We actually used a recipe from primalgrill.com, but it was basically the same. The book recipe says veal, but pork worked.
What with Burgie and the 4th we have not blogged about the inaugural event of the Woodruff Street branch of global grillin. It was for my bday and Joan did the vast majority of the work. The main thing I did was to relearn not to grill in bare feet. Ow!!
We did not have any torpedo onions, but did use all the other kinds. The honey we used dated from our last batch of Midas touch beer :). We did elect to grill the onions first; on the other hand, we did not take the onions out as the book says, and therefore the sauce took twice as long to cook "to a syrupy glaze". The taste was definitely worth the wait.
A meat thermometer is an excellent investment for the newbie griller. Several times I thought the chops were done, but they really weren't. When the thermometer finally gave the ok they were perfect.
All in all, it was definitely worth it, and if we do it again it will probably take half the effort. Many thanks to Joan!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Ribs, Wings, and Cornbread
I madethe 5-4-3-2-1 rub from the Global Grillin book to put on the ribs. Since I only had one rack of ribs, I also put it on the wings. Let me tell you, it is so tasty, we didn't even end up using any BBQ sauce.
One substitution of note was lemon zest and ground pepper instead of lemon pepper. It actually worked quite well, and the lemon taste was notable.
We also made the grilled onion/pepper cornbread again (shown here in dough form). Any cornbread recipe will do, add chopped grilled veggies, 20 or so minutes in cast iron on indirect heat. Yummy!
Also should note: throwing an onion slice in the coals and rubbing the grate with onions is also a great flavor booster!
And: be sure to turn the cast iron pan so the bread cooks evenly.
And: Yes, we do need The Phoenix. It will take up at least 1/2 our front yard, but what better use is there for a front yard?
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Pancetta Orange Chicken Kebabs and Almond Cream Chicken Tikka
Both of these are very good. The Pancetta Orange was a real hit.and not too hard other than skewering the meat which is a bit futsy. The kebabs look very nice with the orange slices and the flavor and smell was wonderful. Hint: For the last few minutes of grilling take the meet off of the skewers and cooked it on direct heat just to make sure the Pancetta cooks through. Otherwise the pieces are packed together and the sides don't really cook all the way. You will have to watch it closely because the fire can flare up as the bacon drips into it.
I didn't use skewers on the Tikka and it was fine. It is just marinaded chicken. It makes somewhat of a mess on the grill top because the yogurt sauce sticks a little but nothing to worry about. I used Almond butter rather than cashew. It tasted great!
I didn't use skewers on the Tikka and it was fine. It is just marinaded chicken. It makes somewhat of a mess on the grill top because the yogurt sauce sticks a little but nothing to worry about. I used Almond butter rather than cashew. It tasted great!
Meeting Steven
Steven Raichlen's book tour brought him to the chilly shores of Lake Michigan last week. He was doing a fund raiser for the local Public TV station and promoting Planet Barbecue at the same time. We went to the event and sat with the other guests in an open air tent facing out toward the lake. BRRRR. It was one of those "cooler by the lake" days we have in the Spring in Wisconsin. Raichlen is from Miami and has no where near the body fat he should have given the recipes in his book. He obviously does not sample his own grilling as much as I do. In any event it was a lot of fun. While he told stories of the history of grilling around the world, he made Caveman T-Bone Steaks with Hellfire Hot Sauce (p. 151 in your hymnal). Since he couldn't possibly make enough of that to feed us all, he had paired up with a local chef to make a bunch of other recipes from the book so there was plenty of good food to eat - different kinds of bruschetta, some kind of Turkish meatball sandwich, bacon wrapped mushrooms and Piri-Piri chicken wings. mmm good.
We now have Raichlen's signature on our copy of Planet Barbecue and he has a copy of the Wisconsin Grill'n blog book. During his remarks he said that in this kind of climate you can tell the men from the boys because the boys shovel the walk and driveway whereas the men first shovel the path out to the grill. He clearly knew his stuff.
I tried Caveman steak and hellfire sauce last night. I don't thinking cooking the steak on the coals adds anything other than the taste of charcoal which frankly I don't mind skipping. As to the hellfire sauce, I have not perfected. Jess - you are the expert on this. What's the secret? Ellie says you use some habenaros but ours was already too hot for my taste. Do you remove the seeds from the jalapenos?
We now have Raichlen's signature on our copy of Planet Barbecue and he has a copy of the Wisconsin Grill'n blog book. During his remarks he said that in this kind of climate you can tell the men from the boys because the boys shovel the walk and driveway whereas the men first shovel the path out to the grill. He clearly knew his stuff.
I tried Caveman steak and hellfire sauce last night. I don't thinking cooking the steak on the coals adds anything other than the taste of charcoal which frankly I don't mind skipping. As to the hellfire sauce, I have not perfected. Jess - you are the expert on this. What's the secret? Ellie says you use some habenaros but ours was already too hot for my taste. Do you remove the seeds from the jalapenos?
Friday, May 27, 2011
Cook's Illustrated Knows What's Up
For those of you who are not aware, this month's issue of Cook's Illustrated is entirely devoted to Summer Grilling. This was completely unknown to me when I gave Andrea a subscription for her birthday (May 23rd).
Tonight we made the first recipe out of it, Italian Grilled Chicken Under Bricks. The basic idea is to take some salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, garlic and red pepper flakes; rub them under the chicken skin; and grill to perfection. A few things he notes, which I thought were interesting:
1) He butterflies the chicken instead of spatchcocking it. In other words, he cuts out the back bone and presses the thing flat.
2) The grill time was 20-25 minutes skin side down, on the cool side of the grill, with bricks on top and breasts on the outside of the grill. Then 10-15 minutes skin side up on direct heat and the bricks on top. Then 5-10 minutes skin side down WITHOUT the bricks on direct heat. The sum total was a perfectly done chicken. You just have to watch it for the last segment to make sure to avoid flare ups.
3) He simmers the herbs & spices in some olive oil before putting them on the chicken. Apparently this helps to avoid simply steaming the herbs and making them taste awful.
The chicken was absolutely fabulous. We had it with some naan, salad and a Riverwest Stein! Next time I'll do a little less salt.
Two tests that they ran which I found cool
1) The Weber chimney is their recommended chimney.
2) Matchlight charcoal will apparently give food an acrid flavor which is particularly noticeable in the tender foods. Avoid at all costs!
As you can probably tell, Andrea is really enjoying her present!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Honey mustard salmon and lost magic
This last weekend, we made the honey mustard salmon from the Art of the Grill book. It was exceptional, as it always is when Dad makes it. It was, however, a moment tinged with sadness, much as it was when I learned how easy it is to grow raspberries. I had always believed that raspberry growing was an art best left to Grammies. Then, raspberries popped up in our yard and it was all we could do to keep them from taking over the whole neighborhood. Making this salmon recipe was much the same. Open the bag of salmon, put it on aluminum foil, put the sauce on, grill on indirect heat, and voila! Delicious salmon.
Next thing I know, someone is going to tell me I could make Bukka too (bouka, bubka, choose your spelling).
Sigh...there is no magic left in the world.
Next thing I know, someone is going to tell me I could make Bukka too (bouka, bubka, choose your spelling).
Sigh...there is no magic left in the world.
Still Grillin'
I haven't made anything out of the recipe book for a bit, but am posting two recent pictures for the edification of the group. The first should serve as a warning for anyone tempted to use self lighting charcoal in a chimney style lighter. I didn't realize what I had purchased, so happily dumped it in, balled up the paper in the bottom, and lit it up. But a few seconds later, this is the blazing inferno we had going. To save the tree from lighting, I put the top on the grill to extinguish it, dumped out the charcoal, and lit it in the bottom of the grill instead.
The second picture is shot of the jerked chicken we made for dinner with Dorothee, Evan, and the twins. The twins seem to like jerked chicken!
The second picture is shot of the jerked chicken we made for dinner with Dorothee, Evan, and the twins. The twins seem to like jerked chicken!
SAUCES
This article, from The Washington Post, by our good friend and BBQ afficionado, Jim Shahin, talks about award winning sauces. I cut and pasted the article below but you can view the original at:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2011/05/25/spicy-sc-mustard-sauce/
The first place winner is such a simple recipe, we will try it with ease this weekend. The chef is the spouse of the artist who painted the Owls which hang over our mantel piece.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2011/05/25/spicy-sc-mustard-sauce/
The first place winner is such a simple recipe, we will try it with ease this weekend. The chef is the spouse of the artist who painted the Owls which hang over our mantel piece.
Also note that the winners get a private tour of Rockland's BBQ, something that our esteemed blog leader, Mark, has already had!!!
Enjoy.
Jim Shahin
Smoke Signals
The barbecue sauces that won our hearts
By Jim Shahin, Published: May 24
If I learned anything from the inaugural Smoke Signals Barbecue Sauce Recipe Contest — other than that one should never wear a light-colored shirt during testing — it was that barbecue sauce is the new apple pie. Just scanning the ingredients of the 68 entries, with their tamarind concentrates and mango chutneys and ground espresso beans, led me to paraphrase a famous realization: Toto, we’re not in Kansas City anymore.
About one-quarter of our contest entries made the first cut. We tested those, and our panel of 11 tasters sampled them on their own and with toast. Afterward, I tried the top-five-ranked sauces on smoked ribs and pulled pork.
Ingredients were limited to 10 per recipe, yet they covered the gamut: grape jelly, bourbon, caraway seeds, sauerkraut, smoked beer, mango chutney, Liquid Smoke, tarragon vinegar, fresh oregano, guava paste, curry powder and rhubarb, among many others. Some contestants were particular about their tablespoons of hot sauce: “Louisiana-style, but not Tabasco.”
Some sauces were old family recipes, others developed through careful trial over time. What particularly appealed to me was their handcrafted nature. Choosing the top three was a fun challenge.
I loved the complexity of District native Christopher Gresham’s very thick sauce, which placed third. He smokes tomatoes and green bell peppers, roasts garlic, then purees those with other ingredients and cooks them for an hour. I particularly admired the fastidiousness of his adding rendered bacon fat a quarter-teaspoon at a time.
“I wanted to make everything from scratch,” says Gresham, who, single at 24, has either boundless patience or a lot of time on his hands. He learned to grill from his father, who even smokes the dressing for his Thanksgiving turkey.
Second place went to Keith Williams, 54, of Hollywood, Md., whose beautifully balanced version of a standard ketchup-based sauce is zippy with cayenne while sweet — but not cloying — with brown sugar. The kicker is the lemon zest, which adds a refreshing twist. Every time I thought I was finished “testing,” I pulled another piece of rib or shoulder and slid it through the bowl of sauce.
Married and a father of six, Williams grills and smokes on a Weber (“charcoal, no gas, with wood chips”) that his kids gave him for his birthday 10 years ago.
“I just mess around in the kitchen,” he says. “When I get aggravated, I like to get into the kitchen and mess around. It relaxes me.”
District resident Zora Margolis, 63, took first place with her simple but ever-so-marvelously tweaked version of a mustard-based sauce. Maybe it was the ancho chili powder or the fresh lime juice or the “few squirts” of Sriracha, but what she calls her Spicy S.C. Mustard Sauce yields just the right combination of savory purr and tangy attitude.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Margolis started cooking when she left home at 18 to become an actor. In the 1970s, she worked briefly in restaurants, then moved back to Los Angeles to continue her pursuit of acting. She took a cooking class from a little-known chef named Wolfgang Puck and a Beverly Hills pastry-shop owner named Michel Richard. “I still have the recipes from that class,” she says.
Margolis is married to bird artist Jonathan Adlerfer, who works at the National Geographic Society as an author and editor of bird books. The couple, who will celebrate their 40th anniversary next month, have a daughter who attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Margolis is a self-taught grill master. “I graduated not long ago,” she says, “from a series of Weber kettles to a Hasty-Bake.” She appreciates the versatility of the high-end smoking/grilling rig, revealing a depth of knowledge about brining, seasoning and cooking chicken, pork shoulder and ribs.
“I barbecue year-round,” says Margolis. “I do slow-smoking and hot grilling.”
That love and understanding of the smoking arts no doubt helped her develop her winning sauce. With its multicultural blend of white-bread American (prepared mustard), Southwest flavoring (ancho chili pepper) and Far East (Sriracha), it’s not your grandfather’s barbecue sauce. It is a thoroughly modern version of a classic.
All three winners will receive a collection of Pork Barrel BBQ and Rocklands Barbeque sauces, a copy of “Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue Sauces” and two tickets to Washington’s Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle, June 25-26. The first- and second-place winners get a behind-the-scenes tour of Rocklands, Pork Barrel and Hill Country Barbecue Market with me.
In addition to those prizes, Margolis will receive a trophy at the Safeway Barbecue Battle, where her sauce will be entered in the national competition and she will serve as an honorary judge. Come out and cheer her on.
Shahin will join Wednesday’s Free Range chat at 12 p.m. For more details about the selection process and the thinking behind it, check out his post at washingtonpost.com/allwecaneat.
Enjoy.
Jim Shahin
Smoke Signals
The barbecue sauces that won our hearts
By Jim Shahin, Published: May 24
If I learned anything from the inaugural Smoke Signals Barbecue Sauce Recipe Contest — other than that one should never wear a light-colored shirt during testing — it was that barbecue sauce is the new apple pie. Just scanning the ingredients of the 68 entries, with their tamarind concentrates and mango chutneys and ground espresso beans, led me to paraphrase a famous realization: Toto, we’re not in Kansas City anymore.
- First place: Spicy S.C. Mustard Sauce by Zora Margolis.
(Deb Lindsey/ For The Washington Post ) - And the winner is: Zora Margolis of the District, with her version of a mustard-based sauce jazzed up with ancho chili powder and lime.
As barbecue has increasingly become a national phenomenon, barbecue sauce has changed. The condiment still generally conforms to our basic regional notions: Kansas City tomato-based, South Carolina mustard-based, North Carolina vinegar- and-pepper-based. But its flavors have expanded to reflect modern food trends in high-end, healthful and ethnic eating.
Barbecue sauce manufacturers boast that their products are gluten-free and contain honey instead of high-fructose corn syrup. They produce boutique batches. They select from a global pantry.
(Deb Lindsey/ For The Washington Post ) - And the winner is: Zora Margolis of the District, with her version of a mustard-based sauce jazzed up with ancho chili powder and lime.
As barbecue has increasingly become a national phenomenon, barbecue sauce has changed. The condiment still generally conforms to our basic regional notions: Kansas City tomato-based, South Carolina mustard-based, North Carolina vinegar- and-pepper-based. But its flavors have expanded to reflect modern food trends in high-end, healthful and ethnic eating.
Barbecue sauce manufacturers boast that their products are gluten-free and contain honey instead of high-fructose corn syrup. They produce boutique batches. They select from a global pantry.
About one-quarter of our contest entries made the first cut. We tested those, and our panel of 11 tasters sampled them on their own and with toast. Afterward, I tried the top-five-ranked sauces on smoked ribs and pulled pork.
Ingredients were limited to 10 per recipe, yet they covered the gamut: grape jelly, bourbon, caraway seeds, sauerkraut, smoked beer, mango chutney, Liquid Smoke, tarragon vinegar, fresh oregano, guava paste, curry powder and rhubarb, among many others. Some contestants were particular about their tablespoons of hot sauce: “Louisiana-style, but not Tabasco.”
Some sauces were old family recipes, others developed through careful trial over time. What particularly appealed to me was their handcrafted nature. Choosing the top three was a fun challenge.
I loved the complexity of District native Christopher Gresham’s very thick sauce, which placed third. He smokes tomatoes and green bell peppers, roasts garlic, then purees those with other ingredients and cooks them for an hour. I particularly admired the fastidiousness of his adding rendered bacon fat a quarter-teaspoon at a time.
“I wanted to make everything from scratch,” says Gresham, who, single at 24, has either boundless patience or a lot of time on his hands. He learned to grill from his father, who even smokes the dressing for his Thanksgiving turkey.
Second place went to Keith Williams, 54, of Hollywood, Md., whose beautifully balanced version of a standard ketchup-based sauce is zippy with cayenne while sweet — but not cloying — with brown sugar. The kicker is the lemon zest, which adds a refreshing twist. Every time I thought I was finished “testing,” I pulled another piece of rib or shoulder and slid it through the bowl of sauce.
Married and a father of six, Williams grills and smokes on a Weber (“charcoal, no gas, with wood chips”) that his kids gave him for his birthday 10 years ago.
“I just mess around in the kitchen,” he says. “When I get aggravated, I like to get into the kitchen and mess around. It relaxes me.”
District resident Zora Margolis, 63, took first place with her simple but ever-so-marvelously tweaked version of a mustard-based sauce. Maybe it was the ancho chili powder or the fresh lime juice or the “few squirts” of Sriracha, but what she calls her Spicy S.C. Mustard Sauce yields just the right combination of savory purr and tangy attitude.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Margolis started cooking when she left home at 18 to become an actor. In the 1970s, she worked briefly in restaurants, then moved back to Los Angeles to continue her pursuit of acting. She took a cooking class from a little-known chef named Wolfgang Puck and a Beverly Hills pastry-shop owner named Michel Richard. “I still have the recipes from that class,” she says.
Margolis is married to bird artist Jonathan Adlerfer, who works at the National Geographic Society as an author and editor of bird books. The couple, who will celebrate their 40th anniversary next month, have a daughter who attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Margolis is a self-taught grill master. “I graduated not long ago,” she says, “from a series of Weber kettles to a Hasty-Bake.” She appreciates the versatility of the high-end smoking/grilling rig, revealing a depth of knowledge about brining, seasoning and cooking chicken, pork shoulder and ribs.
“I barbecue year-round,” says Margolis. “I do slow-smoking and hot grilling.”
That love and understanding of the smoking arts no doubt helped her develop her winning sauce. With its multicultural blend of white-bread American (prepared mustard), Southwest flavoring (ancho chili pepper) and Far East (Sriracha), it’s not your grandfather’s barbecue sauce. It is a thoroughly modern version of a classic.
All three winners will receive a collection of Pork Barrel BBQ and Rocklands Barbeque sauces, a copy of “Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue Sauces” and two tickets to Washington’s Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle, June 25-26. The first- and second-place winners get a behind-the-scenes tour of Rocklands, Pork Barrel and Hill Country Barbecue Market with me.
In addition to those prizes, Margolis will receive a trophy at the Safeway Barbecue Battle, where her sauce will be entered in the national competition and she will serve as an honorary judge. Come out and cheer her on.
Shahin will join Wednesday’s Free Range chat at 12 p.m. For more details about the selection process and the thinking behind it, check out his post at washingtonpost.com/allwecaneat.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Grill Assembly R Us
Hey Roy - want some help assembling the Weber? I have made all of the mistakes one can make putting Webers together. No sense in you repeating them!
Dad
Dad
Sunday, May 15, 2011
In the teeth of a Mighty Wind
Emily is in Florida this weekend for Sophia's baptism. I am in Grill Zone. Ribs yesterday and pulled pork today! Wind is 25-40 mph and temp is 45. Perfect grilling weather!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Grilled Veal Chops (aka old veal = Porter House Steak) w Sweet-and-Sour Onions
Yours truly planned to do the veal chop recipe on page 180, but when I got to Whole Foods, found only 3 chops left (not enough to feed 5) and $22/pound at that! Ouch! Too expensive. As if Porter House Steak at $14.99 is cheap!
Anyway, having compromised on the beef, I was not about to do so on the onion recipe, but alas, no torpedo onions nor cipollinis nor pearl onions! Not to be deterred, went for large sweet onions and shallots. They worked just fine. Aside from spilling a half a cup of liquid gold (Balsamic Vinegar) during the process, the onions were superb! I grilled them first to give them extra flavor, then added them to the honey-vinegar sauce. I did cook them for longer than called for over the stove, because I had them in a deep pan and partially covered. At the very end, I removed the onions from the sauce as suggested and boiled down the remaining liquid in a flatter pan. Best onions I ever had. Served them on top of the steak (only peppered and snow salted the meat as in Bistecca alla Fiorentina) as well as on top of rice. Added beautifully smoked and grilled asparagus. Even Julie said this was one of the best meals I had ever served her and from the queen of the kitchen, that is a compliment!!!
Topped it all off with a version of of Spit Roasted Pineapple (no spit) from page 578, topped with a mixture of fresh red raspberries, black berries, blue berries and strawberries. Yummy in your tummy.
Tracy has a photo or two for me that will have to be added later. These onions are a keeper.
Anyway, having compromised on the beef, I was not about to do so on the onion recipe, but alas, no torpedo onions nor cipollinis nor pearl onions! Not to be deterred, went for large sweet onions and shallots. They worked just fine. Aside from spilling a half a cup of liquid gold (Balsamic Vinegar) during the process, the onions were superb! I grilled them first to give them extra flavor, then added them to the honey-vinegar sauce. I did cook them for longer than called for over the stove, because I had them in a deep pan and partially covered. At the very end, I removed the onions from the sauce as suggested and boiled down the remaining liquid in a flatter pan. Best onions I ever had. Served them on top of the steak (only peppered and snow salted the meat as in Bistecca alla Fiorentina) as well as on top of rice. Added beautifully smoked and grilled asparagus. Even Julie said this was one of the best meals I had ever served her and from the queen of the kitchen, that is a compliment!!!
Topped it all off with a version of of Spit Roasted Pineapple (no spit) from page 578, topped with a mixture of fresh red raspberries, black berries, blue berries and strawberries. Yummy in your tummy.
Tracy has a photo or two for me that will have to be added later. These onions are a keeper.
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