Posts Tagged ‘grilling’

Summer has arrived, and that means it’s time to grill.  But before you start charring steaks, you’ll need a little equipment.  Here are my favorite nerdy accessories for the grillmaster within you.

1.  Extra-Long BBQ Tongs.  They don’t sound geeky, but this single piece of equipment can mean the difference between retaining your forearm hair or not.  Look for locking tongs at least 16” long, with metal ends since plastic and even silicone can melt at grilling temperature.

2.  TurboQue Turbo-Charged Smoker.  This battery-operated fan attaches to the inside of your grill and turns it into a convection smoker.  This means reduced cooking time and extra exposure to smoke from wood chips. 

3.  Infrared Thermometer.  Sure, you could hold your hand above the grill grate and count “one Mississippi… two Mississippi,” but it’s far more geeky to be accurate to .1 degrees Fahrenheit.  This non-contact thermometer instantly measures surface temperatures with the pull of a trigger, enticing you to be quick on the draw. 

4.  Instant Digital Probe Thermometer.  While the infrared thermometer will tell you how hot the grill is, it won’t give you a read on the internal temperature of your porterhouse.  Use a probe thermometer to quickly check the doneness of thick cuts without having to slice them open.  Choose a digital instant read over an analog model, unless you enjoy waiting while your fingernails melt over the fire.

5.  Onion Goggles.  You may look a little… special… flipping burgers with these on, but if you’re cooking with smoke, or better yet, over a campfire, they are indispensable.  The foam-lined glasses are highly effective at keeping the smoke out of your eyes, and keeping girls from ever talking to you.  But hey, form follows function, right?

If you caught my post last week on smoking your own salt, you learned how easy it is to turn ordinary salt into an extraordinary seasoning.  But did you know that you can pull off the same trick with flour?  In this recipe, I’ve smoked Semolina flour – the most common kind used for pasta making.  The finished pasta takes on a subtly spicy smoke flavor and is a great match for Morel mushrooms. 

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Sous vide strikes again! This time, we’re exploiting science for perfectly medium-rare, ultra-tender flank steak.  And, since we’re throwing ethnic authenticity to the wind, why be predictable with our condiments?  Salsa and Monterey Jack are out, red onion compote and chèvre (goat’s cheese) are in.  If you’re not a sous vider (yet), you can cook your flank steak however you like: broiled, grilled, smoked, or fried.

Makes: 4 Tacos Scientificos
Total kitchen time: 30 minutes (+12 hours cooking time)
Special equipment: Vacuum sealer, sous vide water oven

Shopping list:

• 1 lb. flank steak
• 1 tsp. Mexican seasoning blend
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• 4 four tortillas
• 1 cup crumbled goat’s cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 bunch cilantro

1. Pat the steak dry and coat all sides with Mexican seasoning blend and lime juice.  Vacuum seal the steak in a bag large enough that the meat lays flat (but still fits in your water oven).  Cut the meat into two pieces and seal separately, if needed.  (If you’re not cooking your steak sous vide, place it in a zip-top bag or a covered shallow dish and let it marinate overnight). Note: although it might be tempting to add aromatics like garlic to the marinade, don’t! Your kitchen will smell like ass by the time the meat is done.
2. Set your sous vide water oven to 56°C.  Add the vacuum sealed steak, making sure the meat stays submerged.  Cook for a minimum of 1 hour, up to 48 hours.  The picture above shows the meat after cooking for 12 hours, which was perfectly tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a medium saucepan over moderate heat.  Add the red onion and reduce the heat to low.  Let the onion sweat 5 minutes, until it is slightly translucent, but not browned.  Add the dark brown sugar, sherry vinegar and salt and stir to combine. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and making sure the mixture doesn’t boil or burn. 
4. Remove the bag from the water bath and let the meat rest, still in the bag, for 10 minutes before searing.  Remove the meat from the bag and pat dry on all sides.  Sear with a blow torch, under the broiler, or in a smoking-hot pan.
5. Slice the meat perpendicular to the direction of the muscle fibers, and on a sharp bias. 
6. Assemble the tacos: tortilla, sour cream, steak, cheese, onion compote, cilantro.  Enjoy!

Cooking the steak sous vide rather than just grilling it may sound like a pain in the ass since you have to plan 12 hours ahead.  However, the hardest part of cooking flank steak is getting your timing right. Leave it on the grill 1 minute too long and it’s overcooked and tough; take it off too early and it’s raw.  And, if you’re entertaining company, you may be more focused on your margarita than your steak.  Cooking your meat sous vide lets you be laissez-faire with your timing – sometimes I even sear my steak before company arrives and return it to the water bath to keep it warm until we’re ready to eat.

Don’t let Orville Reddenbacher fool you – corn was meant to be grilled.   This spicy yet cool corn is the perfect accompaniment for grilled meat or fish.  However, just because corn is a side dish doesn’t mean it needs to take the back-seat in flavor. 

Makes: 5 ears
Total kitchen time: 20 mins

Shopping List:

• 5 ears white corn, shucked
• 8 tbsp. salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. red cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. Jamaican jerk seasoning (or your favorite spicy seasoning blend)

1. Preheat your grill over medium heat.  Place the corn directly on the grill and close the lid.  Grill, turning occasionally, 15-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and mash together using the back of a fork.  If you’re making this recipe in a larger quantity, you may want to prepare the butter using a food processor.
3. When the corn is almost done (check for tenderness with a fork) brush it on all sides with the cilantro butter and grill for another 1-2 minutes. 
   

This cilantro butter also makes great grilled toast, and can be added to shellfish, chicken, or white fish for a wonderful, simple seasoning.

After grilling fresh Coho salmon fillets over cedar planks, its hard to enjoy salmon prepared any other way.  My building’s facilities manager, Bruce, generously shared his catch from a recent trip to Alaska.  This recipe combines the rustic, smoky flavor of the cedar planks with the subtle, sweet butteryness of the beurre blanc.  Its a great combo, as I hope you will soon discover.

Total kitchen time: 1 hr
Makes: 4 1lb fillets

Shopping list:

• 4 1lb. salmon fillets (with skin is fine, without is fine also)
• 2 large (or 4 small) cedar planks for grilling
• 2 tsp. fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 tbsp. orange-muscat vinegar (honestly, any white wine vinegar will work, this one just adds a little flavor and a lot of adjectives.  Available at Trader Joe’s.)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into teaspoons
• fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1. Soak the cedar planks, completely submerged, in cold water for at least 1 hour.  Preheat your grill over medium-high heat before grilling.
2. For the beurre blanc, heat a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the diced shallot and about 1 tsp. of olive oil and cook until the shallot smells great, about 3 minutes.  If it looks like the shallot is starting to brown, reduce the heat.
3. Add the white wine vinegar (in this case, orange muscat vinegar) and stir to deglaze the pan.  Continue to cook until the vinegar has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and 2 teaspoons of butter.  Continually whisk the butter until it is completely melted.  If the butter starts to foam, place the bottom of the pan on a cold surface (like a stone countertop) to cool it.  Add the remaining butter, 2 teaspoons at a time, whisking continually.  If the butter refuses to melt, hold the pan over very low heat for a few seconds and then remove. 
5. Once all the butter is incorporated, taste the sauce and adjust with a fine-grain salt and freshly ground white pepper.  You can use black pepper if you want, but white pepper will make the sauce look prettier.
6. Prepare the salmon fillets by patting them dry and coating with salt, pepper and fennel seeds on the flesh side.  Rub the fillets on all sides with olive oil. 
   
7. Make sure your grill has been preheated over medium-high heat.  Arrange the cedar planks on your grill and place the fillets, skin side down (if they have skin) on the cedar planks.  Close the lid and grill for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked.  The planks will give off a lot of smoke which adds to the excellent flavor.  However, if your planks should catch fire, simply spray them with a small amount of water (I recommend San Pellegrino ) until the flames dissipate. 
8. When the salmon is cooked to your preferred doneness (let’s face it, either it’s undercooked, done, or overcooked), use a long spatula or a chef’s knife to remove them from the planks.  Top with a spoonfull of the beurre blanc and serve!

Look for more cedar plank recipes this summer.  I’m now a big fan of this cooking method and it deserves some further exploration.  Do you have any favorite wood cooking recipes?  Leave ‘em in the comments below.

What’s a dry rub, you ask?  A dry rub is mixture of spices (and sometimes dried herbs) applied to meat before cooking to add flavor.  Dry rubs are most typically used for barbeque, but there’s no reason you can’t sprinkle some over your scrambled eggs in the morning.  The picture above (which I will be sending to my neighborhood palm reader) shows the proportions you’re going for – its mostly brown sugar and salt. 

Total kitchen time: 5 minutes
Makes: enough for 4 racks of ribs

Shopping list:

• 4 cups light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. yellow curry powder
• 2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. red cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  That’s it, you’re done.  Taste a spoonful and adjust to your personal preference. 

This dry rub, or a variation thereof, is also the base for my homemade barbeque sauce.  In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of dry rub, 1 cup of ketchup, some Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco,  honey, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and whatever else your heart desires.  If you start bottling it and selling it to friends, just email me for my address (so you can start sending me checks).  Enjoy!

 
Over the past year we’ve developed a collection of great grilling recipes here at Scott’s Food Blog.  Here are a handful of my favorites.  Try them out this 4th, or any summer day when you feel like sharing great food with friends.

• Mango, Lime and Mace Shrimp Skewers
• Grilled Pizza with Sweet Veggies and Sausage
• Proscuitto-Wrapped Shrimp with Blackberry Mint Sauce
• Onion and Pancetta-Stuffed Fennel Bulbs
• Burgers So Big that the Cow Couldn’t Jump Over Them
• Scott’s Red Stripe Ribs
• Lamb Salad: Man Edition!
• Herb-Smothered Flank Steak with Stuffed Eggplant Wedges

Be sure to check back later this week and next for a whole new batch of recipes for your outdoor kitchen!

If you asked me my favorite thing about summer, you could be sure that my answer would involve the words “grilling” and “pizza”.  Grilled pizza is an excellent easy supper, especially when you’re cooking with friends.  Go get some pre-made, uncooked dough and a few of your favorite ingredients and dive head-first into your relationship with the grill.  In the pizza above, a simple red sauce, some prosciutto, porcini mushrooms and fresh mozzarella make a great dinner.  Or, if you’re feeling less traditional, try out my other grilled pizza suggestions.

Shrimp just loves to take on other flavors, especially hot ones.  My favorite spice for lighting up shrimp is mace, as you may have seen in a previous recipe.  If you happen to be assaulted while enjoying this dish, just rub the shrimp in your assailant’s eyes.  Plus, you can poke him with the pointy end of the skewer.

Makes: 4 self-defense skewers
Total kitchen time: 20 minutes

Shopping list:

• 1 dz. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
• 6 slices Prosciutto de Parma
• 4 bamboo skewers, soaked in cold water
• 1/4 tsp. ground mace
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp. blackberry preserves
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped mint leaves
• 3 tbsp. tawny port
• sea salt, to taste

1. Preheat your grill on medium high.
2. Slice each piece of prosciutto lengthwise and carefully wrap it around a shrimp.  Skewer the shrimp through the tail and the thickest part so it stays securely on the skewer.  Repeat for the remaining shrimp, three to a skewer.
3. Lightly salt and pepper the wrapped shrimp skewers.  Then, sprinkle with the mace.  Adjust the amount to your personal preference – remember, this stuff is pretty strong.  Refrigerate the skewers until you’re ready to grill.
4. In a small saucepan, combine the blackberry preserves, chopped mint and port.  Heat until boiling over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  If you’re sauce is slightly lumpy or coagulated, pour it into a small food processor and run on high for 90 seconds. 
5. Grill the shrimp skewers over high heat for 1 minute or so per side.  They won’t take long, so be careful not to overcook.  Plate up and enjoy!

Of course, these skewers would pair nicely with melon or cilantro as well.  Just be careful – those are weapons you’re holding.  Hot, delicious weapons.  Mmmmm….

Admittedly, this is probably not a recipe that you’ll bring to your next block party (depending on the block).  Nor will you see this dish arranged on a paper plate alongside baked beans and an Oscar Meyer Wiener.  Nope, this is a different kind of grill fare, made for epicurean ambassadors of outdoor cooking who aren’t afraid to cook a beurre blanc over the coals of a kettle grill.  If your next outdoor party calls for something a little more delicate than frozen burgers, give this recipe a shot.

Makes: 6 elegant endive bites
Total kitchen time: 40 minutes

Shopping list:

• 3 heads of Belgan Endive (or try Escarole)
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped lemongrass
• 3 tbsp. champagne (or sweet white wine)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cold
• 1/4 lb. smoked salmon
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• sea salt, to taste

1. Preheat your grill over low heat.  If your grill has multiple zones, set the front zone to medium high and leave the back zone off.  You can also make this recipe in the oven, but you’ll miss all the sunshine flavor.
2. Slice each head on endive lengthwise and coat all sides with olive oil.  Lightly salt both sides of the endive. 
3. Place the endive, round side down, on the cool area of your grill and close the lid.  Grill, turning once, for 15 minutes per side.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add the lemongrass and sweat it for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.  Add the champagne or wine and boil for another 1-2 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency.  Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 1-2 minutes.
5. Working 1 tsp. at a time, add the cold butter while constantly whisking.  The butter should not melt right away and at no point should it start to bubble.  Wait until each tsp. of butter is completely absorbed until you add the next one.  If the butter stops melting in to the sauce, put the pan over low heat for just a moment.  Just don’t stop whisking!  Once the butter is completely added, your sauce is done. 
6. Crumble some of the smoked salmon over the cut side of the endive and top with a small amount of the beurre blanc.  Season with a sprinkling of sea salt, to taste.

These elegant treats are sure to turn heads at your next back yard party.  They pair very well with dry white wine, or white wine sangria.  So, don your finest linen pants and get eating!