Weekend Update

I suppose that most of you are counting down the minutes until you can leave the office today. (157!) Unless you left last night? Lucky! I had the opportunity to spend the weekend at the beach, but I've squandered it to be locked up in my apartment reading and memorizing everything there is to know about sparkling wine. It would be better if I was also sampling everything I needed to know about sparkling wine, but I'm not sure about the quality of my information retention if I did. Maybe I could give it a try...

Anyway...since I won't be doing anything exciting this holiday weekend, all I have are memories of the past weekend spent tromping through the woods with Carmeliza and friends. (The mosquitos are already out BT dubs!) Since we spent ample time hiking and working up an appetite, we hit up a local butcher for provisions so that we could hang out at the house to grill and chill.

We started by sampling four sparkling wines. (There were four of us and I had to study!) Luckily the rain held off, so we grilled up a ton o' meat products starting with some hunks of pork belly cooked up with fresh figs. Can't go wrong with some pig & fig! We followed up the pig with some cow and grilled up some super tasty rib eyes that were drizzled with the rendered pork fat from the cooked pork belly. Oh yes we did! What will you be grilling this weekend??

Just Grill It

I went out of town again this weekend and came home to a nearly empty fridge. Fortunately in my world, that usually means there's still something that I can cobble together to eat, avoiding the ever present delivery menus that I have shoved into a drawer. While there may be ingredients lurking, the end result is not always so obvious.

After opening and closing the fridge about 15 times (and finally finding usable ingredients), I came up with my dinner: Grilled Endive with Prosciutto and Pecorino. No, I don't have an outdoor balcony, patio, or backyard, but I do have a grill pan, which I ordinarily avoid because using it smokes up my apartment and sets off my smoke detector. Grilling salmon indoors? Absolutely not. Grilling endive? Totally. And since my endive was a little past it's prime, grilling it seemed the only way to rescue it from it's inevitable trip down my trash chute. The prosciutto was leftover from my fig extravagance last week, so although it was not in perfect shape (it was starting to get a bit dry) it softened over the warm endive. The Pecorino was stashed in my fridge just because I try to keep hard cheeses (also Parmesan) on hand because they last longer than soft cheeses (just be sure to keep well wrapped in wax paper and sealed in a plastic bag) and are great in a variety of recipes.

This recipe was inspired by the Grilled Radicchio appetizer at Bianca, my favorite cheap eats destination. The menu describes it as "grilled radicchio under a blanket of prosciutto and Pecorino." Hmmm...a blanket of prosciutto. Sounds cozy.





Grilled Endive with Prosciutto and Pecorino

2 medium Belgian endives, cut in half lengthwise
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 slices prosciutto
Shaved Pecorino

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush the endive with the oil and season with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, place the endive cut side down and cook (without moving) until well browned, about 6 minutes. Turn over and continue cooking until softened, about 5 minutes more. Remove to a plate.

2. Layer the prosciutto over the endive and top with the cheese, to taste. Drizzle with additional extra virgin olive oil and additional pepper to taste. Makes one salad.