Quick Prep Grilling

[daniellewiley]

When it's not terribly hot out (like tonight), we love grilling our dinner. However, since it's a weeknight (we both work) and our kid needs to eat by about 7 at the latest, we don't have much time at our disposal.

It's been a very boring summer on our grill. We've done hamburgers twice, molasses-marinated pork tenderloin twice, and every other time has been our special chicken. I rub chicken parts with smoked paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt and tellicherry black pepper and then hand them off to my husband for the grilling. It takes maybe 5 minutes to prep, and they are done in an hour or so.

We are so bored with this!! We are grilling again tonight, and I'm in charge of picking up the meat. We won't have time to marinate, and it can't be something like ribs that benefits from longer cooking times. We'll need to have it all cooked in an hour or less. Oh yeah, I'm allergic to fish.

Side dish suggestions are also welcomed, though I think this will mostly depend on what looks good. We have zero food in the house so everything will be picked up on my way home from a small local supermarket.

[oggi]

grilled skirt steaks?

You'll probably want to marinade the steak for about 1/2 hour or so, but that may fit into your time frame...I've made this a couple of times; its a slight rendition of a recipe I found on the web somewhere.

A really hot grill (really hot for quick cooking and a good sear)

1 lb. skirt steak cut into 4 pieces

Marinade:

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. finely chopped ginger

1 tbs. red pepper flakes (adjust to suit your taste)

1 tbs. sugar

3 tbs. soy sauce

4 garlic cloves chopped

3 scallions chopped

Don't really need salt in this, since the soy covers that...

Cook:

Grill the steak right over the flame for 2 mins each side for about med. rare. Let it rest when done.

When you cut it (as with all flank/skirt steaks) cut it against the grain for maximum tenderness in the mouth.

Good with grilled pineapple rings and a nice salad (arugula is what I like with this - with a simple vinaigrette made with rice wine vinegar)

[Jean Blanchard]

How about shish kebob? You can grill up whatever vegetables look good and even grill some peaches, pineapple for dessert to serve over ice cream.

jb

[lcdm]

Thick cut pork chops (maybe baste with some plum sauce or duck sauce at the end).

Cornish hens, you could use a little chineese 5 spice as a rub.

Nice big juicey steaks, top with some kind of compound butter or blue cheese at the end.

Sausage, last time we grilled we had pinwheel sausage made with parm. and parsley from the local butcher, that a crusty loaf of bread, roasted red peppers and a green salad, (and watermelon for dessert) all you need.

Grilled kielbasa is also very good.

Shellfish (clams musscles oysters, shrimp, crabs).

Grilled veggies; eggplant, red peppers, onions, corn on the cob, zucchini/squash, tomatoes.....

[Soup]

I really love great hot dogs, susage, brats, kilbasa, etc. You get the idea. Brats especially, if you boiled them first they take no time at all.

We also like a leg of lamb. I buy a leg (most of the time boneless at costco). I butterfly it, cut it into two or three section. Marinate using different recipe. Alton Brown's "silence of leg o' lamb" recipe is my favorite. I also used a yogurt recipe posted on egullet that was very good. It take 15 to 25 minutes. Very quick.

I love ribs korean style. You can get what is known as a LA cut rib or Flanken (I may be incorrect here) at korean grocery store. Marinate with soy, sugar, garlic and ginger. It takes about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. White rice and vegies, you're ready to eat.

Grilled fish, yum. Sorry to hear about your allergies. We been doing Tallapia. Really good clean testing white fish and very cheap. Much better then (IMHO) salmon or tuna. olive oil, salt and pepper, yum. Skin is the best part.

Good luck.

Soup

[annachan]

Shrimp! You can season the shrimp whichever way you like. Then skewer them between wedges of lemon or lime.

Portabello mushrooms are also great on the grill, as are green onions.

[snowangel]

Kebabs are a bit hit in our house, and the kids didn't have to be very big before they could help with prep.

Another thought is to grill something extra (chuck eye steaks, which are fabulous and usually a great bargain come to mine) and use them the next night for a Composed Salad.

And, one of the things that I found very gratifying when I worked outside the home when the kids were younger was to plan at least a day ahead so Diana could help me do some prep for the following night's dinner. Good time to teach, as well as spend time with a child.

BTW, if anyone wants to toss more chicken ideas this way, that would be great. Chicken has been cheep, cheep, cheep lately.

[Octaveman]

Rib Eye steak with plain old salt and pepper.

Grilled flank steak**

Grilled portobello basted with lemon and soy sauce (remove the gills). Grill some red bell peppers for the sandwiches too. Melt cheese on the shrooms before taking off the grill. Makes great sandwiches.

Sausage with sauted onions, sourkraut (or not)

Shish ka bob's - chicken, bell pepper (various), red onion, cherry tomatoes, crimini shrooms. Baste with melted butter, salt/pepper, Garam Masala, garlic, herb of choice.

Fat and juicy burgers with grilled sliced red onion, sauteed shrooms (wine, butter, garlic, herb of choice).

Chicken wings basted with hoisan or bbq sauce or terriyaki glaze.

**The flank can be quickly marinated if you use a strong marinade. My all-time favorite marinade to date is...

2 Tbl Fish sauce

1 Tbl concentrated Tamarind

Juice of 2 limes

4 cloves garlic crushed

Thai chili peppers minced or Tbl Srirachi hot sauce

Combine all with meat in zip lock bag, suck out the air and let it sit on the counter. I have found out through experiementing that If you take that zip lock bag with the goodies in it and you rub the meat between your hands several times during the 30 minute time frame that it helps with absorption. It may be my imagination, it may not. You do want the meat to be room temp before grilling. I also read somewhere that marinades get absorbed better if meat is at room temp. Grill on hot grill to med or med-rare, slice against the grain, serve on salad greens or as is with grilled veggie combo and side of rice or gorgonzola gnocchi (sold at Trader-Joes...yummm)

Also try:

Raspberry-chipotle or Raspberry-jalepeno bottled marinade

Maple syrup or honey

Worcestershire sauce (lot's)

Salt/pepper (on meat directly before combining with marinade)

Let sit for 30 minutes in zip lock bag and baste steak with marinade as you grill. Use lower heat than you would in above recipe because of the sugar content of this marinade. A flank steak is thin so it still won't take long to cook. 20 minutes as opposed to 10. In either case, let grill heat up and cook with lid open as it would be an oven if you closed the lid. Baste and turn every 2-3 minutes just to get a good crust going. If you find it starting to get TOO crusty and starting to blacken (as it does from time to time), feel free to finish in oven. The taste is well worth it. Nice sweet/hot crust with tender/juicy med-rare beef in the middle. Oh, it's good all right.

Cheers,

Bob

Edited July 29, 2005 by Octaveman (log)