Eat with your hands: The Hibachi Pool Party!

Now that the Fourth of July is around the corner, it's officially summertime. What better way to celebrate than with a pool party?



Beka's super-secret garlicky aioli butter



My stepfather, Sam, just bought a hibachi grill. Yes, the little itty-bitty Japanese grill that you buy when you get your first apartment.

Of course, that's not the only grill we had.

(See the giant smoker grill in the back?)

We also had some friends coming into to town to celebrate Pride, so with the heat index at 110 degrees, a pool party/breaking-in-the-new-hibachi shindig seemed appropriate.



My stepdad, Sam.

It's safe to say that Sam and I have pretty adventurous appetites.

We both love non-American food, especially cuisines that customarily use lots of rich spices, like Indian, Moroccan, or South American food.

Because we were having a hibachi party, it seemed natural to serve skewers or kebabs. But we're not talking your run-of-the-mill mushroom-then-meat-then-cherry tomato skewers.

That's just not the kind of kebab party we wanted to have.

Hibachi Party Menu

Indian Lamb Skewers

Sosaties- South African Kebabs with marinated goat meat, apricot jam and dried apricots

Grilled chicken and vegetable skewers

Marinated shrimp skewers in Ponzu citrus sauce

Basmati rice with vegetables

Grilled corn with garlicky aioli butter

Fresh herbs, cucumber and garlic salad in Soy-Balsamic vinaigrette

Indian-style Cilantro Chutney sauce (aka "The Green Stuff)

It was quite a spread.

We feasted like kings!





And the best part is, Sam and I were able to try out our new lamb kebab recipe, which was a huge success. These lamb skewers were fantastic; not overly gamey like lamb can sometimes be. Plus, it comes on a stick, which in my opinion, is the only way food should be eaten in the summer. 



Similar to koftas, but not quite.



Indian Lamb Skewers with Cilantro Chutney Sauce

Serve with Basmati rice



To make the skewers (makes approx. 24 skewers):

Juice from one lemon

2 lbs. fresh ground lamb

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 inches of ginger root, minced

8 green chili peppers, seeded and chopped

2/3 of a bunch of cilantro, chopped finely

2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cracked black peppercorns

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp salt



Soak your skewers in water before making kebabs, so the wood won't burn on the grill.



It really helps to separate all your ingredients first. And I cannot stress how important it is to have all the spices listed.



I didn't ask why Sam had a full quart jar of ground coriander. Some questions are better left unasked.



Get your spice on!



 Pour the olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon juice.



Add the chilies, garlic and cilantro.

Add ALL the spices listed.

With a pestle or the end of a French rolling pin, grind all the ingredients into a chunky paste.

Then add the ground lamb. Mix well with the spice paste to incorporate.

Once the spice mixture has fully blended with the ground lamb, begin to separate meatball-sized portions to skewer.



You should get about 24 meatballs.



Carefully slide one meatball onto a wet skewer. Gently roll the lamb into an oval shape, covering about half of the skewer. Repeat until mixture is completely skewered.

Before grilling, brush each side with additional olive oil. Cook on each side for about 7-8 minutes, or until lamb is cooked through. Serve with Indian-style Cilantro Chutney. Reflect on how cosmopolitan and cultured you are. Enjoy.

Indian-style Cilantro Chutney

As told to Dr. Sam Schmid by Abdul Hemani during an eye exam. (no, seriously.)

1 bunch green onions, roots removed and roughly chopped

1 bunch cilantro, both stems and leaves

5 large jalapeno peppers, partially seeded and roughly chopped

8 toes (cloves) of garlic, chopped

1 quart of buttermilk

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Wash vegetables thouroughly. Add to a blender and puree with spices. Add in buttermilk and blend well. Makes a ton of green stuff. Separate into jars and refrigerate.

Celebrate! (With a GIANT oil can of beer, if you have one.)

The. Best. Chicken Salad. Recipe. Ever. (Also, no cooking involved)

Ok, here it is.

My famous chicken salad recipe.

It's taken me awhile to truly perfect it.

I would make it too wet, or too lemon-y, or over-seasoned.

I once made chicken salad sandwiches for a party, and they were eaten in ten minutes. So I put out the leftover bowl of chicken salad with some crackers, and that was gone in another ten.

It's that good.

This isn't some fruit-filled crazy chicken salad recipe.

There are no apples or grapes in it.

Because I think that's gross.

However, you could add some walnuts to it.

I wouldn't mind that.

(But it's not necessary)

The best thing about this chicken salad is that it doesn't matter what kind of chicken you use, as long as it's fully cooked chicken. So I always make it the day after we have rotisserie chicken, or the day after I buy fried chicken from my grocery store. I have tried once or twice to use canned chicken (like tuna salad) but it's just too wet and this way, I get to use up my leftovers and not use my stove during this miserable heatwave. I use both dark and white meat, and I think the combination of the two makes the chicken salad more savory.

Also, it would seem that the amount of wet ingredients wouldn't be enough to really mix well, but I promise that if you add too much, you will get chicken salad soup.

And that's almost as gross as adding apples or grapes to chicken salad.

Almost.

 Ok, ok. I know there is a whole platoon of people who just can't eat chicken salad without fruit in it.

No, I get it.

I have a girlfriend who ate a grape-laden chicken salad sandwich, from a particular restaurant, every single day for six months.

Sometimes, she ate two a day.

She ate them so much she made herself sick.

And while I wouldn't have gone to those extremes, I can say that when I make my particular chicken salad recipe, it never lasts more than two days.

And we're talking about three cups of chicken here.

(It's that good!)

The Best Dill Chicken Salad (without fruit)

For this particular batch of chicken salad, I used three cups of chicken, because that's how much chicken I had left from the day before. But you can easily divide this portion if you have less chicken, or double if you have more. For a half-portion, use about 1/4 cup of mayo, adjust other seasoning slightly.

3 cups of chilled, chopped cooked chicken (white and dark meat, skin and bones removed)

1/2 cup chopped red onion (about half of one red onion)

1/2 cup chopped celery (about 3 stalks) 

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayo, don't use fat-free because it tastes disgusting.)

A splash of bottled lemon juice (about 2 TBSP)

2 TBSP (or more) dried dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, in order, in a large bowl. Mix well, add a little more mayo if necessary, no more than 1-2TBSP more for consistency. Season well with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for an hour before serving over crusty French bread, crackers, sandwiches or eating directly out the bowl with a spoon.

Note to You: I know this sounds like a really simple recipe, but I swear that you don't need any other seasonings or ingredients. I have tried making this chicken salad about five hundred different ways and failed miserably each time. Sometimes, simple is really better.

 

If I can do it, so can you: Hand-dipped Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies

Hi. Are you having a rough day?

Here, have a cookie.

I am not a great lover of sweets. In fact, it's probably safe to say that I do not enjoy sweets or dessert.

I'm much more of an "appetizer" person.

However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy making desserts.

Because of my natural inclination against sweets, my expertise is really more in the saute and stove top skills. But I have been making a concerted effort to learn how to bake.

For years, baking has eluded me. I still cannot really make a good pan of brownies or frost a cake properly. Baking requires so much precision, which makes it far too similar to chemistry, a science at which I happen to be particularly awful.

Due to the enormous selection of pre-mixed box desserts that almost anyone can whip up, baking is actually one of the most accommodating of cooking styles. But if you are wanting bake from scratch, well, you had better follow the recipe.

No pinch of this, or smidge of that.

At least, not until you know what you're doing.

When my mother, the queen of baking and cooking, found out that I was trying to learn how to make homemade cookies, she actually asked me why I didn't just buy the premade cookie dough.

This, from the woman who makes wedding cakes from scratch and melts her own chocolate to make frosting.



A Groom's Cake my mother made last month.



I think my eyes rolled back in my head so far that I gave myself a migraine when she said that.

One of the things I don't like about baking is that there's really no way to "wing it." I mean, when a recipe tells you to cream the butter, well, by golly, you had better get your mixer out and cream the damn butter. And I mean, cream it well.

Have you ever hand-whipped your own whipped cream?

For over two months, I hand-whipped my own Grand Marnier-infused whipped cream every Sunday Brunch at the restaurant.

It really sucks. You have to whip, and whip, and whip some more. There's no fudging it. You can't fake your way to stiff, beautiful cream peaks. You have to put in the muscle.

(Yes, I know it can be done with a hand mixer. We didn't have one at the time.)

And that's what baking is like. You have to use your brain (chemistry) and use your muscle and follow instructions.

When I found this recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, the first thing that caught my eye is that there is no butter-creaming required. Huzzah! You use melted butter, which gives the cookies this wonderful, chewy texture.

After making these cookies a few times and receiving rave reviews, I have made a few minor adjustments and recently decided to dip these bad boys half-way in melted chocolate, almost like biscotti. Except that unlike biscotti, these won't scrape the roof of your mouth while eating.

Seriously. If I can bake these cookies, and have them consistently turn out fantastic, then anyone can make them.

See? You can do it.

Hand-dipped Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies(adapted slightly from Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies by Mel's Kitchen Cafe, reprinted with permission)

*Makes 2-3 dozen cookies
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup packed light brown sugar (7 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

For dipping:
1 bag meltaway chocolate (microwave chocolate chips, available at craft and baking stores)
1-2 TBSP Vegetable oil or shortening (to thin out the chocolate if necessary)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and make sure you have one rack in the center slot. Combine flour, salt and baking soda, mix well. In a separate (and larger) bowl, combine melted butter and sugars together, mixing well to fully incorporate. When butter mixture appears smooth, add egg, yolk, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well to form a smooth batter. Stir in flour mix, chocolate chips and walnuts at the same time, combine all ingredients into cookie dough.

Cookie Dough

Take spoonfuls of dough and roll in your hands to make a little ball. Lay cookie balls on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake on the center rack for approximately 20 minutes (if they are large cookies, about 15 minutes if they are smaller). Let the cookies cool completely before dipping.

To dip:
Heat chocolate melts in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds at a time, until chocolate melts completely and has a smooth texture. To add shine and thin out somewhat, add vegetable oil to chocolate and mix well. Dip each cookie half-way in the chocolate, let dry on a cookie rack (with a paper towel underneath to catch drippings.)Congratulate yourself for making homemade cookies that look and taste awesome. I congratulate you, as well.

PS: A special "thank you!" to Melanie for letting me reprint her fantastic cookie recipe. You rock!