Chef Nate Appleman’s Ultimate Memorial Day BBQ Recipes

GRILLED FRUIT SPIEDINO WITH MINT YOGURT SAUCE

Appleman says: “Grilling on sticks is a summer staple, and the idea goes all the way back to the beginning of time. Think about it: The caveman had to cook some meat, didn’t want to burn his hand…the first shish kebab! Haha. In all seriousness, though, this recipe is something simple that will really score you some points and works as a great dessert/follow-up to a solid outdoor BBQ session.”

INGREDIENTS:

• FRESH FRUIT (pineapple, peaches, watermelon, mango, cantaloupe, honeydew all work well; firmer-fleshed fruit works well and use whatever is in season. Cut whole fruit into good-sized, “skewerable” pieces, or just get pre-cut mixes from Whole Foods)
• 1 tub Greek yogurt (Fage is probably the easiest to find)
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• red chili flakes to taste
• extra virgin olive oil
• lime zest to taste
• kosher or sea salt
• skewers (metal or wooden; if it’s the latter, soak them before using to avoid burning the wood)

FOR THE FRUIT:

“Cut and skewer the fruit in a way that creates flat surfaces. This way, you get the most even heat across your food. Use this technique with any type of skewered food: the flatter the surface that touches the grill, the more even the heat you will get and the more evenly the dish will grill.”

FOR THE YOGURT DRESSING:

“This is pretty simple. Take a solid handful of mint, chop it up roughly, and mix it up with the yogurt. How much of each? I don’t know, a good handful into a large container of yogurt. You can’t really mess it up, it’s gonna taste awesome however you do it.”

STEP BY STEP:
1. DRIZZLE WITH OLIVE OIL.

“Shake some red pepper and salt onto the fruit, and then drizzle the fruit skewers with olive oil right before you take them to the grill. This technique will keep the fruit from sticking too much to the grill surface. As far as types of olive oil, I say always use extra-virgin. This is the first-press olive oil, and the best. In Italy they don’t have different kinds of olive oil. It’s just this, so that kind of shows you how it works. They export the shitty stuff to the U.S. and call it things like, ‘cooking olive oil’ or other weird stuff. Keep extra-virgin around, and you’re good.”

2. GRILL THE FRUIT.

“Place the skewers on the grill, and let the fruit grill for a couple minutes. You want for some of the sugar in the outside of the fruit to caramelize and create a char. There are a few reasons for this: it will look good, and the char creates a barrier between the fruit and the grill: this will help you peel the fruit from the grill rather than rip it, leaving half of the fruit behind. You can usually tell when it’s ready just by looking at the side—look for the char to form, and go from there.”

3. PEEL AND FLIP.

“If you do it right, the fruit will peel right off the grill. Give the fruit a flip and let it sit for a similar period of time—once you get a nice char on both sides, take the fruit to the plate.”

4. LAY THE YOGURT.

“While you wait for the fruit to finish, lay some of the mint/yogurt mixture on a plate. The fruit will wind up here.”

5. ADD FRUIT TO YOGURT AND SPRINKLE.

“As you take the skewers off of the grill, place them down directly on the yogurt. Sprinkle some lime zest and salt across the top of the dish to finish it off.”

6. GARNISH.

“This dish looks good, tastes awesome, and will impress your guests with little effort. If you’re not too into the red pepper, you can substitute black pepper for a little less kick.”