Recipe: Grilled Lettuces with Persimmons, Yogurt, Pistachios & Smoked Butter

Robust and flavorful, this delicious grilled lettuces dish with persimmons, yogurt, pistachios and smoked butter is the perfect complement to grilled steak or chicken and is sure to impress guests at your next dinner party or backyard soiree.

Ingredients

FOR THE YOGURT DRESSING

• 1 1/3 cup Plain Yogurt

• 1 teaspoon Yuzu juice (Japanese citrus juice that is available in small bottles at local Asian or Japanese markets)

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper/li>

• 1 tablespoon of honey

• Salt to taste

FOR THE SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

• 1/2 shallot, minced

• 1 cup champagne vinegar

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard

• 2 cups extra virgin olive oil

• salt to taste

FOR THE SMOKED BUTTER

• 1 pound butter

• 1/4 cup hickory wood chips

ACCOMPANIMENTS

• 3-4 romaine hearts or heads of gem lettuce, cut in halves

• 3 Fuyu persimmons from your local farmers market or grocery store, cut into various shapes and sizes

• 1/4 cup toasted pistachios, chopped

FOR THE SMOKED BUTTER

Using a Polyscience smoking gun (available online of at Sur La Table), place one pound of cold butter into a large zip lock freezer bag. Fill bag with one cycle of smoke and seal the bag tight. Let it sit for 30 minutes until smoke has penetrated the butter. Set aside and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

NOTE: If you do not have access to a smoking gun you may use plain butter instead. You can still get really good flavor by grilling the lettuce with plain melted butter on a wood or charcoal grill.

TO ASSEMBLE

Melt 1/2 pound of smoked butter in a small pot. Do not brown the butter, melt it just enough so it is in liquid form. Using a pastry brush, spread a generous amount of the melted smoked butter on the halved gem or romaine lettuce. Season the lettuce with salt and pepper to taste.

On a hot grill, place the lettuce cut side down and grill for 15 second to infuse the charred-smoky flavor. Remove from grill and brush more of the smoked butter on the lettuce.

TO PLATE

Put two tablespoons of yogurt on the center of the plate. Place two of the grilled halves directly on top of the yogurt. Cut persimmons in various slices and shapes and place randomly around the plate. Drizzle the shallot vinaigrette over the cut persimmons and grilled lettuces. To finish, garnish with toasted pistachios.

Feeds 4