Monday, March 19, 2012

Grill Tip of the Week # 1


There is nothing more frustrating then opening your grill and getting ready to put food on and seeing that there is still gook from your last BBQ sitting on the grill. Taking a few steps between BBQs can really make a difference in how your grill looks and how your food tastes.



I find it good policy to at least once a year to completely clean out your grill, this will reduce the amount of smoke that develops when you are grilling as well as keep any foreign flavors from your grill out of your food.

1. Get a good wire brush
2. At the end of your BBQ while the grill is still warm, brush down the grates to remove stuck on food before it has a chance to cool and get really stuck on.
3. If you have a cast iron grate, once its completely clean, take a paper towel and dip it in some oil to coat the grate and keep it in good shape. With cast iron grates, you have to keep a close eye on making sure it doesn't develop rust.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Grilled Fresh Blackfish with Grilled Vegetables

I am sure that if it was up to most of us, man and woman would live on meat and potatoes alone. For me, even though Pesach is less than 3 weeks away, I still can't help but think of the 9 days and what will we eat? Thankfully not all of my friends are golfers and I do have a few that are avid fishermen. A few months back, one of them caught for me a fresh black fish that I thought about making on the grill. To do that, I would need direct heat and a multilevel fire since the fish and vegetables would cook too quickly if I put the cover on while they were cooking on the grill.

The key with this recipe is to use as large of a filet as possible and to make sure you follow the directions on how to prepare the grill so the fish doesn't stick. This recipe also uses direct heat for the entire recipe and utilizes a mutli-level fire in the grill.

Ingredients:

Marinade:
1 Lemon
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

(2) Fillets of Fresh Fish with skin on
Eggplant
Bunch Asparagus
Sweet Potato
1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil

Step 1. In a bowl, squeeze the juice of the lemon adding the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2. Thoroughly clean and wash the fish and pour half of the marinade over the fish coating both sides.


Step 3: Fill 3/4 of a chimney with charcoal and light it to start getting the coals hot.


Step 4: On a cookie sheet, cut the eggplant in 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch slices and sprinkle salt on both sides to draw out some of the water. 

Step 5: Wash and slice your sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch slices on a bias. 

Step 6: Cut and prepare the asparagus. Pour the remaining marinade over the asparagus and toss to coat.

Step 7: Once the charcoal is hot, pour the charcoal in the middle of the grill to create a multi-tier fire, replace the grate on the grill and cover the grill to get it hot.

Step 8: Take a few paper towels, roll them, and fold them over to form a neat bundle. Using tongs, dip the paper towels in the vegetable oil.



Step 9: With the soaked paper towel, brush the grill grate and return the cover. After 5 minutes, using the oil soaked paper towels, brush the grates to coat them and recover the grill to bring up the internal temperature. Repeat this process 4-5 times.


Step 10: Place the fish in the middle of the grill (the hottest part of the grill) skin side down with some of the eggplant and sweet potatoes around the fish over the section of the grill that has a medium level heat. Be careful not to overcrowd the grill because if there is not enough airflow through the grates, it will cause the heat to die down inside the grill.


If the grill is not hot enough, or you have not coated the grates well enough, the fish will stick. After 6 minutes, with a spatula test on one corner of the fish to see if the skin has become crisp and if the fish releases from the grill. If it does, flip it over for another 4-5 minutes on the other side. Now would also be a good time to turn over the eggplant and sweet potatoes.


Step 11: Pull off the fish and the eggplant and place the rest of the eggplant and the asparagus in the middle of the grill over the hottest part of the grill, and the eggplant around the outside over the middle level heat.


Step 12: After a few minutes, with tongs move around the asparagus over the grate to make sure they are thoroughly roasted while keeping an eye on the eggplant and the sweet potatoes so they do not burn.

What kind of fish do you like to BBQ on your grill?

Friday, March 16, 2012

I will gladly pay you Tuesday.......

In every house there seems to be that 'go to' meal that parents serve when they need to make a dinner for their family and can't think of anything else to make. In some houses that meal is pasta, while in others it is chicken nuggets or fish sticks. In my house, that meal is hamburgers. During the winter, we are not ashamed to say that we do it under the broiler (a close second to on the grill), but as soon as the weather changes, we are outside and we are grilling. While Everything Is Better Grilled, when it comes to onions on top of my burgers, I prefer caramelized onions. The reason why I do not put onions inside the burgers is because as the meat cooks on the grill, it's connective tissue and collagen shrinks and begins to stick together which is what helps the burger retain its shape. When there are things in the way of those connective tissues sticking together by something like onions, the burgers tend to fall apart on your grill which is not fun. In addition, as the onions cook, they release moisture which also doesn't help the burgers from falling apart. Oddly enough there are people out there (who hopefully stop after reading this) who like to put bread crumbs in the burgers to help them from falling apart??!! Aren't they turning their burgers into meatloaf?

The other great thing I like about this meal is that it takes about 30 minutes to make and no one walks away hungry. I also like this meal on a Thursday night because there usually aren't any leftovers to contend with going into Shabbos.

This recipe makes (5) 6 oz hamburgers.

1.6-1.75 pounds of ground neck and steak
3 onions
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Dry Rub 

As I discussed previously, when I first started making burgers I tried ground chuck as I thought it would have a meatier taste considering which part of the cow it comes from. However my family kept saying that the burgers tasted dry even though they were cooked to medium doneness. I then tried the ground neck and steak and we found the burgers to be juicy with good flavor. Since this is around Pesach time, all the meat is a little more expensive.


The other important tool to have when making the burgers is a good patty maker. The problem with making burgers by hand is that the middle is thicker than the edges so when they cook, they do not cook evenly. I personally like the Progressive International patty maker as it releases the burgers well, makes the dimple, and is easy to clean.


Step 1: Heat your vegetable oil in a pot. Dice your onions, and place them in pot with the preheated vegetable oil. 


Sprinkle some salt over the onions and cover for 3 minutes on high heat to begin drawing out some of the moisture. After 3 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and stir frequently. If the temperature gets too hot or the onions get too dried out before they become fully caramelized, try adding a little water to the pot. I will usually have my son do the stirring while I focus on the burgers.

Step 2: Take the meat out of the packaging and place in a dry bowl.


Step 3: Add your dry rub mixture. 



If you haven't been making a good amount of your rub and storing it in an empty spice container, now might be a good time to start.


Step 4: Mix your meat and spices together. There are individuals who believe that overly mixing your meat when making hamburgers makes them tough. On the contrary, it is not the over mixing that makes them tough, it is the fact that your hands are warm and when you overly work the meat, it warms the meat up. To overcome this, make sure the meat is very cold when you begin mixing it. Make sure the meat is mixed well so that your spices are evenly distributed.


Step 5: Go outside and light your charcoal. For 5 burgers I usually fill a chimney 50-60 percent of the way full of charcoal.


Step 6: While the charcoal is getting hot, go inside and form your burgers. I like to use parchment paper to separate the layers of burgers. I like parchment paper over wax paper because wax paper has a tendency to stick to the burgers while they are waiting to be cooked.


Step 7: Once your charcoal gets hot and you begin to see the white on the charcoal, or it looks like this,  pour it on one side of your grill, and cover your grill to get it hot.


Step 8: Grill your burgers for 4 minutes on each side. Be mindful of flare ups and getting a good crust before flipping.


Step 9: Once the burgers have been cooked on both sides, move them to the cool side of the grill and cover them with the vents open so that they can finish cooking. The thicker the burger is, the longer it will take to finish. 


Step 10: At this point your caramelized onions should be done and your child's arm could rest from the constant stirring.


Step 11: Make sure that you let the burgers rest for a few minutes before you dive in. The resting gives the juices time to settle in the burgers. For me, a perfect burger is medium, for my brother in law, it still needs to be mooing.


How do you like your burgers done?


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Do you 'Grill' or do you 'BBQ'?


smoked chicken and sweet potatoes

People use the words grilling and BBQ interchangeably to describe what they do outside on a grill. However, ask anyone serious about their grill (commonly someone who uses charcoal ) and they will tell you that there are serious differences between the two.

For me, 'Grilling' refers to cooking food over a direct flame, while 'BBQ' will invove cooking food using indirect heat or very low temperatures. Grilling may take a few minutes to prepare the food, while BBQ may take hours or even days depending on the type of meat you are cooking. The long periods of cooking time allows the flavors to fully develop in the meat and for the connective tissue in those tougher cuts of meat to fully break down. In addition, true BBQ allows you to infuse flavors from wood like hickory. This is why thicker cuts of meat and less expensive cuts of meats are more suited for a 'BBQ' style of cooking than 'grilling' which will leave the meat tough.

How Do You Like Your Hamburger?


When it comes to making hamburgers, I prefer to form them myself over buying the preformed in the store. The reasons are that preformed store hamburgers have no spices or seasoning in them, and I also like my burgers a little thicker than the more commonly found quarter pounders. When choosing ground beef, my taste testers (AKA my family) prefer the ground neck and steak that I get at Brachs over the straight ground chuck. I believe it has to do with the fat content in the ground neck and skirt that helps keep the burger juicier when it is cooked over such high heat compared to the ground chuck. I take mine a little pink on the inside.

Ketchup? Mustard? Mayonnaise? Horseradish Sauce?

So many ways to dress your burger and so little time. And who could forget the condiments?

Previously, I was a fan of grilled onions on my burgers but lately every time I make burgers I am working for 45 minutes on perfectly caramelized onions.


As for the condiments, these are the only ones I take with my burgers and caramelized onions



The Kosher Chirp and Turf


As a strictly Orthodox Jew, I do not mix fish and meat together which makes the 'surf and turf' combo a little challenging. In my house, especially with my son, they are not a fan of being pigeonholed when I BBQ by either having meat or chicken. Having hamburgers and hot dogs together evidently doesn’t count as having an outside the box kind of BBQ. A perfect BBQ according to him is when you have a little of both, thus the birth of the Kosher Chirp and Turf. The challenge I have found is when I need to time the BBQ so that all the components are done at the same time because where is the joy in finishing your hamburger and waiting another 45 minutes for your wings? If up until now you haven’t been making and storing your spice rub in an empty spice shaker, now might be a good time to start.

To make the Kosher Chirp and Turf, you will need:

Your favorite spice rub
Olive Oil
1-2 pounds of Chicken Wings
1 1/2 pounds - 2 pounds of ground beef

Step 1: Clean your wings. Under running water, wash your wings and remove any excess fat or feathers that may still be attached. Although the extra fat on the wings will help 'smoke' them when you move them over to the cooler side of the grill for indirect cooking, it will also cause flare ups which will burn your wings instead of grilling them.

Step 2: Dry your wings well and place them in a bowl. I usually like to double over a few pieces of good paper towels and pat them dry.

Step 3: Add enough olive oil to coat the wings (will depend on how many wings you are making) and liberally cover your wings with your spice rub. Feel free to use your hands to mix the wings and 'rub' the oil and spice mixture over them.



Step 4: Set aside your wings on the counter to marinate while you go outside to prepare and light the charcoal and chimney. If you have charcoal left over in your grill from your last BBQ, reduce the amount of charcoal that you will put in the chimney.  When the charcoal is hot, pour the charcoal on one side of the grill to create a hot side and a cool side and cover the grill.



Step 5: While the grill is getting hot, go back inside to form your hamburger patties and place them in the refrigerator so they stay cold. When I make my burgers, I do not like to add chopped onions inside the burgers, rather I like to make the onions on the outside and use the spice rub that I made to season the burgers. If you like to purchase pre-formed burgers, use the spice rub on both sides of the hamburger patties ( I will be addressing hamburgers and the dimple in a later post).



Step 6: Grill the wings for 3 minutes on each side and then move them to the cooler side of the grill. Cover the wings and cook for 30 minutes.


If you see smoke coming out of the vents at the top of your grill, don’t get alarmed. That smoke is what Weber calls ‘the magic’ as it is the fat and juice that dripped from the wings smoking your wings and giving them some of their flavor. 



Vintage Weber commercial that explains what happens inside a grill when you close the cover.


Step 7: After 30 minutes, go outside and add 8 briquettes on top of the charcoal that is lit and cover the grill again for 10-12 minutes. This step helps bring back up the temperature of the grill so that you have a very hot grill to sear your burgers.

Step 8: Cook your burgers with the grill cover off for 4 minutes on one side, making sure that you are careful not to overcrowd the grill and that you give enough time to get a good crust on the burger. After 4 minutes, turn the burgers over and cook for an additional 4 minutes.



Step 9: Move the hamburgers over to the cooler side so that they can be covered and finish cooking. This is the secret to juicy burgers that come out perfectly. Depending on the thickness of your burger (I like to make thick 6 oz burgers), by the time the outside is done, the inside is still raw. If you leave them on the hot side of the grill too long, either they will burn, and/or they will dry out. By moving them to the indirect side and covering the grill, you allow their temperature to rise more gently while retaining their losing juices. This will also help the wings stay hot and finish cooking.

Step 10: Pull them off at the same time and give your Chirp and Turf a few minutes to rest before diving in.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

What's The Dimple All About?




There has been a lot of discussion about whether or not hamburgers need a dimple before they go on the grill. It happens to be that I use this hamburger patty maker that I got on Amazon for $5.00 (looks like the price went up over the last 2 years) that makes awesome 6 oz. burgers that fit perfectly in the standard hamburger bun.
But the question is, does it really make a difference?
According to Cooks Illustrated:
To prevent hamburgers from puffing up during cooking, many sources recommend making a slight depression in the center of the raw patty before placing it on the heat. But we find the need for a dimple depends entirely on how the burger is cooked. Meat inflates upon cooking when its connective tissue, or collagen, shrinks at temperatures higher than 140 degrees. If burgers are cooked on a grill or under a broiler, a dimple is in order. Cooked with these methods, the meat is exposed to direct heat not only from below or above but also on its sides; as a result, the edges of the patty shrink, cinching the hamburger like a belt, compressing its interior up and out. But when the patty is cooked in a skillet, as in our recipe for Juicy Pub-Style Burgers, only the part of the patty in direct contact with the pan gets hot enough to shrink the collagen. Because the edges of the burger never directly touch the heat, the collagen it contains doesn't shrink much at all, and the burger doesn't puff.
I guess that explains it!


All Charcoal Is Not The Same



For propane grillers, there really isn’t much variation to your fuel options. Either you go stand online on a Sunday morning at the local Home Depot/Loews/Gas Station and fill or swap your tank (depending where you live), or you have a direct hookup with a converter to your house's gas line. Growing up, my family had a gas grill with a direct hookup to the house. I have always said that one of the best wedding present I ever got was a BBQ grill from our neighbors in Bridgeport, CT. For us charcoal users, there are many options out there for us to consider that will not only give the best flavor but also have the best performance during our BBQ. For a long time charcoal grillers reached for the Kingford Blue Bag, otherwise known as the Sure Fire charcoal bag. 





They also used lighter fluid to get their fire going which is a topic we will shelve for another time. The problem I have found with the 'blue' bag is that it gives off a smell, smoke that burns your eyes and throat, and creates a lot of ash. Ash is bad because on a charcoal grill, the idea is to keep the vents open on the top and bottom of the grill to maintain the heat from the charcoal inside. If the bottom vents get clogged with ash from the charcoal, your BBQ won’t last that long. A few years ago a friend at work, Gus, mentioned the competition briquets and how they got his grill hotter with less ash and none of that chemical smell or taste that I was getting with the blue bag. I first found these bags at Home Depot, and ran home to try them.


On my very first BBQ using these charcoal, I saw my grill reaching temperatures that I hadn't experienced before. 


Thankfully we have joined Costco which sells this charcoal in bulk in the form of two 18 lbs. bags.


What kind of charcoal do you use?

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Chicken Breast with Sweet Potatoes Recipe

What I like about this recipe and cooking on charcoal is that it's perfect for two people and whatever charcoal is remaining can be used for the next BBQ by closing the air vents at the top and the bottom of the grill.

Ingredients:

(2) Chicken Breasts - bone in with wing attached
Dry Rub
(2) Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
(2) Sweet Potatoes washed and dried with skin on

Step 1: Wash the chicken and grab a sharp knife


Step 2: Separate the flat (the part with two bones) from the drum of the wing and remove the back portion keeping as much skin as possible on the breast. The skin will help protect the breast as it cooks and help make sure it doesn't dry out.


Once everything is separated you should have 6 pieces for 2 chicken breasts


Step 3: Once everything is separated, dry all the pieces with paper towels.


Step 4: Place the chicken in a clean bowl and add the extra virgin olive oil. This will help the rub stick to the chicken while helping make sure that the chicken doesn't stick to the grill.



Step 5: Add your dry rub



Step 6: Mix well with your hands


Once you are done mixing it should look something like this:



Step 7: Fill a chimney about 3/4 of the way with charcoal and light it


Step 8: While the charcoal gets hot, cut the sweet potatoes on a bias approximately 1/2 inch thick


Step 9: Once the charcoal is hot (about 10-15 minutes depending on wind and outdoor temperature) pour it on one side of the grill and cover to get the grill hot.


Just in case you were curious what the equivalent of watching water boil was for someone who grills




Step 10: Place the chicken with the skin side down on the grill for 3 minutes and then flip over for another 3 minutes on the other side.


Step 11: Move the chicken to the cool side of the grill (the side with no charcoal) and place the sweet potatoes down for one minute on each side to get some grill marks.


Step 12: Once both sides of the sweet potatoes are done, move them to the cool side of the grill and put the cover on to finish cooking using indirect heat.


Step 13: Depending on the temperature of the grill, after 1 hour and 15 minutes, go outside and check on your chicken and potatoes


Step 14: Wait a few minutes before diving in, it is going to be HOT!!