Sunday, September 1, 2013

"River Cottage Veg Everyday" - Chargrilled summer veg


It is the first day of September and summer vegetables are still widely available everywhere. The weather is also still very much like summer around here, therefore, I am featuring the "Chargrilled summer veg" as my sixth post in my River Cottage Veg Everyday series today.




Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall states in his comment "to vary the veg as you like" and so I went to the market and brought back the best looking vegetables that I could find.. I also dropped by my favorite bakery and bought two loaves of fresh bread.




We enjoy fresh fennel that hails from Italy - I have not been able to find locally grown fennel anywhere but the Italian fennel bulbs that I bought were not only firm and unblemished but also incredibly aromatic.The Italian fennel is also called "Florence fennel" or finocchio in Italian.

Fresh fennel has a broad, bulbous base, pale green, celery-like stems, bright green, feathery foliage (that I often use as garnish) and greenish-brown seeds, all of which have a lovely aniseed flavor.

My usual way to prepare fennel is cutting the fennel into wedges, placing it in my grill pan and serving it with local honey and fresh soft goat cheese - pan or grill, both methods miraculously turn the crisp fennel slices into sweet and tender vegetable delights.




Next up was sweet corn - after my little adventure with a recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie recipe last week, I now have a reliable source who will part with some of his freshly harvested corn in the husk, I could not resist and placed some lovely fresh corn on the grill as well.




And grilling courgettes also known as zucchinis is the one of best methods of preparing those lovely veggies and handling part of the bumper crop. When choosing courgettes, remember, the smaller they are, the more flavorful they will be.




And no one at our house can resist ripe, bright red, grilled, cherry tomatoes, they are a smaller variety of the common garden tomato and are generally sweeter than larger fruits. They make a fabulous and colorful addition to any platter filled to the rim with tons of summer chargrilled veg.




New potatoes are also wonderful when placed on the grill for a few minutes - I scrubbed them, boiled them in salted water for a good 12 minutes, dried them off, coated them lightly with olive oil and placed them on the grill for a few minutes.

New potatoes are potatoes from the early crop that are smaller than the main crop potatoes. Remember to leave the skins on as much of the flavor (and the vitamin C) is found just under the tender skins.




When we grill, I always make sure to place some Ciabatta on the grill as well - simply delicious alongside any type of grilled vegetables - the thick slices of bread are especially fabulous when topped with those grilled late summer cherry tomatoes. You can easily use the tines of a fork to squash the grilled tomatoes.




And since we enjoy eating garlic, particularly when it is grilled this way, it also was placed on the grill.Grilling garlic gives it a golden color and an unbeatable mellow smoky flavor. Make sure to rub a bit of this delicacy on the grilled and still warm slices of Ciabatta.




And last but not least, thick grilling slices of fresh lemons will impart them with a sweet and smoky flavor  - make sure to grill a whole bunch of these and just before serving the veg platter, season to taste with some wonderful sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle your grilled treasures with the still warm lemon juice.




Sometimes there seems to be no better way to celebrate the late summer bounty of vegetables than by placing them on the grill and serving them on a huge platter. Then you gather the family around the table and let them choose which vegetables they would like to enjoy.

If you like, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall also suggests tossing the veg together with chopped fresh herbs such as finely chopped parsley, basil, chervil, thyme or tarragon or finish them with cheese shavings (Parmiggiano Reggiano or another well-flavored hard cheese). But for today, it was just lemon juice, pepper, salt and a drizzle of a fruity olive oil.

If you own the English edition of this vegetable cookbook, you will find the recipe on page 332 in the chapter on "Roast, Grill & Barbecue".



36 comments:

  1. My eyes are happy!

    The vegetables look divine.

    What a thrill it must be to live at your house!

    Have a nice Sunday :) Xxx

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    1. Kim, how lovely a comment, my dear and how very nice it would be to have you over for dinner or lunch sometime!

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  2. Delicious pictures of veggies ;) Maybe most kids wouldn't mind eating them after seeing this pictures ;) I also liked your last post very much, the "isles" seem amazing!
    I'm looking forward to arrive in Germany!
    Have a nice Sunday evening :)
    Inês

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    1. Inês, glad you like all the veg pictures in today´s post. It seems like all I am shopping for these days are vegetables and more vegetables - but this project is fun and the very best part of it is that the kids are eating everything that I cook from this vegtable cookbook and that I place in front of them. And the "Floating Islands" were a dreamy and delcious dessert that we all enjoyed tremendously! I shall unduge soon and make it again.
      When will you arrive in Germany - do let me know, please!
      All the very best for now, dear Inês!

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  3. Grilling vegetables has opened up so many ideas. I just love grilling! Lovely pics Andrea!

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    1. Paula, you are absolutely right, grilling vegetables is indeed an invitation to let the creative juices run wild...no limits to what we can grill - amazing and delicious and a ton of fun!

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  4. I loved grilled vegetables - grilled stone fruit too, but I digress. Grilling sure does out all the sweetness and adds another layer of flavor. I have never grilled fennel, though. What a wonderful idea. Something else I like to do is pour a little agrumato oil over them - an oil that has been crushed with citrus fruit at the time of pressing My favorite for this would be lemon agrumato. I'm in Southern California, and we are at our grills all the time!

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    1. Adri, yes, grilled fennel works, all the time, I usally prepare grilled fennel in a "caramailzed" version form a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe but I try to not alter the recipes in this book too much. But the idea to use lemon agrumato sounds delightful, my favorite oil mill in town carries orange as well as lemon agrumato - it is wonderful but when I do not have that on hand, I grill lemons or oranges - the juice gets a bit of a smokey flavor and it is utterly delicious together with some fruity olive oil on those veg.

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  5. This is one of our favorite ways to make a pasta sauce - grill all our favorite veggies, chop them (add a little olive oil if needed) and serve them over fresh pasta with cheese. Es schmeckt gut, und es ist wirklich schön! Wieder, mein Dank für einen wunderbaren Fotoversuch. (I had to look up Fotoversuch!) ~ David

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    1. David, I agree with you entirely, grill veggies, slice or chop them up, pour over pasta and finish qith a bit of Parmiggiano Reggiano or other hard cheese - could be better - I just decided to keep this as is in the cookbook . Trying to stay "authentic" here as much a possible - once you have the book and take a look at the style of pictures, you will know why - I am trying not to alter the recipes but keep them as is, personal choice.

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  6. I could eat roasted vegetables all day long :) Roasted garlic is so flavorful and combined with your toasted ciabatta this would be heaven on earth for me :) Wonderful pictures Andrea!
    Have e great week!!
    xox Amy

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    1. Amy, thank you, roasted vegetables seem to be universally liked and grilling some lovely Ciabatta alongside just seems to make it even better.

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  7. This sounds like a lovely grilled dish. What a nice way to enjoy fresh produce!

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    1. Beth, indeed, grilling brings out the best in many vegetables and there are so many to chosse from these days. It is still bumper crop season around here.

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  8. yummmmm...we can smell the caramelized garlicky fragrance wafting in the air as the garlic roasts....all your food clicks are seriously beautiful and very very clear...made us want to have some of this summer bounty grilled to perfection now....delicious and lovely idea for lunch :-)

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    1. Kumar, thank you - how wonderful that you really enjoy the pics (close-up and all) of the roasted vegetables! It seems that a lot of veg have beautiful textures and lines and colors when you look at them carefully, quite photogenic in my personal opinion.

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  9. Replies
    1. Muito obrigado! Thank you very much for the kind comment and for visiting my blog!

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  10. This takes vegetables to a new level - simply delicious I wanted to pick up that fennel and nibble on it!
    Mary x

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    1. Mary, fennel on the grill is astonishingly delicious - especially with a good squeeze of lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of your favorite mild and fruity olive oil.

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  11. We LOVE grilled veggies. In fact, we had poblanos and tomatoes from our garden last night w fish.
    Swai, not much flavor, poor devil.

    I have to try grilled lemon. I see you didn't waste the zest. ;) xo

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    1. Colette, you certainly have a keen eye, yes, never one who likes to let get things to waste I did use the zest for baking a Buttermilk Lemon Bundt. Thanks for the lovely comment, dear!

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    2. Buttermilk Lemon Bundt cake sounds delicious! Hope you share it w us, love. xo

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    3. Colette, if ever I find a post date that is still "free"...seriously I should post that recipe, it is the most simple and wonderfully moist Bundt with a tangy lemony taste. Thank you for reminding me to post it!

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  12. Beautiful!!! Love grilled veggies!!!!

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    1. Yes, grilled vegetables are the best, especially at this time of year when they are still quite plentiful.

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  13. Hi Andrea. There is nothing like grilled vegetables...and I love that you added some grilled bread. I'm hungry now! I need to tell Ryan to pick up a few pounds of veggies at the market. Thank you for sharing. Truly delicious. Give your girls a hug for me!

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    1. Monet, hope you got all your veggies from the market - and I gave the girls a big hug from you - school starts tomorrow, so I am trying to feed them tons of veggies these days, even more than before.

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  14. One look at these veges reminded me of summer, cooking outside and enjoying meals with friends in the summer heat. Luckily summer is fast approaching so we will soon be able to enjoy them for real :)

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    1. Karen, the different time zones that we all live in certainly make for a more interesting array of posts - hopefully summer will come to you soon.

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  15. I love grilled veggies. I need to try grilling some fennel. Love the idea of serving bread with the grilled veggies. What a healthy and colorful meal.

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    1. Geraldine, grilled veggies are fun to prepare and delicious to eat - the family loves platters full of these and so do I. Thanks for the lovely comment!

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  16. This looks delicious. I will do this one for sure.

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    1. And you should, Mary - I do not how many times we made these chargrilled veggies this summer, just too many times to count - simply delicious and oh, so convenient too!

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