill to medium-high and place the . . ." How do you determine the temperature of your grill? While some grills have built-in temperature gauges, and there are even infrared heat seekers to tell you how hot your grill is, you've got a couple of built-in thermometers yourself: your hands.

Place your hand, palm facing down, just above the grill where you'll be cooking. (Please don't wear long, loose-fitting clothing while grilling.) Without being too macho about it, hold your hand over that spot and count how many seconds it takes before you say "ouch" and have to take your hand away from the grill.

Here's a chart to help you determine your grill's temperature. If you can hold your hand above the grill for this long, the grill is that hot:

· Two seconds is high heat
· Three seconds is medium-high heat
· Four seconds is medium heat
· Five seconds is medium-low heat
· Six seconds is low heat
· Seven seconds or more means you have time to open another beer

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Foodie's Emporium is an Amazon Pro Merchant!

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How to Smoke Cheese

Cheese Smokin'

by J. Michael Wheeler
How to Smoke Cheese
Don, a reader of Dancing Spoon, was browsing through Foodie’s Emporium (our online store) in the Grilling category when he came across EZ Smoke, our natural wood chip smoker in a can. He asked:

Can you cold smoke with ez smoker. I want to smoke cheese. Thanks Don

Yes, Don, you can. And it’s a simple process.

Just about any kind of cheese can be smoked. Most commonly known are smoked provolones, mozzarellas, cheddars, and goudas, but goat cheeses and even blue cheeses can be deliciously smoked. Because of it’s low melting temperature, cheese must be smoked using the cold smoked technique. Cold smoking takes place at temperatures of 90 degrees or less. Here's how to smoke cheese:

1. After selecting your cheeses (at least 8 oz each) for smoking, unwrap them and set on aluminum pans. Leave at room temperature for 1-2 hours. The cheese will form a slight skin that will protect it from melting while allowing the smoke to penetrate. 

2. When your cheese has set, prepare a grill with a lid. Place 3-4 pieces of charcoal on one side of the grill and light them. The goal is to produce smoke, but not heat. If you have a small grill you may need to use less charcoal at the onset and add a piece of charcoal if you want to smoke the cheese longer. Leave lid off initially, to prevent heat build up.

3. Select one of our EZ Smoke BBQ wood flavors, Apple, Mesquite, Pecan or Hickory. When the coals are hot, peel off the can’s seal and place on top of the coals. (You don’t need to soak the EZ Smoke chips.)

4. Place the aluminum pans on your grill on the opposite side of the charcoal and close the lid. Open the top and side vents to allow the smoke to circulate.

5. Check the cheeses after about a half hour to make sure they are not melting, and then every 15 to 20 minutes to taste the cheese. Remove the cheese when they have absorbed the smoky flavor you desire.

6. Remove the cheeses, let them cool, and enjoy. Store as you normally would.

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Peel off the seal and put the flavor into your meal with EZ Smoke BBQ! Four varieties of natural wood chips flavors to give your meats, poultry, fish or vegetables a unique smoky taste with no mess or fuss. Re-usable up to 3 times. Quick and easy! No soaking, no mess, no flying ash. Produces natural wood smoke in about 2 minutes. One can of EZ Smoke produces the same amount of smoking time as a 180 cubic inch bag of chips. Easy to use! Simply remove the label, place can on coals or lava rocks, and within minutes it begins to smoke. Grill as you normally would. Use on gas or charcoal grills.

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Grilled Lobster & Arugula

Ordinary Out of the

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding

Grilled Lobster Tail with Arugula
& Sherry-Ginger Vinaigrette
I was recently asked by Dancing Spoon’s own, J. Michael Wheeler, “Are the lobsters still as good when they're shedding and have soft shells? And are summer lobsters as good as cold weather lobsters?” I know some people that disagree with me but I have never tasted anything as sweet and tender as a Maine lobster in the summer that is shedding. And, they are easier to eat because you can break the soft, cooked lobster shells with your hands.

My friends just arrived this week for a visit from New Haven, CT. We treated them to lobsters just caught from a local lobsterman and friend.  We ate them the old fashioned way: with lots of newspapers on the table, paper towels galore, fresh picked corn on the cob and melted, salted butter. We finished it off with my new Blueberry Cake recipe. The consensus was — sweet, tender, and just keep them coming!

I bought extra lobsters to test for this new recipe below, which we had for lunch. The sherry really adds another level of richness to this already decadent crustacean. YUM!!!

Two Skewer Kebabs

Tips Grilling

by J. Michael Wheeler
Wrestling Skewers
Grilling shrimp, veggies, and other small tasty kebab items on skewers is a great technique: until you’re ready to flip the skewer. Then, often the skewer will turn but some, or all, of the those kebab-ers won’t budge. They just spin on the skewer or try to escape entirely. Here’s the secret: thread each piece of food with two parallel skewers. Then when it’s time to turn the food, you can use tongs to turn the skewers. The food stays put, cooks more evenly, and the kebabs are easy to handle.

Grilling Recipes
We've got some very tasty summer recipes at Dancing Spoon Magazine. Try Kate Gooding's Grilled Shitake Encrusted Buffalo Rib Steaks & Warm Black Fly Vinaigrette Salad, Smoked Duck in a Raspberry Sauce is from her new Dancing Spoon column Out of the Ordinary. Gloria Bakst brings us Black Cod or Sable Grilled in Miso Marinade and Nori Topped Summer Salad an inventive, refreshing salad using a world of ingredients.
Find more grilling recipes, Click here.

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EZ Smoke BBQ 3-pack (1 each: Hickory, Mesquite, Apple).

EZ Smoke BBQ 3-pack (1 each: Hickory, Mesquite, Apple)
Peel off the seal and put the flavor into your meal with EZ Smoke BBQ! Four varieties of natural wood chips flavors your meats, poultry, fish or vegetables with a unique smoky taste with no mess or fuss. Re-usable up to 3 times. Quick and easy! No soaking, no mess, no flying ash. Produces natural wood smoke in about 2 minutes. Use on gas or charcoal grills. Ready to use in seconds, and can be used throughout the year. Compact and easy to transport, great for boat and RV owners, capers, tailgaters, hunters and fishermen. Easy to use! Simply remove the label, place can on coals or lava rocks, and within minutes it begins to smoke. Grill as you normally would. Easy to store! One can of EZ smoke produces the same amount of smoking time as a 180 cubic inch bag of chips. EZ Smoke BBQ chips adds flavor to foods when gas grilling.

Hand selected grills and grill accessories are at Foodie's Emporium!
Click here.

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Grillin' Basics Part Two

Tips Grilling

 by J. Michael Wheeler
Grill Greener
In L.A. where I grew up, it was always grilling season. Here in New England it isn't. (There are exceptions: see Shep's Winter Grilled Turkey.) So when the last of the snow is gone and any bit of vegetation merely thinks the word sprout, we break out the grillin' gear. This year we're also concerned with grilling greener. How do you lessen your carbon (bare)footprint? Here are a few ideas and some links for more info:

• Gas grills have lower emissions than charcoal or electric grills. A gas grill emits about half as much CO2 as charcoal grills and about one-third as much as an electric grill.

• Use sustainable-farmed charcoal or chips. If you do use a charcoal grill, the Forest Stewardship Council certifies producers that follow good resource management.

• Avoid lighter fluid which releases Volatile Organic Compounds. VOCs are hazardous to health. Use a chimney starter instead.
Check out these Grill Greener links: The Sundance Channel's The Green Blog and Treehugger How to Grill Green.

Tips: Grilling with Cedar Planks
Using wooden planks for grilling adds moisture and flavor to your grilled food. Grill with the lid closed: it's the best of both worlds, steaming and grilling combined. Turn thick pieces of fish and chicken. Thinner cuts like baby red snapper don't need to be turned during grilling. Using a cedar plank will take a little longer than regular grilling.

You can purchase cedar planks that are sold for specifically for grilling, (like the Camerons Products Cedar Planks pictured here) or you can go to your local lumberyard and buy untreated cedar planks. You can buy them as 1 x 4 inch planks in varying lengths. Ask to have them cut it into 12" lengths, which would handle two or three pounds of fish or chicken.

Soak the planks in water for one hour or longer before grilling. When the grill is hot, put the plank on the grill, smooth side down and char. Turn the wood over and then place fish or chicken on top to cook. The planks maybe reused.

Buy cedar planks for grilling. Click here.

Easier Grilling
Time to uncover the grill, find the super-long tongs, and fill the beer tub with ice, beer, and maybe a nice Spanish Albarino: it's grilling season. And while we can all get over-the-top with complicated, time-consuming preparations and fussy ingredients, sometimes keep it simple is just the way to go.

Thin is In Grill thin cuts of marinated meat. Marinating starts the cooking process and because the meat is so thin, it cooks quickly.

Organic Timers Grill foods that tell you when they're ready. It's easy to know when most shellfish is done: Shrimp curl and turn pink, and clams open.

No Fuss Foods Grill foods that are hard to under- or overcook. Salmon is great served rare or medium.

Common Cooking Temps If all the ingredients in a meal cook over the same temperature, then you can grill them all simultaneously.

Read more grilling articles, Click here.

Grilling Recipes
We've got some very tasty summer recipes at Dancing Spoon Magazine. Try Kate Gooding's Smoked Duck in a Raspberry Sauce is from her new Dancing Spoon column Out of the Ordinary. Gloria Bakst brings us Black Cod or Sable Grilled in Miso Marinade and Nori Topped Summer Salad an inventive, refreshing salad using a world of ingredients.
Find more grilling recipes, Click here.

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Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Blue.
Qualifies for FREE SHIPPING!

Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill
Weber Gold Series, 22-1/2" Dark Blue 1 Touch Charcoal Kettle Grill, Heavy Gauge Porcelain Enameled Steel Lid & Bowl, High Capacity No Rust Ash Catcher, Patented 1 Touch Cleaning System, Heat Resistant Nylon Handles On Lid & Bowl, Hinged Cooking Grate, 10 Year Limited Warranty.

• Charcoal grill with heavy-gauge porcelain enamel to prevent rust
• Nickel-plated cooking grate includes 2 hinged side openings for easy re-fueling
• Tripod base, nylon handles, and all-weather wheels provide easy maneuvering
• One-Touch stainless-steel cleaning system; removable high-capacity ash catcher
• Measures approximately 23 by 27 by 35 inches; 10-year limited warranty

Hand selected grills and grill accessories are at Foodie's Emporium!
Click here.

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Grillin' Basics Part One

Tips Grilling

 by J. Michael Wheeler
Grillin' Basics Part One
Cooking on an open fire goes all the way back to prehistoric Barbecue-Man. And while he probably wasn't clutching a can of Budweiser in one hand and a can of charcoal starter in the other, the basics of cooking over an open fire remain the same.

I admit that the start of each grilling season it takes me a while to get my chops back. I'll over cook the salmon or under cook the sliced potatoes. So in the interest of loosening up for the grill we present some Grillin' Basics.

Paint it black and the kettle grill pictured here looks pretty much like the one in over 85 million American backyards today. But this one is the very first. Read more...

Burn Baby, Burn
Of course if you use a gas grill for your outdoor cooking your selection of fuels is, well, gas. But for those of us who prefer to cook on real fire, there are more choices. Here are some of them:

Lump Charcoal Usually made from softwood. It comes in a variety of sizes. Easy to light, but quick burning.

Charcoal Briquettes Slow burning, easy to find. Some claim they give food an unpleasant taste.

Self-igniting Charcoal Briquettes or lump charcoal treated with a flammable substance. Easy to light. Let all of that flammable substance burn away before cooking.

Wood Hardwoods like oak and olive burn slowly and the aromatic smoke imparts a great taste to the food. Wood fires must be tended carefully to keep an even and steady heat.

How Hot is Hot Enough?
"Heat your grill to medium-high and place the . . ." How do you determine the temperature of your grill? While some grills have built-in temperature gauges, and there are even infrared heat seekers to tell you how hot your grill is, you've got a couple of built-in thermometers yourself: your hands.

Place your hand, palm facing down, just above the grill where you'll be cooking. (Please don't wear long, loose-fitting clothing while grilling.) Without being too macho about it, hold your hand over that spot and count how many seconds it takes before you say "ouch" and have to take your hand away from the grill.

Here's a chart to help you determine your grill's temperature. If you can hold your hand above the grill for this long, the grill is that hot:

· Two seconds is high heat
· Three seconds is medium-high heat
· Four seconds is medium heat
· Five seconds is medium-low heat
· Six seconds is low heat
· Seven seconds or more means you have time to open another beer

Read more grilling articles, Click here.

Grilling Recipes
We've got some very tasty grilling recipes here at Dancing Spoon Magazine. Kate Gooding's Grilled Wild Turkey with Apricot Glaze on Basmati Rice is from her new Dancing Spoon column Out of the Ordinary.  Gloria Baskt is very much into cedar planked grilling. She's got several tasty recipes like Cedar Plank Grilled Snapper and Lime Ginger Marinade for Cedar Plank Grilled Chicken.

Steak lovers might want to try David Haley's Chimichurri Grilled Flank Steak. He has some great wine suggestions too. And for something really over the top check out Steak & Truffles: Wow. As part of his Super Bowl Shuffle, Chef Gavan Murphy gave us grilled Mini Beef Sliders and Asparagus Skewered Shrimp.

Find more grilling recipes, Click here.

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Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Blue.
Qualifies for FREE SHIPPING!

Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill
Weber Gold Series, 22-1/2" Dark Blue 1 Touch Charcoal Kettle Grill, Heavy Gauge Porcelain Enameled Steel Lid & Bowl, High Capacity No Rust Ash Catcher, Patented 1 Touch Cleaning System, Heat Resistant Nylon Handles On Lid & Bowl, Hinged Cooking Grate, 10 Year Limited Warranty.
• Charcoal grill with heavy-gauge porcelain enamel to prevent rust
• Nickel-plated cooking grate includes 2 hinged side openings for easy re-fueling
• Tripod base, nylon handles, and all-weather wheels provide easy maneuvering
• One-Touch stainless-steel cleaning system; removable high-capacity ash catcher
• Measures approximately 23 by 27 by 35 inches; 10-year limited warranty

Hand selected grills and grill accessories are at Foodie's Emporium!
Click here.

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Smoked Duck & Raspberry Sauce

Ordinary Out of the

OOO by Kate Krukowski Gooding
Smoked Duck in a Raspberry Sauce
The first time I tested this recipe my brother had just given me a couple fresh ducks. I love cooking fresh, which is something we can’t do in New England all the time. The second time I purchased ducks from a local market to test the difference. The fresh ducks were moister, so I adjusted the recipe to provide a little more moisture.

You don’t have an electric or charcoal smoker? You have two other options. First heat your grill on medium. Soak 1 cup of apple wood chips in water for an hour, drain and wrap in heavy aluminum foil. Cut 5 slits across the top and place in bottom of grill and close cover. When grills smokes, place the duck on a greased grill and smoke for 20 minutes; turn over and smoke another 10 minutes for a medium center. The other option I use (and this is not cheating) especially in the dead of winter at 19 below zero, is put one drop of liquid smoke in the marinade and 1 drop in the sauce.

Grilling with Cedar Planks

Grilling Tips

 by J. Michael Wheeler
Grilling on Wooden Planks
Using wooden planks for grilling adds moisture and flavor to your grilled food. Grill with the lid closed: it’s the best of both worlds, steaming and grilling combined. Turn thick pieces of fish and chicken. Thinner cuts like baby red snapper don’t need to be turned during grilling. Using a cedar plank will take a little longer than regular grilling.

You can purchase cedar planks that are sold for specifically for grilling, (like the Camerons Products Cedar Planks pictured here) or you can go to your local lumberyard and buy untreated cedar planks. You can buy them as 1 x 4 inch planks in varying lengths. Ask to have them cut it into 12” lengths, which would handle two or three pounds of fish or chicken.

Soak the planks in water for one hour or longer before grilling. When the grill is hot, put the plank on the grill, smooth side down and char. Turn the wood over and then place fish or chicken on top to cook. The planks maybe reused.

Buy cedar planks for grilling. Click here.

---

Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill, Blue.
Qualifies for FREE SHIPPING!

Weber 22-1/2-Inch One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill
Weber Gold Series, 22-1/2" Dark Blue 1 Touch Charcoal Kettle Grill, Heavy Gauge Porcelain Enameled Steel Lid & Bowl, High Capacity No Rust Ash Catcher, Patented 1 Touch Cleaning System, Heat Resistant Nylon Handles On Lid & Bowl, Hinged Cooking Grate, 10 Year Limited Warranty.
• Charcoal grill with heavy-gauge porcelain enamel to prevent rust
• Nickel-plated cooking grate includes 2 hinged side openings for easy re-fueling
• Tripod base, nylon handles, and all-weather wheels provide easy maneuvering
• One-Touch stainless-steel cleaning system; removable high-capacity ash catcher
• Measures approximately 23 by 27 by 35 inches; 10-year limited warranty

Hand selected grills and grill accessories are at Foodie's Emporium!
Click here.

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