{"id":26,"date":"2008-05-19T18:55:30","date_gmt":"2008-05-20T01:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/?p=26"},"modified":"2015-03-01T06:33:35","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T13:33:35","slug":"a-different-kind-of-barbecue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/?p=26","title":{"rendered":"Italian Family Barbecue"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were having company\u00a0Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0I wanted to barbecue, but Ditalini wanted Italian food.\u00a0 So we compromised by having an Italian barbecue.\u00a0 Here’s the menu:<\/p>\n

Grilled Artichokes<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"crouton_3a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We prepped the artichokes a couple of hours before the party by cutting the spiny tips off the leaves, then boiling them until tender.\u00a0 After taking them out of the water and letting them drain and cool down, I quartered each artichoke and\u00a0removed the choke with a spoon.\u00a0 Next I brushed each quarter artichoke with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper, making sure I got all sides.<\/p>\n

When it was time to barbecue, I used a spatula to place the artichokes on the grill.\u00a0 The artichokes, already cooked, were tender and fragile, so I was\u00a0gentle with the spatula, turning them to grill all sides.\u00a0 When the artichokes were nicely marked from the grill, I put them on a platter and kept them warm in the oven.\u00a0 Ideally, you should serve them right away as appetizers, but our friends brought several different appetizers, so we served the artichokes with dinner.<\/p>\n

Grilled Italian Sausage & Polenta<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"crouton_3b\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First, we\u00a0boiled the polenta<\/a> . . . as with the artichokes, this was part of our prep routine, a couple of hours before company was due to arrive.\u00a0 When the polenta was cooked, Ditalini put it in bread pans and let it cool.\u00a0 While I was grilling artichokes, she inverted the bread pans over a cutting board so that the polenta came out in loaves, then cut the polenta into half-inch slices.\u00a0 I grilled it, using a spatula to turn the slices.\u00a0 Since the polenta was already cooked, all I needed to do was make the outside surfaces crispy.<\/p>\n

But before putting the polenta slices on the grill, I grilled the sausage.\u00a0 We used mild and sweet Italian sausage.\u00a0 I cut each sausage lengthwise, as you can see in the photo, so that they would lay flat on the polenta when served and also because the oil in the sausage drains out faster that way.\u00a0 I was careful to keep the sweet sausage on one side of the grill and the hot on the other, and later, when the sausage was grilled, I kept the two kinds of sausage separate on the platter, as in the photo.<\/p>\n

Grilled Vegetables<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"crouton_3c\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I’m grilling for the two of us, I\u00a0use an old pan with a metal handle on the grill to keep the vegetables from falling through the grating, but since we were preparing a lot of veggies for a lot of people (and since I was hogging the entire surface of the grill with sausage & polenta),\u00a0Ditalini decided to\u00a0roast them in the oven instead.<\/p>\n

Either way, what we do is cut up some good looking vegetables\u00a0\u2014 onions, whole garlic cloves, sliced & seeded red, yellow, and green bell pepper\u00a0\u2014 drizzle a little olive oil on them, then sprinkle with salt & pepper.\u00a0 Ditalini, as you can see, added zucchini and white asparagus.\u00a0 When I grill veggies, they cook fast, and I have to keep an eye on them lest they burn.\u00a0 Roasting took about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to serve grilled sausage & polenta: place a slice of polenta on your plate, then a slice of mozzarella cheese, then a sausage, then a little parmesan cheese.\u00a0 If you have leftover polenta, fry it in a little butter and have it with your eggs for breakfast.<\/p>\n

If all this doesn’t have you humming “funiculi, funicula,” come back and read this entry when you’re hungry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were having company\u00a0Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0I wanted to barbecue, but Ditalini wanted Italian food.\u00a0 So we compromised by having an Italian barbecue.\u00a0 Here’s the menu: Grilled Artichokes We prepped the artichokes a couple of hours before the party by cutting the spiny tips off the leaves, then boiling them until tender.\u00a0 After taking them out of the water and letting them drain and cool down, I quartered each artichoke and\u00a0removed the choke with a spoon.\u00a0 Next I brushed each quarter artichoke with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper, making sure I got all sides. When it was time to barbecue, I used a spatula to place the artichokes on the grill.\u00a0 The artichokes, already cooked, were tender and fragile, so I was\u00a0gentle with the spatula, turning them to grill all sides.\u00a0 When the artichokes were nicely marked from the grill, I put them on a platter and kept them warm in the oven.\u00a0 Ideally, you should serve them right away as appetizers, but our friends brought several different appetizers, so we served the artichokes with dinner. Grilled Italian Sausage & Polenta First, we\u00a0boiled the polenta . . . as with the artichokes, this was part of our prep routine, a couple of hours before company was due to arrive.\u00a0 When the polenta was cooked, Ditalini put it in bread pans and let it cool.\u00a0 While I was grilling artichokes, she inverted the bread pans over a cutting board so that the polenta came out in loaves, then cut the polenta into half-inch slices.\u00a0 I grilled it, using a spatula to turn the slices.\u00a0 Since the polenta was already cooked, all I needed to do was make the outside surfaces crispy. But before putting the polenta slices on the grill, I grilled the sausage.\u00a0 We used mild and sweet Italian sausage.\u00a0 I cut each sausage lengthwise, as you can see in the photo, so that they would lay flat on the polenta when served and also because the oil in the sausage drains out faster that way.\u00a0 I was careful to keep the sweet sausage on one side of the grill and the hot on the other, and later, when the sausage was grilled, I kept the two kinds of sausage separate on the platter, as in the photo. Grilled Vegetables When I’m grilling for the two of us, I\u00a0use an old pan with a metal handle on the grill to keep the vegetables from falling through the grating, but since we were preparing a lot of veggies for a lot of people (and since I was hogging the entire surface of the grill with sausage & polenta),\u00a0Ditalini decided to\u00a0roast them in the oven instead. Either way, what we do is cut up some good looking vegetables\u00a0\u2014 onions, whole garlic cloves, sliced & seeded red, yellow, and green bell pepper\u00a0\u2014 drizzle a little olive oil on them, then sprinkle with salt & pepper.\u00a0 Ditalini, as you can see, added zucchini and white asparagus.\u00a0 When I grill veggies, they cook fast, and I have to keep an eye on them lest they burn.\u00a0 Roasting took about 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Note How to serve grilled sausage & polenta: place a slice of polenta on your plate, then a slice of mozzarella cheese, then a sausage, then a little parmesan cheese.\u00a0 If you have leftover polenta, fry it in a little butter and have it with your eggs for breakfast. If all this doesn’t have you humming “funiculi, funicula,” come back and read this entry when you’re hungry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[77,37,18,80],"tags":[127,68,82],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grilling","category-italian","category-meats","category-vegetables","tag-artichokes","tag-italian-sausage","tag-polenta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pixFB-q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1839,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions\/1839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwoodford.net\/cookblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}