Grilling Fruit
This blog is a little different than most of my blogs. No funny stories. No moral diatribes.
It is about grilling fruit.
If you know me, you know my idea of heaven involves unlimited ice water within easy reach, fluffy dogs who don't shed and all the food is grilled (oh, and I have my 15 year old body, but my 42 year old brain).
The first meal I made my husband was grilled turkey burgers stuffed with feta and topped with caramelized apples and onions. He is a hot dog/hamburger guy so it's fortunate I didn't scare him off. Well, most days. Today we are on each other's last nerve, but that's a blog for a different day...
ANYHOW, I picked up one of those check-out recipe books from Martha Stewart's FOOD magazine. I got it because I do like to grill pizza on the BBQ, but I can never get it quite right. My toppings need more time than the crust. I still have issues with it.
She had a whole section on grilling fruit. I like grilled fruit, but despite having made about every meat and seafood dish possible on the grill, as well as many vegetables, I really hadn't grilled fruit.
Wow- was I missing out.
Tonight I made honey mustard salmon on a cedar plank with roasted rosemary olive oil potatoes on the charcoal grill. While we were eating I threw bananas on the grill as the coals cooled.
Here's how you do it...
Put the bananas on the grill. When the skins turn nearly black, they are done.
Period.
Easy.
They will puff up and they might even crack a little. Don't panic.
We then carefully slice them open lengthwise, making them into boats. We top them with caramel sauce, a little whipped cream and then some cinnamon sugar. It's like a bananas foster in the skin.
Yum.
I also like to grill peaches and plums-- actually any stone fruit in general. I split them, take out the pit (or stone), sprinkle a little cinnamon on top and put a tiny bit of butter where the pit was.
Delicious.
We usually top those with plain Greek yogurt and cinnamon. Sometimes we add vanilla granola and it's like a fruit crisp.
Without the clean up!!
Apples, I take out the core from the top, leaving the bottom in tact, fill it with a little cinnamon and butter. And when I say a little butter, we're talking a tiny bit.
The options are really unlimited. I think adding a little butter (not to the bananas), gives it a nice glaze. If the fruit is extremely ripe, you won't need any. The natural sugars create a fantastic glaze on their own.
So this summer, before you turn the grill off after taking your hamburgers off the grill, consider tossing on the apples or pears that have seen better days. Or the bananas that are a little speckled. Or the peaches and plums that got a little bruised on the way home from the grocery.
It's a quick, easy, healthy (depending on how much whipped cream you add, of course!) & delicious dessert. My kids love it. I love it. And today, I don't care if my husband does. But he usually does, for the record.
It is about grilling fruit.
If you know me, you know my idea of heaven involves unlimited ice water within easy reach, fluffy dogs who don't shed and all the food is grilled (oh, and I have my 15 year old body, but my 42 year old brain).
The first meal I made my husband was grilled turkey burgers stuffed with feta and topped with caramelized apples and onions. He is a hot dog/hamburger guy so it's fortunate I didn't scare him off. Well, most days. Today we are on each other's last nerve, but that's a blog for a different day...
ANYHOW, I picked up one of those check-out recipe books from Martha Stewart's FOOD magazine. I got it because I do like to grill pizza on the BBQ, but I can never get it quite right. My toppings need more time than the crust. I still have issues with it.
She had a whole section on grilling fruit. I like grilled fruit, but despite having made about every meat and seafood dish possible on the grill, as well as many vegetables, I really hadn't grilled fruit.
Wow- was I missing out.
Tonight I made honey mustard salmon on a cedar plank with roasted rosemary olive oil potatoes on the charcoal grill. While we were eating I threw bananas on the grill as the coals cooled.
Here's how you do it...
Put the bananas on the grill. When the skins turn nearly black, they are done.
Period.
Easy.
They will puff up and they might even crack a little. Don't panic.
We then carefully slice them open lengthwise, making them into boats. We top them with caramel sauce, a little whipped cream and then some cinnamon sugar. It's like a bananas foster in the skin.
Yum.
I also like to grill peaches and plums-- actually any stone fruit in general. I split them, take out the pit (or stone), sprinkle a little cinnamon on top and put a tiny bit of butter where the pit was.
Delicious.
We usually top those with plain Greek yogurt and cinnamon. Sometimes we add vanilla granola and it's like a fruit crisp.
Without the clean up!!
Apples, I take out the core from the top, leaving the bottom in tact, fill it with a little cinnamon and butter. And when I say a little butter, we're talking a tiny bit.
The options are really unlimited. I think adding a little butter (not to the bananas), gives it a nice glaze. If the fruit is extremely ripe, you won't need any. The natural sugars create a fantastic glaze on their own.
So this summer, before you turn the grill off after taking your hamburgers off the grill, consider tossing on the apples or pears that have seen better days. Or the bananas that are a little speckled. Or the peaches and plums that got a little bruised on the way home from the grocery.
It's a quick, easy, healthy (depending on how much whipped cream you add, of course!) & delicious dessert. My kids love it. I love it. And today, I don't care if my husband does. But he usually does, for the record.
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