Fire up the Grill!

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to spend some time outdoors, especially this year. With the help of our quarantine, spring seemed like it would never end. Now, days are longer, the weather is starting to cooperate and I’m anxious to get outside.

One of my favorite things to do in the summer besides heading to the beach, is dining al fresco. I am looking forward to sipping a glass of wine in view of the beautiful vineyards and farmlands of the North Fork, or while gazing at the sunset on the rippling water of the ocean or Long Island Sound. Until then, I guess I’ll have to settle for my own backyard. Guess I’d better fire up the grill!

Tonight I’m planning a Mexican-inspired dinner – cilantro lime shrimp over coconut rice. I think I might use the mangoes I have to create a salsa. Even though I’ve grilled for years, I didn’t know there was more to it than turning the grill on, managing the intensity of the flame and throwing on a steak or two, until I had the opportunity to watch the Great Courses: The Everyday Gourmet: How to Master Outdoor Cooking.

You can find this series among others on Kanopy just by logging in with the barcode on your library card. These twelve lectures averaging 33 minutes each are taught by master chefs from The Culinary Institute of America and start with the fundamentals, moving on to grilling seafood, vegetables, flatbreads and poultry in addition to focusing on specific ethnic flavors like Mediterranean, Latin American, Asian and more. Check it out!