Spring grilling often features light but bright flavors and this recipe from the BBQ Grail is no exception.
Recently I wrote about a Grilled Cheese and Apple Medley Salad that I had made. Over the past couple of days I’ve given some thought to that salad. It didn’t quite come out like I wanted. It was really far too sweet. I suppose some people would want a salad that tasted more like it should be desert but I’m not one of them. It just lacked some “bite.”
The first thing I changed was the Apple Coulis. It was really just far too sweet. It would have been great spooned over vanilla ice cream but as a salad it just didn’t work. I took the remainder of the Apple Coulis and reduced it on the stove by about half. This gave me a much thicker sauce that I figured would cover the apples and greens better. Once I got the thickness I wanted I started adding apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until I got the bite I wanted. I ended adding another 2 teaspoons of vinegar. This gave me a nice sweet and sour flavor.
So the Apple Coulis recipe now looks like this:
Apple Coulis
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup apple sauce
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Apple cider vinegar
Directions:
In a small saucepan combine sugar, water and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Stir in the apple sauce and cook until reduced by 1/2. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Turn off head and stir in vinegar. Let cool completely before serving.
The second change I made was to switch up the cheese. Although the grilling cheese was good it didn’t have a flavor that provided enough contrast to the sweetness in the apples. This time I used a really nice Irish White Cheddar. The Irish Cheddar is very sharp and paired very nicely with the apples and the coulis.
Plating was pretty much the same. A little Apple Coulis on the bottom of the salad bowl, greens, apples and nuts. This was a much better salad. Where the first salad was good, the second time around the salad was good enough that I would actually make it again.