The story below is from our January/February 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Celebrate citrus fruit season with these bright sunny recipes!
Ashley Cuoco
Grilled Mediterranean Steak Skewers
Want to add a little sunshine to these cold winter months? Citrus wakes up our taste buds and makes everything seem brighter. Lemon and pomegranate gives zest to savory dishes while oranges add citrusy sweetness to desserts and cocktails.
Grilled Mediterranean Steak Skewers
If you love to grill, but you don’t want to stand outside in the blustery winter weather, you will love cooking on a cast iron grill pan.
4 servings
- 2 pounds New York Strip steak, trim all large pieces of visible fat
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Jonno’s Worcestershire Sauce
- Zest of one small lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 red bell peppers, cored, all seeds and membrane removed, cut into 1-inch cubes
Combine all ingredients except the beef in a non-metal bowl or a sturdy food-safe resealable plastic bag. Stir to combine (if using a bag, seal bag and shake to cover beef with marinade).
Cut beef into 1-inch cubes and place in marinade. Stir to cover the beef with the marinade. Cover and place in refrigerator for two hours up to overnight.
Remove beef from refrigerator and thread on wood or metal skewers (5 pieces per skewer) and several cubes of red bell pepper in between the beef cubes.
Brush interior of grill pan with vegetable oil. Preheat grill pan to medium high.
Place beef skewers in hot grill pan and brush any remaining marinade that is left in the bowl over the beef. Grill beef skewers for 4 minutes (if you like your steak more well done, cook it for 6 minutes), turn and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking for 4 more minutes.
Remove from pan and serve with Parsley Lemon Buttered Rice.
Parsley Lemon Buttered Rice
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 1½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup finely chopped parsley
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
Place rice in a fine mesh strainer (or a colander with small holes so the rice doesn’t fall through). Rinse the rice under cool running water for a few minutes. (This will remove some of the starch in the rice and make it less sticky after it is cooked.)
Place vegetable oil in saucepan and heat over medium heat just to get the oil hot. Add rice. Stir until all of the grains of rice are covered with oil. (This will also help to keep the rice from getting sticky).
Place the water in a saucepan. Add salt. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and add rice. Stir the rice in the water. Cover the saucepan and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the rice from heat and allow to sit covered for 5 minutes.
While rice is still warm, add butter, parsley and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Serve warm.
Butter Lettuce Salad with Pomegranate, Pistachios, Brioche Croutons and Blush Wine Dressing
Ashley Cuoco
Butter Lettuce Salad
Serves 4
- 1 large head of butter lettuce or 2 small (about 8 cups)
- ½ cucumber diced
- 1 pomegranate, seeded or 1 cup seeds
- ¼ cup shelled pistachios, chopped
- Brioche croutons
- Brianna’s Blush Wine Salad Dressing, chilled
To make brioche croutons:
- 4 cups of ¾-inch cubes brioche
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the brioche cubes on a sheet pan and drizzle them with melted butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss the cubes on the pan with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes, tossing once, until they are nicely browned on all sides. Cool to room temperature.
Wash and spin or pat dry the butter lettuce leaves. Hand tear the butter lettuce into a large salad bowl.
Chop the pistachios and cucumbers and de-seed the pomegranate.
Add the pistachios, cucumber and pomegranate seeds to the bowl with the butter lettuce. Sprinkle with brioche croutons.
Serve dressing on the side.
Blood Orange Dragon Fruit Sabayon
Blood oranges look similar to a naval orange, but have crimson-colored fruit and juice.
8 servings
- 5 egg yolks
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ cup Sauterne wine
- ½ cup no-pulp freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 16 blood orange segments, cut in quarters
- 1 dragon fruit, peeled and cut into small chunks or 3 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into small chunks
Place 8 dessert bowls and 8 dessert spoons in freezer to chill while making sabayon.
Fill a large metal bowl halfway with ice. Set aside.
Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water. Set over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
In a small saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, salt and sugar until very pale. Add Sauterne and orange juice; whisk to combine.
Place small pan with egg yolk mixture over pan of simmering water and whisk until mixture has thickened and has tripled in volume, 8-10 minutes. Remove mixture from heat, and immediately place the small saucepan in bowl that has the ice in it. Whisk until chilled.
In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Add lemon juice and fold the whipped cream into the chilled sabayon. Place in chilled dessert dishes and top with small chunks of blood orange, dragon fruit (or kiwi fruit). Serve with chilled dessert spoons.
Pisco Sunrise
Makes 1 cocktail
- 2 ounces Pisco
- 4 ounces orange juice
- ½ ounce grenadine
- Garnish: orange wedge and maraschino cherry with stem
In a highball glass filled with ice cubes, pour in Pisco and orange juice. Stir well. Slowly pour the grenadine around the inside edge of the glass. The grenadine will sink and gradually rise to mix with the other ingredients. Garnish with orange wedge and maraschino cherry.
*Jonno’s Worcestershire Sauce is available at Wine Gourmet.
*Brianna’s Blush Wine Salad Dressing is available at Kroger.
The story above is from our January/February 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!