KITCHENER

Chef Michael P Clive recipes

Published Monday, June 27, 2016 12:43PM EDT Last Updated Monday, June 27, 2016 7:21PM EDT

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Not Your Grandma’s Succotash

Serves: 6 | Prep time: 25 minutes | Grilling time: about 25 minutes

Special equipment: large grill-proof skillet

In its purest form, succotash is a simple corn and shell bean combination that originated with the Native Americans of the Northeast. This version brings succotash up to date by adding ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, and umami-rich cheese. Edamame stand in for the usual lima beans. If you wish, the zucchini, corn, and bell pepper could be grilled and prepped a few hours before the final cooking in a skillet.

2 zucchini, 10 to 12 ounces total, ends trimmed, each cut lengthwise in half
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 ears fresh corn, husked
1 red bell pepper, about 8 ounces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1¾ cups chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño chile pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1½ cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
2 ripe plum tomatoes, about 9 ounces total, cored, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch dice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano® cheese, finely grated
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (425° to 475°F).

2. Lightly brush the zucchini with oil. Grill the zucchini, corn, and bell pepper over direct medium-high heat, with the lid closed, until the zucchini is crisp-tender, the corn is browned in spots and tender, and the bell pepper is blackened and blistered all over, turning as needed. The zucchini will take 5 to 7 minutes, and the corn and bell pepper will take 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the grill as they are done. Place the bell pepper in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to trap the steam. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

3. Adjust the temperature of the grill to medium-low heat (350° to 400°F).

4. Remove the bell pepper from the bowl and discard the charred skin, stem, and seeds. Cut the pepper and zucchini into ¾-inch pieces. Cut the corn kernels from the cobs.

5. In a large grill-proof skillet over direct medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook, with the lid closed, until golden and tender, 8 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the jalapeño and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the zucchini, corn, and bell pepper and mix well. Add the edamame, tomatoes, salt, and pepper and cook, with the lid closed, until heated through, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the grill. Stir in the cheese, basil, and lemon juice. Serve warm.

Hasselback Potatoes with garlic butter and parmesan

Serves: 6 | prep time: 45 minutes

Grilling time: 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes

6 russet potatoes, each about 12 ounces,scrubbed and dried
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces parmigiano-reggiano^® cheese, finely grated
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh italian parsley leaves

Hasselback potatoes have been dazzling guests at american barbecues during the last few years, although we cannot claim them as our own. The brilliant idea for these accordion-looking potatoes came from the chefs at restaurant hasselbacken in stockholm, sweden.

1. Prepare the grill for indirect cooking over medium-high heat (400° to 450°f).

2. So that each potato will lay flat on the cooking grate, cut off a very small piece (¼ inch or less) on the widest side of each potato, which will now be the bottom side. Then, using a very sharp knife, starting 1 inch from the end, cut slits crosswise into each potato, ⅛ to ¼ inch apart, stopping just before you cut through so that the slices stay connected at the bottom.

3. In a small skillet over medium heat on the stove, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned, 1½ to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the salt and pepper. Fan out the layers of each potato enough that you can get some butter and seasonings inside the layers. Brush the potatoes, including the bottoms, with half of the butter mixture.

4. Grill the potatoes over indirect medium-high heat, with the lid closed, for 30 minutes. Brush the potatoes with the remaining butter mixture, making sure some of the butter drips down inside the slices. Continue grilling, with the lid closed, until the potatoes are almost cooked through, 30 minutes more. Top the potatoes evenly with the cheese and cook until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the potatoes are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, 5 to 10 minutes more. Garnish with the parsley and serve hot.

Cedar-Planked Salmon with Pickled Fennel Salad and Horseradish Cream

Serves: 4 | Prep time: 30 minutes | Grilling time: 15 to 20 minutes

Special equipment: 1 untreated cedar plank, about 12 inches long and 7 inches wide

Pickling liquid

1 cup dry white wine or vermouth
¾ cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fennel seed
8 juniper berries
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
Kosher salt
½ large fennel bulb, cored and cut
into 1-inch strips
½ small head radicchio, cored and cut into 2-inch strips
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill
½ cup crème fraîche or sour cream
Freshly ground black pepper
1 center-cut salmon fillet (with skin), about 2 pounds and 1 inch thick, pin bones removed
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 small bunch watercress, torn into small sprigs

One chef who inspires me is Edward Lee, a Korean American who grew up in Brooklyn, trained in chichi French kitchens, and now runs his own restaurants in the South. He has a special way of weaving together the threads of his eclectic background and exploring the boundaries of barbecue. “Nothing cuts the intensity of smokiness like a sharp pickle,” he writes in his first cookbook. “Together they are harmonious, the perfect yin and yang.” That’s why pickles show up so often with barbecue, including this recipe that skips the traditional
dill pickles for a vegetable salad with pickled fennel and radicchio. After all, this is new American barbecue.

1. Soak the cedar plank in water for at least 1 hour.

2. In a small, nonreactive saucepan combine the pickling liquid ingredients, including 2½ tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat on the stove, add the fennel strips, and simmer until tender but not mushy, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fennel strips to paper towels to dry. Add the radicchio to the simmering pickling liquid and cook for 1½ minutes only, just until wilted. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the radicchio to paper towels to dry.

3. Whisk the horseradish, dill, and crème fraîche, and season lightly with salt and generously with pepper.

4. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350° to 450°F).

5. Cut the salmon fillet into four equal portions, cutting down to, but not all the way through the skin. Brush the salmon with oil and season evenly with salt and pepper.

6. Drain the cedar plank. Place it over direct medium heat and close the lid. When the plank begins to smoke and char, turn it over. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Grill over direct medium heat, with the lid closed, until cooked to your desired doneness, 15 to 20 minutes for medium rare. Carefully transfer the fillet on the plank to a heatproof surface. Slide a spatula between the skin and flesh and transfer individual portions of the salmon to serving plates.

7. In a bowl combine the pickled vegetables, watercress, and 1½ tablespoons oil and toss gently until evenly coated. Serve the salmon warm with the salad and horseradish cream.