I am going to let you in on a little secret. There are two days that you should NOT go to a restaurant: Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day! On these two special days restaurants do things that they don’t normally do, Mother’s Day brunch being one of them. Not all establishments are equipped, trained or staffed to do a brunch menu (plus the cooks worked late on Saturday night!)This is why you need to learn how to cook and your Mom (or your kid’s Mom) will appreciate a home cooked meal much more than going out for brunch.
Theresa is my wife and mother of our children so on Mother’s Day she picks the menu and I cook for everyone. Theresa loves steak so that was an obvious choice, and since I had wanted to try the Sensations by Compliments Maple BBQ Sauce, the steak seemed like a good candidate for it. Since I had to have the grill on I have asked her to pick grill friendly foods so the whole meal can be cooked in one place by one person, me! I think that cooking a menu of Mom’s favourite things is way better than flowers!
I was very glad to see Radicchio on the menu. If you are not familiar with radicchio, it was once an Italian obsession and is widely available at the grocery stores. It belongs to the chicory family and possesses an icy-sweet bitterness which creates a contrast with sweet and savoury flavours in a dish. Apart from the nice red colour, radicchio is rich in vitamin C and flavonoids (an antioxidant). Good choice!
Mother’s Day on the Grill
Serves 4
Prep time:10 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
2 tbsp (30 mL) Compliments Pure Olive Oil
2 tbsp (15 mL) Sensations by Compliments Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
2 cloves minced garlic
16 Compliments Yellow Petite Potatoes
1 pkg Compliments Sweet Bell Peppers seeded and quartered
4 cob of corn
4 yellow tomatoes on the vine
1 head radicchio quartered
1 pkg Compliments Organic Whole Mini Bella Mushrooms
4 Sterling Silver Rib Eye Grilling Steaks (250g each)
4 tbsp (60mL) Sensations by Compliments Maple BBQ Sauce
Salt and pepper to season
- Preheat BBQ grill on high. Mix oil, vinegar and garlic and drizzle half over the vegetables. Turn heat on half of the grill to medium high Place tomatoes, potatoes and corn on that side. On the other side place the peppers. Cook for 10 minutes turning often. Grill the radicchio on the high heat for 1 minute per side and remove it along with the tomatoes and peppers to a platter, put the mushrooms with potatoes and corn.
- Season steaks with salt and pepper. Place seasoned side of the steak down on high side of grill season the side that is up and cook for 1 and ¾ minutes then turn and brush with sauce. Repeat until each side gets grilled twice (7 minutes total for medium rare). Remove steaks to a clean plate and brush with sauce.
- Remove all of the vegetables and divide onto 4 plates, drizzle remaining dressing over them.
Timing is very important, especially with steak, so to make room for the steaks at the end, the salad (tomatoes, peppers and radicchio) is served warm (not hot) off the grill. The potatoes take a good 35-45 minutes so let them guide you as to when you put the steaks on. My steaks will be medium rare, so that is 7 minutes total cooking time (to an internal temperature of 126°F). Rare will take a little less and well done will take almost double the time. Never cut into a steak to see how far it is done - I prefer checking its temperature with a meat thermometer. Always let a steak rest for a few minutes to allow the juices time to be re-absorbed; the time it takes to plate everything is usually enough.
I hope that the weather is nice enough on Mother’s Day to be grilling in the back yard. If not, I’ll be in the garage grilling up Theresa’s favourites.
So give it a try, I hope that you enjoy it and Happy Mother’s Day!!
Regards,
Chef Ian
Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
Salad:
Energy: 110 (kcal)
Protein: 3 g
Fat: 4.5 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 15 g
Fibre: 4 g
Sodium: 40 mg
Potassium: 679 mg
Steak:
Energy: 630 (kcal)
Protein: 61 g
Fat: 18 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 105 mg
Carbohydrates: 56 g
Fibre: 10 g
Sodium: 340 g
Potassium: 1212 mg
