The thrill of the grill

marin county, ca ^ | 21 May 2003 | Debra Hale-Shelton

[stainlessbanner]

GET OUT YOUR apron, dig out Dad's favorite barbecue recipe and fire up the grill. Grilling season is here.

Whether you cook with charcoal, gas or a bit of both, guests will crowd around your picnic table if you follow a few simple grilling tips, not to mention recipes, from some top chefs and cookbook authors.

To many, Dad's barbecued ribs, whether dry or wet, spicy or mild, are every bit as American as Mom's apple pie. Indeed, Abraham Lincoln's parents celebrated their wedding with a barbecue, and George Washington loved to go to barbecues and even wrote about them in his diary, according to Steven Raichlen, author of "How to Grill," "The Barbecue! Bible" and his newest, "BBQ USA" (Workman, 2003, $19.95 paperback).

"Barbecue is very deeply imbedded in our national psyche and has been since even before we were a nation," says Raichlen, speaking by phone from his home in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. He expects to be grilling lobster, corn-on-the-cob and peaches or pineapple for Memorial Day there - not to mention a smoked potato salad.

From ribs to lobster, corn-on-the-cob to bread pudding, grilling can be an innovative yet easy way to cook.

Food Network chef and cookbook author Gale Gand, for example, enjoys grilling fruit on a propane grill on her screened-in porch outside Chicago. Grilling, she saiys in a phone interview from New York, "really intensifies the sweetness without adding extra sugar. The hotter the grill, the more caramelization you'll get" when cooking fruit, says Gand.

Gand, co-owner of Tru restaurant in Chicago, takes part in neighborhood grilling parties and believes grilling holds "the same emotional tie as a hearth or fireplace." People seem to gather around a grill "as if some kind of magic or alchemy is going on," she says.

"You hear that crackling sound of the flames, and you know something great is about to happen," adds Gand, who was planning to try grilled crawfish for Memorial Day.

Advice from Gand: Cooks should be sure to clean the grill once a year and keep an extra tank of propane handy so they won't run out of fuel while cooking dinner.

Raichlen has about 30 grills altogether, between his two homes, one in Massachusetts and one in Florida.

In his household, "Everything from the appetizer to dessert tends to get cooked on the grill," he says. "We allow for the occasional green salad or steamed fiddlehead ferns, however."

Raichlen advises home chefs to keep their grills hot, clean and well-oiled. "Food is less likely to stick to a hot grill grate, and you'll get better grill marks," he says.

To clean a grill, Raichlen recommends using a stiff wire brush or crumpled aluminum foil. He suggests oiling the grate before turning on the grill.

"To do that, you take a paper towel, fold it into a little pad, then dip it into a bowl of vegetable oil and rub it across the bars of the grate."

Rick Bayless, chef-owner of Chicago's highly rated Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants, cookbook author and host of the PBS-TV series "Mexico: One Plate at a Time," calls himself "an inveterate barbecuer."

Bayless puts his charcoal and gas grills to good use every February when he invites friends over for a huge barbecue just to remind them "summer is going to come."

Bayless, whose parents ran Hickory House, a barbecue restaurant in Oklahoma City, says he grew up on the flavors of grilled and smoked meat.

"I don't like charcoal. I like to burn logs," he says. Bayless says it's fun to play around with other woods, "But, man, when I get a hankering for that Oklahoma stuff, it's always hickory."

One of his favorite grilled foods is pizza, particularly one topped with melted goat cheese and bacon. And, of course, he likes to slow-cook pork ribs in the middle of his grill, with the coals banked on either side.

Bayless thinks a common grilling mistake is that people get their fire too hot, causing food to cook too quickly on the outside before it's done on the inside. In fact, Raichlen suggests setting up three grill zones: hot, medium and cool. Then if something is cooking too fast, you can quickly move it to the cool zone.

Bayless also suggests brushing or spraying oil on the food rather than on the grill unless the grate is cast iron.

Cookbook author Rick Tramonto, Gand's partner at Tru, also loves to grill, in fact "almost every night in the summer."

Tramonto plans to grill for about 12 family members on Memorial Day, when he'll also celebrate his 40th birthday (he explains the birthday is actually May 30).

"We're hoping to do some half-lobsters, some shrimp, steaks and some lamb chops," he says. "We'll do corn on the cob. I even do baked potatoes on the grill."

Tramonto believes the most common grilling mistake people make is turning the food too soon. "People don't let stuff cook; they can't just start flipping. They don't let it develop a crust. They don't let it develop a good sear, which seals in all the juices and all the flavor," he says.

Tramonto, who owns one gas and one charcoal grill, says he enjoys grilling because of the great flavor and "the whole ambiance of being outside and cooking outside."

He's adventuresome, too. He says he loves grilling frog legs, he cooks outdoors even when it snows, and hopes others will grill more, too. "It brings family together; it brings friends together; it's a great social setting."

He's particularly fond of his Tramonto Potato Wedges. He says one potato should serve two people. For each potato, this informal recipe calls for a half cup of olive oil, two cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste, and one teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

Wrap each potato in aluminum foil and bake it in a 400 F oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Let it cool about an hour. Make a marinade of the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Quarter the potato into wedges, then cut each wedge in half before dressing the potato with the mixture. Allow the potato to marinate about 10 minutes, then grill on both sides for about 3 minutes each side.

Recipes

Rick Bayless, Chicago chef, cookbook author and TV food-show host, recently shared his recipe for barbecued ribs, which serve six.

Barbecued Ribs

3 large slabs (about 5 pounds total) baby back ribs, OR 2 medium to medium-small slabs (about 5 pounds total) spare ribs

1/3 cup barbecue spice

About 2 cups hickory wood chips

About 1 1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Lay ribs on baking sheet. Sprinkle both sides evenly with spice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 5 hours or up to one day.

One hour before cooking, place wood chips in bowl and cover with water.

About a half hour before cooking, heat half the burners on one side of the gas grill on high. (If your grill has three burners, heat two.)

To set up the grill, pour 1 inch of water into a baking pan (a 13-by-9-inch pan works well) and set over hot part of grill, the lighted burners. Drain wood chips. Wrap in foil. Poke six holes in foil, and set next to water pan directly over high heat.

When wood chips begin to smoke, lay ribs curved-side up over cooler part of grill (unlighted burner). Use a rib rack to stand up ribs when doubling or tripling the recipe so all will fit. Close grill. Turn temperature to medium. Cook 1 1/4 hours for baby back ribs, 2 for spare ribs, until beautifully reddish-brown and meat is tender when tested with fork. If grill has thermometer, it should stay about 325 F during cooking. Brush ribs with barbecue sauce, close grill and cook 10 minutes longer.

To serve ribs: Remove ribs to cutting board. With large knife, cut between bones. Serve with remaining barbecue sauce. Heat barbecue sauce in microwave, so it does not cool off the ribs.

Makes 6 servings.

Recipe from Rick Bayless.

Bayless says the following is the barbecue sauce recipe from his parents' Hickory House restaurant in Oklahoma City.

Hickory House Barbecue Sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 cup ketchup

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, preferably the smaller amount

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar, well packed into cup

1/2 to 1 teaspoon barbecue spice, store-bought or homemade (you can substitute chili powder)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Salt, if necessary

Peel garlic cloves and press through garlic press into small saucepan. Add 3/4 cup water and all remaining ingredients. Gently simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. The sauce is then ready to use.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Recipe from Rick Bayless.

lll

Chef Gale Gand, co-owner of Tru restaurant in Chicago, created the following recipe.

Note: Gand advises that you keep the clams chilled until you are ready to clean them.

Grilled Clams With Drawn Garlic Butter

5-pound sack cherry stone clams

2 sticks of unsalted butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

Rinse the clams in the sink under cold, runny water and scrub with a vegetable brush if needed then drain. Keep chilled till ready to grill.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan, adding the crushed garlic. Heat the butter a little hotter over medium heat to clarify it. Once the butter is totally melted, skim the foam (salts) from the top. Ladle out just the clear yellow butter fat, leaving the garlic and milky dairy liquid and water in the bottom. Keep this clear butter warm.

When you're ready to serve, just pour the clams onto the grill, spread them out on the grates and close the lid. In about 2 to 4 minutes, they'll open up and they're done. Serve on a big platter with small clam forks; drizzle a bit of the butter over, and serve with more drawn butter on the side to dip.

Makes about 20 servings.

Recipe from Gale Gand.

[shotgun]

Awe, now here is a subject near and dear to my heart not to mention my stomach.. I use a 22 inch Weber grill (I have two for big parties) and I always use the indirect method. For you gasser out there this is done by banking the coal on both sides of the grill, yes its is round but there are two sides to a Weber. Then I add my soaked smoking wood chpis to the hot coals. Your neighbors will go nuts from the aroma. Then place the meat, fish, or poultry in the middle with no coals underneath. It takes longer but you are guarenteed that the end result will be the most moist thing you have ever eaten. I can smoke a 13lb turkey in just about 2.5 hours. I can put on a couple of Ribeyes and lobster tails smoked with alder wood... making myself drool

[ThinkingMan]

Yes- I use a salty enough water that it is almost a brine.

[Conservababe]

I am a gasser, yes. But when I want smoke meats, I use a smoker with a water pan and aromatic woods. It takes longer to cook, but needs little attention throughout the cooking.

[realpatriot]

Okay, here's my (not so secret) sauce:

Put the following ingredients in a blender and thoroughly mix:

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of catsup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 ½ tablespoons dry mustard
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 dashes of hot pepper sauce

  Refrigerate what you don't use -- it gets better with age.

  Alright it's not mine, but I wish I was that good to develope something this good.

[Constitution Day]

Ol' Sox: that sounds awesome! I will have to search for the recipe.

One of the absolute coolest restaurants I have ever been in was called Carnivore.
Located in Johannesburg, South Africa, they cook various wild game on Masai swords.
All of the game is raised on a reserve. Some of the meats include wildebeest, impala, ostrich, and gazelle.

Here's a story about the one in Kenya, which has the same menu as the one in Jo'burg.

It's a 'beast of a feast' at wild Kenyan restaurant

[ThinkingMan]

One additional note- living in South Dakota, I have access to some great sweet corn. The salt and the sweetness go well together. If just using regular corn, I don't use near as much salt.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Bump for later

[Conservababe]

Yes you are right. The object of the soaking is really to wet the husks so as to not burn on the grill.

[OldSmaj]

...keep an extra tank of propane handy...

What in the world for?

Oh, yeah, for the patio lights after the sun goes down?

[Lee'sGhost]

Here is a fast method to clean your gas grill after every cook out. Turn burners on high and close cover for ten minutes. Burners? What the hell are burners?

[Vinnie]

Yep, ginger ale. Can use coke ( the drink)if you want.
I just checked with the 'boss'. Put some brown sugar on top of the roast also.

[stainlessbanner]

I visited a Brazilian kitchen in Denver, CO a few years back. They served different meats, grilled, BBQ, marinated, etc. The waiters would come around and knock a few cuts off their swords (giant skewers) just like Ol' Sox mentioned.

I can't remember the name of the place, but man it was good. Our brothers down in Brazil are great chefs!

[CyberCowboy777]

You use a oven or pit?

[shotgun]

I never, ever criticize another mans grilling technique, just like talking politics and religion, at family or friends get togethers. My father in law is a gasser too and generally can do a fair job with a grill, but when we sit down to eat we have to compliment him to stroke his BBQ self esteem. It is just that the whole family knows this and understands that his grillin does not even compare to mine..

One thing about gassing vs the indirect charcoal method is I can walk away for 30 minutes instead of "baby sitting the grill" so the food doesn't burn.

[stainlessbanner]

...keep an extra tank of propane handy...

those new skeeter stoppers use propane, too : )

[Constitution Day]

Oh Lordy. Now she's going to think YOU'RE a BBQ purist too! :)

[Conservababe]

Lordy, I am beginning to think that, yes. I am laughing so hard. On these BBQ threads, it is usually a debate of whether pork or beef..or if tomato or vinegar basting sauce is the best.

This is the first time I have seen the "gassers vs the coalers".

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Is this available via the net or otherwise ?

[ThinkingMan]

right, but the salt does add some flavor (if you use enough). Or I suppose you could just salt and pepper it after smothering in butter. Either way works for me!

[Charles Martel]

Here's one that I've adapted for the grill. Not bad, for a cooking show recipe.

Who Loves Ya Baby-Back?
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary:
Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours 25 minutes
Yield: 2 slabs ribs

Ingredients:

2 whole slabs pork baby back ribs
Dry Rub:
8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon jalapeno seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Braising Liquid:
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Pat the dry rub into the meat. Refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 1 hour. In a microwavable container, combine all ingredients for the braising liquid. Microwave on high for 1 minute.

Place the ribs on a baking sheet. Open one end of the foil on each slab and pour half of the braising liquid into each foil packet. Tilt the baking sheet in order to equally distribute the braising liquid. Braise the ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Transfer the braising liquid into a medium saucepot. Bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce by half or until of a thick syrup consistency. Brush the glaze onto the ribs. Place under the broiler just until the glaze caramelizes lightly. Slice each slab into 2 rib bone portions. Place the remaining hot glaze into a bowl and toss the rib portions in the glaze.

*This recipe makes several batches of dry rub. If more rub is needed, it can be extended by any amount, as long as the ratio of 8:3:1:1 remains the same.

Episode#: EA1B14

Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

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