Time to Fire Up the Grill!

A few days ago, I filmed a segment on grilling tips with Norm Karkos from WMTW News Channel 8 here in Portland. If you are like me, you use your grill all year round. If not, maybe you’re just thinking about firing up your grill because the weather is getting nicer! Either way, I thought I would share a few tips with you.

Gas vs. Charcoal Grilling

It is a preference, really: gas is easier because you just turn a knob. It takes only 10 to 15 minutes to preheat, doesn’t require messy cleanup, and you can add mesquite chips or other wood chips to provide a little smoke!

Charcoal grilling involves stacking coals, lighting them, and preheating for at least 30 to 45 minutes. As a general rule, it takes 30 coals to grill one pound of meat. Lighter fluid gives a nasty flavor to the food. A chimney starter is easier to use. An electric starter is another way to go. When the coals are ready, they will be about 80% ash-gray during daylight. They will glow if grilling at night. Spread the coals into a single layer with long-handled tongs.

Here are the methods of grilling that I use:

Indirect Grilling, including Three-Zone Grilling

This technique turns your grill into an outdoor oven. Rake half the hot coals into a double layer at one side of the grill to make a high-heat zone. Leave a portion of the grill without any coals at all for cooking over low heat. The middle area will become your third zone, which will be a medium-heat area. On a gas grill, I turn one burner on high and leave the other burner off. I use the low-heat area to cook tougher, or larger, cuts of meat or whole chickens or turkeys (or racks of ribs, beef briskets, legs of lamb, etc.) when direct grilling would burn the exterior before the center gets hot. I sear thick steaks on the hot side and move them to this low-heat area so they cook more evenly.

Direct Grilling

This means cooking food right over the fire. There’s no better way to grill things that are relatively thin and tender: certain steaks, burgers, sliced vegetables, and fish fillets. Generally, direct grilling is done over medium-high or high heat.

When the grill is covered, heat is kept inside. The food cooks more evenly and keeps moist. When grilling without the cover, the coals are hotter, since added air adds to their burning. Maintaining the appropriate temperature is important for getting good results. The longer the food needs to cook, the lower the temperature needs to be. Do not babysit your food. Raising or lowering the lid changes temperatures quite a bit. To lower the cooking temperature, spread the coals further apart or raise the grid. To raise the cooking temperature, either lower the grid or move the coals closer together.

One quick, easy way to estimate the temperature of the coals is to cautiously hold your hand, palm-side down, above the hot coals. For a very hot temperature, you should not be able to keep your hands over the coals more than 2 seconds. Of course, if you have a gas grill, you have a temperature gauge!

My Best Steak:

You need very few grill accessories and you do not need to pay a lot of money for them! You will need:

• Tongs
• Spatula
• Foil pan
• Foil
• Meat Thermometer
• Grill Brush

Prep ahead of time. You want to enjoy your family and friends the day of the grilling. Meats and vegetables can be prepared and seasoned the day before. In fact, your meat is going to stay juicier if you salt and pepper or apply your rub the day before—the juices that come out with salting will have time to return to the meat!

Filets are very tender and usually rely on bacon to give them flavor and fat. Ribeyes have great flavor but tend to be fatty, but this is my favorite cut. The New York Strip falls somewhere in between. Look for marbling for a flavorful steak and season it the day before.

About 20 minutes before grilling, remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let sit, covered, at room temperature.

1 1/2-inch-thick boneless ribeyes (about 12 ounces each).

Heat your grill to high. Brush the pre-seasoned steaks on both sides with oil. Do not babysit your meat. Try to flip only 2 times. You want juices to stay in the meat.  Do not use a fork. Do not press meat down—juices will leave and result in a dry cut of meat. Place the steaks on the grill and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 minutes.

Turn the steaks over and continue to grill 3 to 4 minutes for medium rare (an internal temperature of 130 degrees F). Do not worry—your steak will continue to cook to 135 degrees while resting. Also, while resting, the juices will return to the meat and keep it moist! Tent loosely with foil and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Why is medium-rare the best way to cook a steak? It’s really simple. The longer you cook a steak, the tougher and drier it gets.

Maine Potato Salad or Grilled Corn Salad…

I had my face in the sunshine yesterday- and it felt great. Spring has sprung and summer is here. Of course, that makes me want to get the grill going full speed ahead. Summer makes me think of eating out doors and barbecues. The most used modern definition of this is the grilling of meats or other foods over an open fire. It used to be made with charcoal briquettes. But now more often than not with a convenient gas grill. Such a shame- the charcoal brings that charcoal flavor and the smoky aromas.

Barbecue is more than a meal. It is an event. People gather for good barbecue in backyards, beaches and parks. We like the smell, we tell stories and drink while barbecuing.

When the first Spanish explorers arrived in the new world they found people preserving meats in the sun. This is an age old and almost completely universal method. The chief problem with doing this is that the meats spoil and become infested with bugs. To drive the bugs away the natives would built small smoky fires and place the meat on racks over the fires. The smoke would keep the insects at bay and help in the preserving of the meat.

Tradition tells us that this is the origin of barbecue, both in process and in name. The natives of the West Indies had a word for this process, “barbacoa”. Some people believe that this is the origin of our modern word barbecue.

Few things are more reminiscent of summer than the smell of meat on a grill. Americans in particular have an appreciation of the rich flavors of food cooked over a flame. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. households own barbecue grills, firing them up more than 2.9 billion times a year. Barbecue societies are springing up all over the country—and the world—and millions of people flock to barbecue contests each year.

Everything that is typically called barbecue has a couple of things in common. Barbecue requires meat. Sometimes we grill vegetables as well. But unless you are a vegetarian you always have meat.

Barbecue meats are always served with a barbecue sauce. There are many versions of such a sauce, but it is usually based on tomatoes and contains any or all of the following: wine, onions, garlic, herbs, mustard, brown sugar and other seasonings. I am going to add blueberries!

In my line of work I sometimes depend on my instincts and gut feelings. So, when I was asked to write about barbecue- Maine style, I immediately thought about Maine blueberries and Maine potatoes! When I throw New England into the mix I add corn on the cob! So those are the ingredients I am going to use to make my barbecue today!

 

Nancy’s Easy Barbecue Sauce

Combine the following liquids:

• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup Worchester sauce
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 dashes of Tabasco Sauce

 

Add the following items:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 ¼ cups of tomato paste
• 1/3 cup of dark brown packed sugar
• (can substitute molasses)
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder or to taste
• 1 Cup or more to your taste blueberries
• Optional:  Chopped Jalapeño pepper with seeds removed. You can add liquid smoke.

 

Directions:

• Pour contents into sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes until solution thickens.
• Strain contents through fine mesh and adjust seasonings to taste: salt/pepper/etc.
• Use immediately or refrigerate up to a week.

Grilled Maine Potato Salad

 

Make Vinaigrette: 

• ¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• ¾ Cup Extra Virgin Oil
• 2 Tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic

Other Ingredients: 

• 10 to 12 Par Boiled Maine Potatoes cut into chunks small enough to be grilled
• 2 Sweet Onions Chopped
• Herbs of your choice to include fresh parsley chopped. Rosemary is a good choice, but so is steak seasoning. Any thing is good really.
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

• Grill Potatoes and mix with vinaigrette and onions, herbs and salt and pepper while hot.

 

Grilled Corn Salad

 

Make Vinaigrette:

• Juice of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ teaspoon of honey
• ¼ Cup of Extra virgin Olive Oil plus 2 tablespoons

 

Other Ingredients:

• 6 ears of corn
• 1 can of black beans or chick peas
• 1 ½ cups of cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup of diced jicama
• ¼ Cup of diced red onions
• 1/ cup of diced peppers
• 1/ cup of diced peppers
• ½ cup of diced peppers
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs of your choice
• Salt and pepper

 

Directions:

• Rub corn with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
• Grill turning occasionally until charred.
• Remove kernels and mix with other ingredients and vinaigrette.

It’s Grilling Time!

I love grills. They are supposed to be boy toys, but I have the best boy toy grill of all and it’s all mine! It is called the EVO Grill. It is big, stainless steel, shiny and has a flat top with two separate burners. And I am the only caterer in Maine with one! Oh, this is not about grills… It’s all about grilling meats. Sorry I diverted, but you do need the grill to grill meats!

I think the only grilled meat that stands on its own without extra flavoring is a rib eye steak. I believe all other meats need a little help; that is where marinades and rubs enter the picture. Grilled meats are perfect after bathing in a liquid marinade or patted down with a flavorful rub.

Marinating tenderizes the meat and can pack tons of flavor. I use 2 cups of marinade for 2 pounds of meat. I like to marinade in a plastic bag so that I am sure to cover the entire piece of meat. Just remember when you are finished with the marinade in the raw meat, throw the marinade away. Refrigerate the bag and the meat while marinating.

The secrets to tender, moist, and tasty meat is the cut you use and the method in which you cook, how long you cook it, and finally, letting the meat rest so the juices stay in the meat.

The best cut for grilling steaks is one inch thick. The best cut for pork chops is 1 ½ inches thick. If you prefer juicy hamburgers, it is best to choose 20% fat ground beef.

The method of cooking is important as well. You should only turn the meat once.  When using sweet sauces such as barbecue it is wise to apply it only towards the end of cooking because the meat could burn. There is nothing better than the fragrance of grilled meat!

You do not need exotic ingredients to be a good cook. Good marinades and rubs are all ready in your cabinet! For marinades, consider using a bottle of Italian salad dressing or just garlic and olive oil, lemon juice, and dried or fresh herbs. Maybe you make a basic grill rub that I have given you here. Surely these items are in your pantry.

Marinades need some oil, acid, and flavoring. The acids you could use are vinegar, citrus juice, or wine – or even yogurt. The acid works on tenderizing the protein and enhances the other flavors. Therefore, a marinade is a really good idea for a tougher cut of meat, such as flank steak. I usually marinate my meats around 4 hours or so. Who has time to plan any farther in advance?

Rubs are great! You can change the total flavor of the meat with different herbs and spices. Try Latin or Cajun, Spanish or Italian, or Chinese rubs. The possibilities are endless. Just rub the “rub” all over the meat. Let it rest at least 30 minutes. You can create a restaurant taste without the fuss of specialty sauces. Plus, your family and friends will love what you have presented to them to eat!

The age old problem is how long do you cook the meat?  How do I know when it is done? The first piece of advice that I can give you is do not move the meat around. Put it on the grill and give it a chance to sear so that when you do turn it, it will not stick to the grill. Do not cut the meat to see if it is done. Also, this means do not use a fork to pierce the meat while grilling. Use a tong. If you cut or pierce the meat you will release all of the great juices of the meat and it will be very dry. The finger test is the best way to test your meat. A rare meat will feel squishy when you use your index finger to test it. A medium rare meat will feel a little firmer like springy and a well done steak feels really firm and taut like a balloon. Don’t worry; you will learn in time.

Remember to let your meat rest 5 minutes before you serve it or cut into it. Cover it with foil and it will stay hot enough to serve. The meat continues to cook and it will also allow time to re-gather the juices that give it the moist good flavor you want.

From my pantry to yours — try these recipes when you dust off your grill. Happy Grilling!

General Barbecue Rub

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano

Mix well and rub onto meat.

Caribbean Marinade

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup rum
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic smashed
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Mix well to marinate.