If the weather is lousy but you are craving something from the grill then the simple solution is to get yourself a stove top grilling pan. These simple pans are a bit like using a frying pan but instead of a flat bottom, these pans have a series of raised ridges to give the effect of a grill.
The grill pan
When you use a grill pan, you are applying heat straight to the food using the raised ridges and indirectly at the same time by the heat coming from the indentations between the ridges. This means you can create the searing marks on meat just the same as you would on the grill and also the ridges allow excess juices to flow away from the meat, again as it would on the grill.
Some of the pans recommend using oil when cooking leaner meats while fattier meats will provide their own liquids by which to aid in the cooking process. There are also grill pans available that are half and half – one half of the pan has the raised ridges and the other half is flat.
Chefmaster KTGR5 13-Inch Smokeless Stovetop Barbecue GrillNot only does this pan give the grill effect to the food it cooks, it even looks like a little grill! This pan, from Chefmaster, is 13 inches across and can be used for electric, gas or propane stoves. It has a removable iron rate that works just like the bars on a grill to sear meat and vegetables and the outer ring can be filled with water to trap drippings as well as preventing splatters and smoke. The surface is high quality non-stick so can easily be cleaned by hand.
Recipe inspiration
Pan grilled Thai Tuna Salad from www.myrecipe.com
This is a perfect tuna dish to use a grill pan with. Heat up the pan over a medium-high heat and coat it with cooking spray. Sprinkle two Yellowfin tuna steaks, around an inch in thickness, with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook for two minutes on each side or to your preference then move to a cooking board.
For the rest of the dish, combine four cups of thinly slice Napa cabbage, 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber, ½ cup thin sticks of carrot, 1/3 cup sliced red onion and 1 navel orange, chopped into a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar into a small bowl with 2 tablespoons of fresh lime, the same of rice vinegar and ½ teaspoon of dark sesame oil as well as either ¼ teaspoon of sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste) or Sriracha (hot chile sauce) depending on your preference. Keeping back one tablespoon of this mixture and toss the rest into the salad.
Cut the tuna across the grain into ¼-inch slices and arrange over the salad mixture on a plate. Drizzle half the remaining drizzle over each steak and the meal is ready to serve.
A great suggestion for desert is to take ½-cup coconut sorbet and add 2 tablespoons of diced, peeled mango and one tablespoon of toasted coconut flakes.