Dinner: Smoked Salmon Pasta Pomodorini and BBQ Meatloaf Sandwiches on Onion Sourdough

Dinner NEEDS to have a growing, learning approach in my kitchen. Otherwise boredom sets in and Larry is looking at opening a bag of Top Ramen for dinner. I want to use flavors incorporating seasonal vegetables, especially with having my own garden this year. I get such a kick going out and picking peas, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, potatoes (okay, I dig those up), and soon, green beans. Love the colors, making dinner just as fun to make as it is to eat!

We also love both our charcoal double barrel grill for smoke/roasting and for grilling along with the propane grill with a searing grate. I am "not" one of the few die-hard grilling aficionados who grill during all seasons. Late spring, summer and early (no-rain) fall . . . grill. Rain, snow, freezing cold . . . that is what a kitchen stove is for.

Dinner started out with Spicy Apricot Wings. The wings were marinated in my homemade apricot preserves, along with other spices for 36 hours. I was waiting for the rain to stop BECAUSE the whole idea behind the wings was to grill them over natural briquettes AND apple wood chips. Never happened! I had to bake them instead.


The recipe originally came from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book with a few adaptions from me.

Spicy Apricot Wings

1 1/4 c. apricot preserves

1/3 c. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 c. brown sugar
2 1/2 T. low sodium soy sauce

2 T. + 2 t. Dijon mustard

1 T. salt

4 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. freshly minced garlic

1 T. paprika

1 t. cayenne powder

1/2 t. ground ginger

10 whole chicken wings, cut into wings and drumettes

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients, except chicken, and whisk until well blended. Place the chicken wings in a shallow dish, or sealable plastic bag, and pour the marinade over the wings. Cover, or seal, turn to coat, and marinade the wings in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to overnight.

Build a fire using hickory, apricot or apple wood, or a combination of wood and charcoal. Leave half of the grill empty, and place coals and/or wood on the other half, for indirect heat.

When the temperature reaches 450 degrees F., remove the wings from the marinade without shaking off excess marinade, and place them on the empty half of the grill. Close the lid, and cook for approximately 30 to 35 minutes, flipping each wing piece once halfway through. Remove the wings from the grill, and serve.

Dinner was Smoke Salmon Pasta Pomodorini and BBQ Meatloaf Sandwiches on onion sourdough.


BBQ Meat Loaf Sandwiches

(adapted from Weber's Way to Grill book)

1 1/4 pounds (80 percent lean) ground beef

1 1/4 pounds ground pork

2 c. Panko bread crumbs

1 c. finely chopped sweet onion

1 large egg

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 t. granulated garlic

1 t. dried tarragon

1 t. salt

1 t. freshly ground pepper

1 c. bottled BBQ sauce (I used Stubbs spicy BBQ sauce)

2/4 c. ketchup

Directions:

In a large bowl, using your hands, gently combine ground beef, pork, bread crumbs, onion, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, tarragon, salt and pepper. Divide the meat loaf mixture in half, form into 2 loaves, each about 4- by 7- inches (aluminum loaf pan size), and place on a baking sheet. Prepare the grill for indirect cooking over medium-low heat, about 300 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix the BBQ sauce and ketchup. Top each meat loaf with 3 Tablespoons of BBQ sauce, coating thoroughly, and reserve remaining sauce for later.

Brush the cooking grates clean. Using a metal spatula, gently pick up each loaf from the sheet pan, and place directly on the cooking grate. Grill the meat loaves over in-direct medium-low heat, with the lid closed, until a thermometer inserted horizontally through the top of each loaf registers 155 degrees F., approximately 50 to 60 minutes. Remove the loaves from the grill, and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Once removed from the grill, the loaves will continue to cook, so allow them to reach the recommended 160 degrees F. Cut the loaves into 1/2-inch slices, and serve with the reserved sauce.

To make meat loaf sandwiches, cut the meat loaf into the 1/2-inch slices, and slather both sides with reserved BBQ sauce. Grill over direct low heat (250-350 degrees), with the lid closed as much as possible, for 4 to 6 minutes, turning once. (I had rain happening so pulled out my panini grill to finish toasting the sandwiches.) Serve on onion sour dough bread with provolone cheese.

Smoked Salmon Pasta Pomodorini

(adapted from a recipe found in Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking Cookbook)

Cherry tomatoes have a way of multiplying in the garden when your back is turned. The more you pick, the more there are.

Serves: Serves 4
3/4 pound spaghettini or spaghetti
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup sliced garlic
1/2 teaspoon finely minced Calabrian chilies, or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pint small cherry tomatoes, stems removed, crushed between your thumb and forefinger
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, each torn into 2 or 3 pieces
1/2 lb smoked salmon, shredded into larger pieces
Wedge of Parmesan cheese ready to grate over pasta dish


Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta.

While the pasta cooks, heat the 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic and cook until the slivers are golden brown and crisp, then add the chilies and cook for about 30 seconds. Raise the heat to high and add the tomatoes. Simmer briskly to soften the tomatoes and thicken the juices, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

When the pasta is al dente, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the warm pot off the heat. Add the sauce, smoked salmon, and the basil and mix well. Add some of the reserved cooking water if the pasta seems dry. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and grate Parmesan over the top to taste. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Serve immediately.

Apricot Sunshine Breakfast Cake and Apricot Nectar

Apricots have a wonderful sweet, tart flavor with a bright summery coloring. 23 pounds of apricots later, I now have more recipes to try then when I started. The apricots were originally purchased for apricot preserves; no other ideas had come to mind. Now, we have apricot preserves, apricot Riesling preserves, apricot nectar (all canned and look stunning in their jars), and apricot sunshine breakfast cake. Still to be made is fresh apricot ripple ice cream and apricot fritters, dusted with powdered sugar. Then the after products to be used with apricot preserves and dried apricots, like apricot oatmeal bars and apricot crescent cookies. I started wondering what to do and ended on overload!



Apricot Sunshine Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
8 fresh apricots
12 pecan halves



Directions:
Heat oven to 375°.
Mix sugar, egg and shortening thoroughly. Stir in milk. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt.

Melt margarine or butter. Mix in brown sugar and sprinkle as much cinnamon over brown sugar as you wish.
Halve and pit apricots. Place cut sides down in rows of four. You may need fewer or more apricots, depending on their size.

Drizzle brown sugar mixture over apricots.

Spread cake mixture over apricots. Bake 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Place a plate over pan and flip cake out of pan. Place a pecan half in each apricot cup. Serve warm.

Apricot nectar is so much easier then I thought. Homemade nectar will now become a canning staple in my kitchen.

Apricot Nectar

1 quart apricots

1/2 cup sugar

1 quart water

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Wash and pit fresh fruit. Boil fruit and water 5 minutes. Strain. Add sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

I canned my apricot nectar in a hot water bath. In canner, bring water to boil, enough to cover jars by 1-inch of water. Put jars with hot nectar in canner and bring back to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes and remove.

Apricots, apricots, apricots . . . Riesling Jam

Playing with apricots is so easy because . . . and this is the exciting part . . .there is no peeling of fruit skin. Pull apart the fruit and remove pit. Cut off any parts not acceptable and WA LAH~ ready to start Whipping into a delicious concoction. I LOVE the color of apricots. The jars are full of a bright, cheery and chunky jam to be used as glazes, cookie and bar filling, cake filling and glaze or just on little tea sandwiches. Slightly tart; slightly sweet (according to how much sugar you want to add).



The apricots are fresh off the trees, bought right on an apricot farm in Eastern Washington. 22 pounds for $23.95. Apricots are ripe just before cling-free peaches and pears and I always missed the opportunity to get a box. This year, going blueberry picking coincided with the apricot season sooo I am ecstatic; it is always those little things that tickle me the most!

I have made chunky apricot preserves and apricot Riesling jam. The recipe below is for the Apricot Riesling Jam; adapted from a recipe I found at SimplyRecipes.com.

Apricots naturally break down when cooked. Adding about 1/3 box of pectin powder to my sugar and stirring before adding to the apricots allows me to not cook the mixture as long; meaning chunky preserves and NOT apricot puree.

(The majority of the wine cooks out and leaves a wonderful flavor to the preserves. If you do not want to use wine; leave it out. The apricots provide enough natural juices so you do not have to worry about replacing with another type of liquid.)


Apricot Riesling Jam
6 cups of apricots pulled into two pieces and pits discarded
2 cups of sugar
1/3 box of Sure Jell Fruit Pectin powder; stir into the sugar
1/3 cup of Late Harvest Riesling
5 tablespoons of lemon juice


Place the apricots, sugar, pectin, wine, and lemon juice in a large (at least 4-qt), thick-bottomed, stainless steel pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Place a couple small plates in the freezer, these will be used to test the jam later.

The mixture will boil and rise in volume. Skim off the pale yellow foam that forms at the top and discard. The boil will subside to larger bubbles, but still bubble vigorously. Be sure to begin gently stirring the jam frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

After about 12 to 15 minutes begin testing the jam by placing a small amount on a cold plate. Allow 30 seconds to pass and then run your finger through it to see what the cooled consistency will be. Boil for a few minutes longer if desired for a thicker jam.

Ladle into hot, sterilized canning jars (I sterilize by washing the jars and rings in the dishwasher) and seal leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Before applying the lids, sterilize the lids by placing them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids.

I also put the jars in a hot water bath. Use a canning kettle and fill with enough water to submerge jars with at least 1" of water over the tops of jars. Bring water to a boil. Put jars in the metal jar holder and lower into the water. Bring water back to boiling and boil for 10 minutes. Remove jars and let sit until you hear the cute little popping noise notifying you the jars are sealed.

The next day, you can remove your rings for repeat canning use and display your bright colored, freshly canned apricots for all to see ~ especially you!