Diane Kochilas has a new cookbook out, Ikaria, based on the foods of her native Greek island. Yes, I’ll review it soon, but seeing her name reminded me of all the grand books she has written in the past. Like Mediterranean Grilling from 2007.
All grilling books do have a common core. So, Mediterranean or not, there is a burger here but one dressed in Greek glory: Grilled Beef Burgers with Red Pepper and Roquefort. That’s typical of Diane’s upscale approach to her recipes. There’s familiarly there, the burger part, and some additions, the peppers, and then just plain elegance, in Roquefort.
Everything can be grilled in Diane’s world. There are chapters for salads, veggies, bready, and pasta. There’s a soup chapter, too, well, grilled ingredients that slide into soup eventually. Protein chapters abound: kebabs, ground meat, searious meat as she says, wings, and fish. There’s even a dessert chapter but I have to say, aside from gilling some bananas, I do my desserts in the oven.
You’ve probably had a kebab or two in your life. Here they have happy variation and color. And they are not cooked until dry as the desert.
There gem recipes here you are sure to want to try:
Grilled Eggplant Sandwich with Yogurt-Tahini-Chipotle Dressing
Grilled Sweet Potatoes and Leeks with Mint, Orange and Olive Vinaigrette
Smoked Green Garden Packets
Sweet Tomato-Glazed Duck Breasts
That’s a picture of the duck breasts at the end of the post, surely a dish that you can consider for a fall Sunday dinner.
As with most Mediterranean cooking, these recipes are rich in flavor but do not demand rich ingredients. It’s herbs and veggies with basic meats and fish that are assembled in ways to make you pause and smell before that first bite.
The kebab chapter offers you a bevy of ideas to make your grilling grander:
Breaded Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Brochettes
Classic Greek Chicken Kebabs
Chicken Kebabs Marinate in Cumin Yogurt
Classic Shish Kebab
Turkish-Style Lamb Kebabs
Lamb, Quince and Onion Skewers
Provencal-Style Lamb Brochettes
Provençal-Style Beef Tenderloins with Garlic, Bacon, and Anchovies
Spanish Style Kebabs with Smoked Sausage and Shrimp
Pinchitos-Spanish Pork Kebabs
Those kebab recipes give you an appropriate impression of the span of this book: the Mediterranean from the far West to the far East – well, technically the Middle East but you understand. The variety of recipes, and surely the quality, will have you standing by your grill as the leaves fall and perhaps as the snow begins to trickle down. You can ignore the cold, pretend you are somewhere near the sea, and continue with Mediterranean Grilling.
