Radicchio alla Brace con Condimento di Yogurt, Coriandolo & Zenzero & Scaglie di Grana
Grilled Radicchio with a Yogurt, Cilantro & Ginger Dressing & Shaved Grana
Shall we turn on the grill this evening? Or just have a salad? Or do both? These of course a rhetorical "first world problem" type questions here... Because I don't own a grill anyway!
Living in my little 2-room apartment, all I can do is turn on my griddle pan when I want to have anything that comes close to being grilled... But I am not about to let that stop me enjoying my food!
So, being as I was having difficulty deciding what to grill (kidding), I decided to grill my salad! Hardly a new idea, to grill radicchio and also not something that everyone enjoys, being as bitter as it is... so I decided to top that by creating a cilantro based dressing, which is also something that a lot of people don't like!
But being as I adore both... Yeah! And the result was delicious indeed!
So, to prepare this lovely, simple salad dish this evening I needed 1 large radicchio, a small bunch of cilantro, the juice of half a lemon, 1 tablespoon of honey, a little fresh ginger, salt, pepper, olive oil and some Grana cheese.
There is no end to the variations of salads you can make to brighten up even the rainiest, never mind the sunniest of summer days (it was torrential all day again here in Frankfurt, sigh), or at least there SHOULD BE no end! Have fun! Try new things! Be brave and enjoy your food! If you are privileged enough to have something to eat, then make a little effort with it and celebrate it!
I sprinkled the radicchio lightly with salt and drizzled it with olive oil, then pressed it down firmly onto a very hot griddle, holding it down to make sure it got nice, slightly caramelized scorch-marks, which is what this is all about... 3-4 minutes are more than enough. And that was it- the radicchio was already finished!
The cilantro, yogurt, ginger (finely diced), honey, olive oil, salt and pepper all went into the blender, with the juice of half a lemon... had a frantic little whizz around together for a minute or so... And then that was finished too!
Check the seasoning and add salt, honey, lemon juice or olive oil as necessary- or simply to suit your own taste... And then get slicing some thin shavings of cheese... Because now you have everything and are ready to serve!
If you have a real problem with bitterness, I will allow you to add a light dusting of powdered sugar at this point, which will immediately dissolve and disappear and make the flavor more mellow... But I didn't! I'm Sicilian after all and we love having a little bitterness in our food!
Spoon on a generous amount of dressing and scatter with plenty of Grana cheese... That added blast of rich saltiness makes the whole thing complete... Well almost!
It's really lovely looking isn't it? And it is full of flavor for sure...
... But if it doesn't get that last grinding of fresh pepper, it just isn't complete!
But once it IS complete... It is pretty damned good! So try if if your brave enough... And then hopefully enjoy!
Grilled Radicchio with a Yogurt, Cilantro & Ginger Dressing & Shaved Grana
Shall we turn on the grill this evening? Or just have a salad? Or do both? These of course a rhetorical "first world problem" type questions here... Because I don't own a grill anyway!
Living in my little 2-room apartment, all I can do is turn on my griddle pan when I want to have anything that comes close to being grilled... But I am not about to let that stop me enjoying my food!
So, being as I was having difficulty deciding what to grill (kidding), I decided to grill my salad! Hardly a new idea, to grill radicchio and also not something that everyone enjoys, being as bitter as it is... so I decided to top that by creating a cilantro based dressing, which is also something that a lot of people don't like!
But being as I adore both... Yeah! And the result was delicious indeed!
So, to prepare this lovely, simple salad dish this evening I needed 1 large radicchio, a small bunch of cilantro, the juice of half a lemon, 1 tablespoon of honey, a little fresh ginger, salt, pepper, olive oil and some Grana cheese.
There is no end to the variations of salads you can make to brighten up even the rainiest, never mind the sunniest of summer days (it was torrential all day again here in Frankfurt, sigh), or at least there SHOULD BE no end! Have fun! Try new things! Be brave and enjoy your food! If you are privileged enough to have something to eat, then make a little effort with it and celebrate it!
I sprinkled the radicchio lightly with salt and drizzled it with olive oil, then pressed it down firmly onto a very hot griddle, holding it down to make sure it got nice, slightly caramelized scorch-marks, which is what this is all about... 3-4 minutes are more than enough. And that was it- the radicchio was already finished!
The cilantro, yogurt, ginger (finely diced), honey, olive oil, salt and pepper all went into the blender, with the juice of half a lemon... had a frantic little whizz around together for a minute or so... And then that was finished too!
Check the seasoning and add salt, honey, lemon juice or olive oil as necessary- or simply to suit your own taste... And then get slicing some thin shavings of cheese... Because now you have everything and are ready to serve!
If you have a real problem with bitterness, I will allow you to add a light dusting of powdered sugar at this point, which will immediately dissolve and disappear and make the flavor more mellow... But I didn't! I'm Sicilian after all and we love having a little bitterness in our food!
Spoon on a generous amount of dressing and scatter with plenty of Grana cheese... That added blast of rich saltiness makes the whole thing complete... Well almost!
It's really lovely looking isn't it? And it is full of flavor for sure...
... But if it doesn't get that last grinding of fresh pepper, it just isn't complete!
But once it IS complete... It is pretty damned good! So try if if your brave enough... And then hopefully enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment