Ocean on the Grill
 We love a seafood barbecue. It's fast, delicious, and a great excuse to gather family and friends. Grilling fish can be intimidating for some, so here are a few tips for a successful seafood BBQ: - Charcoal imparts a delicious smokey flavor, and we prefer it over gas.
- Make certain your grill is very clean and well-oiled, because at high heat, the delicate fish will stick.
- Also keeping the skin on the fish will help keep the fillets from falling apart. The skin can be wonderfully crispy when grilled, or removed after the fish is cooked.
- You can also use a fish basket to help keep the flesh together, or grilling on a plank doesn't involve flipping the fish at all. Also, for shrimp and scallops, skewers help to keep them from falling through the grate.
- For shellfish, like oysters, on the grill, drizzle some melted butter that is mixed with crushed garlic and fresh herbs over each fish (left in the open shell), and place the shell directly on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are plump.
- If a fish is too delicate, thin, or low-oil, you can always make an envelope from a few layers of foil (add oil, spices, herbs and/or veggies). Or you can place a cast iron pan directly on the grill.
 Staff PicksHere is a list of some great products that go great with fish--grilled or otherwise. Piedmont Grocer's own Fresh Crab and Fish Cakes are made right here at the store, and can be served up quickly as a delicious main course. E Waldo Ward Tartar and Cocktail Sauces are great for dipping and with crab cakes. Made with fresh ingredients, and nicely blended flavors. Rub With Love Salmon Rub tastes of sweet smoked paprika, thyme, and brown sugar. Delicious rubbed into fish before grilling. World Harbors Lemon Garlic Marinade is a favorite, bottled marinade that is perfect for all types of fish. Neera's Tandoori Paste is the best for grilled prawns. Coat the prawns with the paste before grilling, or mix into a dipping sauce. You've got to try it! Stonewall Kitchen's Lemon Herb Aioli and Basil Aioli are both amazing over grilled fish, and in fish sandwiches. You can use them on fish and crab cakes, and as a dipping sauce for fish sticks. We have Harissa Paste in a tube that is great for spicing up grilled fish. Harissa is a North African spice blend that's main ingredient is chili peppers. Add some to a marinade or brush all over fish before grilling. Knorr Hollandaise Mix is a classic that is not to be forgotten! 
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Fisherman's Salt is delicious sprinkled onto fish filets on the grill, into soups, or onto your favorite vegetable stir-fry. This sea salt and herb blend (of marjoram, fennel, thyme, chervil and sage) is the perfect addition to any seafood dish. Use this mix of flavors to bring your meals to life-add it to your favorite fish, meat, or vegetables. Fisher Salt comes in a charming wooden box, that will keep your herbs and seasoning tasting fresh. You can use a mortar and pestle, or a salt grinder, to refine this coarse salt as needed. The French Farm Collection is produced and manufactured by a small company in Paris, where they have created and packaged unique gourmet salt and spice blends for over 40 years. Read More...
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Seafood Recipes from Our What's For Dinner Wednesday Blog
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by Jennifer Trainer Thompson
Fresh Fish offers simple step-by-step instructions for all of the essential cooking methods, including baking, pan-frying, braising, broiling, steaming, poaching, roasting, marinating, and grilling-along with 175 mouthwatering recipes that bring out the best in everything from fish fillets and whole fish to shrimp, mussels, lobster, clams, calamari, and more.
You'll learn how to buy fish with confidence, how to serve fish raw, how to clean freshly dug clams, and much more. Beautiful photography celebrates both the food and the lazy charm of summers at the beach.
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Brewed in Petaluma, in old world tradition using only water, hops, yeast, and malted barley. They are consistently tasty, and produce a great variety of brews-something for every taste. Here is what we have in stock:
Year Round Beers
IPA (our staff favorite), Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale, Lagunitas PILS (a Czech-Style Pilsner), Censored Ale (a Rich Copper Ale), A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale, Maximus Ale, Hop Stoopid Ale, Daytime, Sucks, & Imperial Stout
Seasonal Beers
These come and go, so stop back and see what we have in the store. This week we are carrying Lucky 13 (red ale), Equinox (a creamy, pale oat ale).
Read more...
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Pick up something great for Father's Day.Father's Day is this Sunday, so get him something delicious. Put together a collection of sauces and rubs that will ignite his inspiration for grilling. And you can always stop by our legendary meat counter to chat with our butchers about best cuts of meat for the BBQ.
Here are some staff favorites for Father's Day BBQ Sauces and Rubs
Lillies BBQ Sauces look like they come in old apothecary bottles, and the sauces inside are amazing. They've got various degrees of spicy and smoky, plus their Ivory Traditional Alabama Style Barbecue Sauce is sweet and tangy.
Rufus Teague Sauces and Rubs are what we reach for all the time at Piedmont Grocery; they raise the bar of any BBQ. Rubs come in four varieties: Meat Rub, Spicy Meat Rub, Fish Rub and Steak Rub. Sauces are Honey Sweet, Touch 'O Heat, Blazing Hot, and the delicious Whiskey Maple.
Oakland Dust Rubs are hand-crafted and locally inspired. They have wonderful, uniquely flavored blends that cover all the bases: Curry (a nod to Steph Curry), Chili Lime, Pork Spice Rub, Poultry Spice Rub, Seafood Spice Rub and Steak Spice Rub.
Oh, how manly!
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Get out your spoon!The tastiest blend of delicious ingredients are in these wonderful Pots de Crème, French single-serve desserts with the velvety goodness of crème and the decadence and consistency of custard. Made by San Francisco chefs who grew up in the South of France. These traditional, French, gourmet puddings come in Dutch chocolate, salted caramel, strawberry & cream, vanilla and lemon curd.
Petit Pot uses delightful blend of age-old French pastry practice with modern California culinary flourishes, using simple, sustainable practices with local goods.
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Wondering what to do for Father's Day? How about making a kit to improve his cocktail game?We did an informal poll of our staff, and discovered that two favorite "dad cocktails" were the Old Fashioned and the Martini. We have great recommendations for some really nice bottles that will turn Dad's classic into something truly delicious. See the recipes and our staff picks to help you put together a kit that includes everything he needs.
Whatever your dad's favorite cocktail is, you can always come by the store and talk with the extremely knowledgeable folks in our Wine & Spirits department. They can make fantastic recommendations for any cocktail. Here are the recommendations for the Old Fashioned and both a Classic Gin Martini and a Vodka Martini. Visit the link to get the recipes. A simple and most delicious classic recipe. We recommend using Booker's Kentucky Bourbon or R1 Whiskey (Rye-One) Fee Brothers Bitters Stirrings Simple Syrup Classic Gin Martini Staff picks for the Martini are St. George Spirit's Gin-either their Terroir Gin, Botanivore Gin-or you could go for the blue with Bombay Sapphire Gin La Quintinye Vermouth Vodka Martini Staff favorites are Belvedere Vodka and Lillet Blanc Get the recipes...
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The lazy days of summer have begun-which means most likely you will be firing up your grill for easy summer dinners. Summer grilling offers so many possibilities: there are the obvious ones like Rib-eyes and Chateaubriand, but there are some other, less expensive options, that might be just as good without breaking the bank. If you have been in a restaurant lately. you probably noticed that Hanger steak is everywhere. What is Hanger steak? It is the section of meat from the plate section of the cow (meaning the front of the belly), it "hangs" off of the cows diaphragm, hence the name. Why is it everywhere? Because it offers a fantastic beefy flavor generally associated with the more expensive cuts like rib eye, with a much more affordable price tag. There are many names for hanger steak including butcher's steak, bistro steak or onglet steak but they all refer to the same cut of meat. When in doubt, ask your butcher. In order to get the best out of your hanger steak, you have to cook it correctly. It is essential that you cook it over high heat, while flipping occasionally. A perfect hanger steak will be cooked to medium-rare or medium. Anything above medium and your steak will be too hard to chew, due to it's texture and grain. On the flip side, a rare hanger steak will be mushy and not appealing. Use a thermometer while you grill, and cook it to 125º to 130º F before pulling it off. This gives it a little extra room for the temperature to rise while the steaks rest. To serve, make sure you slice it against the grain. If cooked the right way and sliced up properly, your hanger steak will be very tender.
Because of it's texture, hanger steak is a perfect candidate for marinating. A simple marinade can be great, and this cut of meat does well in most Mexican recipes as well as Vietnamese and Thai recipes.
If your looking for a good marinade for you first attempt at grilling a hanger steak, try this one.
Get the recipe for Hanger Steak Marinade...
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From Amy and our What's For Dinner Wednesday recipe blog
The North American FemaleWhen it comes to the Dad lottery, I hit the jackpot twice. I was lucky enough to have a father who thought my sister and I could do anything we wanted, and did everything he could to make sure we had the opportunities to try. We have no greater champion than our Dad (except Mom). That was my first Jackpot.
Because of his example, I knew exactly what I was looking for in a husband and father for my own kids-and I found him. My second jackpot. Our kids are very lucky because they have someone who loves them beyond measure, and especially just loves to hang out with them. It's not that I don't enjoy the same thing, but it's just a different bond. Of course, it helps that he is still a child himself. In fact I am very sure that in some ways he never progressed past the age of thirteen...his mind works like theirs does. The stuff that they do that drives me bananas, he is equally skilled at, and most of what he does to get the kids laughing comes at my expense. It's their favorite sport...
Case in point, my husband does these voices that crack the kids up. He's got a whole battery of personalities. He even has a "Rocket" voice that imitates our Basset Hound. Of course, now we all use it...
The best voice was created out of boredom when we went on our trip to Yellowstone. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you The North American Female. I was getting ready to go out, and I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, and the rest of them were sitting on the bed opposite the bathroom door watching me get ready, like I was part of a zoo. As I was going about my routine, I heard this questionable British accent coming from the other room...and a lot of giggling.
I remember as a kid watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on Sunday nights at my grandmothers. There was always a narrator explaining what was happening on the screen--usually a lioness stalking a gazelle. (Strangely, that is how my husband explains our courtship. Go figure.) Turns out my husband was a Wild Kingdom fan as well; this voice was a cross between the Wild Kingdom guy and those who do color commentary for the British Premier league...(GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!)
By the time all was said and done we had pee-ed our pants laughing, and I had mascara running down my face-because it's just plain difficult to apply anything to your face with a running color commentary. It remains to this day one of my favorite memories of the four of them.
In honor of Father's day and childlike fathers everywhere, I picked this week's recipe from the cookbook I bought while we were in Yellowstone. It's called Open Range by Jay Bentley and Patrick Dillon, and it includes a great group of recipes from Big Sky country. We ate well on that trip including some fantastic Salmon....
Get the recipe for Plancha Salmon with Chimicurri...
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