Graham's Gastronomy - The Heat is On

I’ve written posts about Fabulous Foodies, one of the culinary-inspired Meetup groups of which I am a part. Usually, our second Friday of the month, oddly-themed cooking extravaganzas are friendly, collaborative, and supportive in pursuit of delicious dishes. However, for this month, competitors gathered above glowing charcoal for the annual grill-off.

The rules were simple; contestants may only use a charcoal grill (which will be provided if necessary), you are given a window of time in which to grill, and a serving time. Each contestant was allowed a designated sous chef if they chose, and was only required to cook enough for three judges to sample, and cook we did.

There were five contestants, and about 15 additional spectators. The first round of plates was adorned with a flank steak roulade. The meat had marinaded and rolled into a spiral before hitting the grill. The steak was paired with potato wedges and charred garlic, both cooked on cast iron over coals.

Plate two was a rack of lamb, the ends of the bones of each “lollipop” had enough char to crack off. Cooked to medium to avoid chewiness, it was paired with a watermelon salad which the judges said “was a perfect balance to her lamb and therefore added to the experience raising the lamb from excellent to amazing.”

Plate three was a grilled portabella mushroom. Topping it was bacon, two different kinds of sausage, three kinds of cheese, red pepper, and green onion. The latter two did not have char from the grill, lending a brightness of both color and flavor to the otherwise heavy dish.

My offering came fourth. I marinaded steaks of ahi tuna in half soy sauce and half honey for 15 minutes. Removing the tuna, I reduced the marinade in a skillet over the coals to a thick caramel consistency and used a spatula to “paint” a streak of caramel on the plates. The sides of the tuna steak were rolled in sesame seeds and the fish was placed close to a mound of charcoal, searing it. Flipping once to preserve the grill marks, I sliced the fish to present both toasted sesame ends and seared middle. I also adorned the plates with dabs of sriracha aioli and wasabi aioli.

The last plate was a grilled dessert, inundated with bourbon (really good bourbon, I tasted some). Bourbon and brown sugar was used to macerate red and bosc pears, which were grilled. Bourbon and egg with a hint of vanilla was used to soak raisin brown bread in a French toast style, also grilled. A bourbon maple syrup was drizzled over these two and a dollop of double cream finished the dish. Decadent and alcoholic, this was the dish that wowed the judges the most and took home the trophy.

I must admit, if I’m going to lose, it makes me feel better that I lost to the best. I got to sample all of the offerings and everyone did an amazing job. Competition truly brings out the best, and in this case, the tastiest.