It's Grillin' Time!

While everyone “down in the valley” is baking in this heat, we’ve been lucky up here in the mountains. Every day the thunderheads build up, and at least four days this week, it has rained. Both the shade from the clouds and then the rain have helped keep temperatures down. An added joy for a weather-lover like me is the thunder and lightning. I love weather–and I hate the weather in southern California. For 9 months out of the year it’s clear, sunny, and hot. I like clouds, I like thunder and lightning, I like occasional snow, and I really love cool days and cold nights.

We cooked out tonight on the grill. I have been looking for more ways to cook fish, and since I don’t like it baked or steamed, I decided to try grilling it. There are lots of different sauces I want to try, and the first one on the list is a Korean barbecue sauce, reminiscent of teriyaki. It doesn’t have the ginger, though, and I like the little bit of heat from the serrano chilies. We used our new fish grillling basket for the first time–I bought it at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Here it is in use:

















Korean Barbecued Fish

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced serrano chilies
1/3 c soy sauce
1/4 c packed brown sugar
2 T water
3 T unseasoned rice vinegar
1 T sesame oil
3-8 fresh fish fillets (tilapia, flounder, sole, mahi mahi, etc.)
olive oil-flavored cooking spray or olive oil for brushing
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan. Add garlic and chilies, and sauté about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and rice vinegar, and bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the sesame oil. Spray fish fillets with olive oil spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Baste with sauce and put on heated grill. Baste with more sauce during cooking.

Since our daughter joined us for dinner, I decided to cook one of her favorite side dishes, grilled squash. The fruit and vegetable stand in Mentone had fresh pattypans, also called summer squash.

Grilled Summer Squash



any summer squash - yellow, crookneck, pattypan, zucchini, etc.
olive oil-flavored nonstick cooking spray (I use Pure)
garlic salt

Cut squash so that there are some flat surfaces --if you’re using pattypan, cut it horizontally. If you’re using the other kinds, cut them lengthwise in half. Spray the cut surfaces with the cooking spray, and sprinkle with garlic salt. Grill until browned on both sides and beginning to soften.
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