Summer Cooking with Chef Howard

With summer coming to a close, Chef Howard Cantor, corporate executive chef at Fuchs, takes a look back at his adventures in summer cooking with his Big Green Egg grill. Here, he offers a look at some of his trendy go-to summer recipes. Keep reading – and prepare to be inspired!

So, after years of valiant service to me and my family, my Weber kettle grill finally met its fate, and it was time to replace my grill with something new.  For my next grill, I wanted something that could serve many functions: something that could grill, something that could become a VERY high heat cooking vessel for pizza, something I could do some low and slow cooking on, and something I could bake in if the mood struck.  With all those things in mind, I decided to join the cult and become a Big Green Egg owner.  I did a lot of research into Komodo style grills and decided that with about 50 years under their belt, I would spend the extra money and take the plunge to buy one; it was something I stewed over but once it was delivered, set up, and I did my first burn in on it, I was hooked. As a result, I have cooked EVERYTHING on it all summer. Because it has become my #1 way to cook just about everything that is served for dinner at my house, I thought that I would share a few of my favorite recipes – including some surprises and some things that are just not what you would think to prepare on a “grill.”

Fresh, French-Inspired Cooking

First, with the bounty of produce available to us, I have made ratatouille a couple of times over the past 6 weeks, and my kids love it. It’s easy, healthy, fun, and IF there are leftovers, it tastes better on day 2.  For my version of this classic, I use Japanese eggplant (for some size consistency), yellow squash, zucchini, hand-crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes (add a splash of heavy cream and an optional dollop of soft goats’ cheese if you want something slightly indulgent), and a seasoning blend that includes everything else needed.

Step one in this process is to get the Egg up to temp; I bake mine at between 325* and 350*F, and I include some applewood and post oak chunks to give it a nice underlying smoky note.  Once I have the Egg moving in the right direction, I start by slicing all the vegetables to the same thickness (about ¼”) and stacking them in piles so it’s easy to assemble the final dish.  Once I finish that, I begin to make the sauce base by combining the crushed tomatoes with juice, the seasoning blend, and the cream in a pan. I slowly bring it up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let it cook for about 5 minutes.  At that point, I start to prep the pan I cook mine in, a trusty ceramic baking dish that is a shallow oval shape.  I’ll lay down a thin layer of sauce and then start the process of layering the vegetables, eggplant, squash, zucchini and repeat in any direction and pattern you like.

Once the dish is full, I pour another layer of sauce down and finish with a few dollops of soft whipped goat cheese spread around the dish.  Place the dish in the preheated grill and cover allowing to cook (loosely cover so the top of the ratatouille does not burn but open enough to pick up the smoke to infuse the dish) for 35-45 minutes.  Remove the cover from the dish and cook for another 10-15 minutes to caramelize the top.  Remove from heat and allow to set for 10-15 minutes before you serve.  This makes an amazing main with a salad or a side with some grilled protein or piece of fish.

A Trio Made in Heaven: Act Two….

Juicy summer tomatoes, ripe sweet watermelon, and salty feta cheese with a honey balsamic dressing – does it get much better than this?  For summertime meals, picnics, barbeques, or cookouts, I really don’t think there’s a better combination of flavors that screams “summer” quite like this.  To make our version, I am lucky enough to have some of the best tomatoes in the world not far from me: the Jet Star tomato from The Tomato Barn in Washington, Pennsylvania.  Once July comes around, the barn is in full swing and watermelon is starting to show up in my local markets; that is when its time to start making this wonderful summer salad.

To assemble, I like to cut my tomatoes into either quartered slices if they are plum sized or eights if they are big.  Add ½” to 3/4” cubes of watermelon to the tomatoes along with hand crumbled or diced feta cheese.  For the feta I like to buy it whole while still in brine to add a salty briny component to balance all the sweetness this combination offers.  Once all of this is combined, I add my honey balsamic seasoning to taste and allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge to really come to life.  This is almost always served with a smoked pulled pork or chicken sandwich, some sliced smoked meat or a flame kissed steak to help with the balance of the meal.

Third Time’s a Charm

Back to the egg.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE firing up my Egg. I use lump hardwood charcoal, I add small logs of smoking wood to give it a more rustic flavor, and I can do just about anything on it as I stated earlier, which includes baking dessert.  Dessert brings us to my last recipe: a summer classic, cobbler, and my favorite type of cobbler, peach.

I start by heating my grill to 375* and add a few pieces of apple or cherry wood for some sweet, smoky flavor.  I quarter fresh peaches and proceed to grill the peaches on the grill directly over the flames just long enough to give them some grill marks but not so long that they are fully cooked.  Once the peaches are done, I toss them in our cobbler seasoning, blend in a bowl, and reserve while I finish putting everything together.  The next thing I do is make my crumb topping with flour, butter, some brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.  Finally, I butter the cobbler pan or deep pie dish, add the peaches and all of the liquid from the bowl and then top with the crumb.

Place on the grill and bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered or until brown and bubbly.  Let this sweet, smoky, delicious dessert rest for 7-10 minutes before serving with a scoop of ice cream.  Give this a try – you will thank me later, I promise.

For more recipe inspiration from Chef Howard, check out our video series.