CutandBaste.com

Ingredients:

• 4 strips of bacon, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of tomato sauce — this time of year, it’s easy to find great heirloom tomatoes for a simple homemade sauce, but I use store bought sauce all the time as well
• 1 large bunch of hen of the woods mushrooms (see above) very roughly chopped (leaving some large chunks)
• 1 cup grated cheese — we found something slightly stinky at the farmer’s market which worked great with the earthy mushroom flavors (can’t recall the name unfortunately), but almost anything will work
• Pizza dough

Prep:

1. Saute the bacon over high heat until browned.  Remove, leaving the fat to cook the mushrooms.
2. Cook mushrooms in bacon fat over med-low heat for just a couple minutes.  They will continue to cook in the grill, so you really only need a little toast.
3. To assemble pizza, start with a very thin layer of tomato sauce, then add bacon and mushrooms, and finish with a light layer of cheese.
4. Grill pizza (instructions here) and serve with a salad and oaky red wine.

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The idea for these tacos came from this incredible dish that Nobu serves with tuna sashimi and thinly sliced jalapenos.  The tuna should be very high quality and seared just a bit to keep the inside raw.

• 1 sashimi-grade tuna steak, cut 1 inch thick
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 hot sauce
• 2 T honey
• 1 cup mayo
• 2-4 chipotle peppers
• 1 small head of chicory, very roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 avocados, thinly sliced
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• 6 corn tortillas
• pickled jalepenos to garnish
• 1 cup Lamb Chopper cheese, thinly sliced (Sheep’s milk, Cypress Grove Chèvre, Caliornia)

Cut tuna into 1″ x 1″ strips.  Mix with soy sauce, hot sauce, and honey and marinade for a few hours.

Blend 2-4 chipotle peppers with the mayo.

Toss the chicory, cilantro, avocados, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.

Grill the tuna strips over high heat just until the outside is seared.

To finish, warm the tortillas on the grill or in the oven, spread a thin layer of chipotle mayo on the tortillas and add chicory avocado salad, cheese, tuna and pickled jalapenos.

• 2 links of Merguez lamb sausage, crumbled and sauteed in olive oil
• 2 baby leeks, cleaned, chopped and sauteed
• About 1.5-2 cups of grated fresh Asiago cheese (Asiago Pressato)
• 2 small ripe plumbs, sliced
• 1 cup pureed tomato sauce
• Pizza Dough

Prepare all ingredients and have ready near grill. (See below — this is crucial because you have to move fast in assembling the pizza after grilling one side)

Roll out pizza dough, brush one side lightly with olive oil and place that side down on grill over direct, high heat.  Once the dough has some nice color, slide it off the grill onto a plate or board, brush the uncooked side with olive oil and flip over.

Place ingredients on cooked size of dough and slide back on grill.  Cover and cook until bottom is nicely grilled and cheese is melted.

(Makes 2 large pizzas)

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We do many variations of this burger once summer hits. The key is a nice balance of sweet, spicy & citrus flavors and a charcoal grill.

Serves: 2

Burger:

• 3/4 cup(s) bbq sauce
• 1/3 cup(s) tomato sauce or chopped canned tomatoes
• 3 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1/3 cup(s) honey
• 2 beef patties
• 1 log of goat cheese, sliced
• 2 sesame buns

Spicy Slaw:

• 4 cup(s) thinly sliced cabbage
• 2/3 cup(s) blood orange vinegar
• 3/4 cup(s) mayo
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1. Start with the slaw, which can be made several hours ahead of time. Blend the vinegar, mayo, and chipotles, mix with cabbage and refrigerate until ready for use.

2. For the burger glaze, blend bbq sauce, tomatoes, chipotles, and honey. Season burger patties with salt and pepper and place over med-high heat on grill. As the burgers cook, paint with about 4 coats of the glaze.

3. Once they begin to approach desired doneness, move to indirect heat, add goat cheese and cover grill until cheese begins to melt.

4. Toast buns lightly and assemble burgers with spicy slaw.