From Recipes
Posted by Joshua Bousel, September 11, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Each week Joshua Bousel of The Meatwave drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]
I like a good challenge of finding somewhat obscure ingredients, which is what drew me to a chicken recipe involving Aleppo pepper, a Syrian dried ground pepper. I thought it would be an easy one since a variety of Middle Eastern markets dot my neighborhood, but after a good afternoon of searching, I ultimately failed and resorted to paprika and crushed red pepper.
Dejected, but not totally down, I soldiered on and finished the recipe of chicken marinated in a yogurt-based mixture, which is then skewered and grilled. Any lingering feelings of disappointment quickly faded upon tasting. Aleppo pepper or not, this chicken were delicious.
Moist and wonderfully flavored—with spice from the pepper and tang from the acids in the vinegar and lemons—these skewers are among some of the best I've ever had. Although satisfied, Aleppo pepper is still on a growing list of ingredients I must find, and once I do, there's no doubt I'll be making this again with the real deal.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by cakespy, September 7, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Note: Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy) is a good pal of Serious Eats and an all-around super cool gal. Every Monday she will be chiming in with a delicious dessert recipe.
Ah, Labor Day, that last hurrah of the outdoor eating season. As I see it, there's only one major problem with this grill-friendly holiday: a severe lack of cakes. And so, in an effort to discover cakes that might lend themselves to outdoor preparation, I consulted the most knowledgeable experts I could think of: The Boy Scouts.
According to a vintage Boy Scouts camping recipe pamphlet I found at a local thrift store, these crafty boys have a sweet campfire trick up their sleeves that's easily translated to grilling: they bake their cakes over the fire in hollowed-out oranges. Strange as it may sound, it actually works.
The result is a very moist cake with a whisper of infused orange flavor. Apparently the Scouts don't have qualms about using cake mix. Just about every recipe I found called for it, so that's what I used, in the darkest chocolate variation I could find. However, I see no reason why the recipe wouldn't work with a batch of the homemade cake batter. If you do use a cake mix, though, it's OK: you can make up for this culinary sin by making the frosting yourself.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Joshua Bousel, September 4, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Each week Joshua Bousel of The Meatwave drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
I'm a burger purist. I don't think I've ever made a burger at home beyond ground beef, salt, pepper, and a slice of cheese. So I can't explain what possessed me to grill a green chile cheeseburger this week, but I'm glad it happened. I've seen and read about the green chile burgers before, but never actually had one. My attempt was more of a personal imagining of what one should be, not a recreation of the beloved Southwestern favorite.
I started by grilling a few poblanos and a thick slice of onion until fully charred, removed the chile skin, and coarsely chopped the two together. Then I mixed ground chuck with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, formed a patty, cooked it to medium-rare and finished it off with a slice of pepper jack. The burger, on a toasted bun with the chile-and-onion mixture, quickly went down the hatch.
The first thing that hit me was the spice. Having cooked with poblanos in the past, I was expecting a mild and fruity flavor, but instead got a good kick of heat. This was in a nice balance with the beef, which had an earthy quality from the chili powder and cumin. Each bite I kept expecting just "burger," but instead was greeted by the pleasing mix of Southwest flavors that got me wondering if my "simple burger as perfection" notion has room for company.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 4, 2009 at 4:15 PM
When it's time to grill, the one thing I crave most is a great big steak. I'm talking a massive 16-ounce, one-inch thick monster. Accept no substitutes. One of these guys can easily feed two, and I actually still had leftovers. Steak and charcoal are quite fond of each other so I didn't need to look hard for a recipe. I just used the instructions for cooking a steak in Bobby Flay's Grill It! which amounted to cooking it over high-heat for about five minutes per side. What hung me up was the pairing part.
I had a glut of tomatoes and basil, so those two had to be involved. I found this recipe in the Chicago Tribune, which tops grilled thick tomatoes with a spoonful of pesto. My plan was to serve the tomatoes and pesto next to the steak to create a fresh sauce—it worked beautifully.
The fresh pesto lightened up the meal and the tomatoes added a much needed acid. Sure a steak served alone is always a treat, but this is a great way to spruce up the simple meal with the summer bounty.
Continue reading »
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Robyn Lee, September 4, 2009 at 2:45 PM
[Flickr: wickenden]
It's that time of the year again. Celebrate the end of summer fun by firing up the grill and slapping on some meat patties! Adam has grilling tips for burger-making n00bs. Here are some recipes to get you started:
Hope you all have a good weekend, whether burger-iffic or not!
From Recipes
Posted by Caroline Russock, September 4, 2009 at 12:30 PM
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Cookouts are, without fail, some of the most time-consuming get-togethers. Whether you are grilling some burgers and dogs or an entire pig, the meal inevitably hits the table much later than expected. Cooking on an open flame is unpredictable—even the most seasoned grillers can fall prey to a meat-plus-fire disaster.
But the beauty of a cookout is that it's not a meal—it's more of a social gathering. Nobody knows this better than Chis Lilly. He is just as concerned with spending quality time with his friends and family as he is with making award-winning barbecue.
This recipe for Slow-Smoked Beef Brisket from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book is a time commitment, about nine to ten hours to be exact. Fortunately the active work time is minimal. The bulk of your time will be spent hanging in the backyard with those who are near and dear.
Win 'Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Deb Harkness, September 4, 2009 at 11:00 AM
"Gewürztraminer is grown in Germany and Alsace, two regions known for fine sausages, so it's no surprise the grape goes well with hot dogs."
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Many hot dogs will be slapped into buns this weekend in honor of Labor Day. Some will anoint them with mustard, others will go for "Chicago style," loading everything but the kitchen sink on top. Even without toppings, hot dogs are tricky because they combine sweet and salty flavors. So what's a wine drinker to do?
Of course, you can do what you like—there are no absolute rules when it comes to wine and food pairing. But if hot dogs have stumped you in the past, I've got recommendations for sparkling, Gewürztraminer, rosé, and Merlot wines.
Continue reading »
Posted by Lucy Baker, September 4, 2009 at 10:00 AM
For many of us, Labor Day weekend means travel. Whether you are headed to a country lake, a seaside resort town, or a friend's pool house, you're not packing a pantry's worth of ingredients and equipment. But just because you won't have your trusty rolling pin or Tahitian vanilla beans handy doesn't mean you have to rely on uninspired store-bought desserts. Grilled pound cake is a luscious, unfussy option that couldn't be easier to prepare—especially when you use a boxed mix.
Betty Crocker's Pound Cake Mix ($2.89) calls for nothing more than 3/4 cup of water or milk and two eggs. Simply beat everything together with an electric mixer (or by hand) and bake in a 9x5-inch loaf pan for approximately 50 minutes. My cake emerged from the oven with a perfect golden-brown crust and buttery yellow interior. It had a heavy, crumbly texture and a simple, sweet flavor—the perfect foundation for a show-stopping summer dessert.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Blake Royer, September 3, 2009 at 4:00 PM
My wife and I spent the last week moving across the country in a big yellow truck from Brooklyn to Bucktown, Chicago, and along the way we relied on the kindness of friends and relatives for meals and places to stay. One of those meals that particularly stood out for me was this grilled pork tenderloin. We ate it outside with the chill of the evening setting in, and the flavor lingered with me for some time. So last night, with most of my life still in towering piles of cardboard boxes in every corner of our new apartment, I called my friends for the recipe, with the idea that the simple ingredients for the marinade—soy, garlic, brown sugar, and cumin—would be easy to find.
They were, and the recipe itself is a cinch. The marinade is vaguely about Asian flavors with cumin thrown in; the person who served it to us said her friend invented it. The savory, rich flavor of soy and garlic bring out the same in the pork; brown sugar adds sweetness; and the cilantro, which wilts a bit from the heat of the pork, is a burst of freshness.
This would be a superb idea for Labor Day grilling, something a little different to cook alongside usual fare.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Caroline Russock, September 3, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Big Bob Gibson was well-known for many reasons. First off, he was a big, friendly guy—six-foot-four and around 300 pounds, hence the nickname. Secondly, he had an unsurpassed gift for making some pretty amazing barbecue. But if you ask any of the residents of Decatur, Alabama, they'll tell you that Big Bob Gibson is famous for his white sauce.
Big Bob's serves countless racks of ribs and perfectly cooked brisket, but the real draw is the barbecued chicken. The chicken itself isn't that complicated—just whole butterflied chickens rubbed with salt, pepper, and oil, and grilled over hickory until golden. The magic lies in the white sauce the chickens are submerged in once they've finished cooking.
The Gibson clan has tried to keep this unique white sauce recipe under wraps up—until now. Chis Lilly, heir to the Big Bob empire, has generously decided to share his family's secret barbecue sauce recipe in Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book.
The white sauce is a creamy, rich, and mayonnaise-y concoction with a kick of lemon, vinegar, horseradish, and cayenne. If you're a fan of ranch dressing with Buffalo wings, this is right up your ally.
Win 'Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book'
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book to give away this week. Enter to win here »
Continue reading »
Posted by Nikki Goldstein, September 3, 2009 at 10:30 AM
[Photographs: Nikki Goldstein]
I always think that grilling is a great group activity. That is, until twenty hungry stomachs show up and you realize that the grill can only hold six burgers and a few hot dogs.
It may not be the end-all solution to the problem, but Fire Wire makes flexible skewers that are fantastic space-savers in this kind of situation. They’re made from stainless steel cable–style wire, which means they're sturdy enough to be used and reused but bendy enough to be wrapped around whatever configuration of meatiness is already cooking away.
I had my first encounter with Fire Wire skewers several weeks ago when I saw them at a local kitchen goods store. I looked at the price tag—$10 for a pack—but when I noticed that a pack only included two skewers, I passed, thinking I’d never be full off of two kebabs. But the thought of them kept lingering in my mind and eventually, I knew what had to be done—if they were that intriguing, it was time to put them to the test.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Caroline Russock, September 2, 2009 at 5:00 PM
The following recipe is from the September 2 edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
When I think about lamb shanks visions of long-braised, falling off the bone osso bucco immediately spring to mind. I've never really thought of preparing lamb shanks any other way until I came upon this recipe for Barbecue Lamb Shanks from Chris Lilly's Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Barbecue has always been about taking inexpensive cuts of meat and transforming them into something delicious through low and slow cooking.
Lamb shanks are an ideal grilling candidate since they have plenty of fat—the fat will melt and flavor the meat. The seasoning paste that the shanks are marinated in will ensure that the shanks are not only flavorful, but will also have a nicely browned, crunchy crust.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Though summer is nearly over, I'm still on a grilling kick. I don't have much gear—just a tiny grill and a pair of tongs, but something about the warm charcoal really elevates a simple meal. Applying this anti-overthinking, simple grilling principle, this recipe from Bobby Flay's Grill It! involves very few ingredients but over the flame, they coalesce into something special.
Each component is essential. The nectarines, in particular, are a perfect balance for the chop. My favorite bites manage to fit as many components as possible onto a fork. The blue cheese, not the first thing I think of adding to grilled food, works wonderfully. I guess Bobby Flay knows what he is doing.
Cooking times will vary wildly depending on your pork chop. Flay recommends cooking monster one-inch thick boneless center cut chops. They need to be cooked for four to five minutes per side. I used some half-inch thick chops, which really only needed a quick sear of about two to three minutes per side. To achieve the proper doneness, use a meat thermometer or the very practical poking method.
Continue reading »
From Recipes
Posted by Blake Royer, September 1, 2009 at 4:30 PM
[Photograph: Blake Royer]
The phrase "beautifully simple" comes to mind when I eat this meal, a favorite around my house in the summertime. It's the kind of dinner that comes together peacefully, then is set out on platters for friends to enjoy as the night stretches on. The potatoes are boiled, the green stuff is blanched, the salmon is grilled, and, depending on your taste, you can take as much of each as you're in the mood for.
I could go on for awhile about composed salads, but suffice it to say that in my book there is no better summer meal. Everything tastes wonderful at room temperature, and it's all about balance.
The recipe here is for the brilliant limey potato salad—the rest is easy. This time it was a combination of snap peas, shelled peas, asparagus, and greens next to the grilled salmon; it could just be greens or whatever might be in season. Toss them all with a good lemony vinaigrette just before eating.
Continue reading »
