Bobby Flay's Grill It! (12 page)

1. Heat your grill to high.
   
2. Whisk together the lime juice, chipotle puree, honey, and oil in a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes, mint, and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Add the lobster meat and mix gently to combine.
   
3. Grill the tortillas for about 10 seconds per side to warm through and mark slightly.
   
4. Fill each tortilla with some of the lobster mixture and top with some of the watercress.
   

Lemony lobster salad with a kick of black pepper on a crisp buttered and grilled bun…that’s nothing but delicious. This lobster salad would also be great served on a mound of mixed greens for a light summer lunch or spooned onto fancy crackers for an elegant passed hors d’oeuvre.

Serves 4 to 8

1. Stir together the mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice, celery, onion, chives, tarragon, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Add the lobster meat and stir to combine. The lobster salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.
   
2. Heat your grill to high.
   
3. Brush the inside of the buns with the butter and place, butter side down, on the grill. Grill until lightly golden brown, 30 to 40 seconds.
   
4. Divide the lobster salad among the buns and serve immediately.
   

Every now and then I get a yearning for a big bowl of perfectly cooked linguine smothered in a garlicky white clam sauce. The sauce, packed with juicy, plump clams, is slightly briny, slightly spicy, and slightly creamy from the olive oil and a little butter added at the end. Though I haven’t figured out how to grill pasta just yet, I have figured out that the sauce is equally good, if not better, served over grilled lobster tails. If you aren’t able to find fresh chopped clams in your supermarket or fish market, feel free to substitute a high-quality canned version.

Serves 4

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the garlic and serrano chile and cook for 30 seconds. Add the wine and boil until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the clams and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the clams are just cooked, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the honey, butter, and chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.
   
2. Remove the lobster tails from the grill, spoon the sauce over them, and garnish with the whole parsley leaves.
   

Demo version limitation

Marinated Pork Chops with Blood Orange and Rosemary

Blue Corn Cuban Taco

Basil-Rubbed Pork Chops with Nectarine–Blue Cheese Salad and Toasted Pine Nuts

Grilled Sausage Sandwiches with Onion Sauce and Grilled Pepper Relish

Smoked Paprika–Rubbed Pork Tenderloin Sandwich with Grilled Red Onion and Sage Aioli

Maple-Peach Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Molasses-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops with Apple Butter

Grilled Pork Chops with Port Wine Vinaigrette, Grilled Figs, and Walnut Oil

Pork Gyros with Yogurt-Tomato Sauce, Red Onion, and Spinach

Many people tend to think of pork as a fatty, unhealthy choice. Maybe that’s because so many of us would name bacon as our favorite form of pork? Whatever the reason, it’s simply not true. The pork raised in this country today is leaner and healthier than ever before with meat that is predominately tender and delicately flavored. So it’s good for you (bacon aside), generally inexpensive, always available…and delicious! If you grew up on pork chops broiled so dry that no amount of applesauce could ease them down your throat and have been holding a grudge against them ever since, you might want to give pork another shot.

One factor for the dry pork of our youth was the fear of trichinosis, a parasite killed at high temperatures. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it has been eradicated, today’s pork can be safely cooked to a lower internal temperature. (The very young, very old, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant women should, however, continue to have their pork cooked according to the FDA guidelines.) Pork served at medium doneness will be incomparably more juicy than that cooked to well done. Pork today just doesn’t have enough fat to remain juicy past medium, so unless you like chewing for hours on one bite, don’t overcook your pork. And remember, the pork will continue to cook—coming up in temperature as many as 10 degrees when resting, so allow for that when calculating doneness.

Like beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin is soft and mild in flavor. I love to pair it with rubs to create a crusty, dynamic texture and add tons of flavor. That’s one of the biggest reasons that grilling is my cooking method of choice when cooking pork. Even without the added bonus of a rub, the grill’s direct heat transforms pork by giving it a beautifully charred and crusty exterior. Cooked propertly (a.k.a. not for too long!), the inside will stay tender and succulent while the outside garners a gorgeous crust. Grilling instantly adds its distinct flavor
and
additional texture to pork—why would you want to cook it any other way?

This marinade is Sicilian in inspiration; they love their blood oranges and rosemary in Sicily! It’s a somewhat unexpected, totally delicious combination that gives real zest to otherwise mild pork chops. Blood oranges not only are gorgeous in color, but they also have a slightly sour tang that navel oranges lack. Balsamic vinegar, with its own play of sweet and tangy, is a great match for the blood orange juice. Robust rosemary adds a pop of fresh pine-like flavor to the marinade and keeps the whole dish grounded with an overall savory, not sweet, taste. If blood orange juice isn’t available or out-of-season use two parts orange juice to one part cranberry juice.

Serves 4

1. Whisk together ½ cup of the juice, ¼ cup of the oil, 1 tablespoon of the vinegar, and the rosemary in a large baking dish. Add the pork chops and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
   
2. Pour the remaining 2 cups juice into a small saucepan and boil over high heat until reduced to 3 tablespoons. Transfer the reduced juice to a blender, add the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar and the honey, and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the remaining ¼ cup oil and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. The vinaigrette can be made 4 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
   
3. Heat your grill to medium-high.
   
4. Remove the pork from the marinade and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side until golden brown and slightly charred.
   
5. Remove from the grill and immediately drizzle with the vinaigrette. Tent loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing ½ inch thick.
   

Cuban sandwiches are one of my favorite things to eat, so I had to figure out a way to serve them at my southwestern restaurant Mesa Grill. This is what I came up with. While the classic Cuban sandwich is made with pork shoulder that has been braised for several hours in a stock flavored with citrus, garlic, and herbs, I opted for a quicker version made with fast-cooking pork tenderloin. I marinate the pork to get that garlicky kick and then grill it until slightly charred for additional flavor and texture. To keep things southwestern, blue corn tortillas replace the soft and sweet Cuban bread, and spicy pickled jalapeños replace the pickles.

Serves 4

1. Whisk together 3 tablespoons of the oil, the orange juice, garlic, and oregano in a baking dish. Add the pork and turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
   
2. Heat your grill to high.
   
3. Remove the pork from the marinade and place on the grill. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 150 degrees F, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the grill, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing into ¼-inch-thick slices.
   
4. Reduce the heat of the grill to medium. Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for approximately 10 seconds per side to make them pliable. Lay the tortillas on a flat surface. Divide the ingredients evenly over one half of each tortilla. Start with 1 slice of the cheese, followed by a slice of the ham, then a few slices of the pork, a few slices of the jalapeños, and another slice of the cheese. Fold the tops of the tortillas over the ingredients and press on them.
   
5. Brush the tops of the tortillas with some of the remaining oil and place on the grill, oiled side down. Grill until lightly golden brown, pressing on each tortilla to flatten it, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush the tops of the tortillas with the remaining oil, flip them over, and continue grilling, pressing down on the tortillas until golden brown and the cheese has melted.
   
6. Cut into wedges and top each wedge with a dollop of the relish and some cilantro leaves, if desired, before serving.