Grilled Sausages with Cabbage and Grapes

INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 pound red seedless grapes
½pound green cabbage, sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces (about 3 cups)
8 Italian fennel sausages, pricked with fork
4 tablespoons Italian red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat grill.

In a 12 to 14 inch saute pan, heat olive oil until smoking. Add onion and cook until softened and starting to brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add grapes and cabbage and cook until cabbage is soft and some grapes have expanded, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place sausage on grill and cook through, turning regularly, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add vinegar to cabbage mixture and season with salt and pepper. Place sausage over cabbage and serve with creamy polenta

Paired with Masi Campofiorin 2004 

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit Chef de Cuisine Jonathan Lindenauer
©2008 Condé Nast Publications

Creamy Polenta

Makes about 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
3 sprigs of thyme
½ bunch of parsley, chopped
1  bay leaf
1 cup milk      
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and white pepper, to taste
½  cup polenta
¼  cup Parmigiano-Reggiano

DIRECTIONS
Sauté onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter until soft and lightly golden. Add thyme, parsley and bay leaves. Add milk and stock, bring to a boil. Season with salt and white pepper. Take off heat and let sit and steep for 1 hour. Strain and bring back to a boil. Slowly whisk in polenta, getting rid of the lumps. Stir moderately, for about 20-25 minutes until tender and creamy. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter, cheese and adjust consistency to creamy.

Paired with Masi Campofiorin 2004 

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit Chef de Cuisine Jonathan Lindenauer
©2008 Condé Nast Publications

Grilled Snapper with Fennel, Lemon and Basil al Fresco

INGREDIENTS
1 3-pound snapper
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and black pepper, to taste
8 whole scallions, roots removed
2 heads of fennel, sliced into ½-inch wedges with some core remaining to hold wedges together
2 lemons, sliced into ½-inch rounds
1/2 cup, or more, extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar
20 basil leaves, fresh and ripped into 1-inch pieces

DIRECTIONS
Preheat grill to medium-high. Cut, clean and scale fish and season inside and out. Place fish in a dish and douse with the wine, then season with salt and pepper.

Toss scallions, fennel and lemon slices with the olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of the sugar. Place each on grill and cook until lightly charred and tender, 2 minutes for the scallions and lemon, and about 4-5 minutes for the fennel. Set aside as you cook the fish.

Grill fish for approx 8 minutes per side, until fish is just cooked through and opaque at the bone. Remove and place fish on a plate to rest.

Top fish with the fennel, scallions and lemon with some extra-virgin olive oil on the side, and top with the torn basil leaves.

Recipes courtesy of Bon Appétit Chef de CuisineJonathan Lindenauer. ©2008 Condé Nast Publications.