A Mesa Grill kind of dinner

It's dungeness crab season here in California, and I'm trying to make the most of it. Tonight I made this recipe for blue corn crusted crab cakes from the Mesa Grill cookbook. I made quite a few changes to the original recipe - I liked the concept of the blue cornmeal crust and the use of creme fraiche as a binding agent, but I wasn't wild about the large amounts of dijon mustard and horseradish. I was concerned that these ingredients would overpower the crab, so I eliminated the horseradish completely and cut the mustard back to about a teaspoon. My crab mixture was quite loose, so I threw in a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs and added an egg to make sure that the cakes would stay intact in the pan.

I served the crab cakes with another recipe from the Mesa Grill cookbook - corn with roasted chiles and creme fraiche. The original recipe calls for fresh corn, but I think this worked quite well with frozen corn. The roasted poblano and serrano chiles add a lot of flavor with a bit of heat, and the creme fraiche makes the whole dish taste creamier and richer. I never have cotija cheese in the house, so I use feta as a substitute.

I have eaten at Mesa Grill in Las Vegas twice now, and always seem to have good luck with the recipes in this book. Bobby Flay definitely has a talent for putting together great flavor combinations.

Brussels sprouts with pomegranate and walnuts

This recipe is from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook. Now, I can't tell you how many recipes I've seen that claim to convert brussels sprouts haters. This one? If you don't like this recipe, you probably truly hate brussels sprouts. It's pretty simple - take a pound of trimmed and halved brussels sprouts and toss them with a little canola oil, salt and pepper. Roast the sprouts at 375 for about 25 minutes, or until they're browned and tender. After the brussels sprouts come out of the oven, toss them with a little butter, a handful of pomegranate seeds and a sprinkling of chopped toasted walnuts. This dish is healthy, beautiful and easy! The pomegranate makes it very festive. I made these for my family the other night, and we all agreed they'd be on our thanksgiving table this year.

Chayote succotash

Chayote squash can be a little hard to come by - they have them in my local produce market and asian grocery store, but many mainstream retailers don't carry them. They're about the size and shape of a large avocado, and they taste similar to zucchini, with a watery texture. My husband likes chayote because he grew up eating it. They're a little bland for my tastes, but I try to indulge him with a chayote recipe every now and then. When I saw this recipe for chayote succotash in Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook, I knew it would be a good one to try. Whole chayotes are roasted in the oven until soft, and then split in half. The insides are scooped out and finely chopped. The chayote is sauteed with red onion, red pepper, corn, zucchini and lima beans, and seasoned with butter, lime and cilantro. The chayote shells are filled with the succotash mixture for a nice presentation.

I thought this was a good vegetable side dish, with fresh, bright flavors. If you come across chayotes in your market, give this recipe a try!

Grilled and marinated squash

Almost every Sunday during the summer we fire up the grill. This summer, I have been cooking my way through Grilling for Life by Bobby Flay. This past week, I made marinated grilled summer squash. My grocery store had a sale on all varieties of summer squash, so I ended up with green zucchini, crookneck squash, white zucchini and green and yellow pattypan squash. The squash is cut lengthwise and seasoned with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper before going on the grill. After the squash comes off the grill, it's doused with a marinade of lemon juice and zest, olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed chile and fresh basil. I garnished this dish with a sprinkling of lemon basil, purple basil and cherry tomatoes from my garden.

Grilled asparagus with tarragon vinaigrette

Grilling season is finally here! This past fall, I bought the Grilling For Life cookbook by Bobby Flay. By the time I got the book, grilling season was basically over. I've been looking forward to warmer weather so that I can put my new book to good use.

This was a great asparagus recipe. The vinaigrette is a combination of white wine vinegar, fresh tarrgon, olive oil, cornichons, capers, and hard boiled egg yolks. The hard boiled egg yolks are blended together with the vinegar to make a rich and creamy dressing. The grilled asparagus is topped with chopped hard boiled eggs and tarragon.

Mesa Grill blue and yellow corn muffins

Don't these muffins look cool?

It took me about 5 grocery stores to find the blue cornmeal that Bobby Flay uses in many recipes in his Mesa Grill cookbook. But, I think it was worth the search. I find that corn muffins can vary widely - some are very sweet and almost cakelike, and others are on the savory side. This is a distinctly savory muffin, flavored with red onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic and cilantro. All of the ingredients are divided to make separate batches of blue and yellow batter. The batters are spooned side-by-side into the muffin tins before baking.

These muffins were very flavorful and had a nice texture. They were a little dry on the second day, so eat them while they're hot! I served the muffins alongside Bobby's black bean soup with toasted cumin crema and three relishes.

Grilled lamb chops with oregano vinaigrette and radish tzatziki

This recipe is from Bobby Flay's Grilling for Life. I'm trying to make the most of what's left of this year's grilling season. Lamb chops (he calls for rib chops, I used shoulder chops) are simply seasoned with salt and pepper and seared on the grill. The hot lamb chops are topped with a vinaigrette of fresh oregano, garlic, red wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Radish tzatziki is a twist on an old favorite. The recipe uses ingredients that are fairly traditional, but instead of shredded cucumber, this sauce calls for finely grated radish. Make sure to squeeze all the moisture out of your radish before you put it in the sauce. I had no idea that so much bright pink juice would leak out of radishes when they're shredded! The combination of the smoky lamb, slightly sweet vinaigrette and tzatziki with the bite of radish was amazing. I will definitely be repeating this recipe in the near future.

Toasted israeli couscous with vegetables

I wanted to make something different that involved grilled vegetables, and this recipe seemed like just the thing. Grilled vegetables are combined with toasted israeli couscous and olives and tossed in a lemon balsamic vinaigrette. I did make a few changes to the recipe. I used pastina instead of israeli couscous because I already had it in the house. Also, the original recipe calls for grilled asparagus, but when I went to the store this week, asparagus was extremely expensive. I used extra zucchini instead. Also, I cut the amount of olive oil in the dressing way back, and used parsley instead of basil. This was really delicious - the grilled vegetables added a touch of smokiness, and the use of lemon zest in the dressing gives it a bright flavor. I bet other vegetables would be good in this too, like grilled eggplant or corn.

Grilled lamb chops with fig cascabel sauce

I saw Bobby Flay make this recipe on his show months ago, and I am just now getting around to trying it. To be honest, this sauce was kind of a pain to make. It was especially painful when the cascabel and chicken stock mixture boiled over onto my stove. I only used 2 cups of chicken stock instead of four. The end result was a thick, sweet and spicy sauce. On the plus side, the sauce is very flavorful, and it made enough for me to freeze the leftovers so that I don't have to go through this process again!

Bobby Flay's oven roasted lamb shanks with roasted tomatoes and toasted orzo

A few months ago, I saw Bobby Flay make these lamb shanks on Boy Meets Grill. I just got around to trying the recipe, and it is fantastic. While the recipe isn't very labor intensive, the cooking time is fairly long for each of the components. Since I was making this on a weeknight, I roasted the tomatoes and garlic a day in advance. I ended up roasting the tomatoes and garlic at 300 degrees instead of 200 degrees - the tomatoes cooked for about 3 hours instead of 4.

While the sauce for the lamb shanks was reducing, I put the tomatoes back in the oven to warm them through. The orzo is delicious - toasting the orzo creates a complex flavor.

I used less oil than the recipe called for. I roasted the tomatoes and garlic with a coating of olive oil cooking spray, and browned the lamb shanks in a dry pan. I also didn't add the butter to finish the orzo - I meant to, but when I tasted the orzo I thought it was so good that it didn't need the butter. I also skimmed some of the fat and impurities from the sauce while it was reducing.

I highly recommend this recipe, just plan to make it on a day when you know you'll be at home. The results are worth the effort!