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Congratulations to Chef Rick BaylessHow It's Made - Building a Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet GrillLabor Day Party MenuGrilled Fruit Skewers with Pistachio Yogurt Dipping SauceFlatbread Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Peaches and Blue CheeseGrilled Red Grapes with Dark Chocolate SauceGrilled Citrus SangriaWe Want To Hear From YouAbout Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
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Bravo's Top Chef Master is Rick BaylessThe results are final, and we couldn't be more happy for Chef Rick Bayless, who cooks on our grill in his Chicago home and on his PBS television show, Mexico — One Plate at a Time. His performance throughout the Top Chef Masters series could not have been more brilliant or graceful. In the finale, Chefs Hubert Keller, Michael Chiarello and Rick Bayless were each challenged to create a meal representing their culinary careers — past, present and future — a real feast to watch. A lucky few were watching at the finale viewing party at Frontera Grill in Chicago. Below is a peek at the event. Congratulations to Chef Rick Bayless and to his charity, Frontera Farmer Foundation, which received the grand prize of $100,000 thanks to his victory.
Check out the Tips for Quick-Grilling Ten Great Foods that Chef Rick Bayless has provided for the Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet website. We are also pleased and proud to see Chef Michael Chiarello, another Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet grill owner, take second place in the competition. How It's Made - Building a Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet GrillMany people have visited our facilities in Kalamazoo to see our grills being born. For those who can’t make the trip, we've made this video that gives you a peek behind the scenes as the skilled craftsmen in Kalamazoo, Michigan build a K900HB Hybrid Grill. You will see the attention to detail as we form the stainless steel parts, the precision that goes into the welding and the hand-work involved in finishing the grill. You can also see our laser cutting custom cooking surfaces from 1/4" thick slabs of stainless steel.
Labor Day Party MenuWhile all of us here at Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet recommend and enjoy year-round outdoor cooking, it is true that Labor Day marks the traditional end of the grilling season. Our Labor Day party menu pays tribute to summer as it draws to a close, with grilled fruit as the theme. The menu starts with Grilled Fruit Skewers. Plums, nectarines and pluots are served with Pistachio Yogurt Dipping Sauce to delight your guests. Next, you can put on a show grilling homemade flatbreads for the Skirt Steak Sandwiches topped with roasted peaches, blue cheese and jalapenos. Dessert makes for quite a surprise — Grilled Grapes with Dark Chocolate Sauce. And, Grilled Citrus Sangrias quench everyone's thirst. We hope you enjoy it.
Grilled Fruit Skewers with Pistachio Yogurt Dipping Sauce
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Hot Off The Grill! Archive
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1/2 cup water |
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3/4 cup Greek-style yogurt, plain |
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1 tablespoon honey |
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1 teaspoon lemon zest |
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Salt to taste |
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2 pluots, pitted, sliced in eighths |
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16 prune plums, pitted and halved |
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8 medium skewers |
Directions:
To make the Pistachio Yogurt Dipping Sauce, you first need to grind the pistachios as finely as possible. I suggest using a spinning-blade-style coffee grinder. Combine the ground pistachios, water, yogurt, honey and lemon zest in a blender. Blend until as smooth as possible. Test for taste, and add salt as needed. Cover and refrigerate the dipping sauce for at least an hour or as long as 24 hours.
Prepare the grill for direct grilling at about 500°F. Make sure your grill grate is as clean as possible because you don't want fruit skewers that taste like charred hamburger.
Skewer the cut fruit in alternating fashion to prepare them for the grill.
Grill the fruit until nicely marked, turning once, about 3 minutes per side. As the juices in the fruit begin to bubble, caramelization is beginning to take place. This is the effect you are after, but do not over-cook or the fruit will basically collapse.
Remove the skewers from the grill and serve warm with the cold dipping sauce.
Flatbread Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Roasted Peaches, Blue Cheese and Jalapenos
Few things can beat the satisfaction, flavor and texture of perfectly-grilled homemade flatbread, so these sandwiches are off to a great start. Add to that the delicious combination of skirt steak and roasted peaches, and you have a memorable winner for your Labor Day party.
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1 1/2 cups water, luke warm |
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2 teaspoons active dry yeast |
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4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting and rolling |
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2 teaspoons salt |
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2 teaspoons sugar |
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Pinch of baking soda |
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1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons) Greek-style yogurt, plain, room temperature |
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1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating the dough |
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8 ounces blue cheese (I used smoked blue cheese) |
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3 ripe yellow peaches, pitted and diced |
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2 jalapenos, sliced into very thin rings (discard the seeds if you want to reduce the heat) |
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2 tablespoons butter |
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4 slices red onion, about 1/4" thick |
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2 pounds skirt steak |
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Extra virgin olive oil |
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Sea salt |
Directions:
To make the flatbread, first stir the active dry yeast into the luke warm water. Let it sit for about five minutes.
Combine the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Add the yogurt, oil and water-yeast mixture. It is important the yogurt be room temperature. If it is cold, you risk killing the yeast.
Use your hands to first mix the dry and wet ingredients together and then knead well for about two minutes. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky. Cover the bowl with a warm towel and let the dough rise for about 90 minutes. A good tip is to run a load of dishes in the dishwasher while the dough rises right above the door. The warm, moist air helps with the rising.
After 90 minutes, the dough should have doubled in volume. If it hasn't risen quite that much, don't worry about it. Divide the dough and roll into eight equal balls. Lightly coat the dough balls with oil and let rise for another 30 minutes under a warm, damp towel. While rising, prepare the grill for direct grilling over high heat around 600°F. You will also need an indirect grilling zone if you are making the sandwiches right away.
Dust each dough ball with flour and use a rolling pin to roll into a flat oval about 1/8" thick. They should be very thin. If you roll the dough directly on your countertop without too much flour, you can use the slight stickiness to help stretch the dough. I find it easiest to roll one flatbread and then grill it before rolling the next. If you have help, form a production line.
Lay the rolled dough directly on the grill grate over a hot fire. There should be no need to oil the dough so long as the grate is clean and hot. Within one minute of hitting the grill, the dough should begin to bubble. Once the entire top surface has bubbled, it is time to flip the flatbread. Use tongs to do so. Grill the second side for about half the time of the first side and then remove the flatbread from the grill. The total cooking time is typically less than 2 minutes. Repeat this process until all 8 flatbreads are cooked, and then set them aside.
You can grill the flatbreads immediately before grilling the skirt steak, and they will still be warm when you serve the sandwiches. Or you can make the flatbreads ahead of time, and then quickly reheat them on the grill.
To make the rest of the sandwich components, preheat a cast iron skillet in the indirect grilling zone at anywhere between 450°F and 600°F. Add the blue cheese, peaches, jalapenos and butter to the hot skillet and roast until the peaches begin to soften and the blue cheese has melted, but not so long that the jalapenos lose their color. The cooking time should be about 10 to 15 minutes.
Brush the red onion slices with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt. Grill them over direct heat while the peaches are roasting, about 4 minutes per side. Inserting toothpicks from the sides through the rings will help keep the onion slices together.
Brush the skirt steak(s) with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. When the peaches and onions are about ready, put the steak(s) onto the hottest part of the grill. Cook over direct heat, turning once, until cooked to medium. The time will vary with the thickness of the steak, but is usually around 4 minutes per side. The secret to great skirt steak is to cook it quickly and to medium doneness. Remove it from the grill, let it rest 2 to 3 minutes, and then slice it thinly across the grain of the meat.
Combine the skirt steak, some red onion, and the roasted peach mixture into a warm flatbread to serve each sandwich. Then enjoy the accolades from your guests.
Grilled Red Grapes with Dark Chocolate Sauce
As original an idea as it is, I wish I could take full credit for it, but the basis for this dish came from Water Street Coffee Joint in downtown Kalamazoo. They always have something new and tasty in their pastry case, and these were a recent discovery.
This dish is a wonderful surprise for your party guests. A touch of honey in the chocolate is a nice bridge between the sauce and the fruit.
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1/2 cup good quality dark chocolate chips |
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2 tablespoons heavy cream |
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4 tablespoons honey |
Directions:
Prepare the grill for direct grilling at about 500°F.
Skewer the grapes, six grapes per skewer.
In a double boiler over moderate heat, melt the chocolate together with the cream. Whisk in the honey until smooth. Turn off the heat, but leave the dark chocolate sauce in the double boiler over the hot water.
Grill the grape skewers over direct heat until blistered and hot through. Lay a folded piece of tinfoil on the grill grate to protect the skewer ends from burning if necessary.
Remove the grapes from the grill, plate and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve warm.
Grilled Citrus Sangria
Citrus can take on a slightly caramelly burnt sugar flavor when it has been grilled — almost like the top of a flan that has been under a chef's torch. The fire also makes it just a little sweeter. This sangria recipe takes advantage of grilled oranges, lemons and limes. If you're adventurous, you can add some grilled grapefruit as well. |
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3 lemons |
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4 limes |
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Honey to taste |
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2 - 750ml bottles white wine |
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4 ounces Grand Marnier |
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6 ounces light rum |
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Directions:
Prepare the grill for direct grilling at about 400°F.
Cut a 1/4" slice from the center of each orange, leaving a total of 4 orange slices and 8 orange halves. Cut the lemons and limes in half.
Grill the citrus over direct heat until nicely marked. The orange slices will need to be turned half way through, but all the citrus halves stay cut-side down the entire time.
Juice the grilled citrus halves and then strain through a mesh strainer. Stir honey into the warm juices to the desired sweetness.
Combine the sweetened citrus juice, wine, orange liqueur and rum in pitchers. Serve over ice garnished with grilled orange slices.
We Want to Hear from You
As we continue our efforts to help you maximize the joy and satisfaction of your outdoor grilling and entertaining experience, we would love to know what you think:
- Share with us your favorite grilling recipes or outdoor gourmet entertaining tips.
- Share pictures of your grill or outdoor kitchen.
- Tell us what you like most about your Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet product or which product features you would like to see added to or improved on our equipment.
- Offer feedback on our website or service.
Feel free to drop us a line at hotg@kalamazoogourmet.com with your thoughts on any of the above, or just to say hello.
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About Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet™ custom outdoor kitchen equipment delivers the ultimate in performance, luxury and quality. From hybrid grills that cook with any combination of wood, charcoal and gas — to powerful and energy efficient outdoor refrigerators, wine chillers, ice makers, keg tappers and freezers — to countertop pizza ovens — to weather-tight stainless steel kitchen cabinets — to the one-of-a-kind martini bar — the entire line is designed and built from the ground up exclusively for outdoor gourmet cooking and entertaining. You can learn more at www.KalamazooGourmet.com.
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