Grilled Halibut Cheeks with Lemon Caper Sauce

I have come to really love halibut cheeks.  They are so tender and almost have the consistency of a crab or lobster meat.  I know you could certainly put them in place of a scallop anytime.  Tonight's dinner I made up on the fly as I was in the kitchen.

I used a rose wine instead of a white wine for my sauce which turned it a pink color.  I didn't want to open a bottle of white, since I wouldn't be drinking any tonight, and I had a bottle of wine already open.  The color of the wine did not change the flavor I was going for at all.

I wanted to grill as much as we could.  Less dishes to clean up, easier clean up and it doesn't make your house warm.

Grilled Halibut Cheeks with Lemon Caper Sauce
8 halibut cheeks (from SeaBear)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon of capers
1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped
White wine
Sprinkle the cheeks with a little bit of salt and pepper.  Spray a grill basket with olive oil.  Place the cheeks into a grill basket and place over direct heat at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cook for about 15 minutes, turning about every five.

In a small saucepan add olive oil and heat over medium high heat.  Add shallot and cook until tender but not overly brown.  Add lemon juice and capers, stir letting the mixture reduce slightly.  Add a small amount of white wine.  The wine will help to cut the acidity and tartness of the lemon juice and capers. So taste it along the way and add wine as needed.  Reduce until you get a sauce that will coat the back of a spoon. Spoon sauce over cooked halibut cheeks.  Stir in basil at the very end.

Wilted Spinach
1 large package of spinach
Small amount of olive oil
In a large skillet over medium high heat add oil and spinach.  Turn spinach in pan over so that what is on top can cook.  Continue to cook until spinach is wilted.  Keep warm in a bowl until ready to serve.  Place some spinach on the plate and place halibut on top.

Grilled Asparagus
1 bunch of asparagus, washed and snapped
Spray a flat cast iron skillet with olive oil, place skillet on the grill (direct heat) that is at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cook, turning for 15 minutes.

Grilled Pineapple
1 fresh pineapple
First cut the pineapple.  I didn't know how to put cutting a pineapple into words, so I found a step by step here.   Instead of cutting the pineapple into circles.  I cut my pineapple in half lengthwise, and in half again, removed the core by cutting down the edge (which is now a partial triangle).  I then sliced the pineapple into strips on the longer side.  Place pineapple on direct heat on the grill, 400 degree Fahrenheit and cook for 10 minutes turing once.  Then remove pineapple to an indirect heat location and cook for another 10 minutes.

Lamb Burgers with Feta Cheese and Mint

The weather for us comes in waves of one day it is warm, the next day it is cold, the next day it is windy.  This goes on all the time during the spring and this year is more unusual than most.  That being said it really isn't the perfect time to grill when it is really cold, however we decided to forget about the cold and grill out.

This is also the time when farmers markets are starting back up, so don't forget to buy local whenever possible.  The lamb and the feta cheese were from local sources.

You will probably notice first from the picture that there isn't any bun to eat this burger on.  We are trying to go without wheat or any type of gluten, so it is a bun-less burger.

Grilled Lamb Burgers with Feta Cheese and Mint
1 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
Fresh ground pepper
Place lamb, feta cheese and mint into a bowl, using hands mix together all ingredients.  Separate meat into four equal sections and pat them into burgers.  Place on a heated grill over high heat and cook for 15 minutes.  Flipping once.  Add a little bit of fresh mint on top for a garnish.

Grilled Cauliflower
Place cut cauliflower into foil and create a pocket that you want to pinch closed on all sides.   Add a small amount of coconut oil to the packet.  Place packet onto grill and cook for 15 minutes.  Serve

Wilted Spinach
1 large package of fresh baby spinach
Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add spinach, tossing to cook.  Cook until the spinach just begins to wilt.  Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and serve.

Also served with this a little bit of the cabbage pineapple salad.

Pot Roast in a Crock Pot with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Spinach

If you want to cook something really easy for dinner, use a crock pot.  It cuts down your time in the kitchen and you create less dishes to clean.

Pot Roast in a Crock Pot
1 - 3 pound grass fed rump roast
1-1/2 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
Very small onion, finely chopped
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Add roast to the crock pot, add all other ingredients.  Turn crock pot on high and let cook for several hours.  I cooked mine for about 6 hours.  About an hour or so before serving, flip meat over.  You can use a little bit of the juice to serve over your meat.
 
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 sweet potatoes - the one I had actually was the size of two so I used it instead
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
Peel and chop sweet potato.  Place chopped sweet potatoes into a sauce pan with water.  Place on stove and cook over high heat until sweet potatoes are tender (could take upwards of 15 minutes, depending on the potato).  Once cooked remove from heat and drain in a colander.  Place potatoes back into the saucepan and place back on the burner, without heat.  Add butter and mash using a potato masher.  Once all large pieces are mashed, add a little bit of coconut milk and mash.  Continue to add more coconut milk until you get the consistency you want.  Add a little bit of salt and pepper and serve.

Wilted Spinach
1 package of fresh baby spinach
1 garlic clove, minced
Little bit of olive oil, just a small amount
In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat over medium high heat.  Add garlic, stir, add spinach.  Toss spinach in pan so that the olive oil mixes with the spinach.  Continue to toss until spinach has lost its crispness.  Don't cook it too much or it will become mushy.  Serve with a little salt and pepper.

Serve dinner with a nice wine.  We served our meal with a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Hickory Hill Vineyards located in Moneta, Virginia.

Baked Salmon with Spinach

We order a lot of our seafood from SeaBear, they had a special for Mother's Day which was a shipment of Fresh Wild Spring King Salmon from Alaska.  I patiently awaited the UPS truck with the shipment of fresh salmon, this is what we were having for dinner tonight.  I didn't take into account that it was in fact Mother's Day this weekend and that the UPS driver would have a lot of packages to deliver, which meant mine would come much later than normal.  Have no fear the truck arrived we came inside opened the box and the cooler to find beautiful fresh fish.  Immediately I placed 2 of the filets onto a pan to cook.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place salmon onto a cookie sheet lined with foil (I only do this because it makes clean up easier), drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Along with the salmon I fixed wilted spinach.  Heat a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.  We bought a bag of fresh spinach from the Land and Table event that we went to on Tuesday.  It was a gorgeous bag of spinach.   Add spinach to skillet, it won't look like all the spinach will fit but it will, turn the spinach with a pair of tongs, flipping the spinach over and around so that it cooks.  Cook until the spinach is wilted but not mushy.