After a grotesque and distended winter, sunshine and warmth finally seem to be settling in Vermont. Tonight or tomorrow I was thinking of firing up the grill and doing some outdoor cooking. What should I make?
I’ve only ever grilled burgers and hot dogs before, but there must be more!
Actually, one time I did grill peaches (yes, peaches)! I either read it here or saw it on TV, but I halved peaches, marinated them in italian dressing, and then put them on the grill face down. They were quite good.
Anyway, what are your grilling suggestions/recipes?
Corn on the cob! Peel down the husks (but don’t remove!), remove the silk, spray the ear with cooking spray, roll the husks back up over the corn and grill!
Veggie/potato packets. Spray foil w/cooking spray, chop up your favorite veggies, double-wrap (very important!) in foil, grill.
Asparagus and mushrooms and eggplant (sprayed with cooking spray or olive oil) are excellent, grilled directly on the grill.
Salmon.
Sorry I don’t know the cooking times on any of these. My husband is the expert.
How the heck do you grill asparagus without it falling through the grill? I love asparagus, but I’m sure I’d just end up with a heap of burning asparagus in the bottom of the grill.
Here’s a short rib recipe I posted recently. I think I will make them this weekend, provided the wind stays down.
I do the foil-wrapped taters thing too that Hazel mentioned. I put chopped sweet onion, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil on the potatoes when I make them. They’re usually a huge hit, and as a bonus clean up easily.
Also good are asparagus spears wrapped in bacon with cracked pepper and lime juice. These can just as easily be cooked in the broiler is grill space is an issue.
For a great dessert, try grilling bananas. Split them lengthwise without peeling. Brush with a fruit marinade (I use pineapple juice, brown sugar, ginger and a dash of rum, reduced). Grill until done enough for you. Then peel, slice and serve over ice cream with the rest of the marinade.
The easiest way is to just lay it perpendicular to the grill grates and don’t mess with it. Just roll it a little bit when it starts to get done on one side. You can use wooden skewers to make little “rafts” that are easy to turn, but it’s way more trouble than it’s worth.
If you want to blow some minds, learn to grill pizza. You can find instructions all over the place. It’s a lot easier than you’d think, and it will elevate you to the level of minor cooking god.
I grill asparagus all the time and it is very easy. Just put it in a single layer on a sheet of foil, put olive oil on it rather generously, and then salt it (sea salt works best if you have it). Make a little tray out of the foil so that the oil won’t spill out and burn. Put it on the grill on medium-high heat. It will take 10 - 12 minutes to cook. Don’t overcook it. It should still be firm and barely crunchy when you are done. It is an excellent use of a grill and far superior to the standard boiled or steamed asparagus.
Grilled corn is good and easy as well. You can cook it in the hush but I just wrap each ear in foil individually and follow the same general technique above.
Last night I grilled jerk chicken and piri-piri chicken. I’ll give you the simpler recipe of the two, the piri-piri (aka peri-peri, pili-pili, or peli-peli). I first encountered it in South Africa, but the South Africans explained that it’s a Mozambique dish, and further research details that it originates in Portugal. Piri-piri (and its variants) refers to the pepper used in the dish.
Anyhow, spatchcock a chicken (basically, take a whole chicken and using poultry shears or a knife, cut out the back, and splay it out flat.) Marinate in (amounts approximate):
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
several cloves of garlic
several finely chopped red peppers (Thai chiles work well, last night I used Tabasco peppers pickled in vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Marinate for at least four hours, preferably overnight. Grill over medium direct heat, approximately 20-30 minutes per side. Baste with any leftover marinade.
We do a lot of fish. If it has skin, like salmon, you can place it directly on the grill. If it’s skinless and prone to flaking, like catfish or tilapia, a flat basket works really well. Shrimp is good either way too, just don’t overcook it.
Bratwurst or link sausage is a winner.
If you’re doing ribeyes you may need to watch a bit closer. They’ve so much fat that for ours at least there’s a tendancy for them to start a flame underneath.
Super easy grilling: Get a couple pounds of ribeye or tri-tip and marinate overnight in your favorite marinade (we just use the bagged stuff from the grocery store). Place cubes in the center of a large piece of aluminum foil. Fold to bag and seal securely. On another piece of foil, place cubed potatoes, squash, cherry tomatoes, or whatever vegetation you prefer. Sprinkle with salt and a little EVOO. Bag like the steak. Toss both bags on a medium hot grill for 30 minutes or so. Turn every 10 minutes. When meat is charred to your liking, remove and serve. If you serve it on paper plates with plastic forks, your total cleanup is tossing the used material into the trash.
I put some BBQ ribs on our smoker just this past Saturday. They didn’t get done enough in the smoker though so they ended up in the oven for 45 minutes.
If your corn already has the husks off: get a sheet of almuminum foil, put the corn and some butter on it, and roll it up. I like to add a bit of garlic salt before rolling.
Ah, the great husk-on/husk-off debate. Count me in firmly on the husk off side. The sugars get nice and carmelized, great grill flavor, nothing compares to grilling the corn naked. Husk-on is okay, but I far prefer it off.
Boneless pork ribs – I think they’re sold as Boston style. They’re not racks of ribs, they’re big, meaty ribs. Just season them up a bit (with salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc.) and grill them for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally.
So. Good.
Also, plain ol’ chicken, especially dark meat, with the skin on. We don’t do anything at all to it, except salt after it’s cooked. Nice and smoky grill flavor. Yum.
