Grillin’

Tomorrow marks an experiment I fervently hope will be successful: grilling salmon and veggie kebabs on a mini portable grill. Merci to Crate and Barrel for this marvelous invention (and at only $30!) — it is just large enough to, I hope, fit a 1/2-pound of salmon steak and a few tofu and vegetable skewers, yet small enough to fit inside its own little traveling cooler/suitcase.

[Plus, it is very cute.]

Because the 4th of July surely must be celebrated with a barbeque, and because Gourmet has such lovely summer recipes in this month’s magazine, I am bringing the grill to the people — namely, my parents, who haven’t yet gotten a grill of their own.

So my menu will be as follows:

To start, a savory tart called Pissaladiere, from Provence, from Gourmet‘s July issue (adapted to be vegan, of course), with peppers, onions, olives, and rosemary

Grilled salmon with a lime-soy sauce glaze
Marinated tofu and vegetable skewers (with mushrooms, squash, and onion)
Grilled heirloom tomatoes
Israeli couscous salad with roasted tomatoes, spinach and garlic
Corn on the cob

Basil lemonade (also from Gourmet, and possibly avec vodka, as they suggest)

And to finish, a vegan blackberry-nectarine cobbler, as well as a ‘regular,’ buttery peach cobbler.

[Peach cobbler, July 2007]

I am off the rest of the week, and it is supposed to be very hot here, so I am going camping, and swimming, and hopefully eating lots of icecream. It is a mini-break, after all.

ETA: Check out my article in the Chronicle today!

Summertime Peach Cobbler adapted from gourmet.com

6 large peaches, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

For biscuit topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven for 10 minutes.

Make the topping while the peaches bake: Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)

*In the future, I might double the topping recipe, as it comes out a bit thin. Not too thin, but if you’re looking for something more substantial, I would recommend doubling it.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, homemade if you have time / are overly ambitious.