What are you grilling for the 4th?

Cafe Society
#1

I just saw another thread about smoking ribs but he specifically said he wanted other tales of smoking not grilling.

I really wasn’t sure what to make, and I normally get my meat from a local butcher, but I had to run to a grocery to pick up some dog food. This is an upscale place with pretty good meat and as I walked by the butcher counter I did a double take. There in front of me were some absolutely beautiful Porterhouse Steaks… marked at $6.18/lb. I even asked the butcher if this was right and he said it was a special for the 4th. If you’ve bought meat lately you will know that the prices have gone up significantly so I couldn’t resist.

So, I’ve got three gorgeous Porterhouses… about 1.5 lbs each, salad, and either potatoes to bake or bicolor corn to grill… and of course watermelon for desert.

I love the 4th.

#2

Grilling is the order of the day. I’m doing baby-back ribs with a glaze, so no real need to break out the smoker and all that. I’ll give them a brief smoke on the gas grill, then let them grill. Glaze them at the end and serve with a baked potato.

Plus beer.

#3

Hey go ahead and put the grilling stories in that thread as well. No segregation on our country’s birthday between BBQ=grill and BBQ=smoke. Both are as American as shooting at redcoats. I was just curious in addition to grilling (chicken goes on my grill in a few hours) if anyone else was doing smoke barbeque this 4th of July.
Can I trade you some ribs for one of your porterhouses?

#4

I would love to make that trade as I absolutely love smoked meats. Unfortunately from your profile it looks like there is a bit of distance between us. In fact from what it looks like on the news, in Colorado don’t you just have to set the meat on the back porch to smoke it?

#5

Not now :smiley: but I am about halfway between the Flagstaff and High Park fires. Mrs Cad being an emergency manager (looking for an EM job) started planning our evacuation but thank God for the firefighters and it never got beyond that.

#6

We grilled pollo asada and lots of steaks. For some reason MrTao’s folks cook for 30 people even if only 8 will be there. I mean, I do that TOO, but I blame that on working in restaurants for too long. MrTao blames it on being of mexican heritage.

This year, MrTao insisted on taking over the grill, because MrTao’s dad, well…for a guy who likes his steak rare, he can’t seem to produce anything less than charcoal. Every. Single. Time. I mean, 30 pounds of meat wasted last time.

Luckily the 4th is also MrTao’s dad’s birthday, so MrTao took over the grill so his dad could ‘relax’. More like so we could actually eat the food when it was done. ":smiley:

Excellent, excellent food. I am so full.

#7

Brats, of course. If they get too close to the grill and annoy me. :slight_smile:

#8

Ribeye steak and fresh corn on the cob.

#9

I didn’t get on top of dinner until about 4 p.m., so I’m improvising a bit. Usually, I try to do some barbecue starting at 8 in the morning, but this weird middle-of-the-week 4th of July just wasn’t appropriate for a big party, so we’re keeping it small with my wife and the brand new dog (a rescue pitbull we got on Monday. He’s such a sweetheart. Sorry, irrelevant details, but I’m just excited.)

Anyhow, so, please don’t tell anyone, but I bought a couple slabs of St. Louis spares, dusted them with dry rub, and started them at 350 in the oven. I know, I know. I’m usually a bit of a purist about these things, but I needed to cut some corners to simplify. I started the coals and hickory about a half hour ago, and I’m going to finish off the ribs on the grill with a semi-homemade barbecue sauce glaze over a direct fire for maybe 5-10 minutes a side (depending on how hot the fire is.) This is a pretty radical departure from how I normally do my smoked or grilled ribs, but, eh, I wanted to try something different, since my usual method probably wouldn’t have us eating until two or three hours from now.

Also, got some ground beef that I’ll form into loose patties, probably about 1/3-1/2 pound, and grill, finish off with munster cheese. Nothing fancy, but I don’t like my burgers fancy. Also have some Hebrew Nationals, just in case, but that should be enough food for two. :slight_smile: ETA: Well, I guess three now with the dog.

#10

Did Mr. Tao’s mom and dad notice the difference and compliment Mr. Tao?

#11

Absolutely! It’s a family joke that MrTao’s dad can’t grill, but he’s the head of the family so nobody stopped him. Today over the steaks, MrTao explained how he cooked them, and how we cooked some pork chops and steaks at home, which is to get a nice char/browning on the outside and then finish them in the oven. I even let out the secret that a LOT of restaurants do it that way, too, because most steaks are just too damn thick to cook properly over a flaming grill. By the time the inside’s done, the outside is charcoal.

I do think MrTao’s dad maybe got the hint. :wink: But he loved the steaks.
I loved the chicken asada, just SO good, perfect little char on the outside, amazing flavor through the meat…sOOOOOO good.

#12

Goat chops, emu burgers, and okra.

I kid you not! (Ba da bing…).

No, seriously, all three turned out tasty, grilled on a tiny Weber.

#13

Does emu taste like ostrich? Sounds intriguing.
I only have today off and didn’t have a lot of time to cook so I did some beer braised spareribs and finished them on the grill. I used a recipe from James Villas’ glorious cookbook Pig. I don’t keep brews around the house because I don’t care for the taste so I used ginger beer instead and it worked a treat. Very tasty ribs - the cats were begging for scraps so I guess they thought so too. I sauteed some fresh corn with zucchini from a coworkers garden and threw in some scallions and chives from my own backyard. I am quite full now.