Grilling Outdoors with Ashley

I’ve been fascinated with grilling and open fire cooking for years! Growing up, I watched my uncles catch, clean, and fry their own fish and at family cookouts, it was always the uncles whipping up the meals for everyone. I’ve always been drawn to that, and also curious about why I don’t usually see women outdoors grilling more when it’s such a satisfying experience.

In the last couple of years, and especially during the pandemic, I’ve found myself outdoors more often—challenging myself to make more than just hamburgers and steaks, but soups, grilled fruit, stews and so much more.

And so today I’m going to show you how to make typically indoor meal outdoors with just a few small tools and some patients

I’m drawn to the technique of controlling heat with time, harnessing the smoky flavors of wood and coals, and the change of scene from indoors to outdoors. You don’t need really big grills—I actually prefer the small humble grills that you can pick up at just about any dollar store. At the end of the day, all you need is something to hold your coals and a sturdy grill

So how do we start a fire? Well, there are a million ways to do it, but here’s how I do mine. Ball up a small paper bag, toilet paper roll, or newspaper and douse it in cooking oil. I create a sort of chimney using chicken wire, and then toss in a few coals and set the paper on fire. The oil will make the flame burn through much slower allowing the coals to catch fire. Once the goals are beginning to ash on the edges, add the rest of your coals to the chimney and fan! The flame will spread upward to the other coals and after a few minutes, you’ll have evenly red hot coals. No lighter fluid is necessary! 

I use a chimney method by covering a balled-up piece of a paper bag with olive oil and setting it on fire with a few coals on top. The oil will create a slow burn. And after the coals get hot, ass in more!  

Today we’re going to take a more meditative approach to making a meal—this is the way I love doing this outdoors. Listening to trees, birds, chopping sounds, and using just a few things that were easy to bring outdoors. 

This is the perfect time of year to do this sort of cooking out in the grass since there are no mosquitos, crickets, flies, and ants marching all over the place.  Today we’re making a pan-seared bass with a buttery caper sauce and asparagus over an herbed yogurt sauce. I’ll stop talking and let us get into it.

After searing the fish, I covered it with a towel to keep in the heat and steam down the fish. The result is crispy 

We garnished the dish with a few flowers growing in my yard Star of Bethlehem is a bulbous-grown flower that’s in the onion and garlic family that return each spring. They are also a part of the lily family so they are poisonous when eaten by animals and today, the bulbs are roasted and eaten and used in medicines today. If you’re thinking of using flowers in your dish, make sure you do a quick search to see what’s edible and what may be harmful.

So what’s the big deal about having your cast-iron outdoors? Cast Iron skillets are strong enough to withstand high and persistent amounts of heat without damage making it the perfect, open fire cooking companion. Almost anything you can do indoors with your skillet, you can do indoors. Just make sure your pan isn’t larger than your grill surface. You don’t want to smother your flames. Fire needs to breathe. Now let’s get into this recipe!

Recipes!

Grilled asparagus with yogurt sauce and Dukkah 

• Olive oil

• Asparagus

• 1/2 medium Shallot, minced

• 1 bulb Garlic, minced

• 1/4 cup Parsley, minced

• Pepper

• 1 cup PlainGreek Yogurt

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• 2 Tablespoons Dukkah

• Salt

• Pepper

• Parmesan cheese

• Micro greens (optional)

• Tablespoon Lemon zest (optional)

Steps

1. Spray olive oil over the asparagus and lay evenly over the grill. After a few minutes turn to reveal the char, and let sit for another few minutes until tender

2. Mince shallot, garlic and parsley.

3. In a bowl or serving plate, combine greek yogurt, lemon juice over yogurt and add shallot, parsley and garlic.

4. Spread the sauce across the plate and lay asparagus over the yogurt sauce.

5. Sprinkle Dukkah, drizzle olive oil, season with salt and pepper

6. Shave fresh Parmesan and a little extra lemon zest over the top and sprinkle micro greens (optional).

Pan-seared bass with lemon and allium caper sauce

• Black Bass fillet

• Salt

• Pepper

• 4 tablespoons Butter

• 1 large Leek, halved and cut into thin slices

• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped

• 1 large Shallot, chopped

• 2 tablespoons Capers

• Lemon zest

• Juice of 1 lemon

Steps

1. Heat olive oil in the pan—enough to coat the bottom of the skillet.

2. Pat excess moisture from fish and season filet with salt and pepper.

3. Sear fish skin-side down until skin is golden brown and fish is mostly cooked through; flip and cook for 1 minute and set aside.

4. Melt butter in the pan; add leak, shallot and garlic. After squeezing lemon in the pan, add lemon, cut side down, into the pan. Cook until veggies soften.

5. Add capers to skillet and toss in with sauce mixture.

6. Add bass back to skillet and simmer in the sauce. Squeeze skillet lemon over bass before serving.

7. (Optional) Top with extra lemon zest, salt pepper and micro greens