The Grilling Thread

Sgt PSN · May 19, 2008, 01:26:27 AM

Spring is here and Memorial Day weekend is just a few days away and grilling isn't reserved strictly for game day. I've been using my grill on an almost daily basis for a little more than a week now and as long as it's not raining outside, there won't be many days between now and October that I won't be making dinner on the grill.
The first time I used the grill this year was actually 3 weeks ago when we had a beautiful sunny day sandwiched between several days of cold, windy and rainy weather. So I kicked off the grilling season and threw about 3 lbs of salmon up on it. 6 half pound cuts of fish. 2 marinated in teriyaki, 2 in a sesame ginger type sauce and the other 2 and lemon garlic sauce.

Other than that, my grilling so far has been fairly boring. A steak here, chicken breast there, a few pork chops, blah blah blah. Nothing fancy.

Yesterday I took a couple chicken breasts and spinkled a little seasoning salt and garlic salt on them and wrapped each of them with 2 pieces of bacon, 1 width and 1 length-wise. Then I let them marinate overnight in a bbq sauce/honey mustard/heinz 57 sauce mix. Went home for dinner tonight and threw them on the grill and holy shtein they were delicious.

Also, I like taking a bunch of sliced mushrooms and adding a tblspn of soy sauce, 1 tblspn of minced garlic and about 1/4 cup of any marinade (my fave is teriyaki) and putting them in a foil "bowl" and set it on top of the grill as well and keep them there for about 10-15 minutes. Mmmm-mmmm, bitch!

I know some of you fargers have some mad skills on the grills so spread the wealth and give me the recipes to some of your signature dishes.

General_Failure · May 19, 2008, 04:38:24 AM

I was going to grill yesterday, but got rained out. Today will be, if the weather is nice enough, steak and burgers. I'll probably make some of my no-milk mashed potatoes and throw some store bought seasoning on everything.

Sgt PSN · May 19, 2008, 05:10:58 AM

Ever throw a shrimp on the barby?

Geowhizzer · May 19, 2008, 05:44:19 AM

There's a season up there? We never stop grilling in Florida.

MadMarchHare · May 19, 2008, 06:55:48 AM

I grilled year round when I lived out east. In Chicago, it's too much trouble to remove the 2-3 feet of snow on and around the grill in winter.

rjs246 · May 19, 2008, 08:00:07 AM

I make delicious hamburgers. Actually ground-beef products in general I'm very proficient at. Meatballs, chili, burgers. But don't come at me with no stinking meatloaf. farg meatloaf.

PoopyfaceMcGee · May 19, 2008, 08:00:18 AM

I would live in Chicago if I hated myself.

But seriously, the grilling season here ends around Thanksgiving and starts again just after Presidents Day.

Seabiscuit36 · May 19, 2008, 08:02:55 AM

I'm a huge fan of taking Flank Steak, putting feta cheese and spinach in the middle, throw a little pepper and salt on top, then rolling it up and slicing it. From there, i season it with a little Montreal Steak seasoning, and toss it on the grill.

Zanshin · May 19, 2008, 08:08:56 AM

I got a great deal on a nice, new grill a few weeks ago. I've been doing quite a bit of the usual burgers/dogs/chicken/steak...but I like to do some other things on there, too.

If you haven't done it, quesadillas are great to make on the grill-- just pack the tortilla up with whatever it is you like, fold it, then brush the outside with olive oil and grill away.

And another different sort of thing I made on Saturday was pizza on the grill. Either buy or make dough, then work it flat. Brush it with olive oil, and put it directly on the grates over a medium heat-- make sure the grill is preheated so that the dough doesn't stick. While that side cooks, brush the other side with olive oil, then flip the dough to cook the other side. After that I put on a bit more olive oil, a ton of minced garlic, some orgegano, part-skim mozzerella cheeze and topped it off with a copious amount of crumbled thick-cut bacon that I'd grilled right before making the pizza. The grill gives it a nice flavor. Great stuff, once you get past the decidedly rustic look.

Cerevant · May 19, 2008, 08:13:23 AM

Here's a little something I picked up watching a grilling bit on Food TV: Barbecue sauce is not for marinating - you should put BBQ sauce on late in the cooking, enough time for it to get carmelized, not enough time for it to get scorched.

Before cooking you should use a rub or a marinade - something with vinegar, typically (the Heinz 57 probably did the trick), soy sauce also works well as a base. McCormick has a nice collection of rubs for an off-the-shelf solution - I've been pretty pleased with the results. Rubs also tend not to have sugar (see scorching, above) which makes them a great option for low-carb cooking.

Seabiscuit36 · May 19, 2008, 08:31:34 AM

Cooking Ribs, we always cover our ribs in white vinegar, then add water to get it above the ribs, and put them into the oven for an hour. The vinegar helps the meat break away easily from the bones. Once they are done in the over, cover them in corriander, garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper. I'll do a light bbq sauce covering, cook them for 5 minutes at medium heat on the grill. Then cover them with sauce pretty thick, and cook for another 5.

Sgt PSN · May 19, 2008, 08:34:03 AM

Yeah, I normally don't let the meat marinade in just bbq sauce but since I had a few other sauces mixed in with it yesterday for my chicken, I decided to give it a whirl and see how things turned out. Naturally, I was right on the money. McCormick and Lowry's are the 2 main products I use for seasonings and marinades but there's a few others I really like. A-1 makes a great garlic and herb marinade and I can't recall the name off the top of my head, but there's this Korean BBQ sauce out there that is exceptional on pork chops.

Zanshin....I'm guessing you've got yourself a fancy schmancy gas grill, eh? I won't go so far as to say that gas grills suck but I definitely prefer me some charcoal for my grilling. I do have a small portable gas grill though that I use for camping, tailgating, etc.....mostly because I don't have to worry as much about cleanup.

SunMo · May 19, 2008, 09:02:23 AM

i've been getting into salmon lately, getting it at restaurants and i got some at the store to eat at home. the problem is, i have no idea how to prepare it. my wife got some right from the seafood counter at the store, so i think it still has the skin on it. so if someone can give me some pointers on how to prep it and how to grill it, that would be sweet.

rjs246 · May 19, 2008, 09:06:07 AM

Quote from: SunMo on May 19, 2008, 09:02:23 AM
i've been getting into salmon lately, getting it at restaurants and i got some at the store to eat at home. the problem is, i have no idea how to prepare it. my wife got some right from the seafood counter at the store, so i think it still has the skin on it. so if someone can give me some pointers on how to prep it and how to grill it, that would be sweet.

A good trick for grilling salmon: grill the non-skin side first for a few minutes. Flip and grill the skin side for the remainder (majority) of the time. That way if/when the salmon sticks to the grill you can just run the spatchula between the skin and the meat without losing anything in the fire.

Rome · May 19, 2008, 09:07:03 AM

Quote from: Seabiscuit36 on May 19, 2008, 08:02:55 AM
I'm a huge fan of taking Flank Steak, putting feta cheese and spinach in the middle, throw a little pepper and salt on top, then rolling it up and slicing it. From there, i season it with a little Montreal Steak seasoning, and toss it on the grill.

Butterflying it is the only pain in the ass in that scenario. I bought a chef's knife from a company called Global that makes cutting from veggies to the thickest cut of beef simple, though. Cost a pretty penny but if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, (as I have over the past three months) then it's definitely worth the dough.