It's not too late in the year for grilling! Although we're starting to tip to autumnal colors and although Mark is busy taking down our gardens, we're still firing up both the charcoal and the gas grill for great dinners after the shorter and shorter days.

Mark, the writer, has a list of great things to match the season on the grill. Bruce, the writer, will add how he believes you can turn these things wonderful on the grill.

Plus, our one-minute cooking tip about apples. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:47] Our one-minute cooking tip: Buy apples both for the fridge and for display.

[02:22] A list of things that are great to grill in the fall (or autumn, for you UK friends). Mark has a list of things he thinks are perfect for the grill. Bruce, the chef, will tell you how to grill them perfectly.

[17:00] What’s making us happy in food this week? Hen of the woods mushrooms and sour cherry margaritas.

Hey, I am Bruce Weinstein and this is the podcast Cooking with

2

mark: Bruce and Martin.

3

And I'm Mark Scrubber, and

together with Bruce, my husband,

4

we have written 37 cookbooks.

5

And so out of that comes this

podcast about our passion for food

6

and cooking, as is always the case.

7

We've got a one minute cooking

tip we're gonna invite.

8

Talking about fall grilling ideas.

9

I've got a list of things that

I've put together that I think are

10

great for a grill, and we're gonna

let Chef Bruce respond to them.

11

And how do these actually work on a grill?

12

So I've got my list of what I think

is great for fall grilling, and then

13

he's going to respond with that.

14

And we'll tell you what's making

us happy in food this week.

15

So let's get started.

16

bruce: Our one minute cooking tip.

17

Alright, this is about apples and

this is about my love of apples

18

that come right off a tree.

19

Me too.

20

And my disgust at how quickly apples lose

that crunch and lose their perfectness

21

when they sit at room temperature.

22

True, true.

23

But also how beautiful

apples that you pick.

24

Off a tree, look in a bowl

in the middle of your table.

25

So when you go to the store or when you go

to the orchard and you buy fresh apples,

26

get enough to keep some in the fridge

to stay crunchy and fresh and wonderful.

27

And then buy some that are just for

display in the middle of the table.

28

And when those get too soft to eat.

29

Make applesauce

30

mark: because they will make

your house incredibly amatic.

31

Mm-hmm.

32

Several God, 20 years ago, 25 years

ago, we went to belay in New York

33

City, uh, back when it was just first

opened and you walk through this narrow

34

corridor into the restaurant from the

outside street door and the narrow car

35

corridor was just imagine tons of little

cubby hole bookcases, and in every

36

single cubby hole there was an apple.

37

So when you.

38

Open the door.

39

That entire hallway just had this apple

smell that was almost overwhelming.

40

It So set you up for the dinner.

41

Had it was a really wonderful

experience and, um, they make four

42

beautiful aromas in your house.

43

Mm-hmm.

44

As we say.

45

Okay.

46

Before we get to our fall grilling ideas

or my fall grilling ideas that Bruce

47

is gonna respond to, let me say that.

48

It would be great if you could.

49

Subscribe to this podcast.

50

If you can rate it, if

you can write a review.

51

All those things really help out.

52

We, as you probably know, we are

otherwise unsupported, so thanks

53

for doing that to help us out.

54

Okay.

55

Up next some fall grilling

ideas or for our UK friends,

56

some autumnal grilling ideas.

57

bruce: I wanna ask you before we even

get into this, why did you pick some of

58

these things and what about fall and.

59

By each one of these things.

60

mark: Um, because I think that they have

big flavors and I think some of these

61

things come into, uh, season in the fall,

that, especially where we live up in the

62

north, they're seasonal to the fall and

I think that they have and can involve.

63

Big flavors that are not the clean,

vibrant flavors that you want in the

64

summertime when you want more, let's

say, just to be, uh, pedantic, you want

65

more lemon zest than oregano or you,

you want more olive oil than butter.

66

Mm-hmm.

67

I mean, when you're moving into

the fall, you're talking about.

68

Bigger flavors.

69

And so some of these things are fall

vegetables, as you'll talk about,

70

and some of these things are just

giant flavors all the way around.

71

Cool.

72

Okay.

73

Excellent.

74

My first one up is cauliflower steaks,

and before Bruce responds to this, let

75

me say that you can, in fact take a

cauliflower, you can trim it, the leaves

76

off of it, and then, you know, cut

the bottom off so it was flat on your

77

cutting board and they cut straight down,

maybe about two centimeter or one inch.

78

Stay cut thick.

79

Slabs of it, and this will

create cauliflower steaks

80

which are ready for the grill.

81

bruce: You have to make sure when

you're doing it that each steak

82

has a big chunk of root of stem

that holds all the pieces together.

83

The the pieces closer to the

outside of the circumference of the

84

cauliflower will kind of fall apart,

and you save those for other things.

85

It'll be the center of it that'll

make the most beautiful stakes.

86

And my first thought is this doesn't

matter whether you're doing this on

87

charcoal or gas, either will work.

88

If I was doing a cauliflower

steak, I don't think it'll

89

benefit from charcoal over gas.

90

And I'm a firm believer that if it will

benefit, you should go to charcoal.

91

So I'm going to bring that up with other

things that you're gonna talk about.

92

Right?

93

Um, I would heavily, heavily olive oil.

94

It, I would consider.

95

Um, sprinkling or flavoring that olive

oil with an Arabic or Middle Eastern

96

spice blend, maybe a han in the olive

oil and some fresh garlic brush that

97

on and you don't want to overdo it.

98

You want the cauliflower

in terms of cooking.

99

You want the cauliflower to have some

tooth, but to be nicely charred and have

100

that beautiful Middle Eastern flavor,

101

mark: I think it's great to

grill this with scallions,

102

with trim scallions together.

103

Mm.

104

I like it.

105

Not so much Middle Eastern.

106

I'm gonna correct the chef here.

107

I like sweet red chili sauce,

sometimes called Thai chili sauce.

108

Sure as not a a, a glaze for the

grill, but afterwards to pour on it.

109

That's definitely

110

bruce: a reason to the scallions

'cause that combination of the charred

111

grilled scallions and made for you

doing the charred grill scallions.

112

Make sure you lay them

perpendicular to the grill grates

113

and not parallel to the grill.

114

Grates.

115

Go through the grates.

116

Okay?

117

So, okay, that's the first thing out.

118

This one that, okay.

119

mark: The second thing I that I

have on my list are fennel halves.

120

Halves.

121

And these are when you take

a fennel bulb, not a giant.

122

Huge one, but a moderate

size, medium fennel bulb.

123

You trim off most of the outer stalks.

124

Mm-hmm.

125

And you trim the bottom a little bit.

126

Mm-hmm.

127

To get the hard woody part off, and

then you just cut it in half the way.

128

You would cut, let's say an

apple straight down mm-hmm.

129

Through the stem in half, and now

it's ready to be put on a grill.

130

Mm-hmm.

131

In some ways.

132

Mm-hmm.

133

It sounds really good.

134

So what would you do with this?

135

bruce: I would grill it as it is in the

whole pieces, and then I would thinly

136

slice it after it's been grilled, uh, and

toss it with some, uh, grapefruit sections

137

and maybe a little avocado, and make a

lovely salad with the chard, fennel flavor

138

with some avocado and some grapefruit.

139

And just a drizzle of maybe some

lemon infused olive oil and some

140

good, uh, crunchy flaked salt.

141

Yeah, he went all out.

142

What would you, uh, oil

this thing up for the grill?

143

I would actually just very lightly,

I don't want to give this much oil.

144

Because there's gonna be oil drizzled

on it afterwards as the salad, so I

145

might even give it a little non-stick

spray or just a light brushing of

146

a flavorless oil, like a canola

oil, just so it doesn't stick.

147

So it does get a char, but

most of the oil's gonna come

148

after the cooking in this one.

149

So

150

mark: I said that fall is all

about big flavors, which it is.

151

It's moving into the winter.

152

The flavors get much, much larger.

153

And we're gonna move away from vegetables

for a second and talk about what.

154

Something that I think is delicious

on the grill, and you may have had it

155

in North America if you or the UK if

you've been to an Asian restaurant.

156

Mm.

157

And that is a salmon collar.

158

Alright.

159

And I have to explain what

160

bruce: the collar is.

161

Yep.

162

So the collar is basically, if you

think about the, your collarbone

163

and where your collarbone is in

relationship to your head, think

164

about the same thing on a salmon.

165

When you're cleaning a

salmon, you cut the head off.

166

There is a bone that it

goes around the whole fish.

167

Right behind the head.

168

Mm-hmm.

169

Before the filets begin.

170

Mm-hmm.

171

And that is the collar.

172

Mm-hmm.

173

And when they cut that off, there's a

lot of delicious meat attached to that.

174

Delicious.

175

It's fatty and it's yummy.

176

And it's

177

mark: rich.

178

It's a incredibly strong flavor.

179

It

180

bruce: is very strong and it's

hard to find in most fish markets.

181

You, as Mark said, it's in a lot of

Asian restaurants, you might wanna go to.

182

Asian store.

183

And if you're lucky, they'll not

only have salmon collars, they

184

might have yellow tail collars.

185

There might be collars from other fish.

186

And how would

187

mark: you grill a salmon

188

bruce: collar?

189

Now I'm going to say, you want to

take out your charcoal for this.

190

If you have the ability to grill on

charcoal versus gas, the smokiness of

191

the charcoal will add so much to this.

192

I would rub it with a little bit of

sesame oil, just a tiny bit of sesame

193

oil, and maybe even a little soy sauce.

194

Put it on the grill just enough

to get the flame shooting up.

195

You want the skin around it to char,

you want it to be cooked through.

196

You don't want this still gelatinous

in the middle like you would a filet.

197

You want this cooked to

the bones, so the meat is.

198

Falling off the bone in rich fatty bites.

199

And then if you wanna make a dipping

sauce of some more soy and rice

200

vinegar, just like you might do for

sushi, a little wasabi in there.

201

That would be a good way to do it.

202

mark: Right.

203

That, I think that's it.

204

And I think that the important

thing here is to blacken it up

205

a bit again, big giant flavors.

206

And also by blackening it up

slightly, you're gonna get rid of

207

a little bit of the salmon oil, so

you're gonna pull down the fishiness

208

slightly in the collar, but mm-hmm.

209

This is a.

210

Big flavor.

211

Okay, let's go back to vegetables.

212

So here's a fall vegetable that

I think people often don't grill

213

and that needs to be grilled.

214

And that is Brussels sprouts.

215

Brussels sprout.

216

I sout from Brussels.

217

Say brussel sprouts and it, no,

there's sprouts from Brussels, Belgium.

218

So Brussels sprouts.

219

And I think what here you wanna

do is not get the tiny ones that

220

people like in salads or that are

match more, um, gently flavored.

221

You're looking here for

large brusselsprouts.

222

That you can cut in half through the

stem and now they're ready to grill.

223

Mm-hmm.

224

bruce: Yeah.

225

I'm gonna say something that you might

not like to hear, but if you're doing

226

vegetables like Brussels sprouts, which

are small, even the big ones are smallish.

227

Yeah.

228

You want to consider either a

vegetable basket or a fish basket

229

for your grill, so that way you

could put them all in one layer.

230

Sure.

231

And you could turn them all at once

rather than try and turn each one.

232

And the other thing about Brussels

sprouts, what makes them so amazing

233

is the charred, burned, crispy edges.

234

But you run the risk on a very

hot grill of charring the outside

235

leaves before you cook it through.

236

So I'm actually gonna suggest

you don't have a hot grill,

237

but a medium grill, right?

238

So you don't want your grill

up to 500 degrees, right?

239

Right.

240

You want your grill at like 300 degrees.

241

I would do charcoal again here.

242

If I was given the opportunity, I

would toss these Brussels sprout

243

halves in olive oil and salt and

pepper and probably not much else.

244

Layer them in my vegetable or fish basket.

245

Put them over.

246

Direct heat, medium.

247

mark: Stop.

248

Stop.

249

Stop.

250

Stop.

251

Stop.

252

Stop.

253

The writer's gonna stop you.

254

Cut side down, because I don't

think you ever turn these

255

bruce: No, I'm gonna turn them.

256

'cause I want them to go all over.

257

mark: No, I don't want 'em turned.

258

I just want 'em to cut side down

because No, Jeff is turning them.

259

No, because then it gets too black.

260

Now see, we disagree.

261

I would just want them on one side only

because then they get too charged from it.

262

If you're gonna

263

bruce: do them on one side only,

then you're gonna go from even

264

lower heat and cover the grill

so that they cook through enough.

265

mark: Okay.

266

All right.

267

See th this is the kind of discussions

we always have, and I think once you

268

grill these, then you wanna drizzle

'em with a little more olive oil.

269

You wanna dust them with Parmesan

cheese, with parmigiano riano,

270

maybe a little lemon zest.

271

Mm-hmm.

272

And then they're just

perfect, right off the grill.

273

Actually.

274

What

275

bruce: else would be

good tossed with those?

276

If you're doing the cheese and the

lemon zest is some toasted sld almonds.

277

mark: Sure.

278

I can buy it.

279

Okay, so, um, let's talk about something

that maybe is a total splurge in this

280

world, but that is Bica Fiorentina.

281

And if you don't know what Bica

Fiorentina is, we're talking like a

282

one kilo, or it is a one kilo, 2.2

283

pound.

284

Uh, T-bone or porterhouse steak.

285

Mm-hmm.

286

A giant steak.

287

And I will tell you that Bruce and I,

uh, routinely, no, not routinely, maybe

288

once every two months we will split

a steak of Fiorentina off the grill.

289

And I just think it's the ultimate.

290

Fall grilling thing.

291

bruce: I wanna start by saying

what the difference is between

292

a t-bone and a porterhouse.

293

Okay.

294

They're both kind of from the

same cut, um, of the animal.

295

Um, it is a t the bone is shaped

like a t and on one side of the

296

bone is the strip loin, so that's

like a New York strip steak.

297

And the other side is the tenderloin,

the part of the animal where

298

you have a nice big tenderloin.

299

Piece is a porterhouse.

300

As you go down towards the back of

the animal and there is less and less

301

tenderloin, it becomes the T-bone

steaks because you can get T-bone

302

steaks that have only the strip on one

side and no tenderloin on the other.

303

Okay.

304

Can we come back to be it stick a fina?

305

Mm-hmm.

306

Okay.

307

Well, we had to clarify what you're

getting when you go to this store.

308

All come on.

309

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

310

First time Mark and I had a mistake of you

and Tina was in Florence, Italy, and it

311

was just the most amazing thing to come.

312

mark: Yeah, I wanna say that

we went to this restaurant

313

in Florence and we sp Split

314

bruce: Leone.

315

Yeah.

316

Four lions.

317

We

318

mark: split a best steak of fiorentina

and um, it was great, but what really

319

cracked us up, okay, so we're talking 2.2

320

pounds steak.

321

Mm-hmm.

322

A kilo steak.

323

Um, and uh, it was a French couple,

a young French couple, I would

324

guess them in their late twenties

or early thirties, and they.

325

Each ordered a Bica Fiorentina.

326

Mm-hmm.

327

And they each finished it.

328

Mm-hmm.

329

With their bottle of red wine.

330

She and he each ate 2.2

331

pounds, I guess with a bone.

332

It's less than that, but still a 2.2

333

pound.

334

Mm-hmm.

335

One kilos steak.

336

And they downed it with

a bottle of red wine.

337

And we made our way through.

338

One of them we did between us, but we

339

bruce: also ordered the contour.

340

All the vegetables that

come, they ordered none.

341

They didn't, they ate meat and wine.

342

That is what they do their dinner.

343

So I am once again gonna break out the

charcoal for this because this is, this

344

is too good to just cook over over gas

because I want the flavor of the wood.

345

I want a little smoke.

346

I might even throw a piece of wood

in the charcoal fire as well to

347

give it even more wood flavor.

348

You want.

349

Eat this rare.

350

You want this to be at about 127 degrees.

351

When it comes off the grill, I

would do it over direct high heat,

352

about five to six minutes aside.

353

And if it's not at the right temperature,

then I stand it up on its flat end, so

354

the steak is standing up in the air,

bone end, and I let it go another few

355

minutes until the temperature is 1 27.

356

On the bottom side, we should say.

357

And that is how I eat a BT stick

if fiorentina, and it's always,

358

mark: um, uh, rubbed

with olive oil, right?

359

And lots of salt, right?

360

Olive oil and salt.

361

Yeah.

362

And uh, you can bring it

off and do things to it.

363

You can grate lemon zest over it.

364

You can put rosemary.

365

You can make a chimi chew.

366

Yeah, you can make sauces for it.

367

I prefer it just straight on.

368

And this brings up another

question about fall grilling.

369

And this is what I wanna say.

370

I think fall grilling is made

for bone in cuts of meat.

371

Mm-hmm.

372

I think fall grilling is when you

want to move away from boneless,

373

skinless chicken breast Sure.

374

Or boneless skinless, uh, chicken thighs.

375

Sure.

376

And you wanna have bone in chicken breast.

377

Mm-hmm.

378

You wanna have bone in chicken thighs?

379

They taste better anyway.

380

Well, they do, but it's not,

it gives you a bigger flavor.

381

Other stuff.

382

Faster in the summer.

383

It has lighter flavors.

384

The bone deepens the flavor dramatically.

385

It does,

386

bruce: and partly is because you

have to cook it longer, so the longer

387

cooking time gives you more mayard

reaction, more caramelization of

388

the natural sugars and the meat.

389

The skins get crispier,

the meat gets sweeter.

390

You get beautiful browning happening.

391

The longer cooking time means those bones

impart flavor to the meat inside, and I

392

don't care whether it is a chicken thigh.

393

Or a leg of lamb bone in

meat requires charcoal.

394

Get yourself a charcoal grill for this.

395

You will.

396

Thank me for it.

397

mark: Okay, so, um, here's a basic

tip all the way around about this

398

fall and, uh, early winter grilling.

399

And that is you just wanna up the flavors.

400

We were talking about this

kind of with the bone, and I

401

think this is really important.

402

You wanna up the spicy flavors.

403

You wanna wear up the herbal flavors.

404

Mm-hmm.

405

You wanna up.

406

All the flavors in the summer.

407

Yes, we want lighter

flavors, brighter flavors.

408

We want less complication.

409

Now, I think it's the time to

pull out the really crazy rubs.

410

Mm-hmm.

411

For barbecue, now is the time to

pull out crazy barbecue sauces.

412

If you like such things, do

413

bruce: not be afraid of your spice rack.

414

Do not be afraid of that

spice rack in the store.

415

Pick out some blends

you've never tried before.

416

Just pick out some new spices you've

never tried before because you

417

might actually discover some flavors

you love, and the fall on grilling

418

is a perfect time to try them,

419

mark: right?

420

Chili weather calls for bigger flavors.

421

Just remember that seems to be the

dominant theme for us, and we hope

422

it's a dominant theme for you.

423

Thanks for being a part

of this food journey.

424

Always say thanks for subscribing to

this podcast and radiating liking it.

425

All that stuff we always say to do.

426

Thanks for doing all of that with

us and thanks for grilling in

427

the fall because we like it too.

428

If you want to talk about fall grilling,

429

bruce: then you should go to our Facebook

group cooking with Bruce and Mark and

430

have this discussion with us there.

431

Share some of the things you.

432

Love to grill in the fall.

433

Next time I grill, I will take pictures

of it and show you what we are making.

434

We wanna know what you are

making, so share it with everyone.

435

mark: Okay.

436

As is traditional in this podcast,

the final segment, what is making

437

us happy in food this week?

438

If you've

439

bruce: listened to other episodes,

you know that I went sour cherry

440

picking earlier this summer.

441

You know, I have.

442

Sour cherry jam from

our book called Canning.

443

You know, mark made a sour cherry pie

a few nights ago that he was as unhappy

444

with as I was delighted with, because he

likes that canned cherry pie filling I do.

445

As opposed to his own homemade.

446

I do.

447

I do.

448

So what was left after all of that

was a bag, a Ziploc bag full of sour

449

cherry juice from those cherries.

450

It's true.

451

So what I did last night when company came

over is I made sour cherry margaritas.

452

You did.

453

And they were.

454

Astounding.

455

I was Tequila quantro, lime juice, sour

cherry juice, and a little grand Classico,

456

which is another orange flavored Italian

liqueur, which gave it, it is this

457

flavor that bound everything together.

458

It wasn't too sweet.

459

No sir.

460

No, none.

461

The grand Classico gave it that sweetness.

462

Okay.

463

It was, I had three of

them and I suffered for it.

464

Um, you

465

mark: did?

466

I had a half of one and

Bruce had three of them.

467

Uh, so that tells you the difference

between the US I guess what's

468

making me happy in food this week

is he the wood mushrooms, they

469

are now coming in in New England.

470

We've had an incredible drought.

471

New England and the Inwood

Mushrooms are pretty pathetic

472

this year, uh, because we've just

been in such drought conditions.

473

We did get a ton of rain a few days

ago, and there may be some now that

474

spring up on people's properties.

475

We have actually friends who ask

us to come and take some off their

476

property every year, but this

year, uh, she hasn't had any.

477

She shed one and except for

herself, of course, it's her

478

property, but there was no.

479

Easy picking of them, but

now we have some coming in.

480

We just got a bag of them all

ready to go and head of the wood.

481

Mushrooms are so woodsy, tasty, earthy.

482

I, they are going to make me happy

in food this week because Bruce

483

hasn't yet done anything with them.

484

They're sitting in a bag on

the counter, but I very much

485

look forward to eating those.

486

Okay.

487

That's the podcast for this week.

488

Thanks for joining us.

489

Thanks for being a part of this

journey, and we certainly appreciate

490

your connecting with us across

all social media platforms,

491

bruce: including our TikTok channel.

492

Please go to TikTok and check

out cooking with Bruce and Mark.

493

We post a lot of videos of

us cooking in our kitchen.

494

Mark Cooks, I cook.

495

Sometimes we cook together and it's

a chance for you to get to see us in

496

our own home environment doing what we

love best, which is cooking and eating

497

here at Cooking at Bruce and Martin.