What do Scottish poet Robert Burns, a field mouse and grilling
have in common? If you remember reading
”
Of Mice and Men
”
while in high school, you are getting warmer. The title of the
novel was borrowed from a line in Burns’ poem
”
To A Mouse,
”
which states,
”
… The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft astray …
”
The meaning: Although something may be planned, things do not
always occur as you would hope.
What do Scottish poet Robert Burns, a field mouse and grilling have in common? If you remember reading “Of Mice and Men” while in high school, you are getting warmer. The title of the novel was borrowed from a line in Burns’ poem “To A Mouse,” which states, “… The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft astray …” The meaning: Although something may be planned, things do not always occur as you would hope. Things “go oft astray” not just in life, but in grilling too.
Let’s start with this past weekend’s column. I enjoyed writing about grilled asparagus because it is in season right now. However, instead of that, I really wanted to write a St. Patrick’s Day column last week. I had creative plans for grilled corned beef. I was going to round out the meal with grilled cabbage, potatoes and all the other parts of the meal.
Alas, I chose against it because I did not want to be outside in the bad weather to experiment with the timing of the recipe. If I wasn’t going to subject myself to the rain, wind and cold, I wasn’t going to subject you to it either. So, my plans changed, and the column changed with it.
I recently received another piece of news today. I was looking forward to writing about the upcoming salmon season, and opening day for the sports fishing season was set for April 1. I was anticipating fresh-caught salmon and sharing one of my family’s many grilled salmon recipes for that weekend.
Unfortunately, this will have to wait for at least a month. The powers that be decided to postpone the opening of the salmon season until May, possibly later.
I prefer to grill and cook seasonally. It is part of my European influence. In some cases, if the ingredient is not fresh or local, it is not very likely to show up here. This is one reason I am going to postpone my column on salmon. I want fresh and local salmon to be available in the grocery store or fish market before I give suggestions for grilling it.
It is difficult to find certain ingredients at their absolute freshest. Take shrimp, for instance. Sometimes, it is difficult to find truly fresh shrimp unless you see them swimming in a tank at your fish market. I think frozen shrimp are fine. The grocery store sells already-defrosted shrimp, but it is also convenient to purchase frozen shrimp in larger packages and keep them on hand.
I prefer shrimp that are raw, peeled and deveined with the tale shell left on. The tale shell can always be removed, but it can make a nice presentation when serving, too. Try to find shrimp with the United States as the country of origin. Unfortunately, many shrimp have been farmed and imported from other countries.
The shrimp I use in my recipe this week are frozen. This is also a case where I take the tail shell off prior to cooking. With the tail shell removed, the shrimp will sear and cook more evenly in a cast iron grill pan. For the quesadilla part of the recipe, simply wipe the cast iron grill pan clean and continue to use it. The grill pan will leave a few nice grill marks on the tortilla.
This is a quesadilla you may not be familiar with. I am inspired by many cultures in my grilling and cooking, and this quesadilla is no exception. It is a fusion of Mexican and Asian favorites. The punch from this quesadilla comes from chili garlic sauce, commonly used in Asian cooking. There are many different brands of chili garlic sauce available at the supermarket such as Lee Kum Kee and Huy Fong Foods, Inc. These happen to be two of my favorites and work well with this recipe. Be sure to test the chili garlic sauce prior to using it. For some, it may be too spicy, and you will need to adjust the recipe accordingly.
Asian Quesadillas with Grilled Shrimp
From Mitch Mariani
Serves 2
1/4 pound of shrimp, shelled, butterflied, deveined and washed
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tortillas
1/4 cup chili garlic sauce
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 green onions, chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
Vegetable oil, for brushing on the cast iron grill pan
Step 1: Heat cast iron grill pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the shrimp.
Step 2: Brush the cast iron grill pan with a light coating of vegetable oil. Grill the shrimp for about 1-2 minutes on each side, depending upon the thickness of the shrimp. Set aside.
Step 3: Clean off the grill pan by brushing any loose pieces of grilled shrimp. Return it to medium heat and brush with a light coating of vegetable oil.
Step 4: Assemble half of each tortilla with 1/4 of the remaining ingredients, spreading the chili garlic sauce on the tortilla first, followed by the cheese, green onion, carrot and shrimp. Fold the remaining half over all the ingredients.
Step 5: Grill the assembled quesadilla on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the contents are heated.
