Teriyaki Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and Red Onions

Greetings from Cincinnati! Or, more aptly, Owensville, Ohio, where Mary and myself hail from. My husband and I are in town for the week after spending the past weekend in Cleveland for a wedding. The bride was my very first friend in college and the wedding was just gorgeous! I had such a great time that I sprained my foot while dancing and I've spent the past few days limping around, thanking my lucky stars that I'm not back home in Brooklyn where my busted foot would be the equivalent of a flat tire.

The weather in Cincinnati has been gorgeous and Steve and I (as well as Charlie) have had a great week relaxing, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air. My parents live in the middle of a hundred-acre wood, so although their lack of Internet has made this post extremely difficult to accomplish (I'm using an iPad right now), the break from all the hullabaloo has been very welcomed. And while there are so many different things I want to share with you, dear readers, I think I'm just going to jump right in and share my culinary adventure from this week. 

We started our week here with a trip to the famed Jungle Jim's to pick up some international goodies to bring back home to Brooklyn because, although we live amongst a swarm of various cultures and their accompanying cultural markets, these still don't compare to Jungle Jim's. If you live in Cincinnati and you're yet to check it out, run, don't walk!, there right now. I'd recommend the Eastgate location because not only is it newer and thus better organized, they also have a few speciality markets at the entrance such as Flying Olive and Colonel De's Spice Market that are worth a browse. 

We decided we wanted to make dinner for my folks each night we were in town, and because the weather was so great we decided to kick off the week with a grilling adventure. We haven't yet had the time to pull out our own grill for the season, which made this opportunity all the more inviting. We settled on grilling some burgers but we wanted to add an adventurous twist in order to impress the fam with our culinary talents, so Steve came up with the idea of adding grilled pineapple and caramelized red onion seasoned with teriyaki sauce. I've never had pineapple on a burger before, and I must say grilled pineapple is now amongst my most favorite fruit.  It's so yummy! And the grilled sweetness really adds a unique flavor combination to the burger meat and teriyaki sauce. The only change I'd make to these burgers is I'd like to try them on the "Three Meal Muffin" instead of onion rolls because, as I stated in my turkey burger post, they're simply the best burger bun out there. 

1. Prepare the burger meat by seasoning it with salt, pepper, some minced garlic, and a dash or two of teriyaki sauce. Divide and form into patties. Set aside until the grill is hot and ready. 

2. Prepare additional ingredients. Remove the pineapple rind and slice into rings. I cut them thick, but you can cut them to your preferred thickness depending on if you want a little less or little more pineapple flavor. Also slice the red onion. My knife was dull so I didn't cut perfect rings, but they still worked out just fine. After slicing the onion, we created a foil pouch for them to cook in on the grill, and seasoned with a dash of teriyaki. 

After your ingredients are prepared and your grill is hot, toss everything on and grill to your standards of perfection! We also grilled a side of brussel sprouts and asparagus, both of which we just lightly seasoned with a little EVOO and a dash of salt and pepper. 

And did I mention that this dish is a great way to impress your family and friends this weekend at your Memorial Day barbecue?! Because it is! 

Finally, here is a picture of my husband and I from the wedding last weekend. :)

Grilled Mahi Mahi with a Saffron Cream Sauce

Fish Special:  Grilled Mahi-Mahi with a saffron cream sauce and served on a bed of lemon rice and roasted asparagus

On Sunday, after my husband and I finished 9 holes of golf, I cooked up this beautiful and delicious dish. Earlier in the day, I stopped by the local fish market and picked up a fresh piece of Mahi-Mahi. I initially had wanted to pick up a piece of halibut for this dish, but the halibut was a bit expensive, so I went with another white fish, a little more in my price range. As always, use what looks best to you.

The fish had been flown in that morning so it was super fresh. In order to not overpower the natural flavor of the fish, I used a simple seasoning of salt and pepper. I cooked the fish on the grill, skin-side down for 10 minutes and at the last minute, I squeezed 1/2 a lemon on top of the fish. (See the bottom of this entry for tips on cooking fish on the grill)

A big part of this meal was the timing. I started the rice first, estimating it would take about 40 minutes. Once the rice was on, I started preparing the saffron cream sauce. After 25 minutes, I started the asparagus and dropped the fish on the grill after 30 minutes.

I wrapped the asparagus in aluminum foil with butter, garlic powder, red chili flakes, fresh thyme and salt & pepper. I placed the asparagus on the top shelf of the grill and let cook for 15 minutes.

Saffron Cream Sauce

Saffron is pretty expensive, so if you don't have it in your house, simply exclude it from the sauce and you will still have a lovely cream sauce to go with the fish. Also, there are many recipes for a saffron cream online, however I thought it would tasty and visually appealing to add tomatoes to the sauce. It sure did give the fish one last pop of color and texture. However, be sure not to cook the tomatoes too long otherwise they will break down and become mush.

1 diced shallot

2 minced garlic cloves

3 tbls butter

1 medium tomato diced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2- 1 cup heavy cream

2 pinches saffron

Cayenne pepper (to taste)

Saute shallots and garlic in the butter over medium high heat until shallots are translucent and garlic is lightly browned. Add tomatoes and saute for one more minute. Add white wine and cook until wine reduced by half- couple minutes. Then add heavy cream, saffron and cayenne pepper.

Lemon Rice
For the rice, I used slow cooking brown basmati rice.  I don't follow the cooking instructions on the bag, because I find that I never have enough water to properly cook the rice, based on the instructions. Here is how I do it, based on 1 cup of dry rice:

Step 1: Fill sauce pot with 2- 3 cups of water, add a pinch of salt and a bit of oil to the water. Bring to a boil.
Step 2: Add rice and lower heat to medium, a gentle boil
Step 3: Watch the pot over the next half hour, adding more water in 1/4 cup increments as needed. Continue tasting rice throughout cooking process to measure doneness.
Step 4: When rice is the texture of your liking, turn heat on high to remove any residual water, and squeeze a half of a lemon in the rice.

Cooking tips for cooking fish on the grill:

• Don't mess with it once on the grill: I only cook fish on the grill if the skin is still on it, otherwise I will use a piece of aluminum. I don't like dealing with the filet falling apart, so I also do not flip the fish. 
• Simple seasoning: When cooking with high quality fish, use only a simple seasoning of salt and pepper as to not mask the flavor of the fish.
• Cook for 8-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. When the fish is done, it should be flaky with a fork.
• Lemon: When the fish is almost finished cooking, squeeze half a lemon on top.

Would you try this dish? Did you know that Dolphin Fish is the same thing as Mahi-Mahi?

Bon Appetit!

Mary