dreams of delis

Were it not for the bugs, I think I’d move onto my back deck (have people read Running with Scissors? I love when they have a yard sale and then just move into the front yard!)

Got mah grill on!

The star was for sure the fish rub:

 

I had some steelhead, wanted to grill, and didn’t have anything in particular in mind. Fortunately, we have the internet for days like this. I was quite intrigued by this Cooking Light recipe for Grilled Pastrami-Style Salmon.

I have to say, I had not given a great deal of thought to what goes into pastrami. I mean, I love pastrami in the proper context (that is to say, in a New York City deli, on rye, the way God intended. I am uninterested in consuming it in absolutely any other context) but I hadn’t really gone “Oh, this has spices x, y, and z in it, and I should also rub those things on fish! And then grill it!”

But the reviews raved, and then smells started wafting off the grill…

And I’m mighty glad *someone* thought that cause wowsa this rub is GOOD! Brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and allspice, with the wonderful wondrousness from my good friend charcoal, produces a fabulous fish! I used steelhead rather than salmon and it went beautifully with its… wildness. Do other people cook with steelhead? Yknow what I mean?

Seen with grilled corn, vair nice! Grilling corn is so easy and so delicious I kind of no longer have any interest in steaming it (I like it just raw in salad sometimes, too!)

I also grilled up some eggplant, and repeated the technique we used for the Austin dinner party. This comes from Rosemary Barron, author of Flavors of Greece, one of the greatest cookbooks of all time: just cut off the top of the eggplant, cut a few slits in the side, and pop it whole on the grill.

And then, just for kicks, I remembered our scrumpsh shallots and threw a couple of those on too.

And inhaled the ensuing charred goodness, mmmmmmmm.

 

The shallots got all blistery and sweet on the outside, and the eggplant got to the soft n’ velvety consistency of a spread, so we sprinkled on olive oil and lemon shmushed it on pieces of bread.

I was delighted to have leftover fish, because as yummy as round one was, round two might’ve blown my mind even more:

YEAH I put it on a bagel!

Even more New York City reminiscence (we had been sort of half planning a long weekend there this summer and it just seems… unlikely at this point, *boo*). You get the pastrami spice lovin’, you get the smoky fish lovin’, and then you get the bagel and cream cheese lovin’.

Oh. My. Gawwwwwwwwwd (to quote Janice from Friends, a great New Yorker) it was good.

With a salad with various nice fruits and nuts and cheeses throw in it, and I had all my food groups, too!

Finally, HEY GUESS WHAT?! You can still vote for my essay for Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw Challenge!