Sunset Sail & Grill

Check out these bacon-wrapped Beef Filets with roasted peppers and Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Potato Salad! Best of all, this right-off-the-grill meal was prepared and eaten with Dorothy and Floyd on the Sailboat Allegre. 

The temperature topped 97 degrees today, so in an attempt to beat the heat we planned to sail and grill-out near sunset. We pushed off the dock at about 7:00 pm and sailed north toward Percy Priest Dam. There was only light winds - but enough to fill the jib as we turned southeast back toward the open water. After about an hour we sailed parallel to the lake's eastern edge and found a secluded cove. We guided Allegre into position at mid-channel and dropped the Danforth Anchor into about 12 feet of water. The sun disappeared over the cove's western shore and cast a silhouette of trees on the peninsula's horizon. It was time for the air to cool, the stars to come out and to light the grill.

Dorothy gave me a portable boat grill last year - but I had not used it yet. I first had to mount the grill support to the aft railing, then attached the grill itself. The grill has a small canister of propane (you can just see it attached under the grill and in front of the Merc outboard motor). My first attempt to get the propane flowing failed, but eventually the flames came alive hanging out over the water. Earlier in the day, Dorothy had prepared the Mesa Grill Potato Salad with sliced new potatoes, mayo, dijon mustard, fresh chopped poblano chili, green onion, red onion, cilantro and spiced with cayenne, chipotle, sea salt and ground black peppercorns. It is important to mix all the ingredients over the potatoes while they are still hot from cooking. This way all they flavors will absorb right into the potatoes. The dish is usually served cold, but mixing while its still hot makes all the difference! You can find the recipe in Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill. She put the complete potato salad in a large plastic container and into the cooler. I sliced up red, green and orange bell peppers and a Vidalia onion and threw them into a large mixing bowl. Over the peppers and onion went olive oil, salt and pepper. After mixing everything together well, I poured out approximately one third of the peppers and onion onto a sheet of foil and added more olive oil and seasoning. Then I folded the foil over and tucked in all sides to make a pouch. I made three pouches for the three sailors/diners on Allegre. Later on the boat, I just threw the pepper & onion filled foil pouches on the grill. You can see them in the photo hanging on to the stern of the boat. When they got good and hot, I pierced the foil so that steam/smoke could escape - this perfectly roasted the peppers and onions on the grill without ever actually touching them! Then came the bacon-wrapped beef filets

True grillers can bring excellent food off of any grill anywhere! These filets were seasoned with olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper and taken to the lake in a plastic container. The time spent in the container mixing with the olive oil before grilling made these guys almost fork-cut tender. And, as we know, everything goes better with bacon. Using bacon around steak is always a good idea. Not just because of the flavor, but as a thermometer - when the bacon is done on the outside, the steak is medium on the inside. By the time we got everything off the grill and onto the plates it was completely dark. We ate and toasted by the light of lantern hung from the boom, a candle and the stars. 

The wine came from Allegre's wine "cellar." It was a Cabernet from Black Opal that we were not sure would be good, since it had been on the sailboat all summer. Wine should not be agitated. It should not get vibration or frequent sloshing. The wine bottle should also lay on its side in a cool dark place. When the bottle is on its side the wine inside will come in contact with the cork and keep it moist. If the cork dries out, it will allow air in the bottle and ruin the wine. This is why standing a bottle of wine up on top of the refrigerator is the worst place to keep your wine because the cork will dry and the fridge constantly vibrates. Some people prefer a screw-top to avoid the whole cork-dry problem. Me, I like the ceremony of opening a bottle of wine with a cork. This Cab had been on its side in a cool dark place, but  had been rocking in the waves in the boat for months. But - the wine was terrific and paired well with those big grill flavors of steak, peppers and spices in the potato salad. Once in the glass, you do want the wine to swirl so that air mixes in and brings out the aroma and flavor. On the sailboat, the waves took care of the wine swirling for us. 

The prominent mid-summer stars are Altair, Deneb and Vega. These three form the "Summer Triangle." Altair is the one farthest South, Deneb is East and Vega is West. If you draw a line in your mind from Altair up between Deneb and Vega that line points to Polaris, the North Star. Knowing the direction of North is important to sailors and pilots. There was not a cloud in the sky as I turned off the grill fire. The Summer Triangle stood directly over the Allegre in the cove, so we named it The Summer Triangle Cove then I hoisted the Danforth from the bottom of the lake, kept the line through the triangle that points North on my right and sailed to the harbor lights on the horizon.

I grill on land and sea. I will have to figure out how it do it in the air as well! But no matter where you are - grill it! Paul

Please check out the St. Francis "Turn Up The Heat" contest and take a look at my video. I am trying to win a return trip to the St. Francis winery in Sonoma and the title of Grill Master - so follow this link to the website and let me know what you think.  

http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U