Growing up I was never exposed to very many different fresh vegetables.  Vegetables were something you “had” to have on the plate and for the most part not a great deal of thought went into them.  Most of the time they were the frozen type that got nuked in the microwave just before we all sat down at the table.

Winter squash is a vegetable that has always sort of baffled me.  I’d pick them up at the store and wonder just how in the world you could eat something as hard as these appeared to be.  Last year I gave Acorn Squash a try for the first time and really enjoyed the flavors it gave me off the grill.  So when Mrs. Grail sent me to the store with the instruction of “just get a vegetable” I decided to give Butternut Squash a try.  The squash grilled up great and tasted fantastic.

BBQ Grail’s Grilled Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, thyme or oregano
• 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• Salt

Directions

Slice the butternut squash in half and remove the pulp and seeds from the bulb end.  Slice the squash into 1/2 slices.  Cut the bulb end slices in half.  Combine the oil, vinegar, honey and herb in a bowl and mix well.  Place the squash in a plastic zip bag and pour in the oil mixture.  Remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal it.  Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Heat your grill to medium hot.  Remove the squash slices from the bag, retaining as much oil mixture as possible.  Season the squash slices with a little bit of kosher salt.   Grill the slices about 5 minutes per side.  Remove squash from the grill and drizzle with oil mixture.  Cover with foil and let rest for 12 minutes.  Serve.

© 2010, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

For my birthday my son bought me a copy of Andrea Chesman’s  The New Vegetarian Grill, Revised Edition: 250 Flame-Kissed Recipes for Fresh, Inspired Meals and I’m going to be using this book for several upcoming Meatless Monday posts.

I’ve been thinking about my Meatless Monday posts and I thought it would be a good idea to have a dessert to go along with the previous and future posts.  This post is inspired by Andrea’s recipe.  The recipe is her’s except I used a special ice cream instead of whipped cream.  If you are all interested in grilling meatless dishes I can’t recommend a better book to guide you.

Maple Grilled Pound Cake With Peaches

By Andrea Chesman

• 8 firm ripe peaches or 16 canned peach halves
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 8-inch pound cake cut into 1-inch slices

If you are using fresh peaches, dip them into boiling water for about 30 seconds to loosen their skins.  With a sharp paring knife, pull away the skin and discard.  Halve and pit each peach.  If you are using canned peaches, drain well.

Prepare a medium fire in the grill

Combine the orange juice, butter and the maple syrup and mix well.  Brush onto the peaches and both sides of the cake slices.  Grill the peaches and cake slices until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side for the peaches and about 3 minutes per side for the cake.

Place a slice of cake and 2 peach halves on each plate.  Drizzle additional maple syrup over the cake and peaches, if desired.  Serve at once.

I wanted something different to eat with this dessert and I wanted something a little savory to contrast the sweetness in the maple syrup and peaches.  My friend Stephan Franklin has come up with a couple of great rubs and his “Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy” rub I thought would compliment this dessert.  But how to turn it into a dessert was the question.

The answer was:

Simply Marvelous Brown Sugar Ice Cream

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 3 cups half-and-half or light cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Simply Marvelous Sweet & Spicy Rub (more or less depending on your taste)

In heavy, medium, non-aluminum saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and brown sugar until thick. In another medium saucepan bring the cream and half and half just to a boil over moderate heat. Gradually whisk the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon about 6 minutes.   Do Not Boil.

Immediately strain the custard into a medium bowl. Stir in the vanilla and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 5 hours.

Pour the cold custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let the ice cream soften slightly before serving.

This ice cream recipe is adapted from a recipe on www.inmamaskitchen.com

© 2010, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

Ingredients:

• 12 Vine Ripened Tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 garlic gloves, peeled and smashed
• 3 cups Vegetable Stock
• 1 cup Tomato juice (I used V8 Juice.  Next time I’ll use Spicy V8 for a little more kick.)
• Pinch of Chili Flakes
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt (Kosher or Sea)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoons Oregano
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olice Oil
• 3 sprigs of Fresh Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Pre-heat your grill.

Brush tomatoes with a slight coating of olive oil and grill them for 15 to 20 minutes or until the skin scorches and begins to peel.  Place tomatoes in a plastic bag and set aside to cool.

Peel and roughly chop 8 of the tomatoes.  Save all the juices and discard the peels.  Place the flesh and juice of the peeled tomatoes in a sauce pan with the remaining olive oil, garlic, vegetable stock, tomato juice, chili flakes, sugar, salt.

Simmer for 15 minutes.  Season with pepper and additional salt to taste.  Remove the garlic.

Place the four saved tomatoes in four warm bowls and ladle the soup over the top.  Garnish with a bit of parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and the fresh chopped basil.  Drizzle the soup with the extra virgin olive oil.

© 2009, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.