The Grilling Topic

[Beebs]

Looking forward to this topic!

We've just inherited a gently-used portable Weber propane grill, not a big high btu model, but it'll do for our little condo. Haven't set it up yet or bought any accoutrements (brushes, tongs, propane, etc.), so that'll be this week's project.

One thing I found grilled fabulously well (on my stovetop grill pan) is kale, for grilled kale salad with a light dressing. I'm sick of the kale trend, but this is really, really good.

[AnneN]

Tonight, I grilled shrimp & asparagus and made a lemon shallot vinaigrette dressing with a side of white rice. A taste of spring (even though it's still in the 40's here on Long Island).

[Smithy]

There are some great ideas going here! I'm eager to try some of them, especially that ultra-garlicky tikka marsala spin and the grilled favas.

One of our most massively used outdoor cooking utensils is a grill "wok". It's wok-shaped but has holes to allow fat to drip out and flame to contact the food. Our current grill wok has a long handle, which provides better protection for open-flame work and makes it easy for the cook to toss or roll food around the way one would in a skillet. Although skewers have their advantages (presentation, more flame contact) I generally favor the grill wok because it's less work upfront and there's little chance of losing things to the fire.

That said, I discovered lamb meatballs on my own, using the grill wok (easier than skewers) and using a spice mix loosely based on Merguez seasoning: ground cumin, ground coriander seed, ground fennel, paprika, parsley, cilantro, garlic, and a touch of salt. (I'll post the exact proportions if anyone's interested.) It's best if the cumin, coriander and fennel start as seeds and are toasted, then ground, but I'm generally too lazy to do that. Oh, it was good - and my husband, who is leery of lamb, loved it. You could put these meatballs into pita pockets, or eat them with rice or grilled potatoes. You could serve them with a good garlicky sauce. You could serve them lots of ways, and we have.

Another regular favorite of ours is grilled vegetable salad, which may or may not be meatless. It's very free-form and also relies on the grill wok. Cut into bite-sized pieces any or all of the following: bell peppers (we like 'em ripe, not green), onions, asparagus, potatoes (cut, then nuked or steamed until almost done), leeks or scallions if you wish. Use whole cherry tomatoes. Keep and cook the items separately, because they have different cooking times. In each case toss it with olive oil and seasonings of your choice, throw it into the grill wok and roll/toss it until nicely charred or softened or otherwise cooked, then dump into a large salad bowl. When everything's cooked, toss all with a good salad dressing. (I favor a garlicky lemon vinaigrette, with chopped parsley, ground cumin, sumac, salt and white pepper. My husband usually sweetens his a bit at the table.) Note you can use different vegetables - sometimes I use skinny Asian eggplant, and change the dressing. You can also grill chunks of stale bread, tossed in oil and seasonings, and toss them in. To make this what some would consider a complete meal, grill chunks of marinated meat - my preference is chunks of boneless skinless chicken thigh, marinated in my all-purpose Middle-Easternish marinade, but I've used chunks of beef or lamb or chicken breast. This meal is heaven in a bowl, very flexible, and the cleanup is dead easy.

[HungryC]

My grilling season peaks in winter and tapers off during the worst of summers heat, though I keep at it year round. Did a 16 hour brisket this weekend, will be making potato hash with the leftovers tonight. I'm looking forward to more grilled fish and shrimp as the weather warms a bit more.

[Ericpo]

Mmmmm, lots of grilled salads! Love it!

Probably my favorite grilled salad is this, because it is sooo easy, also light on prep and cleanup.

Romaine lettuce hearts, cut in two.

Drizzle cut sides with olive oil.

Grill cut sides down untill nicely wilted and a little charred.

Dress with white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and shaved parmesan.

Some prefer grilling both sides, but I like the contrast of the cut side wilty and carmelizing with the other staying crisp. Kind of reminds me of a rare steak.

Also this is nice for those that don't have a grill wok or grill basket. I do now, but it wasn't always so.

[Smithy]

I haven't tried grilling romaine hearts yet, but now I'll have to try it! Tell me: when you serve it, do you serve in intact and let your guests cut to their preference, or do you cut it before tossing with the dressing you describe?

Nice topic, by the way!

[piracer]

I would just serve the grilled romane lettuce straight up, perhaps a bit of salt and pepper or shisho pepper i think would be nice.

Big fan of grilling bell peppers, letting them char and peeling the skin off. I love it in a couscous salad, that smokey flavor is just ridiculously awesome.

I grilled a piece of chuck steak once, very briefly like 2 mins on each side. I was planning to braise it and grilled it instead of searing it in a pan like you normally would. I ate a slice of the just grilled chuck and it was pretty awesome i thought. Nearly ate the entire thing before it got into the pot for braising.

How do you grill potatoes? Do you need to pre-cook them and just get the grill marks? Would you use waxy potatoes?

[scubadoo97]

I slice potatoes for grilling. Coat with a little oil, salt and pepper and place slices directly on the grill. I guess you could do them whole but it oils be more baked than grilled

[Smithy]

I've never grilled potatoes without at least a little precooking, but that's partly due to inertia (doing what works) and partly to save time and fuel. I favor waxy potatoes because they won't fall apart over / into the flame.

[rotuts]

red onions. cut on the 1/3d bias. per 1/2. micro wave a touch to get them warm after doing the bamboo skewer.

salt pepper oil char a little bit sweet!

[Ttogull]

I tried some new technique tonight, and I (and my family) think it was an unqualified success.

I started with some thawed pork chops I got from a local farm coop. About an hour before dinner, I put about 2/3 tsp per pound of sea salt on them and let them sit at room temperature for a little more than an hour while I got the charcoal started for the Weber kettle. Then I did a reverse sear. I first indirect cooked them until about 135F. Then I pulled them off the grill completely, and went inside to make the side dish. This was bomba rice cooked risotto-style in a pressure cooker with yellow squash and, as the add-in, sundried tomato and basil feta cheese. Since I had everything ready, that took about 15 minutes or so.

Back to the pork chops. I pulled the grate off of the kettle, and spread the coals around to get them going again. Then I took a piece of cardboard to fan the ashes off and get the coals bright, bright red. Then I put the chops straight onto the coals (which Adam Perry Lang calls "clinching"). That got them seared up in about a minute per side. The flavors you get from doing this are just tremendous. Plus, the short 1+-hour "dry brine" left quite a bit of salt just at the exterior of the meat, and this just made the Maillard flavors explode with each bite. There are no flare-ups when doing this - there's not enough oxygen between the coals and the meat to start a flame. So you can sear really fatty stuff without worrying about flames. It's cool.

The bomba risotto was quite nice too.

I like the reverse sear preceded by a rest, if for no other reason than the convenience of being able to do something else without worrying about the meat either getting overcooked or cold.

ETA: You don't have to worry about flare-ups AND you can leave the lid open to help to avoid overcooking the interior via the oven-effect.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Ttogull (log)

[Smithy]

That sounds delicious, Ttogull. I'd never heard of "clinching" before. I'll have to try it!

[Ericpo]

Mmm, everything on here sounds good. Making me hungry! I will soon have to retrieve my grill from a friends house!

I haven't tried grilling romaine hearts yet, but now I'll have to try it! Tell me: when you serve it, do you serve in intact and let your guests cut to their preference, or do you cut it before tossing with the dressing you describe?

Nice topic, by the way!

Smithy, I always serve them whole, cut side up and dressed lightly. Then it really is a "steak-like" salad...one slab that the diner cuts pieces off of. Another note I usually let them cool to at least room temp before serving...they carryover cook a little bit and frankly I don't like hot lettuce. Also the shaved parm(or asiago is a good sub) makes it very visually appealing, contrasting with the grill marks. One can actually cross hatch this salad:) Once it's off the grill you have are done with prep, and serve it when the meat is a few minutes away.

[Ericpo]

I tried some new technique tonight, and I (and my family) think it was an unqualified success.

I pulled the grate off of the kettle, and spread the coals around to get them going again. Then I took a piece of cardboard to fan the ashes off and get the coals bright, bright red. Then I put the chops straight onto the coals (which Adam Perry Lang calls "clinching").

I've never tried clinching. I grill on gas(for the convenience not the flavor). It's always seemed to me that the meat would stick to the coals but I guess this is not so.

[Ttogull]

I've never tried clinching. I grill on gas(for the convenience not the flavor). It's always seemed to me that the meat would stick to the coals but I guess this is not so.

I don't think it would work too well on a gas grill! I've clinched many times - it was the reverse sear, the 15-minute rest before searing, and the 1 hour brine that was new to me. The coals do indeed sometimes stick to the meat, but that's ok because the tongs will pluck them right off. What little bit of ash might be there can be brushed off, but it tastes good too. I once had a coal stick and didn't know it. When I put the meat on the cutting board, I suddenly wondered where that wonder new wood smell was coming from. Now I've got a nice burn mark in my cutting board.

I will not do lamb chops any other way. It's magic. Steve Raichlen does a lot of cooking directly on coals. For instance, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.

[Ericpo]

Hmmm. I don't suppose one could "clinch" something sans hot coals? Like a nice heavy cast iron skillet set directy over the flames? Then again why not just do it inside...I may have to get a little charcoal grill to play with now dammit. It really sounds fantastic and I would get to play with fire more;)

[Ttogull]

If you want a little grill, I've been happy with the Lodge hibachi. Excellent for skewers, and really anything that cooks hot. Downside is that it is prone to rust. A Weber smokey joe might also be good, but I don't know how it would work with skewers. I don't think a pan would be the same. The coals are glowing red when the meat goes on.

So I'm dusting off last summer's recipes. A hit is a version of naan (or pita?) similar to a Steve Raichlen recipe. It's about 2.5 cups of bread flour (I like it better than AP flour), about 3 Tbsp yogurt, 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and 2 tsp instant yeast. About 1 cup water - I eyeball it. Mix up in a food processor. Let double in a bowl. Divide into 4 pieces, and let double again. Roll it out, and brush both sides with olive oil. About 3 hours total.

Then I get the fire as hot as possible. Forget 1 Mississippi. I need a glove to flip the bread. Toss it on the grate. It will take about 10 seconds for it to be ready to flip. And then flip it about every 10 seconds, putting the least done part over the hot part of the grill and the more done over the cooler. For me, the goal is a nice browned surface. My wife likes char; I do not. It takes about 60-90 seconds to cook. It will blacken if you leave.

But it is wonderfully soft bread with a brown grilled crust. A big hit. Goes well with lamb, etc.

[Smithy]

Thanks for posting that naan procedure, Ttogull. I love baking and have been working on flatbreads, but hadn't tried naan yet. Yours is going on my list!

[Ericpo]

Mmm. Grilled bread is good stuff.

I've had lots of luck also doing naan on a pizza stone in my oven. Just have to have it hot as all get out, and a bakers peel helps a lot.

[Smithy]

So let's talk about baker's peels for a moment. I have a wooden peel I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond for about $10 and a composite peel from...Epicurean?...heck, they're even almost local and I don't remember...but it's a composite made from recycled materials. The second peel is about 1/4' thick, and the wooden peel is closer to 1/2" thick, with tapered (beveled) edge. I generally find the thinner peel easier to work with for sliding under objects in the stove without shifting them. I've thought about going to a thin (1/8", stiff) metal peel, but been too skinflinty to do so given that most pizza parlors and bakeries seem to favor the wooden peels.

What do y'all favor? To what extent does the thinness of the peel, or its composition, matter?

[Ttogull]

I am not 100% sure I understand. For the naan I posted above, I quite literally throw the dough on the grill, trying to make sure I don't create wrinkles or folds. The grill is too hot to do much more. For flipping, I use a slotted fish turner (perhaps not the best choice) because it is thin and easily slides under the bread. I need a glove to do the flip.

For pizza in the oven (is this what you meant by stove?) I once used something that was slightly less than 1/2 inch thick. I found that he dough would sort of roll over the edge, not really a problem but would sometimes mess up the ingredients on top. Pulling the pizza out was also no problem as I could set whatever it was even with the edge of the stone and pull the pizza onto it.

But I got a free metal pizza peel with a Kettle pizza thing, and have used it since both on the grill and in the oven. It is thin, and doesn't mess up the toppings. It's the first thing I reach for when making pizza. I'm not sure it's critical because I did fine without it, but I'm happy to have it.

I feel like I have missed your point. I think a lot depends on how you use the peel, which depends on your setup. But for me the peel does not matter as long as it gets the pizza on and off the heat without messing it up. In this regard, I prefer thinner with no thought to composition.

[Smithy]

Thanks for that info. Yes, I was unclear. I hadn't understood that you were using hands to plop the naan dough directly onto the griddle. As for the "stove": you're absolutely right that I meant the "oven". That's what I get for posting too late at night.

Despite your avowed confusion, you've helped convince me that, next time I'm feeling flush, a thinner pizza / bread peel will be a justified expenditure. :-)

[Ericpo]

Thanks for that info. Yes, I was unclear. I hadn't understood that you were using hands to plop the naan dough directly onto the griddle. As for the "stove": you're absolutely right that I meant the "oven". That's what I get for posting too late at night.

Despite your avowed confusion, you've helped convince me that, next time I'm feeling flush, a thinner pizza / bread peel will be a justified expenditure. :-)

I wouldtend to agree. I have a wooden peel that sounds like the twin of yours, and occasionally the thickness makes it harder to work with. But it looks beautiful hanging on the wall in my kitchen;) If I run across a metal peel I'd consider it seriously.

On this same topic, what other things do well on a grill? Pizza and Bread are one good example; what unusual dishes have you all thrown on the grill?

One of my favorites is my grilled spaghetti and meatballs. Basically your favorite meatball recipe, then cook them on the grill instead of in the oven. I also like to throw coarsely chopped onions and bell peppers on, and then mix them up with the marinara sauce. Give the whole dish a nice bbq char flavor you wouldn't expect:)

Note: I usually do the meatballs and green peppers/onions in a grill basket.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Ericpo (log)

[terryanny]

Tell me about your Juicy Lucy. I need a good burger story after tonight's disappointment with the premade crap. It did come from a supposedly good place and was a blend of chuck, short rib, and sirloin. Tried to take a shortcut and paid for it.

ETA. I forgot to include 200 g of ginger in the rub.

Thanks for the chicken recipe, I'll be sure to try it when I get the chance...Lotta prep I notice. Sounds amazing though!

This is one of my proudest creations. I will warn you they are not the easiest things in the world to make, but I have never-and I mean NEVER-had someone not like them. As you will see, they are not health food.

Ok, for 'my' Juicy Lucy, the original Bacon Cheddar you need:

2.5 lbs good quality fresh ground beef, 85/15 lean/fat.

8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, sliced

1 lb Thick Cut Bacon, cooked(very crispy) and crumbled

1 egg

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

2-3 TBSP minced Garlic(the kind out of a jar).

Fresh black pepper and salt to taste.

Makes 5

Have standing ready the sliced cheese and crumbled bacon.

In a mixing bowl, combine beef, egg, garlic, black pepper, and worcestershire sauce. With the garlic, add some water from the jar with each spoonful. Using your hands, mix together until completely combined. Divide in half.

Using one half of beef, make 5 (1/4 lb) patties, making them wide and thin. Place these on a platter. Onto each patty, place cheese and bacon crumbles, being careful to keep them about 1/2 an inch in from the edge.

Using the other half of the beef mixture, make 5 additional patties and place them on top of the bacon and cheddar. Pick each up and pinch the edges together, completely sealing in the bacon and cheese(this is crucial). Salt and pepper patties.

At this stage, the burgers can go directly on to the grill, but I find they benefit from a few hours in the fridge. Also, I will often make a whole batch, and freeze raw the ones I don't need right away.

To the grill: Oil cooking grate. Over high direct heat, grill burgers. Try to not flip more than once, as they are delicate. I usually like to grill them to medium, and then remove from the flame and tent with foil for 5 minutes, they carryover cook this way. While grilling, keep an eye out for melting cheese running out...this happens if the edges are not sufficiently sealed.

The first time you make these, you will almost certainly have some burgers that lose their cheese...it takes some practice. To make a somewhat healthier and easier version, omit the bacon.

Good luck!

Now that's what I am talking about. That is exactly what springtime grilling is all about. burnt fat on the barbie.

(never EVER omit the bacon!)

;-)

[Ericpo]

Tell me about your Juicy Lucy. I need a good burger story after tonight's disappointment with the premade crap. It did come from a supposedly good place and was a blend of chuck, short rib, and sirloin. Tried to take a shortcut and paid for it.

ETA. I forgot to include 200 g of ginger in the rub.

Thanks for the chicken recipe, I'll be sure to try it when I get the chance...Lotta prep I notice. Sounds amazing though!

This is one of my proudest creations. I will warn you they are not the easiest things in the world to make, but I have never-and I mean NEVER-had someone not like them. As you will see, they are not health food.

Ok, for 'my' Juicy Lucy, the original Bacon Cheddar you need:

2.5 lbs good quality fresh ground beef, 85/15 lean/fat.

8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, sliced

1 lb Thick Cut Bacon, cooked(very crispy) and crumbled

1 egg

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

2-3 TBSP minced Garlic(the kind out of a jar).

Fresh black pepper and salt to taste.

Makes 5

Have standing ready the sliced cheese and crumbled bacon.

In a mixing bowl, combine beef, egg, garlic, black pepper, and worcestershire sauce. With the garlic, add some water from the jar with each spoonful. Using your hands, mix together until completely combined. Divide in half.

Using one half of beef, make 5 (1/4 lb) patties, making them wide and thin. Place these on a platter. Onto each patty, place cheese and bacon crumbles, being careful to keep them about 1/2 an inch in from the edge.

Using the other half of the beef mixture, make 5 additional patties and place them on top of the bacon and cheddar. Pick each up and pinch the edges together, completely sealing in the bacon and cheese(this is crucial). Salt and pepper patties.

At this stage, the burgers can go directly on to the grill, but I find they benefit from a few hours in the fridge. Also, I will often make a whole batch, and freeze raw the ones I don't need right away.

To the grill: Oil cooking grate. Over high direct heat, grill burgers. Try to not flip more than once, as they are delicate. I usually like to grill them to medium, and then remove from the flame and tent with foil for 5 minutes, they carryover cook this way. While grilling, keep an eye out for melting cheese running out...this happens if the edges are not sufficiently sealed.

The first time you make these, you will almost certainly have some burgers that lose their cheese...it takes some practice. To make a somewhat healthier and easier version, omit the bacon.

Good luck!

Now that's what I am talking about. That is exactly what springtime grilling is all about. burnt fat on the barbie.

(never EVER omit the bacon!)

;-)

Why thank you terryanny:) And I always slip in the "option" to omit the bacon, for health concerns. In three years I have never done it myself;) The closest I've come is making one or two in a batch bacon free for health conscious dinner guests lol.

Vive Bacon!!!