Grill Master 101

Well, I kinda stepped in it last time: I have said time-and-time again that cooking is NOT a science…it is an ART. Last time I made reference to “the science of cooking”. I got a few comments from people who wondered why I was talking about “science”, when I have always said cooking ISN’T science… OK, let me bust a few definitions for ya (start the hip-hop rhythm for me here)

COOKING is the act of heating food and ingredients for a desired result.

BAKING, on the other hand IS a very scientific process of combining ingredients, with a desired chemical result (batter or bread rising, etc), and IS dependant on exact “scientific” measurements.

If you are baking bread, or a cake, you need correct ratios of liquid (in the form of milk, water, eggs, oils, etc) and dry ingredients PLUS leavening (except for ethnic breads like Jewish breads or tortillas). I can actually GIVE you a recipe to make your own baking powder, but that is too scientific for this discussion.

Cooking, whether on a stove, in a slow cooker, over an open fire, or on the grill depend LESS upon EXACTS… and you can adjust things as you go along, to correct thickness, or flavors. THAT is where the ART is!

The reason the whole topic of cooking “science” came up, was because I was making a meatloaf on the grill, and my coals had slowed down to between 250-300° F / 121-149° C, and I knew my mentioning that would concern you, my astute and curious students. Unfortunately, with the invention of the thermostatically controlled oven, we have become accustomed to simply turning the dial to 350°F / 177°C, and walking away. BUT, what do you suppose the absolute MINIMUM cooking temp REALLY is?

Let’s review our 5th grade science… pure water, at “sea level”, freezes at 32° F / 0° C, at which point it turns from a liquid, into a solid (actually “crystalline solid” according to my sister, the World’s Greatest science teacher) Water boils at 212° F / 100° C, at which point it goes from being a liquid, and becomes a gas, in the form of steam. So, with that knowledge refreshed in our memories… what do you think the ABSOLUTE lowest temp at which you can cook and food will be “done” is? 212° F / 100° C! All you NEED to do is “boil” the water molecules in your food, to produce cooked results!

In reality, slow-cookers (i.e. “crock-pots”) can cook at even lower temps… 165-170° F… and as we remember, beef only needs to be at that temp in the center to be considered safe to eat… but slow-cookers, by very definition, take a LONG time.

The bottom line is THIS: 400° F / 205° C will cook FASTER, but low and slow will actually cook it better, with better flavor results! Cooking should NOT be a race, but a slow, enjoyable river cruise, with the destination being a tasty meal at the end!

So, back to my aforementioned meatloaf, it took 2 hrs to finish cooking, but, the results were SO worth it!

I will throw one more hunk of bait out here, to see if anyone bites, and if they do, I will do an article about it: paper burns at 451° F / 233° C. The significance of that is, all around the world, in 3rd world countries and in remote outback areas, survival camps and Boy Scout camps, people build solar ovens out of commonly discarded materials. Namely cardboard boxes, aluminum foil and clear plastic. An oven constructed of these materials can cook food, and in many cases is the only thing that allows people to drink what would be normally contaminated local water supplies. They can sterilize the water by boiling it, but the oven does not get so hot that it burns the cardboard from which it is built. Again, proving what I am saying about food cooking at lower than expected temps.

TODAY’S RECIPE – GRILL ROASTED SPUDS

Here is a simple and quick potato recipe I dreamed up while laying in bed. I was hungry, and this just sounded good to me. I made it today, and it was every bit as tasty as it sounded. It’s simple, and it’s easy… Oh and 100% vegetarian!

Ingredients:

1 or 2 medium potatoes per person
A medium or large sweet onion
Olive or Canola Oil
Apple cider or sake vinegar
Seasoning of your choice (I used Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper and Herbs)
(optional) A few drops of sesame oil

1. Start your charcoal in your chimney
2. Scrub the potatoes, leaving the skins on
3. Slice the potatoes length ways, abt ¼ inch thick
4. Put the slices into a bowl large enough to hold them all and have room enough to stir them.
5. Drizzle enough oil over the slices to coat them (I also added a few drops of sesame oil because I had it on hand from Chinese cooking… I LOVE the smell and taste)
6. Do the same with a couple tablespoons of the vinegar
7. Sprinkle with dry seasoning
8. Gently stir them with a spoon (gently, so as not to break them). Do this a few times at a few minute intervals, until all of the slices are coated with oil and spices.
9. Slice the onion across its equator into ¼ inch slices
10. Pour the coals out, spread them and place the cooking grate on the grill.
11. Place the sliced potatoes and onions over the heat, and close the lid. If you have any extra of the oil mixture in the bottom of the bowl, you can drizzle that on the potatoes on the grill. Warning: it may flare up if the oil drips onto the coals… On the other hand, you probably won’t miss your forearm hair, anyway.
12. Turn them after a few minutes, and you can keep turning them until they are a beautiful golden brown.

Here is one of those recipes that you can experiment with, and, in most cases, not mess up too badly. This is where the “art” of cooking begins. You can try adding minced garlic, different oils (although I wouldn’t recommend melted butter…butter burns too easily). You can also use any number of spices, or herbs.

I hope I didn’t bore you too badly with all the “science” talk. You can put your pencils down now, and the only test will be when you get out to the grill. Now get outside and cook something!

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Rejoice my students! Your Grill Master has returned from his sabbatical and is prepared to enlighten you with another summer’s worth of good eats in the backyard!

It has been a strange spring this year. Many changes, both good and bad have happened, but let’s focus on only the GOOD, shall we? It also was an incredibly wet spring here on America’s North Coast, so getting outside to cook would have meant getting wet, and as those who know me can attest, I am a delicate flower who would wilt in the rain…

Hopefully y’all have at least gotten the grill out, cleaned it, and have done some burgers and dogs, waiting for my return…good… Let’s jump right in…

Today I want to take us back to using our grills as an outdoor kitchen. If you remember in the past, I have made everything from hors d’oeuvres to desserts on the backyard barbie. The benefits of doing entire meals outside are many… not the least of which is using the grill to cook and bake doesn’t heat up the inside of your house any, keeping it cooler in the summer.

Also as you remember, I am a charcoal guy… propane is fine for a quick burger or dog fest (not to be confused with a few college parties I went to with no girls showing up…that would be a “sausage fest”), but in my NOT so humble opinion, Kingsford charcoal, a charcoal chimney, and a good old fashioned Webber or other quality grill is the way to go. I know the propane people follow the teachings of the prophet Hank Hill, but truth be told, you have more control over your heat… not only the intensity, but the LOCATION of it. I have yet to see a propane grill that can do indirect cooking like charcoal. If you would like to see my discussions on this topic, checkout the links at the right… look for “indirect”… in fact if you wish, you can review all of last year’s materials, if you need a refresher.

So, today I want to give you first an idea for a simple and CHEAP piece of cookware, then a recipe in which to use it! :

I LOVE meatloaf… not the singer, he’s OK… but the food item… my Aunt Dorothy made the hands-down BEST meatloaf EVER. Hers was so firm, when it cooled you could slice it as thin as bologna for sandwiches. When I think about the things I am particularly good at cooking, the majority of them are either stuff my mom or Aunt made, or restaurant fare I want to be able to make at home.

One of the things I do NOT like about meatloaf is when it cooks in the loaf pan… steeping in a pool of grease and fat. To combat that, I made a simple modification to a loaf pan that helps some of the grease drip away, and the whole thing cost me $3.18 (including tax) at the Dollar Store!

What you need:

Loaf pan (2 for $1.00 at the DS)
Small Wire cooling rack ($1)
9×13 pan ($1)

Tools:

A drill or a large awl

It is THIS easy:


1. drill or punch 6-8 holes around the bottom edges of the loaf pan (fig 2a)
2. Assemble the three items as seen in fig 2a

This does not let ALL the juices drip out, causing it to be dry. It only gives the excess grease someplace to go. This was actually built to use in the kitchen, I just figured it would work swell on the grill too!

A couple more quick notes: You can use disposable aluminum load pans as well, and the drip pan doesn’t NEED to by 9×13… just large enough that the entire loaf pan has a drip catcher under it. Now onto the recipe:

MESQUITE SMOKED MEATLOAF

Meat loaf is one of those things, that if you ask 20 cooks how they make it, you will get 23 answers. Meatloaf is actually an invention of the Great Depression of the 1930s. To make the food budget go farther, cooks found additives to put in the ground meat… it gave you MORE food, for the same amount of beef. (Curiously, this is the same reason we now put kidney beans in chili…traditionally it was all meat and chilies… “chile con carne” means “chilies with meat”)

The basic rules of meatloaf are:

1. meat – it can be straight ground beef or a beef mixture with sausage, ground chicken, turkey, etc
2. loaf – traditionally bread chunks or crumbs. You can also use cracker crumbs. I like oatmeal, personally. Oatmeal not only acts as a filler, but also ads taste and raises the nutritional value…and ads fiber.
3. a binder – eggs to help firm it all up

Veggies in meatloaf are controversial. I like onion, garlic, and MAYBE a little celery, but I am a purist… I like two things in my meat loaf… MEAT and LOAF.

So here is the recipe, you can make changes to it, but I will also give you warnings about doing that as we go along.

You will need:

2 to 2 ½ lb of lean ground beef or a mixture of your choice

2 eggs

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or 1-2 t of pre minced garlic

½ medium sweet onion, minced

1-2 c of oatmeal (I have used both quick oats and long cooking with good results)

Seasoning… you can use whatever you like… Lowry makes a nice meatloaf seasoning packet. If you use your own fave, abt 1-2 T. I like Emeril’s Original Essence.

(optional)
1 handful of mesquite smoking chips.

1. (optional) Put the mesquite chips into a bowl and cover with water… you can do this as far in advanced as a day, but let them soak for at least 1 hour.

2. Prepare your grill for indirect cooking… if you need a refresher on how that works, you can click HERE.

3. In a large bowl place the meat. Punch a crater into it.

4. Into the crater, crack the eggs.

5. Put the garlic, seasoning and onion into the crater.

6. Pour about ½ c of your oatmeal in and begin mixing it all together.

After things are mixed, check the consistency. You don’t want the mixture stiff and dry, nor do you want it wet and sticky. Add more oatmeal slowly, until the meatloaf is “tacky” without being too dry or too sticky. I know… this is a judgment call, but it is one of those things you can get better at with practice. If you should happen to “over dry” it, don’t panic! Add Worcestershire a few drops at a time to add moisture, if needed.

7. Put the mixture into the pan.

8. Brush the top with a glaze…some people use straight ketchup, some use ketchup and brown sugar, some use BBQ sauce… for tonight’s meatloaf I used a little spaghetti sauce that I had on hand… cooking is not a science, it is an ART… improvise! Use what you have on hand!

9. Assemble the pans as shown in fig 2b, and place on the grill for indirect cooking.

You will want to start with about 6-8 burning coals on each side. Once the pan is set, put the drained chips on top of the red hot coals (oh yeah…remember to DRAIN them… pouring the water on the charcoal is a BAD idea). Close the lid, be sure your vents are open all of the way.

Set your timer for 30 minutes. When the timer goes off, open the lid (this should be the FIRST time you have done this, by the way), add 3 or 4 more coals to each side, and put the lid back on. Set your timer for another 30 min.

When my coals were fresh, my grill temp was about 350°F / 177°C. After the first 30 minutes, it cooled down to about 250°F / 121°C… Many people will recoil when I tell them this, thinking it is TOO cold to cook. Tell you what, ACCEPT this fact for now, and next article, I will explain the SCIENCE of how cooking works, and why this is MORE than an OK temperature at which to cook. (I know I said cooking is not a “science” but there are still scientific principles involved in the mechanics of it… most people cook their whole lives and never even THINK about it.)

After the 2nd 30 minute timer goes off, check the temperature of your meatloaf. Using a digital thermometer, stick the probes into the center (the thickest) part of the meatloaf, being careful to NOT to go all the way through and touch the metal pan. Give it a minute or so to stabilize. Beef should be 165-170° F / 74-77° C in the center to be considered safely cooked.

Chances are it will NOT be done at this point. Add a few more coals, close the lid, set the timer this time for 20 minutes. After the time goes off, check the temp again. Do this for 10 or 20 minute increments, until the center reaches the desired temperature. Mine tonight took about 2 hours. Many people may say “wow, that’s a long time to bake a meatloaf! I PROMISE I will explain the mechanics of how cooking works next time… just remember these thing:

a. The meat MUST be at least 165-170° F / 74-77° C in the center to be considered safely cooked.

b. Slow cooked food ALWAYS tastes better.

c. By cooking this on the grill, you did not use any electricity or gas to run your oven

d. You did not heat up your kitchen or house with the oven, saving more energy by not making your AC have to work harder.

e. You generally shouldn’t “smoke” indoors.

A consideration, if you decide to alter this recipe is if you add more vegetables, you need to be aware of the extra liquid they may add to the mixture. Even if your first try isn’t real firm, it will still taste good! You just need to remember what you did, and alter it next time.

So, once the meatloaf is done, using hot pads, pull the whole thing off of the grill and set it all on a hot pad on the counter or stove top for a few minutes. This gives the meat a chance to reabsorb juices. After 5-10 min or so, use a spatula and release the sides of the pan from the loaf. If it is firm, you should be able to turn it out onto a plate. I like to turn the glazed side back up, since that is where the flavor is.

So that’s it for now… hey… follow me on Twitter… Have a great one…now get outside and cook something!

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Meat Loaf.

Did you SERIOUSLY think I would talk about meatloaf, and NOT post a picture of Meat Loaf? You must not know me very well, then

As promised, my turkey recipe, in time for Thanksgiving! There are a few articles I can’t wait to write…this is one of them. I know… I am a geek, so sue me. I am going to dispense with the usual chit-chat, because I am excited to share this!

The whole concept of doing a turkey on the grill was foreign to me, until a former friend of ours showed me how easy and yummy a turkey semi-smoked and cooked on the grill can be. I think most people have never done it, thinking there is some great mystery to it. The truth is, you need a few things and that’s it.

You will need:

Let’s go!:

1. Thaw that rascal out! I cannot stress this enough! This is being published the Monday before Thanksgiving 2010. Seriously, if your bird is still frozen, GET HIM OUT NOW! Stick him in the fridge or a spare cooler, to keep him clean and keep the dog away from him. Instead of packing perishables in dry ice, I think they should use turkeys, they thaw SO slowly. (Hey, how come “turkeys” is spelled with “eys” instead of “ies”? I just noticed that.)

2. The night before (that would be Wednesday night), take as many smoking chips as you plan on using and put them in a bowl. Cover them with water and let them soak and absorb liquid over night.

3. When cooking time comes, be sure you do a “gibblet-ectomy” on your patient…er…dinner.

4. Tuck the ends of his legs under the skin flaps of the cavity, so they are tight up against the body (this is not required if he has one of those snazzy leg clips holding them together, or if you have cooking twine and are into turkey B&D)

5. Using melted butter (my choice), olive oil, or vegetable oil (lower fat, still tastes yummy), baste the bugger inside and out… I also like to throw some spicy Mrs. Dash into the oil… you can add any spices you think sound good to the oil (garlic powder, fresh pepper, cayenne, etc) or you can just use the melted butter or oil.

6. Set the bird aside while you prepare the grill.

To cook this turkey, we will use the “indirect heat” method. I won’t rehash how to do that. If you need information on how to set this up, instead I will send you to one of the finest articles ever written on the subject, located here.

7. Start your coals in your chimney, use 10-15 coals per side to start. If you do not have a charcoal chimney, first smack the back of your hand with a spatula, then start the coals in the center of the grill. Once they are ready, use tongs, a stick, or anything fire-proof to divide the coals into two piles on the sides of the grill. Remember th leave room in the middle for your drip pan.

8. Once your drip pan is in place and your coals are in their respective locations, put the gill surface on and put the lid on the grill to let it warm for a few minutes.

9. Once the grill is warmed, it’s time to throw the bird on, to begin his journey to fulfill his final Thanksgiving destiny!

10. Drain your smoking chips in a colander, and discard the water.

11. Place the turkey in the center of the grilling surface, over the drip pan.

12. Put a handful of the moist chips onto each pile of hot coals.

13. Baste the bird one more time with your oily substance of choice

14. Double check that the top and bottom vents on the grill are OPEN, put on the lid, and WALK AWAY!

The hardest part is now done…well…not really… the hardest part is resisting the temptation to open the grill and peek…DON’T! You NEED to keep the heat in! You will get your chance to peek… in 30 minutes!

Set your time for 30 minutes and WALK AWAY. The smell will start to fill the air quickly. I call this “neighborhood terrorism”. Everyone wants to know WHERE that heavenly smell is coming from! When the timer goes “ding”, walk out, with your basting stuff, and more smoking chips. Open the lid, baste the bird. Add 3-5 more cold charcoal briquettes on each side, throw another handful of chips on, and close the lid again. You will now live your life 30 minutes at a stretch, until the turkey is done. Set the timer again.

You may ask, “Grill Master, how long must I cook this turkey?”… go ahead, say it out loud… it makes me laugh… So how long DO you do this? The calculation is simple: 11 minutes per pound. Getting your handy-dandy calculator out… say you have a 20 pound bird:

11 min x 20 lbs = 220 minutes

Then to make it hours instead of minutes: 220 min / 60 min = 3.666666667 hours

So roughly 3 ¾ hours (round up for safety). When you hit that magic mark, you can double check that it is indeed done by inserting your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, taking care to to hit the bone. The USDA recommends that internal temp of poultry MUST be a minimum of 165° F / 74° C. I know most turkeys come with the pop-up tabs, but I don’t trust them. The thermometer is always right!

After your torturous wait, take the golden, beautiful turkey off the grill. Let him sit for 15 minutes or more before you carve it. This allows it to re-absorb juices and firm up for carving.

That’s all there is to it! It really is NOT difficult, or require and esoteric equipment to do! I promise, it will be one of the most beautiful, delicious turkeys you have ever tasted!

A word about using the smoking chips: smoked flavor is subjective. If I had my druthers, I would add smoking chips the entire time it is cooking. My family prefers a little tiny bit of smoke, so I compromise, and only use the chips for the first hour. You can actually do this without the chips at all, if you choose.

Well, this concludes the article I have been thinking about since I first set up this blog. Again, I say, “yeah, I know”. I hope this Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by people you love, and tasty food for all to enjoy. This has been a tough year for many people, including us, but even in the midst of all of the economic uncertainty, I have so much for which to be thankful. I have a great wife, two beautiful daughters, two amazing grand sons, a bunch of friends who like me in spite of me, and my health (most days). I am thankful I live in the greatest nation ever to exist on earth, and even though it is not perfect, it is still the best there ever was. I am thankful that I had two amazing parents who instilled me with the values that I hold dear. Most of all, I have a Savior who loves me and cared enough about me, even before I was born, that He gave his life so that I can have a relationship with God.

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Holy SHNIKIES! I have not written anything for Grill Master since JULY! I won’t bore you with reasons why. Let me just jump right in, and we can pretend that I have been writing all along… Let me spew a few little nuggets of wisdom out there for you…

WINTER GRILLING

It is sad that most people think that when the leaves start to change, the grill has to be put away. In my house, growing up, we grilled all year long. Da Missus talks about when we first started dating, she remembered how odd it was that my dad would grill in the dead of winter.

How good would a burger or steak taste on New Year’s Day? Potatoes baked on the grill just taste better than those done in the oven. Besides, your utility bills go way up in the winter anyway, cooking outdoors can at least reduce them a little bit.

Next week , I am going to reveal my famous grill-smoked turkey, just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday, so don’t put the grill in the yard-barn just yet.

MY NEW FAVORITE COOKING GADGET

Da Misus got this at a Pampered Chef party, and I have pretty much claimed it as my own:

It is a Pampered Chef Mix and Chop available for $10.50 here. It is the bestest thing in my kitchen! You can do a zillion things with it, but it SHINES when you are browning beef, turkey, or ground sausage. It breaks the meat into nice uniformly small pieces… perfect for tacos or chili. It also makes some mean mashed taters!

One of the best features of it is that it is some sort of high-tech plastic that will not scratch even Calphalon OR your delicate finish on a well seasoned Dutch Oven!

RECIPE: CHILI POT-PIE

Today’s recipe is actually something I whipped up in the kitchen, but this actually screams to be made in the Dutch Oven! First I will give you the recipe for the DO, then I will give you any modifications for indoors, and finally, I will give you my suggestions to make it beefless or vegetarian, if you wish.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 t minced garlic
1 ½ c tomato or V8 juice
1 can Rotelle diced tomatoes and green chilis
1 can of beans of your choice (kidney, navy, butter or garbanzos)
¼ c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ½ t chili powder
2 corn muffin mixes
salt and pepper (optional)

1.Brown the beef in the Dutch Oven… don’t OVER brown it! Add the minced garlic while it is still raw, so the flavor will cook into the meat! Drain well.

2.Put the DO back on the coals, add the tomato juice, and the can of Rotelle. Don’t drain the tomatoes.

3.Bring it back to a simmer, drain beans, add them.

4.Add chili powder, and chocolate chips… yes…chocolate chips! The chocolate adds a little flavor and the sugar takes a bit of the bite off the tomato acidity, and balances the chili heat. This is actually a trick I learned reading an article about the guys who started Skyline!

5.Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

6.While the chili simmers, mix up the the corn muffin mixes. I found if you add a couple tablespoons more of liquid than the packages says, it will make the batter a little thinner and easier for the next step.

7.Carefully, slowly pour the corn muffin batter onto the top of the chili. Don’t worry if it leaves a few open spots, it rises and fills in the holes as it bakes. You want to pour it slowly, because if you pour it too fast, it will sink!

8.Put the lid back on the Dutch Oven, and put coals on top (2-3x the number that is under the DO).

9.Let it bake 20-30 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown.

To do this in the kitchen, rather than the Dutch Oven outside: brown the meat and garlic in a pan on the stove. Mix it all in the pan. When it is done simmering, pour it into an oven-safe casserole dish. Slowly pour the muffin mix on top, and bake uncovered in a 400° oven 20-30 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown.

Beef free version: substitute ground turkey or soy crumbles for the beef.

Vegetarian: Dice and sauté one large, or two small eggplants, in place of the meat.

That’s it for this go-round. I apologize for my long absence! I will be back in a few days, to tell you how to do the BEST turkey you have ever eaten, on the grill, and it is so EASY to boot! Until next time, get outside and cook something!

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Last weekend, Da Missus and I went down to witness the marriage of my nephew Dave and his bride Chelsea… I’m sorry: “DAVID DAVID DAVID”… he wants to be called “Dave”, but I have called him “David” his whole life… anyway… One of the things Da Missus likes to do whenever we hit the Columbus, Ohio area, is, go to the world famous Polaris Mall. One of our favorite stores is the World Market. Picture a Pier One on steroids. Of course, being the Grill Master, as I am, I make a bee-line towards the barbecuing section to see what new gizmos and gadgets the world is offering to tempt me.

Not a lot new, really…then I saw it. A potato baking rack. I thought it was brilliant! A simple black metal device that allows you to bake 4 potatoes, unwrapped, over the grill, but here is the twist: It has prongs on which you impale the potatoes, to cook them from the inside out! It was worth the five bucks it cost to try it. I gave it a go tonight, and was very pleased with the results!

Like I said, it is incredibly simple: scrub up to 4 potatoes. Stick one spud length way on each prong (actually it is more like a “fin”). Put the whole contraption on the grill, over the hot coals, baste them with melted butter, and in about 30 minutes, you have perfectly grill-baked potatoes. I did set the timer and basted them a second time with butter… it was already melted… why not? I suppose, you could also sprinkle them with some seasoning, if you wanted to experiment. It is cooking without the need for aluminum foil, so it is open and you can try anything that sounds good.

This isn’t truly a NEW idea… I think it was an old Boy Scout trick to stick a few large nails into potatoes to conduct heat inside to cook them inside-out. I think this sounds a little bit less likely to add “extra iron” to the potatoes, in the form of rust, or any dirt or other contaminant that may be on a nail. It is light enough that it could be packed for backpacking.

I Googled “potato rack”, and of the zillions of hits that came back, I also saw a round version of the rack, and it looked like the price varies between $3 and $12 or so. I am not sure how much better a $12 one would work than a $3 one. You may also be able to find something similar at Wally World, or anywhere camping and barbecue supplies are sold.

This is experience learned from my initial use: next time I will butter or spray the prongs with non-stick spray. The finished potatoes weren’t real difficult to remove, but they stuck a little bit, not having been greased a bit first.

PLANNING MEALS FOR THE WEEK, USING YOUR GRILL

A lot of people only think of grilling one meal at a time, usually for dinner, or for entertaining. How about planning a few OTHER meals, all to be cooked on the grill at the same time, and then eaten during the week. It will save time, and money!

Here is a sample meal that you could prepare on a weekend evening, while cooking the family meal on the grill:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 T minced garlic
2 T Worsteshire sauce

Enough ears of fresh corn on the cob so you have an ear or two left over

Baking potatoes (with one or two left over)
Melted butter

1. Put the beef, garlic and Worsteshire in a bowl, and mix it thoroughly.

2. You should be able to form 5 patties, 3” across, ¾ to 1” thick. Cover and keep at room temp.

3. Scrub the potatoes, apply butter or non-stick spray on the prongs of your potato grilling rack, stick one potato on each prong.

4. Grill over prepared coals, with the lid closed. Brush with melted butter when you put them on, then again after 15 minutes. Grill them about 30 minutes.

5. Take potatoes off and set aside, put burgers on. Grill them to taste. Approximately 4 minutes per side.

6. Take the burgers off and set them aside (remember: 5-10 minutes to reabsorb its juices)

7. Break each ear of corn in half. Put the corn on the grill directly over the coals. Close the lid.

8. You want to check and turn the corn frequently. Corn is a grain that is high in sugar, so it burns easily. That same sugar will caramelize, and make it unbelievably tasty on the grill. A few of the corn kernels will turn brown or even blacken a bit… That is when you KNOW it is good!

Enjoy this meal! Then, when you are finished and are cleaning up, you can package left-over burgers in individual sandwich bags. The same with the potato(es), and corn. During the week, whenever you are faced with “what am I going to pack for my lunch for work?” dilemma, you can grab a bagged burger, potato and corn, stick a hamburger bun in a bag, then throw it all in your lunch bag, and be ready to go.

Warm it in the microwave at work, and you have a good warm lunch that didn’t cost you any extra money… PLUS… the smell of grilled food warming in the micro will surely get some reactions from any co-workers unfortunate enough to be in the area during your lunch time.

That is about it for this time. Have a great week, and get outside and grill something!

Sometimes the best meals come out of pure prayer. Yesterday was one such meal.

We are at that all-too-familiar “low” point in the cash flow cycle… you know what I mean… and it was getting to be about that time… time to start dinner. Since I am no longer working third shift, dinner has become my domain, which is actually pretty cool with me. Still, I had the problem of NOT knowing what to make.

I performed the religious ritual, practiced in kitchens the world over for centuries… I opened the freezer, and prayed the homemaker’s prayer: “Oh Lord, what am I going to make for dinner?” Then the answer came to me, as if the angels opened a cook book, and pointed to a recipe…

I think one of the most wonderful “convenience” ingredients of the last 100 years is frozen bulk packs of skinless, boneless chicken breast. As long as you have a zip-loc of these little, pink, ice-cold bricks of chickeny goodness in your freezer, you can always think of something to do with them. Seriously, with very little imagination, you can pop them on a microwave plate, set them for stun…er… defrost, and in about 10 minutes you are ready to create grilling culinary magic.

They can be grilled, baked, or fried (ick) whole, sliced for fajitas, cubed and skewered for kabobs,  diced for stir fry, and even used to make soups, and chili. With a little imagination, you could probably work them into a breakfast dish… how about chicken and grits, with butter and honey… that actually would probably be pretty good!

I now knew I was going to do some chicken, but what to go with them? Again, I opened the pantry and said the OTHER homemaker’s prayer: “…and what goes with it?” I had thought we still had some nice russet potatoes, which evidently we used up at some point. All I found was two nice sized sweet potatoes… OK that works!

I scrubbed up the sweet potatoes and wrapped them in foil, ready to grill them, then I turned my attention back to the chicken. I suppose I should put this in “recipe” format:

CRUNCHY GRILL BAKED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

- Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- Italian, Greek, or vinaigrette dressing of your choice
- Corn flakes

1. Start your charcoal in the chimney. We are going to be using the “indirect heat” method of grilling for this recipe. You will also want to make it a medium hot fire…which means use a little more charcoal than normal… about 10% more. If you always fill your charcoal chimney to the top every time, ignore the “adding more” thing, just fill ‘er up as usual.

2. Thaw the chicken if needed. If not frozen, go to next step. I can usually defrost 2 medium sized chicken breasts using our microwave’s “defrost” setting, and setting the timer for 10 minutes. Our microwave may have been the one invented the day after my 20x Great-Grandfather, Ogg Duplay, invented fire, so maybe start at 5 minutes on your’s and adjust accordingly.

3. (optional) Strain the dressing through a small strainer (I used Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Vinaigrette). This will remove the chunks of herbs and make it easier to inject. Set them aside for use in the next step. Using a marinade injector, draw up the strained dressing into the syringe and inject it into the raw chicken. For more info on marinade injectors, check out my June 14 article HERE. Like I said the marinade injecting step is purely optional.

4. Pour some of the marinade / dressing into a bowl that is large enough for you to dip the chicken parts. If you have the strained chunks from the last step, you can add those back in, why waste good herbs and chunks?

5. Onto a separate plate or baking dish, crush about 1 average sized handful of corn flakes per piece of chicken.

6. Dip your raw chicken in the dressing. Be sure it is coated completely. Hold each piece up and let the excess drain back into the bowl.

7. Dredge the chicken parts in the corn flake crumbs. You can just set them aside on a plate for right now.

7a. My education on the word “dredge”: I always thought it was “drench”, which made no sense, since you “drench” things in liquid, but dredging is coating things with a dry ingredient, like flour, or in this case corn flake crumbs. Thanks to Da Missus, I have been schooled, and am a better man for it☺ It’s like they say, “behind every great man is a woman editing his writing”, or something like that. Either way, she has been cooking since she could walk, so I bow to her knowledge and expertise.

8. Now that your chicken is coated in crunchy, seasony goodness, let’s return to the fire. We will be using the indirect heat method. Refresher instructions for setting your grill up to do this can be found HERE, if you need them.

9. Place your chicken directly over the drip pan. Put your sweet potatoes (if you chose to add them, also) on the sides, but not directly over the red hot coals. Sweet potatoes bake much faster than regular spuds.

10. PUT THE GRILL LID ON AND WALK AWAY! It is always so tempting to “peek”, but the indirect heat method is a baking method on the grill, not a broiling method like direct heat grilling. Opening the lid will just let heat out… as an analogy, if you were baking a loaf of bread, or cookies, you would not stand with the oven door open, staring at them. If you did, how well would they bake? Same goes here…CLOSE THE LID!

If you are fortunate enough to have a thermometer on your grill, like I do, you will be able to see the temp go up. I think that after the initial rush of heat, mine settled at about 300◦ F / 149◦C. Leave it alone for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take a peek. If it looks done, double check with your meat thermometer… remember…165◦ F in the thickest part.

If you also did sweet potatoes, they will be done at the same time as the chicken. Split them like a baked potato, add a small pad of butter or margarine, and top it with a mixture of sugar with a little bit of cinnamon… and all God’s people said, “YUM!”

Remember to observe the rules about handling raw poultry. Like I said before, “Clorox Clean Up” or your own homemade bleach based cleaner/sanitizer works wonders!

That’s about it! This whole meal, from Divine Inspiration to knife and fork took less than 45 minutes…20 of which where spent with the chicken on the grill!

Have a fantastic 4th of July! I know it sounds trite and cliché to say this, but I mean it: STAY SAFE! I want all the Grill Master 101 students to return to class with 10 fingers (or more, for my students in West Viginia), an intact driver’s license, and no other injuries to yourself or others… if you must drink, DON’T DRIVE… and if you must drink, for goodness sakes, only drink GOOD beer and spirits! I have always said, “If I am only having one or two, I am going to make it one or two GOOD ones”. Life is too short for light beer!

Blessings…now get outside a cook something!

The Grill Master is going to do something today, that he wouldn’t do for many people… I am going to set down my spatula, step away from the grill and back into the kitchen, at least for a minute or two, to tell you about a friend and great lady who has a GOLDEN opportunity, but needs OUR help!

Now that American Idol is over, we have the opportunity to send another of our local daughters to the national spotlight… this time with yummy results, and MUCH nicer hair.

Dawn Hall is a local woman, native of Holland, OH, and graduate of Springfield Schools. Dawn has sold in excess of 1 MILLION of her low-fat, 7 ingredient or less cookbooks, beginning with her first book “Down Home Cooking Without the Down Home Fat”.

Dawn’s story is not only one of cooking, but courage and overcoming tragedy. She is a cook and a mother, but first and foremost, she is a mighty woman of God. Her story is as inspirational as her recipes are tasty!

Right now, Dawn has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and she needs our help! She is in a contest to receive her own national show on Oprah’s OWN network. The winner will be selected by number of votes received, and voting runs until July 3, 2010.

You can help by clicking here to vote: http://www.VoteForDawnHall.com

Unlike other contests of this type, you can vote multiple times. Simply click “VOTE”, hit the back button, click “VOTE”, hit the back button, etc. You can actually do it all day, until it is time for bed, or you have to leave to go to work

Please vote for Dawn, and ask your friends to do the same. Again, voting ends July 3, so we still have time!

I would actually love to colaborate with Dawn and combine her passion for low-fat and 7 ingredients or fewer, with my desire to burn everything over an open flame. I actually try to do low sodium, so the challenge is there After you have voted 1 or 50 times, then, go outside and cook something!

Da Missus gets a magazine that is a publication of Consumer Reports, called “Shop Smart”.  It is actually quite interesting, it has a lot of articles on product safety, shopping tips, etc. Recently, they ran an article about food handling safety. I didn’t read it, but Da Missus, in her “book report” said that if you do everything they say you should do, you would never have time to prepare the food, eat it, or for that matter, enjoy life in general.

I would never recommend that you cut any safety steps when handling food, especially raw meats like beef, pork, fish, and poultry or other potential bacterial breeding ground foods like eggs. Still, there has to be a safe middle-of-the-road between wearing a haz-mat suit to make soup, and allowing your kitchen to be a Petri dish for salmonella, e.coli, and ptomaine.

There is a product that has been on the market for several years, called “Chlorox Cleanup”. It is a liquid spray cleaner that is made using Chlorox Brand bleach and other ingredients, that is convenient and easy to use. I use it on surfaces upon  which I prepare any raw meat. It as simple as, once you are done, spritz the surface with the product, wait a few seconds, and wipe off with a paper towel. Remember, there is bleach in it, therefore, do not allow the liquid to come in contact with any surface that can be damaged by bleach (i.e., your clothes, carpeting, your dog, etc.).

There are also generic and store brand products that are similar, but, you can also quickly and easily make it yourself, in your kitchen. All you need is an empty Chlorox Cleanup bottle or a similar spray bottle, bleach, dish soap and water. I came up with this when I ran out of the commercial product, and did a little kitchen science on the fly, and mixed up this homemade substitute that works as well, if not better, and only costs pennies per bottle to make.

Put 4 or 5 drops of dish soap in the empty spray bottle. Using a funnel, pour in about 8 oz (a cup) of liquid bleach, then slowly add hot water until the bottle is full. If you watch, you will see foam when it is almost full. If you over fill it, the foam will bubble out and you will get a bleachy hand… not a big deal… just make sure you are over the sink the whole time. Attach the sprayer to the bottle, shake it up to be sure the dish soap is mixed in, and you are good to go.

A word about the bottle: unless you have a bottle that previously contained Clorox Cleanup or a similar BLEACH BASED product, your better bet is to get a brand new, never used spray bottle at the Dollar Store or anywhere they sell cleaning supplies. The reason to be so careful about the bottle is ammonia and bleach should NEVER EVER EVER (to the millionth power) be combined!!! When mixed, they make ammonium-chloride gas…a VERY (again, to the millionth power) TOXIC gas, and can cause death quickly if inhaled. So, bottom line, get a new bottle if not sure. Better safe than sorry.

Not only can this stuff be used to kill germs after preparing food, it also is handy to spray out your sink to keep it stain free, AND use it for general counter cleaning. I have even used it for bathroom cleaning… wow… could I be any farther from grilling? Not really, as ANY good cook knows, the clean up is just as important as the prep and the actual cooking!

So, let’s turn our attention to grilling. Today, I am going to share what we made here at Grill Master Central for Father’s Day. Yes, I cooked on Father’s Day, which is fine with me, but Da Missus did all the prep, all I had to do was grill it! Here it is…

Grilled Flank Steak

Flank Steak
1 envelope McCormick Beef Marinade
3 cloves of garlic, minced (or equivalent amount of pre-minced garlic)
1 T Balsamic Vinegar

1.    In a small bowl, mix the vinegar and garlic.

2.    Slowly mix in the McCormick’s until it makes a thick paste.

3.    Spread the paste / marinade on top of the steak.

4.    Preheat your coals in the chimney, or preheat your gas grill to medium-high.

5.    If using charcoal, once they are ready, spread them in an even layer, and place the cooking grill on for a few minutes to warm up.

6.    Once your grill is ready, put the steak, marinade side up, directly over the heat. Close the lid.

7.    In six minutes, turn it. Cook it six minutes on the other side.

8.    Let it sit 5-10 minutes to allow it to reabsorb it juices.

9.    When ready to serve, cut it along the grain of the meat, into strips about an inch wide. It will be medium-rare to medium, and delicious!

That’s it, it’s that easy! I think that Flank steak is quickly becoming my favorite cut of beef with which to work.

For anyone who is not aware…today was the first day of summer, and also the day with more daylight than any other day of the year. They say you can balance an egg on end on this day, also called the “summer solstice”. I don’t know if it really works or not, but you can surely make your family’s taste buds stand on end today and every day, by getting outside and grilling something!

You know what? Me writing this blog about grilling has been an absolute joy…for “The Pillar of Salt” (aka “Da Missus”), that is. She now knows that all she has to do is mention what she is hungry for, and my little barbecuing hamster begins to run on his wheel…

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, when she casually said “I have a taste for roasted chicken”. My first thought was “pre-cooked from Kroger…halleluiah for convenience”. Then the hamster climbed up on the wheel and began running. What sort of “Guru of the Grill”, “Master of the Mesquite”, “Boss of the Briquettes”, “Kahoona of the Kingsford” would I be if I succumbed to the evil siren-song of convenience? How could I live with myself, after standing and feeling pity, as those eency-weency, little roasters slowly parading by the glass, on their ferris-wheel of mediocrity?  No, I needed to act, and act quickly, before the next thing I was tempted to do was eat a “McNugget”, and call it food!

More on the chicken later.

analog thermometer

Today I want to discuss two pretty snazzy little gadgets no serious student of the Grill Master should be without. The first is something you should most definitely have anyway. That is a meat thermometer.

digital thermometer

Meat thermometers can be as simple as an analog dial thingy that you stick in to test the temp ($10 or less), or as fancy as a digital fork-type (starting at about $13 at Wal-Mart). Either way, when cooking meat, especially thicker cuts, you should always use a thermometer to check its doneness. Here is a little chart from the USDA:

USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures
Steaks & Roasts – 145°F
Fish – 145°F
Pork – 160°F
Ground Beef – 160°F
Egg Dishes – 160°F
Chicken Breasts – 165°F
Whole Poultry – 165°F

Essentially, what you are doing is insuring that all the nasty bacteria, like e. coli are neutralized (i.e. “dead”), by what amounts to Pasteurizing your meat. I don’t recommend eating rare meat, but to each his own. If you opt for rare poultry or pork, you are really on your own!

You should read the directions that come with your thermometer, but the basics are pretty much the same: Stick the probe into the thickest part of the meat and wait for the temperature reading to stop going up. On whole chicken or turkey, the breast is the thickest part, but try not to touch the bone. It throws the reading off. For roasts, or split poultry parts, insert the temp probe into the visibly thickest part of the meat.

Now, you could probably live without my second gadget, but then again, maybe you don’t know what you have been missing all this time, either. Of course I mean a “flavor injector”. I think the “professional” name is a “marinade injector”, but I am just calling it what it is… it is a device that looks like a hypodermic needle and syringe from your worst doctor visit nightmare.

The idea is that you slurp up marinate or any other liquid whose flavor you want in the meat, and inject it directly into it. The “needle” is actually pretty thick, so you can suck up small chunks of herbs. Be careful, though… get a chunk of herb too big, stuck in the needle, here is what will happen… you will suddenly notice the syringe plunger isn’t depressing correctly, so you will point it at your face to see if you can visibly see the blockage. At the same time, you will still be pushing the plunger. The blockage will let loose, and you will be wearing a face full of marinade. If it is vinegar based, you will also say some really bad words, as you rush towards the sink for water to rinse your eyes out, because vinegar is an acid…for the love of Kingsford…make the burning STOP!

Oops, sorry. I had a marinade-facial flashback there for a second…

A trick Da Missus uses on salad dressings with large chunks of coarsely ground pepper is to filter it through a small screen-type hand held strainer. Once you have injected the liquid, you can then spread the herb chunks on top of meats.

Once you have an injector full of marinade, you simply poke the needle into the meat and squirt. Another “voice of experience” thing, here: DON’T try to just shoot it all in at once, like a junkie jonesing for a fix… use small controlled squirts and move the needle to a new spot for each “shot”. Try to do it too fast, or too much in one location, and, again, you will wear it. Meat is muscle…muscle is made of many fibers bonded together. By injecting too much or too fast in one place, you will tear the fibers apart and the marinade will just shoot out. The best method I have found it to watch the area where the point of the needle probably is, then give a quick little push on the plunger. You may actually see it poof up when the liquid is injected. Think of it like a “marinate zit”.

By now you must be STARVING, what with all this talk of muscle fibers, bacteria, junkies and zits. Hey, no one said grilling was a glamour gig, here, toots.

I did a quick Google search for “marinade injectors”, and found the price ranging from about $6 used on Amazon, on up… but seriously…used cooking gadgets, from an unknown source…uhm… I don’t buy underwear at Saver’s, either.

So, let’s put these two gadgets to use…

So Da Missus requested chicken, and being the Grill Master, as I am, a picked up the gauntlet and turned out a pretty great meal… as always, sodium content was a consideration. There is NO added salt in this recipe, and I promise, you will never miss it! Remember my goal…cook with flavor, not sodium! Give it a try! “The Pillar” NEVER even considered salting it…

GRILL BAKED LEMON HERB CHICKEN

Split Chicken Parts
1-2 whole lemons
Olive oil
Mrs. Dash “Lemon Pepper” or “Lemon and Herb Seasoning” (SALT FREE!!!)

1. Start your charcoal in your chimney and let it preheat while you do the prep on the rest of the meal.

2. Lay out your chicken parts in a shallow baking dish. It is OK if they overlap a bit, you are going to be moving them around anyway.

3. Cut the lemon(s) in half and squeeze as much juice out of them as you can over the chicken.  You can squeeze them by hand or any other method you use. If your lemons are hard, you can microwave them for just a few seconds, this will help produce more juice.

4. Pour a splash of olive oil over the chicken. Don’t drowned it. Basically, the juice and the oil will run off to make the marinade you are going to inject, so use that as your guideline on the amount to use.

5. Tip the dish a little to allow the lemon and oil mixture to pool up. With your injector, draw up a syringe full of the liquid. Don’t be concerned that the lemon juice and oil are separated… the act of sucking it into the injector mixes it well.

6. Inject some of the marinade into each piece of chicken, several times per piece. You can keep injecting it until the marinade it all used up and injected if you wish.

7. You are going to use the indirect cooking method, so place a drip pan of some sort in the middle of the charcoal grate of your grill. Place about 15 coals on each side. If you need a refresher on indirect cooking, refer to the article “Directly Indirect”. See illustration,

8. Put your chicken on the grilling grates, directly over the drip pan and sprinkle with the Lemon Herb or Lemon Pepper Seasoning.

9. Put the lid on and adjust the vents so you have full airflow through the grill.

10. Set your timer for 30 minutes, and forget about it. I know you want to look, but leave the lid of your grill ON. You would never stand with the oven door open, and you should only take the grill lid off when you need to. Same concept.

11. When the timer goes off, open the lid, and add a 3-4 more briquettes to each side of the grill. Set the timer for another 30 minutes.

At this point, it is just a 30 minute waiting game. You don’t need to turn it, or do anything except keep the fire hot by adding a few coals every 30 minutes. I cannot tell you exactly how long it will take to cook, for several reasons: The temp of the fire can vary due to weather conditions, the number of coals, the air temp, and humidity, etc.

A good rule of thumb is to check the internal temp of the thickest piece of chicken after 90 minutes, probably the largest breast… OK, I will wait here while you all snicker… “he said ‘largest breast’”… I would probably be upset, except I snickered as I wrote it (hee hee). If are not doing and breasts, use a thigh or meaty end of a leg. You want the internal temperature to be 165°F (in the picture, it was only about 138°F, so it was not ready yet). You can always add a few more coals and go another 20-30 minutes at a time.

In the event it “looks” done, but the temp is not getting all the way up to 165°F or higher, you can double the number of coals to significantly increase the heat, to add the final push to get it done. I don’t recommend you START out way hot, you will end up with mediocre chicken… as with everything slower is better.

When you take your first bite of this chicken, I promise, you may want to cry. It is the most flavorful, juiciest chicken you have ever tasted! Another nice thing about using the indirect cooking method is that you can do several items at the same time. I scrubbed, buttered and wrapped some potatoes in foil and did them on the same grill, at the same time. Since there is no direct heat under them, you can slow cook them also. I will admit, these were some top-notch spuds, too. Slow baked…

Clean up is a snap. Once the fire is out and everything cools, if you used a disposable aluminum pan, you can just throw it away. If you used a reusable pan for the drip pan, you can drain the chicken fat into your grease jar, spray it out with hot water and your kitchen sink sprayer, and wash it normally.

That is it… I really hope you try this recipe. I will guarantee that this will be better than any chicken you have ever had  in any restaurant!

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 20, 2010. And, as a father, I gotta tell you, we get SCREWED in the “DAY department. Mother’s Day falls within the typical school year, so they get cool handmade stuff. Dads, not so much. Maybe you could zip on down to your local barbecue supply place and get him a digital meat thermometer or a marinade injector, if you can’t think of anything else. If nothing more, the injector is also great to chase the kids around, yelling, “IT’S TIME FOR YOUR SHOTS!!!”… the kids may need intense therapy later in life, but hey, it’s fun for Dad!

Have a GREAT week, have a GREAT weekend, and hey…get outside and cook something!

If I instill nothing else to you, my dear students, always remember this: grilling and outdoor cookery is not a science, it is art. You can combine just about anything that sounds good, figure out the best method to cook it (direct, indirect, Griffo, Dutch Oven, etc) and go ahead and make it. Today’s recipe falls into this category…

I was sitting at work thinking about making dinner… which was only 12 short hours away. It dawned on me… stew… beef stew… in the Dutch Oven… cooked outside… it was as if the clouds parted and the angels came walking up with their forks in hand and a napkin tucked into the neck of their celestial choir robes.

I am sure I have mentioned this before…and if I haven’t, here is one of my best cooking secrets… Sandra Lee is a cooking goddess!

Unless you live under a rock, or don’t even have basic cable, Sandra Lee is the host/chef of a Food Network show called “Semi-Homemade”. The premise is pretty slick, really: get ingredients that are already “ready”… a boxed cake mix would be one example. You could add the egg and milk, pour it into a Springform pan, bake it, and have a very good cake. Sandra Lee will take that same cake mix… add some of this and some of that, then put something else on top, and turn out a cake like you would get off the dessert cart at a swanky restaurant. The concept is brilliant! Evidently millions of other people think so too, since she also has published volumes of books, and a magazine, also called “Semi-Homemade”.

We also do that same thing, when we can, here at Grill Master Central. One of my favorite “semi-homemade” ingredients is V8 juice… actually I like to use the “store brand”, when I can get it…Great Value brand from Wal-Mart is about ½ the price of V8 brand, and tastes the same….anyhoo… V8 is very versatile. It has the flavor of…well.. EIGHT different veggies, plus salt and other flavor enhancers. It can be used as a base for sauces, chili, soups, and as it is being used in today’s recipe: stew.

The quick prep time for this recipe is also one of the beauties. By using not only the vegetable juice, but other almost-ready-to-eat ingredients, this is a fast meal to make, and once it is in the Dutch Oven, you can slow cook it as long as you like…and with all stews…the longer and slower you cook it, the better!

Allow me to throw this caveat out there… this is what I would call an “advanced” Dutch Oven recipe… NOT because it is difficult… it is because it contains tomatoes and tomato based juice. If you remember my original articles on Dutch Oven cooking, you don’t want to cook acidy/tomatoy food in the Dutch Oven until after you have a well seasoned piece of cast iron cookware. The acid will destroy the new patina that is just forming. This meal is better made after you have used your DO a few times.

Without any further adieu… today’s recipe, guaranteed to stick to your ribs, and satisfy your most picky eater… also… you can add any other ingredients that sound good to you, or omit any you may not care for. As always, the smell of this cooking outside in your Dutch Oven, either on the grill or in your fire ring will torture neighbors for several  houses each direction…and isn’t that why we grill outside in the first place?

BACKYARD DUTCH OVEN STEW
(Chicken and Vegetarian alternatives at the end!)

1 lb of lean stew beef
1 med Vidalia onion, chopped
1 bottle of V8 or similar vegetable juice
1 small pkg baby carrots
2-3 small to medium whole potatoes, scrubbed and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes in tomato juice
1 can sweet corn
1 sm can lima beans
1 can green beans
1 sm can sliced mushrooms
1 can of ready-to-bake biscuits
1 T minced garlic
1 t corn starch
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1.    Start your charcoal in the chimney. Remember that you use less charcoal at a time when Dutch Oven cooking, so you don’t need to start as much charcoal at first. Once the coals are ready, set your Dutch Oven in your grill or in your fire ring.

2.    Put the DO over the heat, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, and minced garlic into the bottom of the Oven to get warm. Let it warm a few minutes before you go to the next step.

3.    Put stew beef and chopped onion into the warmed oil. Put the lid on, and add hot coals onto the top (remember approx 3 coals on top to every 1 under… so 4-5 under and 12-15 on top). Remove the lid every few minutes and stir the meat and onions with a plastic spatula until the beef is browned evenly.

4.    Pour about 1/3 of the bottle of V8 juice over the beef and onions. Note: if the V8 has been refrigerated, allow it to warm to room temp, or warm for a minute in the microwave. You never want to pour ANYTHING cold into a hot DO. Unchilled is fine.

5.    Stir it with the plastic spatula or a plastic or wooden spoon (remember, NO metal utensils in the DO! Protect the patina!) Put the lid back on, arrange the coals on top if need be, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. If it seems that the coals are burning quickly, at this point you can start another dozen coals in the chimney, in case you need them after the 30 minutes are up.

6.    After 30 minutes, using a lid lifter (a.k.a. the nail puller side of a claw hammer) take the lid off, and set on a heat resistant surface. Pour the tomatoes in, juice and all. Also put in the sliced potatoes and carrots. Stir and put the lid back on. Check the coals to be sure you still have about the same number as when you started. If you started more in the chimney, you can use those, or simply add a few more unlit coals to the existing red-hot briquettes. Let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

I prefer using whole potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled. I think that the potato skins not only add flavor, but also some texture to food. You could also use sliced canned potatoes to save time, but you won’t get the skin that way.

7.    If you notice that it is “boiling” rather than simmering when you open the lid, use a pair of tongs and take a coal or two out from underneath.

8.    Again, after the 30 minutes, add the rest of the canned vegetables, all liquid drained out of them. Stir it all together.

9.    Carefully taste the broth. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Remember, a potato will pull the salt out of a soup or stew, so add the salt a little at a time, and taste frequently. In this way you can get the flavor enhancement effect of the sodium, without over doing it.

10.    Dissolve the corn starch in enough cool water or V8 juice so it is suspended in the liquid, without any lumps. Pour it into the simmering stew while stirring. This will thicken the broth. You should always pour a cool liquid into a hot liquid when adding thickening. This prevents it from just becoming a lump, and allows it to mix in smoothly. Taste one more time to be sure it is as seasoned to your taste. Put the lid back on, adjust the coals to be sure you have ample heat, and let it simmer another hour or so, checking the coals and giving it a stir every 30 minutes.

11.    This is the beauty of not only stew, but making stew in the Dutch Oven:  you can simmer it as long as you need, which only makes it even better!

12.    20 minutes before you are ready to serve the stew, open the can of ready-to-bake biscuits. Open the lid of the DO, and arrange the raw biscuits on top of the simmering stew, and put the lid back on. The biscuits will now bake on top of the stew, forming a crust that will be golden brown on top and have the texture and flavor of dumplings when absorbing juices from the stew.

13.    After 20 minutes, lift the lid and check. If the biscuits are golden brown on top, it is time to eat!

CHICKEN STEW: Use diced chicken breast in place of the beef. Follow the rest of the instructions.

VEGITARIAN STEW: Eliminate the beef entirely. You could also use a block of extra-firm tofu. Dice the tofu, and add at the same time as the canned veggies. Garbanzos can be added with the veggies, instead of tofu. It would replace the texture the beef adds, and would also add good protein. Garbanzos are good anyway! You should inspect the ingredients of any canned biscuits you use, to be sure they are not using lard as a shortening. You can follow the rest of the recipe as is.

Ingredient Notes: Every canned ingredient I used was the Wal-Mart “Great Value” brand. Because of that, this was a relatively inexpensive meal. If you already have canned veggies in the cupboard, that will reduce the cost even more. Alternatively, frozen veggies can be used.  Like I always say…art, not science. The canned biscuits were “Great Value Jumbo Butter Biscuits”… you can use any kind you like, but I seriously recommend the “Butter” biscuits… Get yourself a jar of pre-minced garlic. It is not that expensive, and is seriously more convenient than having to peel, smash and mince garlic by hand. Saves on the band-aid bill, too!

Cleanup Notes: Remember, NEVER use anything abrasive on your Dutch Oven!!! Also, don’t use dish soap! As your DO gets more seasoned, it will actually be naturally non-stick, even better than Telflon. If there is baked on food stuck to the DO, you can pour some boiling water into the DO, and return it to the fire until the water boils again. Then dump it out and wipe with a gentle sponge or paper towel. Water will actually bead up and run off of a well seasoned and well cared for DO, still, once you have dried it with a soft cloth or paper towel, always apply a thin layer of vegetable oil to all surfaces, inside and out, of the Oven, including the lid.

After I have cleaned and oiled the my Dutch Ovens, I always take a strip of paper towels (2 or 3), and fold them, place them across the top of the clean and open DO, then turn the lid over and put it on, slightly ajar. The towels act as a cushion, and also prevent the lid from sealing it shut, so any residual moisture will evaporate, rather than stay inside and potentially cause rust.

Many of you may still think that Dutch Oven cooking sounds like a lot of work, but when you consider that the majority of the mixing, cooking and serving can be done in the same vessel, and the clean up of a seasoned Dutch Oven can be as simple as using the sprayer on the sink, and a few paper towels, it really is less trouble than most cooking methods.

Father’s Day is coming up soon… June 20. I need to come up with something special for the grill to share with you… Until then, have a great one, and get outside and cook something!