There are few foods as compelling as a piece of meat or fish charred over open flames. The skin contracts and crisps, turning crackling and brown, the juices drip and run; the flesh becomes sweet and intense. Strong, robust, heavy, flavors that, along with the heat and smoke from the grill, give food an unmistakeable sense of high summer. In the latest edition of the duPont Registry, Heather Stalker sat down with three local chefs—Tom Pritchard of Salt Rock Grill, Gary Moran of Datz Tampa and Mark Heimann of Marchand’s Bar & Grill at The Vinoy—share their savvy summer secrets. You can find that story here.

As an added bonus, however, Chef Gary shares this recipe for Datz’s Smoked Bacon Burger.

Smoked Bacon Burger with smoked tomato mayonnaise and jalapeno relish
(makes 10 burgers)
4 lbs ground lean chuck
1 lb  nueske’s applewood smoked slab bacon, pulsed in food processor to coarse grind
2 T garlic powder
2 T onion powder
2 TWorcestershire
White Cheddar Cheese
Smoked Tomato Mayo, recipe follows
Jalapeno Relish, recipe follows

Mix together garlic powder, onion powder and worcestershire and fold into the combined ground chuck and ground bacon. Form into 8-ounce patties and place into the freezer for one hour, to set.

While the patties rest, prepare your favorite smoker and bring to 130-140 degrees. You will want to smoke the burger low and slow under the 140 degrees mark until the internal temperature is 110 degrees. This will give you a smoked rare burger which you can either pan fry or grill to desired temperature. Serve with smoked tomato mayonnaise, jalapeno relish and white cheddar cheese.

Smoked tomato mayonnaise
This smoked tomato mayo is good on virtually any sandwich, although we’re partial to grilled summer vegetables on toasted country bread with fresh mozzarella, basil and smoked tomato mayo. It also makes a great dipping sauce for grilled artichokes.
1 lb summer tomatoes, peeled and deseeded
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 T sherry vinegar
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

While the smoker is going, add the peeled tomatoes and smoke for 30 minutes. Remove from the smoker and combine the tomato with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Be sure to while you have the smoker going throw in a few peeled tomatoes. combine with a good quality mayo. Throw into food processor and season with salt, pepper and sherry vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Jalapeno Relish
10 jalapeños

Toss the jalapeños in olive oil and place on a hot grill (or under the broiler)  and char till black on all sides. Put in a paper bag until cool, then peel the skins under running water*. Remove stems and chop, seeds and all.

*Note: Peeling the skins under running water does dilute the flavor a little bit, but with so much heat in the jalapeno, we’ve found that it works best in this application.

2 T unsalted butter
2 T olive oil, plus more for brushing the bread
4 oz Masseria Mirogallo Mushrooms in oil, trimmed and sliced if needed
1 T chopped green onions, plus more for garnish
4 1-inch-thick slices of crusty, rustic-style bread
4 large eggs
Paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the butter with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms are warmed through. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the chives. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and keep warm.

Preheat the broiler. Brush one side of each bread slice lightly with olive oil. Place the bread under the broiler for about 1 minute per side to toast lightly. Set aside while you cook the eggs.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs into pan and cook 2-3 minutes. Cover with a lid and cook an additional 2 minutes until whites are set, then remove the skillet from the heat. Place one egg on each toast, then top with the mushrooms and chives. Season with  salt, freshly ground black pepper and paprika, and serve warm.

In big Italian families it’s always smart to have handy something quick that you can put together for a simple supper, or for unexpected guests. (It’s nice to be known as the host who always graciously offers something good to eat).

1# Decarolis Riccia pasta
28 oz. San Marzano Tomatoes
1 bag Bottega Calabria Midnight Spaghetti Spice Blend*
1 bottle Cavalli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Drain the San Marzano tomatoes and cut each tomato in half, lengthwise. Place the tomato halves face up on the baking sheet, keeping them close together. Sprinkle Midnight Spice Blend over the tomatoes and roast for about 2 hours. The tomatoes will shrivel and caramelize a bit. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

In a large stock pot, heat plenty of water to boiling point, then add salt and oil. Add the pasta, cook until al dente and then drain, reserving one cup of the pasta water. While the spaghetti is cooking, gently heat one cup of olive oil. Add the midnight spice blend and warm gently. It is important not to fry the garlic, otherwise it will become bitter.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, the heated spice/olive oil mixtures and the tomatoes. Add more olive oil and/or pasta water until the pasta is shiny, but not wet. Grate the cheese over the pasta and serve immediately.

*A small, artisanal company located in “the boot heel” in Calabria, Bottega di Calabria creates intriguing flavor combinations using the famous red-hot peperoncino of the region. Besides pasta, you can use Midnight Spice Blend, Bruschetta Spice Blend or Arrabbiatta Spice Blend in homemade focaccia or garlic bread, as a marinade for for beef or chicken chicken dishes, or as a simple spice for take-out pizza night!

First there was Glaceau’s Fruit Water. Now there’s MeatWater, which comes in such delectable flavors as cheeseburger, barbecued chicken wings, and Italian sausage, as well as the more diet-friendly poached salmon salad (shown below), grilled chicken salad and spicy thai beef salad – which is just interesting enough in theory to consider sipping…

I don’t know about you, but around here we’re craving HOT. Hot soup, hot food, hot sauce. And no one knows what’s hot better than Dave Hirschkop, creator of Dave’s Insanity.

You’re known as the hot sauce guru who created the hottest sauce in the universe. Have you always loved the searing pain of hot sauce? What’s the allure for you?
I actually didn’t approach this business as a heat-seeking addict. My restaurant had too many drunk college kids in it and I made super hot sauces to get them under control. I thought it was funny and went on a mission to create the world’s hottest sauce. Using a couple of innovative approaches, we created not only the world’s hottest sauce, but the whole super-hot sauce niche. I like spicy foods, but the business was more of a joke gone out of control than anything else.

How did you go from a targeted hot sauce line to carrying more than 70 specialty items, including organic and heirloom pasta sauces?
The initial hot sauces grew incredibly fast, but we never thought of ourselves as a hot sauce company. We always thought of ourselves as a food company whose job it was to push boundaries and to innovate. We have won awards for all sorts of items over time (salad dressing, salsa, Asian sauce, mustard, flavored mayonnaise, Bloody Mary, hot sauce, pasta sauce, snack mixes and more). Despite this success, people really thought of us as a hot sauce company because the Insanity Sauce was so different and had such a big impact on the market. It took the success of our organic pasta sauces to put us where we are now. There are hot food lovers who know us as Dave’s Insanity and specialty food lovers who know us for innovative pasta sauces, and a few who know us for both.

What is the most satisfying or challenging part of your job?
I love to come up with ideas about how to create better offerings (products, services, etc.) and then make the ideas into reality. It is great to hear positive feedback from consumers and to win awards (we won a sofi Gold for Outstanding Pasta Sauce in 2009 and 2010). It is satisfying to have a fantastic retailer bring your product in and tell you it is doing well. While I think that I am competent with details, slogging through the zillions of details of business is definitely challenging.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I liked the idea of many great careers as a kid. They included being an astronaut (don’t love heights), inventing a handheld laser gun, being a professional football player (too small and slow), a rock star (should have taken guitar lessons), President of the U.S., a comedian and a spy. In college I was a Soviet studies major in preparation for my time as the future James Bond. At this point, I either am a sauce company owner or covert operative using my sauce company as a cover. You guess which.

Aside from your products, what three food items can you always find in your kitchen?
Olive oil, tasty fruit, delicious dressings and prosciutto. Oops, that’s four, but I just love food. — Interview of Dave Hirschkop via davesgourmet.com and foodspring.com

Around the globe different cultures have  unique New Year’s food traditions thought to ensure good luck. Spaniards eat grapes as the clock strikes midnight to predict whether the year will be sweet or sour. Austrians decorate their table with marzipan pigs to celebrate progress and  Germans place a few fish scales scraped from the prosperous carp in their wallets for luck. And in the South, it’s all about Hoppin’ John, a steaming bowl of beans, rice and pork. There are a number of seemingly-valid explanations for why beans symbolize good luck: Some attribute their magical properties to childhood lore a la Jack And the Beanstalk; others call it a fertility symbol; and still others say the black-eyed pea saved the South from starvation during the Civil War. No matter what you believe, one thing is true: it’s darn good eating. Happy New Year!

Hoppin’ John Recipe
1 # blackeyed peas, rinsed and picked through
2 large Spanish onions, one peeled and halved through the root, one medium diced
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 bay leaves
kosher salt to taste
8 oz. bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips
5 cloves of garlic, or more, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
One 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes

Put the black eyed peas, the halved onion, the carrots and 3 bay leaves in a large pot.  Cover it all with about three inches of water (you’ll need about 2 quarts). Put the pot over high heat, bring it to a simmer, then turn the burner to medium low and continue to cook until the beans are tender, about 60 to 90 minutes. Add two or three teaspoons of salt midway through the cooking. Strain the peas (reserving two cups of the cooking liquid); discard the onion, carrots and bay leaves.

While the peas are cooking: in a pot big enough to hold the beans cook the bacon over medium low heat  until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook over until the onion is softened and translucent and beginning to brown, five or ten minutes. Add the cumin, pepper flakes and black pepper, turn the burner to medium and stir to combine the seasonings with the onion.  Add the tomatoes and all the juices from the can. Add the last bay leaf.  Bring this to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so to thicken the sauce.

Stir in the black eyed-peas, and cook to heat through. Add some or all of the reserved bean liquid to make it as soupy or stewy as you would like. Then taste and season, whether that be more salt, pepper, or around here, more red pepper flakes and hot sauce. Maybe even siracha. Serve immediately with rice and cornbread.

Lunch Box: Summer Salads

Ingredients:

· 1 C vegetable or chicken stock
· 1 C brown and/or wild rice mixture
· 1 C dry French green lentils
· 1/4 C Leblanc Almond Oil*
· 1/4 C BR Cohn Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
· 1/4 C BR Cohn Raspberry Vinegar*
· 2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed
· 3/4 C finely diced red onion
· 1 C dried cranberries
· 1 C chopped almonds, toasted
· Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

· Combine 1 cup water and the stock in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover and simmer over medium heat until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 30 minutes.

· Meanwhile, place lentils in a saucepan over medium heat and cover with 11/4 cups water. Simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool. In a large salad bowl, combine the cooked rice and lentils.

· Prepare a vinaigrette by whisking together the walnut oil olive oil, vinegar and garlic in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the lentils and rice. Add the red onion, dried cranberries and slivered almonds. Season with salt and pepper as desired.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

* These products are available for purchase at Datz.

Have some fun while you eat lunch and learn how to cook something new! Sign up for a Lunch Box lesson this week. You can find registration information on our website at www.datzdeli.com.

From Lunch Box Monday July 26: Homage to Jacques Pepin

Ingredients

• 1/3 C Lucero Mission Extra Virgin Olive oil*
• 3 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp Les Moulins Mahjoub Harissa*
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• One 5-# seedless watermelon, scooped into balls with a melon baller or cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (10 cups), chilled
• 1/2 # feta cheese, crumbled (2 cups)
• 1 1/4 C pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 small red onion, cut into slivers
• 1 C mint, coarsely chopped

Method

• In a large bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice, salt, harissa and pepper.
• Add the watermelon, feta, olives and onion and toss gently. Garnish with the mint and serve.

* These products are available at Datz

Cook’s Note: For a fun serving suggestion, reserve the scooped out watermelon rind and use as a bowl for the salad. Great for picnics!

Be sure to sign up for one of our weekday Lunch Box lessons. You can find more information and register on www.datzdeli.com.