Summer Happy Hour: Aperol Spritz and Grilled ‘Chokes

From Dish Nicole:

So far this summer has been a blast. I can’t believe it’s already August; so much fun has been had. One of the highlights from this summer took place waaaaay back in June. My dear friend Leila (whom I never get to see) set out on a road trip from California to Southampton, New York. I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to stay with her at her Aunt Shelby’s beautiful beach house for the weekend. Of course I said hell yes and Leila and I got to catch up over cocktails, dips in the ocean and fabulous meals. Aside from the obvious benefits of having a beach weekend with a bestie, Shelby was an amazing hostess and even better cook. Everything she made was delicious but seemed effortless. She turned me on to the refreshing Aperol spritz and these ingenious grilled artichokes. Leila and I certainly were living the good life.

For the artichokes you will need:

4 large artichokes (figure about ½ per guest)
2-3 lemons, quartered
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 stick butter melted
3 sprigs thyme removed from stem

To prepare the artichokes you start by cutting off the top section. Next you need to trim the top of all of the leaves with scissors. Once all are trimmed, cut the artichokes in half and scoop out the “choke” (if you haven’t really worked with artichokes before, the choke is the fuzzy center). You want to remove all of the fuzz but try not to scrape out too much of the heart. Squeeze lemon juice on the hearts to prevent them from turning brown and set aside.

Next you will want to get out your largest pot and fill with about 2 inches of water. You can add some lemon slices in for extra flavor. Bring to a boil and add the artichokes. Reduce the heat to medium and cover. You will want to let the artichokes steam for about 15 minutes.

Now that the artichokes are occupied for a few minutes, prepare your grill and let it heat up. The next step is preparing the basting sauce. In a small skillet, melt butter over a low heat. Add in chopped garlic. Allow the butter to start to bubble and remove from heat. You just want the garlic to infuse the butter with flavor, but not brown. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and add the thyme, a tablespoon of lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Okay now its grill time! Hopefully you have a friend with you who’s preparing your cocktail while you grill. If not, prepare your cocktail before the grilling. Brush the artichokes with the butter sauce. Make sure to get it in between the leaves. Place the artichokes on the grill. Grill for about 5-10 minutes, basting with the butter sauce and turning frequently, until the tips are a little charred. Serve immediately.


Ingredients for the Aperol Spritz:
3 parts (ounces) Prosecco
2 parts Aperol
splash of soda or seltzer
Ice, half a slice of orange

For the Spritz you will want to take a large wine glass or a highball glass and fill it halfway with ice. Add in all parts and garnish with the orange. I prefer to use a large wine glass. It really shows off the beautiful orange color.

The final step is to enjoy the ‘chokes and cheers to good friends, fun in the sun and staying cool the rest of this hot east coast summer.

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Grilled Salmon and Asparagus with Walnut Sauce

From Dish Nicole:

Tis the season to B-B-Q! Every spring I get sooooo excited to move my kitchen outside and cook and dine al fresco. The grilling gods have been very kind to me and I have always been given or loaned a grill, oddly enough. My last apartment had a backyard and my landlord let us use his gas grill for the 3 years I lived there. I got used to the convenience of just turning on the gas and grilling away. When I moved into my current apartment my boyfriend and I were very pleased to find that the previous tenants left us a relatively new charcoal grill on the porch (they even left most of the grilling accessories). Score! The only problem with the charcoal grill is that I had never used one so the boyfriend has come in rather handy and has been giving me grilling tutorials. One of the benefits of charcoal is that the food actually tastes the way grilled food should taste, slightly smoky. I went out and purchased a grill pan so I could take the grilling even further and add more delicate items to the old Webber, e.g.: fish and veggies. The grill pan is a MUST otherwise you will lose most of the food into the smoldering coals.


To keep things interesting throughout the grilling season we have a lot of fun experimenting with sauces and marinades. Zeke’s mom recently passed along a walnut sauce recipe that we love. Its light, savory and the walnuts add a really nice texture. Not only that, it’s tasty on salads, chicken, you name it. Another added bonus to sauces is that they can be made ahead of time and thrown on to spice up a quick dinner.

Here is what you need to make the salmon, asparagus and walnut sauce:

Salmon filets with the skin on
1 bunch of asparagus rinsed & dried
Salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbs olive oil

Walnut Sauce:
1 c. walnuts chopped
3/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 c. EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbs chopped, pitted Mediterranean-style black olives
1 Tbs capers, rinsed and chopped



Start out by making your walnut sauce. I prepared the walnut sauce a day ahead of time but you can make it right before serving as well. I like the way it tastes after the flavors have had a chance to infuse into the oil. All you have to do is prep your ingredients and then mix together. Boom, you’re done.

Next prepare your grill. Rub the salmon filets with olive oil to prevent sticking and lightly salt and pepper then set aside. Next, prepare the asparagus by cutting off the bottom where the green color fades. You will also want to lightly coat the asparagus with oil, salt and pepper. Once the coals are ready you can add the grill pan to the grill and add the salmon filets. Start with the salmon skin side up on the pan and cook for about 5-6 minutes per side. The salmon will continue to cook once you remove it from the heat. Add the asparagus to the grill pan and cook for about 5-6 minutes or until tender.

You can remove the salmon skin before serving (I prefer it that way). Add the sauce to both the veggies and salmon and dig in! I think grilled food is best served outside with a glass of chilled wine, but that’s just me. I wouldn’t call myself a grill master just yet but I plan to take the title by the end of summer.

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Kitchenless Cobbler

From Dish Jodi:

While the main purpose of this blog is to share great recipes, it’s also, over the years become a place documenting amazing events in the lives of the Dishes. Babies, new jobs, a handful of weddings, I hope our readers feel like they are getting snippets of our lives as well as yummy tips for dinner.

This recipe isn’t necessarily one of those great recipes, in fact it didn’t even turn out. It should have but of course, those life events sometimes get in the way.

Here’s the story – My husband and I, in efforts to fully become adults, just bought a duplex in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. It’s been intense – first finding tenants to live in the rental half – then organizing the remodel of our half. Because of timing, money, etc, we had to move into our new house weeks before it was finished – new floors, paint, trim, lights, oh, and a totally new kitchen. (Starting to document it at soweboughtaduplex.blogspot.com). We lived like we were in a hotel – just out of our master bedroom and bathroom while the contractor and his team finished up the place. All the eating out was hard not only on our pocketbooks, but also our waistlines and so a lot of our meals were done camping style – on the grill outside, on paper plates, washing any dishes in the spigot outside. We decide to go a little fancy one night – we deserved some sort of dessert treat – so we devised this simple cobbler for the grill. Disposable pan, very little prep, no need for too many tools. However, moving, more grilling then usual, and forgetfulness got in the way. As I went to check the cobbler for its final stage, I found the grill cold and the cobbler un-cobbled.

We, of course, ate it anyway. You won’t have to. This is good for the grill, and probably could work over a campfire.

Stay tuned for next month, when you guys won’t have to stare at the top of my dryer or my green walls – THE NEW KITCHEN WILL BE DONE!

2 bags of frozen berries
1/2 Cup of Flour, divided
nutmeg, cinnamon or other spices if accessible.
Half a box of Graham Crackers
2/3 C Butter
a small foil baking pan
heavy duty grilling foil

Heat up your grill. Toss the berries with 1/4 cup of the flour and spices in the foil pan until coated. Cover tightly with heavy duty foil and put on the grill over indirect heat. I put it on the TOP rack of my gas grill while I cooked the rest of our dinner. Leave it there for half hour or so, let the berries get nice and stewed.



Meanwhile, crush up the graham crackers into crumbs and mash them in with the butter and 1/4 C of flour until you have a nice wet sand. After the berries are gooey, hot and bursting, remove the top foil, sprinkle the top of the cobbler with the graham cracker mixture and return to the grill, UNCOVERED.

If you aren’t like me, the top should get nice and crispy. Leave it there for about another half an hour, or until crispy enough, and enjoy!!

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