It was the first holiday of the summer (Memorial Day), and I was on my way to visit friends who live in a beautiful Federal home on 40 acres in the lakes and mountain region of Maine. They have a large kitchen and patio with an impressive grill. I was excited because I enjoy good food, and I love to cook.

Everything, even fruit, (recipe follows) tastes better on the grill. The spices, herbs, and marinades, combined with a hot charcoal fire create a great summer-time flavor. And with the Zone lifestyle, grilling up a Zone-friendly meal is easy.

For those who need a short course in grilling, (e.g., which grill, fuels to use, how to lay out your fire, knowing when the fire is just right and when your food is cooked perfectly) visit the foodtv Web site.

I like spicy food, curries, satays, chili, chimichurri, (a sauce with garlic and jalapeno peppers) and Jamaican jerk chicken. Following is a great recipe for jerk chicken adapted from the foodtv Web site. This takes a little time, but it’s worth it!

Too much trouble, not enough time? OK, a poor substitute is bottled marinade, such as KC’s Masterpiece.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Servings: Approximately 12

Portion the correct amount for you. Leftovers would be great for a quick Zone snack, frittatas, and low-carb flat bread roll-ups. Be creative.

Ingredients:

5 pounds chicken thighs, skinless, no bone
2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 cups scallions, chopped
2 Scotch Bonnet peppers* chopped, wear latex gloves! Regulate the hotness by removing the seeds and membrane. With all the seeds and membrane removed, it was just spicy; not hot when I grilled it. Beware, the more seeds and internal membrane you leave, the hotter it gets. And it could too hot. Be careful.
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
5 teaspoons allspice, ground
2 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fructose
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Rinse chicken thighs in 2 cups of white vinegar, drain. In a food processor combine orange juice, scallions, Scotch Bonnet peppers, soy sauce, lime juice, allspice, bay leaves, garlic, salt, fructose, thyme, and cinnamon. Process until well blended. Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry. Divide chicken into two one-gallon Ziploc bags. Pour one-half of the marinade into each bag. Zip up and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate from 24 to 48 hours, turning bags over to redistribute marinade.

Grill over a medium hot fire.** Once the coals are covered in a layer of gray ash, and you can hold your hand six inches above the cooking surface for three to four seconds, you have a medium fire. Chicken is done when it is firm to the touch. Or slice into one to make sure it’s cooked through.

If you purchased a jerk sauce/marinade, you can drizzle a little over your platter of chicken as a garnish, along with chopped scallions. Important: Use the marinade out of the bottle; not the marinade the chicken was in.

* Scotch bonnet peppers (sometimes called habaneros) are the hottest chile pepper in the world! On the Scoville unit measure of heat they rate between 150,000 and 300,000 compared to a jalapeno that rates between 2,500 and 5,000. My friend Paul was preparing a recipe that called for the brightly colored lantern-shaped Scotch Bonnets. He didn’t believe me when told him “these are the hottest peppers in the world, be careful, wear gloves, remove the seeds and membrane, don’t touch yourself and wash your hands!” When I returned from a walk, there he was sitting at the kitchen worktable with a large bag of ice on his face. He’d touched near his eye and was suffering the consequences. These peppers can be dangerous so use caution! Wear latex gloves. Now, if you are too scared to use the Scotch Bonnet, substitute four jalapeno peppers, seeds and membranes removed. If you want it hotter, keep some of the seeds and membranes.

** Don’t want to grill: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken on a sheet pan for about 20-25 minutes or until done or use a cast-iron grill pan on your stovetop. Your house will smell like a Caribbean restaurant. Be sure to play some Reggie music!

Grilled Vegetable Antipasto
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 summer squash, halved
1 zucchini, halved
1 Vidalia onion, skinned, one-inch slices
2 broccoli stalks
1 bunch asparagus, woody stalked trimmed
1 red bell pepper, halved, seeded
1 green bell pepper, halved, seeded
1 yellow bell pepper, halved, seeded
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 eggplant, top and bottom trimmed, one-inch slices
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
Olive oil for rub plus olive oil to drizzle over finished antipasto
Balsamic vinegar, drizzle
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup pitted imported black olives (Calamata)
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions:

Place the first 10 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper. Toss and rub vegetables in mixture. Grill vegetables over a hot fire until well marked but still firm – el dente. Coarsely chop vegetables and place in large bowl. Add capers, lemon juice, olives, parsley, and garlic. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Toss gently and serve

Grilled Peaches with Sweet Balsamic Glaze
Serving: 4-6

Adapted from Chris Schlesinger’s book, “Big Flavors of the Hot Sun”

Ingredients:

1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fructose
1 tablespoon black pepper, fresh ground
3 peaches firm, halved, pitted
Olive oil, drizzle
4 ounces blue cheese (optional)

Instructions:

Place balsamic vinegar, fructose and black pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce over low heat until you have about one-third cup, and the reduction covers the back of a spoon. Lightly coat peaches with olive oil. Grill over medium heat until slightly charred. (Remember, with your hand six inches above the coals count 1001, 1002, 1,003, 1,004.) Can’t get to four, it’s a hot fire. Did you count past four? It’s a low fire. Plan accordingly. While grilling, brush both sides of the peaches with balsamic glaze. Remove from grill when they’re slightly charred. Drizzle with the glaze and crumbled blue cheese.

I made the jerk marinate on a Thursday night and put the chicken in the marinade that evening. That Saturday I prepared the vegetables and fruit and headed over the Doug Sears’ house (Barry’s brother) to fine tune the recipes, grill the food and take a few pictures.