“…bacon is in its terminal stage, clinging to relevance, grasping at any opportunity to cash in on its dwindling cachet as its 15 minutes come to an end.”

So wrote Seattle journalist Erica C. Barnett in May 2009, in the alternative newspaper The Stranger.

Well, Ms. Barnett, you got it wrong. Time to eat crow, preferably wrapped in a bacon weave.

Yes, cured and smoked pork belly is still one of America’s favorite flavors, an exceedingly popular meat at supermarkets and butcher shops from coast to coast. At breakfast it sits beside eggs, toast, pancakes, or potatoes. On a hamburger it contributes smoke and crunch. Wrapped around vegetables, chicken, fruit, or scallops, its rendering fat bastes whatever lies beneath it. Crumbled over salads or soups, a small amount can flavor an entire dish. Even bacon fat itself becomes an ingredient, carrying its smoky character into eggs, beans, cornbread, vegetables, gravies, stews, and sauces.

“Fry” it on your outdoor grill or griddle and avoid messy spatters and lingering odors.

Here are our favorite ways to enjoy this versatile meat.

Make a Bacon Weave

Have you yet to try the impressive bacon weave, a savory cloak that elevates meatloaf, pork loin, and the Thanksgiving turkey?

If not, find concise directions and tips for success here. It’s easy and is guaranteed to impress friends and family.

Make Bacon Jam

We read that 69 percent of U.S. restaurants feature bacon on their menus, some in the form of bacon jam.

It’s a bougie condiment you can make yourself. Find the recipe for Bacon Jam here.

Make Bacon Bourbon

Bacon isn’t limited to the plate. You can even put it in your glass.

Our Bacon Bourbon uses rendered bacon fat to infuse bourbon with smoke. Sip it straight or use it for Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Better still, garnish the cocktail with a strip of bacon.

Bacon-Wrapped Onion Rings

Wrap thick slices of sweet onions with thin-cut bacon for a porky twist on onion rings.

Bacon on a Stick

Thread bacon on bamboo skewers and grill at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes per side, or until done to your liking.

Serve with burgers or other grilled sandwiches. These also make good stir sticks for Bloody Marys.

Bacon-Wrapped Corn

Spiral bacon slices around ears of sweet corn.

Bacon-Wrapped Fruit

Wrap wedges of fruit—peaches, cantaloupe, or pears—with bacon and grill to your liking.

Make Onion Bombs

Follow our directions for Onion Bombs—a blessed marriage between onions, bacon, and ground meat.

Make Your Own Bacon

Make your own bacon! It’s easier than you think and can be on your table in as little as two days.

Our 48-hour homemade bacon method shows you how.

The post Baconpalooza: 9 Ways to Grill With Bacon appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Monument Grills Makes Accommodating Food-Sensitive Foodies Easy

By John White

When it comes to a daily household menu, most families have a diversity of needs, wants and plain-old “I don’t like that” sensitivities. For example, I don’t like baked potatoes, but I’ll go out of my way for French fries.

Sometimes, personal likes and dislikes don’t factor into the equation, but actual sensitivities do. In my family’s case, it’s gluten, as my wife and daughter can’t tolerate it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t eat well (we do!), nor does it mean we can’t celebrate National Quesadilla Day, even though flour tortillas would be considered a necessary ingredient.

Delicious Food-Sensitive Quesadillas Without Sacrificing Flavor

Once again, my graciously provided Monument Mesa II propane-fired grill made preparing this multi-step, Mexican-inspired treat easy, using the grill, a griddle and side-mounted burner for an accompaniment of refried beans.

And…what would a Mexican feast be without salsa (in this case, Pico de Gallo), Guacamole and Margaritas!

The Menu

Gluten and gluten-free chipotle chile-marinated quesadillas with refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and margaritas, traditional or made with non-alcoholic spirits.

The Recipes

Recipe

Chipotle Chile Marinade

From Steven’s book, Barbecue Sauces, Rubs and Marinade.

Yield:
Makes 2 cups adobo, enough to marinate 2 to 3 pounds of meat or seafood

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 ripe plum tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 medium-size onion, peeled and cut in half
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 to 4 canned chipotle chiles
• 1 to 2 teaspoons canned chipotle juices
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)

Instructions

1. Heat a comal or dry skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin and peppercorns and toast until fragrant, 2 minutes. Transfer the spices to a blender or spice mill and grind to a fine powder. Leave the spices in the blender.
2. Place the tomatoes, garlic, and onion on the comal and cook until nicely browned on all sides, turning with tongs. This will take 4 to 6 minutes for the garlic, and 10 to 12 minutes for the tomatoes and onion. Coarsely chop the vegetables and transfer them to the blender with the spices.
3. Add the lime and orange juices, the vinegar, chipotle chiles and juices, oregano, and salt. Run the blender in bursts to reduce the ingredients to a thick purée. Transfer to a large jar, cover, and refrigerate. Use within a few hours of making.

Recipe

Chipotle Chile-Marinated Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients

• Marinated and cooked chicken breast, using the Chipotle Chile Marinade above
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 (or more, depending on the number of guests) 8- to 10-inch flour tortilla(s)
• 2 (or more, depending on the number of guests) 6-inch cassava or almond flour tortillas

Instructions

1. Heat a griddle on the grill top of the Monument Mesa II to medium-hot (about 350 degrees).
2. Shred the chicken breasts and, in a bowl, toss with the Monterey Jack cheese.
3. For the flour tortilla, sprinkle the chicken-cheese mixture on half of the tortilla, then fold it over to create a half-moon.
4. For the cassava or almond flour tortillas, sprinkle the chicken-cheese mixture over one tortilla and cover with another tortilla, like a sandwich.
5. Prepare the griddle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and heat until hot, but not smoking.
6. Place the quesadillas on the griddle under a weight and cook until the cheese begins to melt and the quesadillas begin to crisp. Flip and cook until the cheese is fully melted, then remove from the griddle.
7. Let the quesadillas cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole and refried beans.

Recipe

Refried Beans

Ingredients

• One small bag (1/2 pound) pinto beans
• 1/2 large white onion
• 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
• 2 canned chipotle chiles
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup (approx. 4 oz.) Monterey Jack cheese

Instructions

1. Place pinto beans in a large pot and cover with 8 cups of water. Add the onion and set over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, partly cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour.
2. Remove the lid, stir in salt, partly cover with the lid, and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the beans are tender and the liquid is tinted from the pinto beans.
3. Uncover the pot of beans and, using a slotted spoon, remove and discard the onion.
4. Working in batches, add the cooked beans along with 1 cup of their cooking liquid and the chipotle chiles to a food processor, and pulse until the mixture forms a coarse purée.
5. Heat the oil in a large, heavy, cast-iron sauté pan on the side burner of the Monument Mesa II to medium. Once hot, but not smoking, carefully add the bean purée. Stir well, incorporating the hot oil into the bean mixture. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often until the mixture thickens a bit.
6. Stir in the grated Monterey Jack and continue to cook for another minute or so, stirring frequently until the mixture forms a thick purée.

Finally, what would a delicious quesadilla be without a tasty Margarita?

Recipe

John’s (Almost Famous) Margarita

Ingredients

• 1 fresh lime
• 2 “generous” shots (4 oz.) of high-quality tequila (Casamigos or Mijenta)
• 1 shot (1 oz.) Cointreau
• 1 “squirt” organic light agave syrup
• 1 handful or a bit more of crushed ice
• Kosher or sea salt

Instructions

1. Fill 1/2 of a large cocktail shaker with crushed ice.
2. Slice the lime in half and, using a reamer, squeeze over the ice. Include some rind.
3. Add tequila, Cointreau and agave.
4. Cut one thin slice of the remaining half-lime for garnish and “wet” the rim of a margarita glass with the rest of the lime, then salt the rim of the glass.
5. Shake the tequila mixture vigorously and pour into the glass.
6. Garnish the cocktail with the lime slice and enjoy!

Recipe

John’s (Nearly Famous) Margarita with Non-Alcoholic Spirits

Ingredients

• 1 fresh lime
• 3 “generous” shots (6 oz.) of Aplós non-alcoholic spirits (either Calme or Arise)
• 1 “squirt” organic light agave syrup
• 10 “shakes” of Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 handful or a bit more of crushed ice
• Kosher or sea salt

Instructions

1. Fill 1/2 of a large cocktail shaker with crushed ice.
2. Slice the lime in half and, using a reamer, squeeze over the ice. Include some rind.
3. Add Aplós, agave and orange bitters.
4. Cut one thin slice of the remaining half-lime for garnish and “wet” the rim of a margarita glass with the rest of the lime. Salt the rim of the glass.
5. Shake the Aplós mixture vigorously and pour into the glass.
6. Garnish the cocktail and enjoy!

Remember…

It doesn’t have to be a holiday to enjoy quesadillas. Cook a few extra, let them cool, seal in sandwich bags and reheat for a treat anytime. Happy National Quesadilla Day from the entire team at BarbecueBible!

The post Now Everyone Can Celebrate <br />National Quesadilla Day! appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

 

September 9 is National Steak au Poivre Day. Here at BarbecueBible.com, we’re celebrating with one of the great French steak preparations: beef crusted with cracked black pepper and served with a Cognac cream sauce.

Traditionally, steak au poivre is made with filet mignon in a skillet on the stovetop. We’re taking it outside, using ribeye and a cast-iron skillet over a wood fire.

The idea for this version came from BarbecueBible Test-Kitchen Director Steve Nestor, who cooked a ribeye steak au poivre in cast iron over a wood fire in 2023. His original version inspired the approach here.

Why Ribeye for Steak au Poivre?

Ribeye brings considerably more marbling and beef flavor to the equation.

It also stands up well to the assertive flavors in this dish. There’s a lot going on between the cracked peppercorns, Dijon mustard, Cognac, and cream. Ribeye doesn’t disappear underneath the sauce.

Cast Iron Meets Wood Fire

Set up the grill for a two-zone wood fire, with a hot side and a cooler side. A chimney starter makes quick work of getting the fire going. The hot side will heat the skillet and cook the steak; the cooler side gives you a place to finish the sauce, especially once the Cognac comes out.

Lightly brush the ribeye with Dijon mustard, then coat it with freshly cracked black peppercorns. The mustard helps the pepper stick to the steak. And cracked is the operative word here. You want some texture from the peppercorns, not a coating of finely ground pepper.

Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over the hot side of the fire. Add the butter, then the pepper-crusted ribeye.

Cooking the steak in cast iron rather than directly on the grill grate keeps the butter, rendered beef fat, and browned bits in the pan.

 

Transfer the ribeye to a wire rack set over a sheet pan and let it rest while you make the sauce. Don’t wipe out the skillet. The butter, beef drippings, and browned bits left behind are the starting point for the au poivre sauce.

Building the Au Poivre Sauce

With the steak resting, sauté the diced shallot directly in the skillet, then add the mushrooms you grilled earlier over the wood fire.

Move the skillet to the cooler side of the grill before adding the Cognac. Pour it into the skillet, then ignite it with a long match or butane lighter, keeping your face and hands back from the pan. Let the flames burn out on their own, then stir in the Dijon mustard and heavy cream. Cook until the sauce reduces and thickens.

Recipe

Wood-Fired Ribeye Steak au Poivre

A thick-cut ribeye is brushed with Dijon mustard, crusted with cracked black pepper, and cooked in cast iron over a wood fire. The steak drippings become the base for a Cognac cream sauce with shallots and grilled mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 1 thick-cut ribeye steak, 16 to 20 ounces
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, for brushing the steak
• 2 tablespoons coarsely cracked black peppercorns, plus more for the sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 shallot, diced
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons Cognac
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, for the sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. Set up the grill for a two-zone wood fire, with a hot side and a cooler side.
2. Grill the sliced mushrooms over the wood fire until browned. Set aside.
3. Lightly brush the ribeye with 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, then coat it with the cracked black peppercorns.
4. Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over the hot side of the fire. When the skillet is hot, add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the ribeye and cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the steak and cook for another 4 minutes, or until cooked to your desired doneness.
5. Transfer the steak to a wire rack set over a sheet pan and let it rest while you make the sauce. Do not wipe out the skillet.
6. Sauté the diced shallot in the remaining butter and steak juices. Add the grilled mushrooms and season with kosher salt and additional cracked black pepper.
7. Move the skillet to the cooler side of the grill and add the Cognac. Ignite it with a long match or butane lighter, keeping your face and hands back from the pan. Let the flames burn out on their own.
8. Stir in 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and the heavy cream. Bring the sauce to a boil, then cook until it reduces and thickens.
9. Slice the rested ribeye and spoon the au poivre sauce over the top. Serve immediately.

Au poivre isn’t limited to ribeye. The same peppercorn-and-Cognac treatment works with strip steak, sirloin, or the traditional filet mignon. You can also take the sauce beyond beef and serve it with pork chops, lamb, or venison.

 

Not Hot Enough? Pepper Steak Barbecue University Style

This steak gets its smoky char flavor from a singular grilling method—cavemanning, aka grilling directly on the embers. I like to start with a nice thick T-bone for this recipe—1-1/2 inches thick. Season it super generously with coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Build a charcoal fire and rake out the embers to an even layer. Fan the coals with a folded newspaper to dislodge any ash.

Then lay the T-bone directly on the coals. Grill until the bottom is charred and beads of blood start to pearl on the top, 3 minutes or so. Move the steak once or twice with tongs, so it grills evenly. Then, using long-handled tongs, invert it and grill the other side the same way. Transfer the steak to a wire rack over a sheet pan, shaking it to dislodge any embers.

And now the pepper sauce. Heat 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil in a long-handled skillet directly on the embers. Add 4 thinly sliced jalapenos, 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves, and 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro. Cook the ingredients in the oil, stirring with tongs, until the jalapenos and garlic are sizzling and lightly browned. Pour the mixture over the steak and dig in.

Whichever version you choose, I’m sure you’ll agree that pepper(s) make a great steak taste even better!

Do you have a favorite steak au poivre? Share your photos on Steven’s social media: @stevenraichlen.

The post Hot or Hotter: Pepper Steak Two Ways appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

By Steven Raichlen

Labor Day already? It seems like summer just began. I hope you’ve been grilling as much as I have this summer. For Labor Day this year, I propose something different.

This Labor Day, we’re planning a feast that’s the opposite of labor intensive, and we’re firing up the griddle to cook it. We start with a Raichlen twist on classic shrimp cocktail—spice blackened shrimp with chipotle tequila cocktail sauce.

For the main course, we’re taking a page from the Philadelphia playbook: cheesesteak. But not just any cheesesteak. No, we’re making this one with thinly sliced rib-eyes. (Of course, you can use the more traditional top or bottom round.) And to crank up the heat, we’ll use poblano chiles instead of bell peppers. For mushrooms, you can’t beat the elegance of shiitakes.

Our side dish is—you guessed it—potato salad, but, oh, what potato salad. German-style potato salad enhanced with griddled onion, capers, and bacon.

And for dessert? That campfire classic, s’mores, only for these, you don’t need a campfire. You don’t even need a grill. The secret, deconstruct and reconstruct the classic s’more into a sandwich: 2 graham crackers sandwiched with marshmallow and bittersweet chocolate. The Raichlen touch? A slice of candied orange. You’ll crisp the whole shebang on the griddle. Who says s’mores are only for kids?

Finally, to wash it all down? One of my favorite cocktails: the smoky mezcalini. Think margarita meets mojito and don’t think of Labor Day without it.

Happy Labor Day everyone! Don’t work too hard as you celebrate.

The BarbecueBible.com Labor Day Menu

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design and illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products that will provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

The post Back to Basics:<br /> A Labor Day Feast Without the Labor! appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Steak may be the choice of champions, and no cookout would be complete without ribs. But when it comes to comfort food, nothing beats a roast chicken.

You know the bird I’m talking about. Skin bronzed and crisp, the meat tender and juicy, the aromas intense and mouthwatering. A properly roasted chicken is the very embodiment of lusciousness and well-being. Brisket may be a once-a-month luxury. A roast chicken you feast on once a week.

And the secret to achieving that great roast chicken? Fire up your grill.

So how do you grill the perfect roast chicken? Let me count the ways.

• You indirect grill it, adding wood chunks to the coals to lay on a smoke flavor.
• You spit-roast it on the rotisserie, using the gentle rotation to baste the meat with chicken juices as it cooks.
• You prop it on a beer can (open, of course) and roast it upright to make the infamous beer can chicken.
• You smoke it low and slow (at a low heat for 3 to 4 hours) to make barbecued chicken, which you top with Alabama white sauce: 2 parts mayonnaise, 1 part cider vinegar, with as much black pepper as you can bear.

  

• You can even direct grill a whole chicken by cutting out the backbone and opening the bird like a book—a process known as spatchcocking. When using this method, start the chicken bone side down and grill it over a moderate fire.

For indirect grilling or beer can chicken, set up the grill with the heat to the sides and a drip pan beneath the bird; medium heat, around 350°F, is a good starting point. For rotisserie roasting, position the coals or lit burners to either side of the spit and place a drip pan underneath. For low-and-slow smoking, maintain a temperature between 225° and 275°F and add wood chunks or wood chips for smoke. For spatchcocking, grill directly over a moderate fire, starting bone side down.

Six Essential Steps for an Even Better Roast Chicken

1. Leave the bird uncovered in the refrigerator. Refrigerate it uncovered for 24 to 48 hours before roasting. This dries out the skin, making it extra crisp when you roast it.
2. Remove the wishbone. Cut it out of the front cavity with a paring knife. This makes it easier to carve the breast meat.
3. Add flavor inside and out. Rub the outside of the bird with a cut lemon and a cut head of garlic. Then place these ingredients in the cavity to perfume the chicken from the inside-out.

   

4. To truss or not to truss. I always truss a chicken to give it a handsome ovoid shape—a holdover from my French cooking school days, when appearance was paramount. But if you roast the chicken untrussed, the smoke and fire flavor can penetrate the inside of the bird. Your choice.
5. Cook the thigh to 175° to 180°F. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. Yeah, I know that’s higher than the USDA minimum of 165°F, but the dark meat will be more tender.
6. Give it a short rest. Once cooked, rest your chicken on a wire rack over a sheet pan for 2 minutes before carving. This “relaxes” the meat, making it juicier. But don’t rest it too long or the skin will get soggy and the chicken will get cold.

However you choose to cook it, the grill gives roast chicken something the oven can’t: the flavor of smoke and fire. Get the skin crisp and the dark meat tender, and you may find that once-a-week roast chicken becoming a habit.

Whole Chicken Recipes to Try

For more ways to grill a whole chicken, try these BarbecueBible.com recipes:

• Barbecued Chicken — A classic whole chicken cooked by indirect grilling.
• Rotisserie Chicken — Spit-roasted chicken with the self-basting action of the rotisserie.
• Basic Beer-Can Chicken — The infamous upright-roasted chicken.
• Spatchcock Chicken with a Curry Mustard Crust — A flattened whole chicken with a mustard-and-breadcrumb crust.

The post Back to Basics—How to Grill the Perfect Roast Chicken appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

 

By Daniel Hale

There are burgers, and then there are burgers that make you rethink what a burger should be.

I came across these New Mexican Green Chile Burgers while paging through Steven Raichlen’s Raichlen’s Burgers.

This is the kind of burger I had never really considered. Sure, I’ve had plenty of chili cheeseburgers. But a green chile burger? That was something new for me.

So when Melissa’s Produce sent me a box of fresh mild Hatch chiles in the middle of Hatch season, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

I fired up the Monument Grills Eminence 605 and put Steven’s New Mexican burger to the test.

What Makes a Hatch Chile Different?

Hatch isn’t a particular variety of pepper. The name refers to chiles grown in and around New Mexico’s Hatch Valley.

They can range from mild to seriously hot, but what makes them special is their distinctive flavor—especially once they meet fire. Roasting softens the flesh, concentrates the flavor, and adds a smoky edge that makes green chile a natural partner for grilled beef.

 

Once roasted, the chiles are covered briefly to steam, then peeled, seeded, and cut into strips. Some go into the cheddar topping for the burgers, while the rest can be used to make Steven’s New Mexican Salsa Verde.

Making the Green Chile Burgers on the Monument Eminence 605

The first job for the Monument Grills Eminence 605 was roasting the Hatch chiles.

I fired up the grill and brought the temperature to around 550° to 600°F. That intense heat quickly blistered and blackened the skins while softening the flesh underneath.

 

The Eminence 605’s six main burners made it easy to generate the high heat I was looking for. I placed the chiles directly over the heat and turned them until the skins were blistered on all sides.

While they cooked, I kept an eye on the grill through the Monument Grills app. The Eminence 605 connects to the app via Bluetooth, allowing me to monitor the grill temperature from my phone without constantly lifting the lid.

 

Once the chiles were roasted, peeled, and seeded, they became the ingredient that really sets Steven’s New Mexican Green Chile Burger apart.

The chile shows up twice. First, strips of fire-roasted Hatch chile are combined with grated white cheddar and piled onto the hot burger, where the cheese melts around the peppers.

Then comes the salsa verde. Made with roasted green chiles, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and oregano, it adds another layer of chile flavor along with acidity and freshness.

The burgers themselves are intentionally simple: ground chuck or sirloin seasoned generously with salt and pepper. After roasting the chiles, I used the Eminence 605 to grill the beef patties and toast the hamburger buns.

 

Steven’s original recipe calls for New Mexican green chiles, Anaheim chiles, or poblanos. If you can get fresh Hatch chiles while they’re in season, use them.

Recipe

New Mexican Green Chile Burgers with Salsa Verde

Recipe by Steven Raichlen

These New Mexican green chile burgers get a double dose of chile flavor from fire-roasted peppers mixed with white cheddar and a fresh New Mexican salsa verde.

Method
Direct grilling

Serves
4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup roasted New Mexican green chiles, Anaheim chiles, or poblano peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips (4 to 5 chiles)
• 4 ounces white Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin or chuck
• Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 hamburger buns
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• New Mexican Salsa Verde

Instructions

1. Place the chile strips in a serving bowl and stir in the Cheddar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Wet your hands with cold water and divide the ground beef into 4 equal portions. Working quickly and with a light touch, pat each portion into a thick patty. Place the patties on a plate lined with plastic wrap and refrigerate, covered, until ready to grill.
3. Generously, and I mean generously, season each patty on both sides with salt and black pepper. Grill the burgers until they are cooked through. Remove the burgers and cover to keep warm. Leave the grill on.
4. Brush the cut sides of the hamburger buns with the olive oil. Place the buns on the hot grill, cut side down, and, lowering the temperature if necessary, grill until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to work in batches.
5. Place each of the burgers on the bottom half of a bun and top each with a quarter of the chile and cheese mixture. Spoon some salsa verde over each, top with the other half of the bun, and serve at once.

Fire Up a Different Kind of Burger

I have to say, this burger was fantastic.

You get great beefy flavor up front, followed by the roasted chile and just enough Hatch chile heat at the finish. The salsa verde adds brightness without overpowering the burger.

A great burger doesn’t always need bacon, a dozen toppings, or some complicated secret sauce. Sometimes all it takes is good beef, a hot grill, melted cheese, and one ingredient that changes the whole personality of the burger.

In New Mexico, that ingredient is green chile.

After trying one topped with fire-roasted Hatch chiles, the standard lettuce-and-tomato cheeseburger suddenly has some serious competition.

 

A huge thanks to Monument Grills for sponsoring this post.

The post Fire-Roasted Hatch Chile Burgers:<br /> A Taste of New Mexico appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

 

By Steve Nestor

Do you ever grill dessert? I do it all the time, and one of my favorites is grilled pineapple. The outside of the pineapple becomes charred, and the edges get crusty while the inside remains cool and sweet. I thought using a griddle would create a better sear since the entire slice of pineapple is in contact with the griddle. I used the drop-in griddle for the Wildfire gas grill for this pineapple dessert.

Why Pineapple Works So Well on the Griddle

Here is how it all came together. I placed the griddle in the Wildfire gas grill and heated it to high. I prepared all my ingredients while the griddle was heating up. I cored and sliced the pineapple. I sliced the outside of the pineapple into rings to use for serving.

Next, I placed two cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and two cloves in a spice grinder and finely ground all the ingredients. Then I mixed the ground spices with freshly grated nutmeg and brown sugar. I placed the spice mixture in a baking dish. I brought all the ingredients to the grill.

Creating the Brown Sugar Spice Crust

Once I coated each pineapple slice in the brown sugar spice mixture, I put each one directly on the griddle. I do not recommend adding the brown sugar mixture to all the pineapple slices in the kitchen and then heading out to the griddle. The brown sugar mixture will start to mix with the juices of the pineapple and get watery, which will impede the searing of the pineapple.

The pineapple slices were placed on the griddle and seared for two minutes. I then flipped the pineapple slices, and they seared for another two minutes. Once the pineapple slices were seared on both sides, I placed them on a wire rack over a sheet pan.

 

Serving the Griddled Pineapple

To serve the seared pineapple, I placed a pineapple ring on a plate and then scooped in vanilla ice cream. I sprinkled more of the spice rub over the ice cream. I then topped the ice cream with seared pineapple slices and garnished with fresh mint.

 

The cold and smooth ice cream contrasts with the hot and crusty pineapple. The high heat of the Wildfire drop-in griddle and the brown sugar spice mixture created a flavorful crust on the pineapple. The mint provides freshness and relief from the sweetness of the ice cream and the pineapple.

Recipe

Brown Sugar Spice-Rubbed Griddled Pineapple

Fresh pineapple is coated with brown sugar and warm spices, then seared on a hot griddle until crusty and caramelized. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and fresh mint for a hot-and-cold dessert.

Ingredients

• Pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Allspice berries
• 2 whole cloves
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving
• Fresh mint, for garnish

Instructions

1. Place the drop-in griddle in the gas grill and preheat it to high.
2. Core and slice the pineapple. If desired, reserve rings from the outside of the pineapple for serving.
3. Place the cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and cloves in a spice grinder and grind finely. Combine the ground spices with freshly grated nutmeg and brown sugar in a baking dish.
4. Bring the pineapple and spice mixture to the grill. Working one slice at a time, coat the pineapple in the brown sugar spice mixture immediately before placing it on the hot griddle. Do not coat all the slices ahead of time; the brown sugar will mix with the pineapple juices and become watery, which can interfere with searing.
5. Griddle the pineapple for about 2 minutes. Flip and sear for another 2 minutes, or until both sides are browned and crusty.
6. Transfer the pineapple to a wire rack set over a sheet pan.
7. To serve, place a pineapple ring on each plate and add vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle with additional spice mixture, top with the warm griddled pineapple, and garnish with fresh mint. Serve immediately.

A big thank you to Wildfire Outdoor Living for sponsoring this cook.

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design and illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products that will provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

The drop-in griddle will turn your Wildfire gas grill into a full-fledged kitchen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can enjoy pancakes and bacon for breakfast, smash burgers for lunch, or stir-fry for dinner, all on the drop-in griddle.

The post Back-To-Basics: Brown Sugar-Spiced Pineapple, Hot Off the Griddle appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

People often ask me what my favorite food is to grill in the summer. You might be surprised to hear it’s not steak or ribs or pork loin. No, my number one favorite grill food this time of year is fish—especially swordfish. And nowhere does it taste better—or grill better—than at my summer home on Martha’s Vineyard.

Fish on the grill. Four words that strike terror into the hearts of even experienced grillers. For as much as grilling endows fish with incredible smoky succulence, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Will it stick to the grate? Will it fall apart when you turn it? Will the high heat of the fire dry it out?

Well, grilling fish is easy, but it isn’t always simple. The secret is choosing the right grilling method for the particular fish you’re cooking.

Choose the Right Grilling Method for Your Fish

Direct Grill It

Direct grilling—cooking the fish directly over the fire—is ideal for firm, meaty fish steaks, such as swordfish, tuna, and salmon. These fish have enough structure to stand up to high heat and flipping without falling apart.

Start with a hot, clean, well-oiled grill grate. Pat the fish dry and brush it lightly with oil before it goes on the grill. Once the fish hits the grate, leave it alone long enough to develop a good sear. When properly browned, it will release more readily from the grate. Turn it with a thin-bladed spatula and, whenever possible, flip it only once.

Swordfish is particularly well suited to this technique—one reason it remains one of my favorite fish to grill.

Try it:

Indirect Grill It

Indirect grilling is ideal for whole fish, like snapper or salmon. Instead of positioning the fish directly over the fire, you cook it next to the heat with the grill covered. Think of your grill as a smoky outdoor oven.

This gentler method cooks the fish evenly from edge to center and is especially useful for larger fish that need more time over the fire. Brush the fish with oil, season it inside and out, and place it away from the direct heat. For an extra blast of wood smoke, toss a few wood chunks or chips onto the fire.

Try it:

Smoke It

Few foods take to wood smoke as enthusiastically as oily fish. Salmon, bluefish, and whitefish have enough natural fat to stay moist as they cook, while soaking up all that wonderful smoky flavor.

For the best results, brine or cure the fish first, then let the surface dry before it goes into the smoker. Alder is the classic wood for salmon, but apple, cherry, and other mild hardwoods work beautifully, too. Serve the fish hot from the smoker, or chill it and enjoy it later.

Try it:

Griddle It

For delicate fish fillets—think sole, flounder, or black bass—a griddle or plancha can be your best friend. You get the intense heat and sizzling crust of the grill without the open spaces between the bars for the fish to stick to—or fall through.

Preheat the griddle until hot, then slick it lightly with oil. Lay on the fish and let it sear undisturbed before turning it with a thin-bladed spatula. The broad, solid cooking surface makes this one of the easiest ways to grill fragile fish and still get plenty of live-fire flavor.

Try it:

Use a Grill Basket

A grill basket is cheap insurance for fish that has a tendency to stick, tear, or fall through the grate. It’s particularly useful for whole trout and small snapper, as well as delicate fillets like halibut and turbot.

Oil the basket well before adding the fish. Once it’s clamped securely inside, you turn the basket—not the fish. That means no wrestling with a spatula and far less chance of leaving half your dinner stuck to the grill grate. You still get plenty of heat, smoke, and char, but with considerably less drama.

Try it:

Use a Cedar Plank

Planking is one of the most foolproof ways to grill fish. A cedar plank is ideal for fillets like salmon and striped bass, and because the fish never touches the grill grate, sticking and falling apart cease to be problems.

Set up your grill for indirect grilling. For extra flavor, char one side of the plank over the fire before adding the fish, then place the fish on the charred side and move the plank away from the direct heat. As the cedar plank heats, it perfumes the fish with wood smoke while helping keep it moist.

Try it:

Use a Salt Slab

A salt slab turns your grill into a sizzling, mineral-rich plancha. It’s especially well-suited to delicate whole fish, such as snapper, black bass, and porgie, because the fish cooks on a solid surface instead of directly on the grate.

Heat the slab gradually to prevent cracking, then lay the fish right on top. The hot salt gives the exterior a beautiful sear while gently seasoning the fish as it cooks. And because there are no grill bars involved, there’s nothing for the delicate flesh to fall through.

Try it:

Grill It in Leaves

Wrapping fish in leaves is an age-old grilling technique found throughout Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It’s particularly useful for delicate fish: the leaves keep the flesh off the grate, trap moisture, and perfume the fish with an herbaceous smoke as they char over the fire.

Banana leaves are especially good for the job. Soften fresh leaves briefly over the grill, wrap the seasoned fish inside, and secure the package with toothpicks. The leaves take the punishment of the fire while the fish steams and smokes inside. No sticking. No falling apart. And when you open the package at the table, you get a blast of fragrant steam.

Try it:

Grill It on a Stick

Sometimes the simplest grilling equipment is a sharpened stick and a good wood fire. This primitive method is perfect for camping, where fish can be positioned beside the embers and cooked by radiant heat rather than directly over the flames.

Thread the fish securely onto a sturdy stick or stake, then angle it toward the fire. Turn or reposition it as needed to cook both sides. Moving the fish closer to or farther from the embers gives you surprisingly precise control over the heat—and there’s no grill grate for the fish to stick to.

Try it: Salmon on a Stick

Know Exactly When It’s Done

There’s a fine line between perfectly cooked fish and fish that’s dry enough to make you reach for the tartar sauce. Don’t guess. Use an instant-read thermometer.

Whole fish: Insert the probe into the thickest part of the flesh just above the bone.

Fish steaks: Insert the probe through the side to the center.

Most fish: Cook to an internal temperature of 140^° to 145^°F.

Blue tuna: 100^° to 110^°F.

Rare tuna: 120^° to 125^°F.

Medium-rare tuna: 130^° to 135^°F.

Tuna plays by different rules. However you cook it, the center should stay gloriously rosy.

Fish, Fire, and Summer

Grilling fish doesn’t have to strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned griller. Once you learn how to match the fish to the fire, the rest gets a whole lot easier.

The payoff? Fish that’s moist, smoky, succulent, and beautifully browned—the kind of meal that reminds you why fish belongs over a live fire in the first place.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Grilling Fish—Without Sticking, Drying Out, or Falling Apart! appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

If you read this blog and newsletter on a regular basis (and if you don’t, you should!), you’ve entered a carnivoran orgy of steak, brisket, ribs, pork shoulders, and more.

Which may make you wonder, has Steven Raichlen abandoned vegetables entirely?

Absolutely not! And as we roll into August, with summer produce at its peak, my wife and I have been grilling and smoking vegetables like crazy. Grilled corn pudding. Smoked tomato gazpacho. Ember-roasted peppers and eggplants. It’s hard to imagine a vegetable we haven’t put to fire this summer.

So how do you grill a family of foods that ranges from edible thistles (that would be artichokes) to “little pumpkins” (that would be zucchini)? Vegetables vary so much in texture and taste, you’d need a book to know how to grill them all. (Hah! I wrote such a book, appropriately entitled How to Grill Vegetables.)

Well, one easy way to start is to consider which vegetables grow above ground and which grow below ground. The former tend to be soft-fleshed, with a high moisture content. (Think tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, asparagus, and corn.) These vegetables do best when direct grilled quickly over high heat, with a brushing of extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

Then there are the firm, starchy veggies that grow underground, like potatoes, beets, sunchokes, turnips, and carrots. These vegetables do best when indirect grilled at a more moderate temperature for a longer time (30 to 60 minutes) to soften their firm cellulose and cook their starches slowly. The beauty of this method is that it is easy to add wood chips or chunks to the fire to generate wood smoke.

Speaking of smoke, there are some vegetables that generate their own smoke when grilled, especially using the “caveman” method directly on the embers. This group includes eggplants, which acquire a haunting smoke flavor when you char the skins (this is the secret to great baba ganooj), and bell peppers, which become supernaturally sweet and smoky when ember-roasted.

Here’s our A-to-Z guide to grilling summer vegetables. Use it while the high summer produce season lasts!

Asparagus: Snap off the fibrous bottom ends. Pin the stalks side by side into rafts with toothpicks. Brush with sesame oil or olive oil and direct grill over high heat.

Broccolini: Brush with chili oil or olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Direct grill over medium-high heat until tender (I like to char the ends).

Corn: Strip back the husks and tie them together under the ears to make a handle. Brush the corn with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Direct grill over high heat until darkly browned. For a Mexican twist, slather grilled corn with mayonnaise and dust with grated cotija cheese.

Delicata squash: Cut into 1/2-inch rings, discarding the seeds. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Direct grill over medium heat until browned and tender.

Eggplant: Cut large eggplants crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick steaks. Brush with olive oil and direct grill over high heat until browned and tender. Roast medium eggplants directly on the embers (caveman style). Puree with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and tahini to make the world’s best baba ganooj.

Fennel: Cut off the leafy tops (save them for tossing on the embers when grilling fish). Cut the bulbs from top to bottom into 1/4-inch slices. Brush with olive oil and direct grill until browned and soft. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar for serving.

Green beans: Stem and string. Toss with olive oil and chopped dill or garlic. Grill in a wire mesh grill basket over high heat, or even better, directly on the embers. Top with slivered toasted almonds.

Hatch chiles: Cut in half lengthwise and stuff with sauteed onions, breadcrumbs, and grated cheese. Indirect grill at medium-high heat until soft and the filling is bubbling. Note: This mild to fiery green chile from New Mexico is in peak season in August. One great source is Melissa’s.

Iceberg lettuce: Cut into quarters. Brush with oil and sear the flat faces over a hot fire. Then let cool and top with your favorite ranch dressing.

Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes): Scrub well and dry. Place in a foil pan with butter, salt, pepper, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Indirect grill at medium-high heat until crisp on the outside and tender inside (45 minutes). Extra points if you add wood chips to the fire to generate smoke.

Kale (especially lacinato kale): Brush each leaf on both sides with sesame oil and soy sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and direct grill over medium-high heat until browned and crisp on both sides.

Leeks: Split and wash well to remove any grit. Brush with olive oil and direct grill over medium heat. Top with vinaigrette.

Mushrooms: Great for grilling. Stem and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Brush with garlic parsley butter and direct grill over a medium-hot fire, slathering with more garlic parsley butter as they cook.

Napa cabbage: Cut crosswise into 1-inch steaks, which you secure with bamboo skewers. Brush with sesame oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Direct grill over high heat.

Okra: One of my favorite surprise veggies to grill. Skewer into rafts (like asparagus). Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Direct grill until sizzling and browned. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano.

Plantains: Let ripen until black, then peel and cut on the diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Brush with melted butter and caramelize on a hot griddle or direct grill.

Quaresima peppers (aka sweet Italian peppers): Place in a grill basket and blister over a hot fire or directly on the coals. Grill shishito peppers the same way.

Radicchio: Cut into wedges and secure with toothpicks. Brush with olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Direct grill over a hot fire.

Sweet potatoes: Indirect grill over medium-high heat until the skins are crisp and the flesh is soft (pierce with a fork). Open and serve with maple syrup and butter.

Tomatoes: Cut in half widthwise. Smoke at low temperature in your smoker or on your grill. While you’re at it, smoke cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, sweet onions, and a garlic clove or two. Blend with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to make the world’s best gazpacho.

Ube (purple yam): Scrub the outside and indirect grill it. Enjoy like a sweet potato.

Vidalia onions: Peel and cut out the stem end in a cone-shaped plug. Stuff with crumbled bacon and barbecue sauce. Smoke-roast (indirect grill) at medium heat until soft and tender, 40 to 60 minutes.

Winter squash: Halve and seed acorn squash, then indirect grill it cut-side down on a preheated salt slab until tender.

Xoconostle: I bet you thought I’d be stumped here! This is the Nahuatl term for a sour prickly pear. Mexicans char it over a hot fire and grind it to make salsas.

Yellow squash: Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Stuff with chorizo or Italian sausage. Indirect grill over medium-high heat.

Zucchini: Cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried mint. Direct grill over high heat and drizzle with Greek yogurt or tzatziki.

Related Reads

• Corn on the Grill: Three Ways to Do It Right
• For Flavor-Packed Produce, Ember-Roast Your Veggies
• From Garden to Grill: A Guide to Grilling Vegetables

The post Veggies Hit the Grill: An A-to-Z Guide to Best Ever Summer Produce appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

A Twist on Indirect Grilling this German Staple Courtesy on Monument Grills

By John White

Suffering through one of the hottest summers on record, it’s tempting to project what it will be like in a few weeks. Cool and crisp with perfect weather for celebrating a bountiful harvest with grilled Bratwurst and, of course, cold beer!

That must be exactly what residents of Johnsonville, Wisconsin thought when they established National Bratwurst Day in the early 20^th Century – this year, celebrated on August 16^th.

In Sheboygan, Wisconsin – the “Bratwurst Capital of the World,” – residents grill them over charcoal and eat them on a special hard-crusted, soft-crumbed roll called a semmel, with brown German mustard, dill pickles, and an optional flourish of diced onions.

Being an enthusiast of all things Teutonic – that sounds delicious to me! But…can that wonderful, smoky flavor and slightly crisped texture be replicated on a gas-fired grill?

In their graciousness, our friends at Monument Grills have provided an opportunity for me to discover the versatility of their Mesa II unit, and I’d found that with its side-mounted burner and the Smoker Bar accessory, this grill can accommodate a variety of tasks – from boiling water, to frying bacon and, of course, grilling – making it a ‘one-stop’ workspace for nearly any culinary adventure.

Should you be motivated to celebrate National Bratwurst Day this week, the following provides and easy and efficient way to enjoy a German feast that is truly ‘wonderbar!’

The Menu

Grilled Bratwurst with German Potato Salad, Sauteed Onions, Homemade Sauerkraut and Homemade Mustard

For inspiration, I referred to Steven’s Bratwurst recipe, recommending an indirect method for grilling the ‘brats. Like a traditional frankfurter or hot dog, Bratwurst is easy to cook – and, in this case I used the Mesa II ‘Broil Zone’ feature with the Smoker Box (filled with water-soaked Applewood chips) positioned between the flames and, with the lid closed, I heated the grill grates to 325^.

Once up to temperature, I placed the Bratwurst (shout-out to Barth’s, in New Providence, New Jersey for the Beer and Thuringer Bratwurst) over the cool side of the grill. Turn the Bratwurst to cook it evenly and, when they reach an internal temperature of 150º to 160º, expose them to flame to blister the casing a bit.

It couldn’t be easier – and they grilled perfectly.

While the Brats are on the grill, use the side burner to sauté finely chopped white onion in oil or butter and serve over the Brats on your roll.

As an accompaniment, I used my wife’s German Potato Salad recipe for which I was able to use one saucepan on the Mesa II’s side burner for boiling water and frying bacon (Note: It’s important to fry the bacon in the same saucepan that’s used for completing the salad).

Recipe

Martine’s German Potato Salad

This warm German-style potato salad combines tender potatoes with crisp bacon, red onion, celery, garlic, and parsley. A tangy dressing made with apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and maple sugar brings everything together while the potatoes are still warm.

Ingredients

• 1 pound yellow gold or red potatoes, small to medium size
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, for the boiling water
• 6 ounces bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated maple sugar or sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, for seasoning the potato salad
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Scrub the potatoes and cut any larger potatoes so all the potatoes are uniform in size. Place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes for about 20 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and transfer the potatoes to a cutting board. Let cool, then slice the potatoes into about 1/2-inch pieces.
2. Using the same pot, heat over moderate heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.
3. With the pot off the burner, add the vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to the bacon fat. Return the pot to the heat, bring to a simmer, and whisk for a few minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chopped onion, celery, and minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until the garlic turns light golden.
4. Remove the pot from the burner and add the sliced potatoes, gently mixing from the bottom until the potatoes absorb the liquid. Fold in the cooked bacon and chopped parsley.
5. Transfer the potato salad to a serving dish and serve warm.

For an alternate side-dish, see our recently posted recipe for German Potato Salad.

To make this meal as authentic as possible, I also made a truly delicious Horseradish Mustard, from Steven’s book, Barbecue, Sauces, Rubs and Marinades.

Recipe

Horseradish Mustard

Recipe by Steven Raichlen

This homemade mustard gets its bite from a blend of yellow and brown mustard seeds and fresh horseradish. White wine, vinegar, brown sugar, and black pepper round out the flavor for a sharp, full-bodied condiment.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 cup brown mustard seeds, or more yellow mustard seeds
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons hot water
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt (sea or kosher), or to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 ounces (about 2 inches) fresh horseradish root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 4 tablespoons prepared white horseradish

Instructions

1. Combine the yellow and brown mustard seeds, vinegar, wine, and hot water in a nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and cool to room temperature. Soak the mustard seeds at room temperature until soft, 1 hour.
2. Transfer the mustard seed mixture to a blender or food processor and process to a coarse purée. Transfer the purée to the top of a nonreactive double boiler over simmering water, or to a nonreactive saucepan sitting in a sauté pan of simmering water. Add the brown sugar, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring often, until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t worry if the mixture isn’t quite as thick as commercial mustard; it will thicken as it cools. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mustard cool to room temperature. Correct the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place the horseradish in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade and finely chop. Take care not to inhale the volatile fumes. Add the mustard and process to mix. Transfer the mustard to a large jar, cover, and refrigerate. The mustard will keep for several weeks.

Variation

Sun-Dried Tomato Mustard

Prepare as for Horseradish Mustard, substituting 4 sun-dried tomatoes for the horseradish. Soak the tomatoes in hot water until soft, 1 hour. Chop and add them to the mustard mixture when you purée it in Step 2.

…and don’t forget…

Finally, what would a German meal of grilled Bratwurst be without a healthy serving of hand-crafted Sauerkraut and a cold German beer of your choosing.

Of course, it’s also important to grill plenty of Brats for friends and family to enjoy – Happy National Bratwurst Day!

The post Octoberfest in August? A Bratwurst Feast Worth Celebrating! appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Chicken thighs haven’t always received the respect they deserve. For years, many of us reached for boneless, skinless breasts, treating dark meat as a second-class citizen. My, how times have changed!

Today, we Americans have caught on to what grill masters around the world have long known: chicken thighs deliver deeper flavor, stay juicy over the fire, and represent one of the few remaining bargains at the supermarket.

Talk about versatile! Chicken thighs turn up in everything from Jamaican-inspired dishes to Japanese yakitori. A boneless chicken thigh is great for stuffing with herbs, ham, cheese, sausage, and more.

Bone-in chicken thighs take longer to cook than boneless, skinless breasts. They’re also fattier, so you need to be mindful of flare-ups. Yes, you can direct-grill bone-in, skin-on thighs (work over moderate heat), but our preferred method is to indirect-grill them at a high enough temperature (that would be 400°F) to render the fat and crisp the skin.

Here’s how to grill bone-in, boneless, skin-on, and skinless chicken thighs, including the best cooking times and temperatures—and a few of our secrets for keeping the meat juicy and the skin crisp.

Choosing Your Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are sold bone-in or boneless and with or without the skin. For classic grilled chicken thighs, we prefer skin-on—preferably bone-in. Among bone-in chicken pieces, thighs give you a generous portion of meat for the money, while the skin turns crisp and flavorful when grilled properly.

Boneless, skinless thighs cook more quickly and are a good choice for satays, yakitori, kebabs or other preparations where the chicken will be cut into smaller pieces.

The important thing is to match the grilling method to the type of thigh. Cook bone-in, skin-on thighs with indirect heat. Smaller pieces of boneless, skinless thigh should be direct-grilled over a hot fire.

Preparing the Thighs and the Grill

Brining the chicken before grilling will make the thighs even more succulent. For a wet brine, combine 2 tablespoons of coarse salt with 1 cup of warm water, then add a tray of ice cubes. Once the brine is cold, submerge the thighs and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For skin-on thighs, we prefer a dry brine. Sprinkle the thighs on both sides with about 1 teaspoon of coarse salt per pound of chicken, then refrigerate them uncovered for at least 4 hours. This seasons the meat while helping the skin dry out for a crisper finish.

Before grilling, trim off any large pieces of loose skin or excess fat, but leave enough skin to cover and protect the meat. Pat the thighs thoroughly dry. If you haven’t brined the thighs, now’s the time to apply your favorite barbecue rub or seasonings. Of course, we’re partial to one of Steven Raichlen’s barbecue rubs or seasoning blends.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat it to 375^° to 400^°F. On a charcoal grill, arrange the coals on opposite sides of the firebox and leave the center free of direct heat. On a gas grill, light the outside burners and set them to medium, leaving the center burner off. Close the lid and adjust the burners as needed to maintain a temperature of 375^° to 400^°F. Clean and oil the grill grate before adding the chicken.

How to Grill Bone-In, Skin-On Chicken Thighs

Arrange the thighs skin side up in the center of the grill grate, away from the heat. Replace the lid and grill for about 45 minutes. There is no need to turn the thighs while they cook.

Begin checking for doneness after 35 minutes. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. Chicken is safe to eat at 165^°F, but we prefer to cook thighs to 175^° to 185^°F. At this higher temperature, the connective tissue breaks down, and the dark meat becomes especially tender.

If the chicken is done but the skin needs additional crisping, move the thighs briefly over direct heat, skin side down. Watch them closely and return them to the indirect zone at the first sign of flare-ups.

Transfer the thighs to a platter and let them rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

How to Grill Boneless Chicken Thighs

Boneless, skinless thighs cook much faster than bone-in thighs. Open them flat and grill over medium-high direct heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side, until nicely browned and the internal temperature reaches at least 165°F. Because their thickness can vary, check each thigh individually with an instant-read thermometer.

Smaller pieces cook even faster. Steven’s Moroccan Chicken Kebabs, for example, use 1/2-inch cubes of boneless thigh grilled over high heat for about 3 minutes per side.

Stuffed or rolled boneless thighs are the exception. Their greater thickness makes them better suited to indirect grilling with the lid closed.

Chicken Thigh Grilling at a Glance

Preferred cut: Bone-in, skin-on thighs for moist meat and crisp, flavorful skin.
Grill setup: Two-zone fire for bone-in thighs; direct heat for boneless, skinless thighs.
Grill temperature: 375^° to 400^°F for bone-in, skin-on thighs.
Bone-in cooking time: About 45 minutes over indirect heat.
Boneless cooking time: About 5 to 7 minutes per side over medium-high direct heat.
Small thigh pieces: About 3 minutes per side over high direct heat.
Internal temperature: Chicken is safe at 165^°F, but we prefer bone-in thighs cooked to 175^° to 185^°F for more tender dark meat.
Rest time: About 5 minutes before serving.

Saucing Chicken Thighs and Avoiding Common Mistakes

If you’re using a barbecue sauce—especially one containing sugar—brush it on during the final few minutes of grilling. Applying it too early can cause the sauce to burn before the chicken is cooked through. Brush the thighs lightly, give the sauce a minute or two to set, and serve additional sauce on the side.

A few other mistakes can stand between you and great grilled chicken thighs:

Starting with wet skin: Pat the thighs dry so the skin can brown and crisp.

Cooking skin-on thighs entirely over direct heat: Dripping fat can cause flare-ups and scorch the chicken before the inside is done.

Walking away during the final crisping: If you move the thighs over direct heat, stay close. The skin can go from crisp to burned quickly.

Relying on time or color alone: Grills and chicken thighs vary. Use an instant-read thermometer to determine when they’re done rather than cutting into the meat.

Chicken Thigh Recipes to Try

More Chicken Grilling Guides

• How to Grill Perfect Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts
• Your Guide to Grilling Crispy Chicken Wings
• Smoke-Roasted Chicken Drumsticks: Tips and Recipe

The post Crispy, Juicy, and Flame-Kissed: The Secrets to Grilled Chicken Thighs appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

By Steven Raichlen

It’s America’s favorite seafood. Despite its diminutive name and size, we consume more than 5 pounds per person—for every man, woman, and child—per year.

I’m talking, of course, about shrimp.

Shrimp is quick and easy to grill, delivering a satisfying taste in a matter of minutes. It’s pure protein and in this world of $50-a-pound strip steaks, it’s mercifully affordable. It absorbs virtually any spice, marinade, and smoke flavor you throw at it, without losing its own unique briny flavor. Not everyone eats oysters, clams, or sea urchins. Everyone loves shrimp.

Withal, not all shrimp is created equal, nor do all varieties cook the same on the grill. Here’s what you need to know to grill the perfect shrimp every time. And while we’re at it, we’ll give you some pointers on grilling shrimp’s big brother: lobster.

What You Need to Know About Shrimp

What’s the Difference Between Shrimp and Prawns?

A simple question with a complicated answer. In the U.S. we tend to call these crustaceans “shrimp.” In the UK, people call the same shellfish “prawns.” (In Italy, prawns are called “scampi.”) There are also anatomical, zoomorphic, and biological differences too complicated to get into. Don’t let that interfere with the pleasure of grilling them.

What Size Shrimp Is Best for Grilling?

Shrimp range in size from Quebec’s diminutive crevettes Nordiques (so tiny you can fit a dozen in a tablespoon) to Africa’s black tiger prawn, which can grow up to a foot in length. Shrimp in the U.S. are sold by the “U” size—for example, U-16 means fewer than 16 headless shrimp to a pound. That’s what I use when making shrimp kebabs. When grilling individual shrimp, I buy U-8s or U-10s—also sold as “colossal.”

Should You Grill Shrimp With the Heads On?

In much of the world, people grill shrimp with the heads on. There’s lots of flavor in the head (don’t be embarrassed to suck it out), and it looks cool as all get out. Never underestimate the power of looking cool at the grill.

Should You Grill Shrimp With the Shells On?

I like grilling shrimp in the shell. Fire-charred shells add flavor and keep the meat moist. I like grilling peeled shrimp because they’re quicker and easier to eat (and easier to marinate). There’s a place for both in my barbecue world.

Should You Leave the Tails On?

A lot of restaurants leave the tails on—to remind you that the creature you’re about to eat once swam in the ocean. Or maybe to give you a handle when eating shrimp with your fingers. The fire-charred tail adds a bit of flavor. But it also adds another step come time to eat the shrimp, so omit it if you prefer.

How to Devein Shrimp

A visible black vein in a cooked shrimp is off-tasting and unsightly. Here are three ways to remove it.

1. Use a shrimp peeler and deveiner. Insert the deveiner in the fat end of the shrimp and push. The shell and vein will come off easily.
2. Butterfly the shrimp—that is, make a V-shaped cut along the back of the shrimp to cut out the vein and the flesh immediately surrounding it. The advantage of this method: The shrimp curls into an attractive butterfly shape as it cooks.
3. Insert the tine of a fork in the rounded part of the back under the vein and gently lift. Most of the time, the vein will pull right out.

How to Grill Shrimp

In a nutshell, directly over high heat. Grill small shrimp kebab-style (threaded on bamboo or metal skewers). The skewer should pass through the head end and tail end so each shrimp lies flat on the grate. It’s a lot easier to turn 4 kebabs than 20 individual shrimp.

For the really big guys, like African black tiger prawns, cut them almost in half through the back (cut lengthwise), butterfly them open, and grill as you would a lobster tail. And don’t overlook smoking: Smoked shrimp make an awesome shrimp cocktail.

Figure on 1/2 pound of headless shrimp per person.

Which Shrimp Should You Grill?

Shrimp remain mercifully regional, and each variety has its own distinct texture and taste. If you live on the southeastern seaboard, you eat delicate Carolina shrimp. If you come from Down East, sweet white Maine shrimp are your ticket. Down my way, in south Florida, we grill succulent Key West pinks. Californians and Hawaiians savor spot prawns—so named for the black eye-like mark on the side of the shell. Wild-caught shrimp are my personal favorite—buy them whenever you can.

Otherwise, you’ll use farmed shrimp, which are mercifully affordable and available everywhere. If you’re worried about the provenance, look for the Marine Stewardship Council label on wild-caught shrimp. For farmed shrimp, look for certification from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or Best Aquaculture Practices.

When buying shrimp, use the sniff test. They should smell briny and fresh, like the seashore, not a fish store. Avoid shrimp that smell ammoniated or like bleach.

A Word About Grilling Lobster

Here in North America, we have two basic varieties to choose from. Down my way, in Miami, we get spiny lobster, also known as Florida lobster (or langosta among our many Spanish speakers). Its lack of claws and wide meaty tail makes it ideal for grilling. Up in Martha’s Vineyard, where I spend my summers, we have Homarus americanus, Maine lobster, distinguished by its large front claws. Spiny is easier to split and grill (and it’s my wife’s favorite), so that’s the recipe featured here.

Here are five of our favorite shrimp and lobster recipes, starting with a New Orleans classic: Emeril Lagasse’s Barbecued Shrimp.

Shrimp and Lobster Recipes to Try

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design and illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products that will provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

The post Back to Basics: How to Grill Shrimp and Lobster appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

It wins no competitions. It joins no halls of fame. But without it, a grill session would be short of an essential element. And barbecue—whether the backyard variety or the kind served at your favorite smokehouse—would seem downright incomplete.
I speak, of course, of potato salad. If you make it from scratch, good for you. I’m going to tell you how to make it better. And if you’ve never made potato salad from scratch, it’s time to start.

Some of the world’s great grill cultures back me up on this. What would German Spiessbraten—onion-stuffed pork shoulder spit-roasted over blazing birchwood—be without Kartoffelsalat, the warm, vinegary, bacony potato salad served alongside it? Or Peruvian anticuchos—grilled beef-heart kebabs—without papas a la huancaína, potatoes dressed with a piquant Andean chile-cheese sauce?

Closer to home, there’s the potato salad at your neighborhood barbecue joint, or even at temples of smoke and fire like Franklin Barbecue in Austin and Lewis Barbecue in Charleston. The style may change, but the message does not: don’t stage a grill session without it.

What Makes a Great Potato Salad?

First, there’s the potato. Then the dressing. Then the embellishments, flavorings, and garnishes. Even temperature enters the picture, because some potato salads taste best cold, while others are at their finest warm or at room temperature. Here are the decisions that separate an ordinary potato salad from a great one.

1. Choose the Right Potato

Tradition often calls for waxy potatoes, such as fingerlings, red potatoes, and Yukon Golds. They’re lower in starch than baking potatoes, so they hold their shape when cooked and tossed with dressing. That makes them ideal for warm German-style salads and any version in which you want distinct pieces of potato rather than a softer, creamier texture.
But don’t overlook baking potatoes. They’re higher in starch and become light and fluffy when baked. Start with a fully baked potato, chill it, then dice it. One of the best potato salads I’ve ever tasted comes from Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard. They start with baked potatoes and add bacon and scallions. Delectable!

2. Put Some Skin in the Game

Personally, I like potatoes with their skins on—more color, more flavor, and more fiber. Scrub them clean with a stiff-bristled brush before cooking. On the other hand, Mrs. Raichlen prefers her potatoes peeled before they become potato salad. Just saying.

3. Dress the Potatoes at the Right Temperature

When Germans make potato salad, they start with hot cooked potatoes. As the potatoes cool, they absorb the dressing, which typically includes vinegar, mustard, oil or bacon fat, and, of course, cooked bacon. Warm or room temperature is the way to serve it.

For a creamy American-style salad, let the potatoes cool fully before adding the mayonnaise dressing. For food safety reasons, mayonnaise should always be kept cold.

4. Choose Creamy or Vinegary

The traditional American version gets its richness from mayonnaise. Hellmann’s, please—unless you come from the South, in which case your mayo of choice may be Duke’s. Central Europeans favor a sharper vinegar-based dressing, with oil or bacon fat supplying the richness.

Neither style is automatically better. The important thing is balance. Potatoes are mild and starchy, so the dressing must bring enough acidity, salt, and seasoning to wake them up.

5. Flavor Assertively

As far as I’m concerned, any potato salad needs mustard and vinegar to offset the starchiness of the potatoes. German potato salad demands a touch of sweetness to counterbalance the vinegar and smoky richness of the bacon.

Many people crown their potato salads with a sprinkling of sweet paprika. You, my friend, will add a smoky dimension by sprinkling on pimentón—Spanish smoked paprika. Once you try it, I promise, you’ll never go back to the sweet stuff.

6. Add Crunch and Contrast

All cream and no crunch would make for a boring potato salad. In my house, capers, olives, and cornichon pickles are obligatory, as are chives or scallion greens chopped so finely a sudden sneeze would blow them away.

Sliced celery? It certainly adds crunch, but Mrs. Raichlen doesn’t like celery, so I omit it. I have been known to sneak in slivered celery leaves. Mrs. Raichlen, meanwhile, likes to add diced raw carrot—diced, mind you, not shredded—to maximize the crunch.

The exact embellishments are up to you. The larger point is to give the soft potatoes something crisp, briny, fresh, or sharp to play against.

7. Make It More Substantial

Just because it’s a side dish doesn’t mean potato salad can’t contain protein. Bacon may define German potato salad, while sliced hard-cooked eggs give an American version more heft. Peru’s popular papas a la huancaína pairs potatoes with a piquant sauce made with tangy white cheese and aji amarillo, the country’s fruity yellow chile.

8. Above All, Add Smoke

So what makes a Raichlen potato salad a Raichlen potato salad? You guessed it: smoke and fire. Instead of boiling the potatoes, I smoke-roast them on the grill.

Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat it to medium-high—about 400°F. Add wood chips or chunks to the fire. Place the potato chunks in a foil pan and toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Smoke-roast until tender, about 40 minutes, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon.

The potatoes emerge bronzed at the edges and perfumed with wood smoke. From there, you can take them in an American, German, or Peruvian direction.

Four Potato Salads to Try

Drum roll, please. I now give you four of my favorite potato salads—American, German, and Peruvian, with two very different approaches to the German classic. You be the judge as to which is best.

So Which Potato Salad Is Best?

Creamy or vinegary? Warm or cold? Skins on or off? There is no single correct answer. The world’s best potato salad is the one that delivers the right balance of tender potatoes, assertive seasoning, contrasting textures, and enough acidity to keep you coming back for another forkful.

But this much I know: smoke-roast the potatoes instead of boiling them, and your potato salad will taste like the barbecue it accompanies. Once you add smoke and fire, the humble potato salad becomes a star of the show.

The post How to Make the Best Potato Salad You’ve Ever Tasted—The Secret Is the Smoke appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Barbecue is simple but it isn’t always easy. Simple because it really requires only 2 ingredients: patience and wood smoke.

As for easy? Well, anyone who’s spent 14 hours barbecuing a brisket—maintaining a steady stream of thin blue smoke and a constant temperature of 250 degrees, powering through the stall, doing the wrap, resting the meat and attempting the carve—you’d never call a perfect brisket easy.

But there is one cut that’s both simple and easy to cook and it’s absolutely forgiving. Cook it high heat or low, fast or slow, and it almost always comes out tender and juicy. It’s also one of barbecue’s big three. Drum roll, please. I give you pork shoulder, aka Boston butt. (More on the curious name in a minute.)

Pork shoulder is definitely easy. You season it with your favorite barbecue rub (mine is my Carolina Pit Powder). Or even just salt and pepper. You put it on your grill or in your smoker. Hell, you can even cook it on the rotisserie. You can cook it low and slow or hot and fast—with charcoal, wood, propane, or even—shhhh—on an electric grill.

You can cook it in a few hours, or smoke it for half a day, at temperatures ranging from low to medium, and even high. Thanks to its ample marbling and collagen-rich meat, pork shoulder stays juicy while extended cooking turns it tender enough to shred.

Which brings us to the traditional way to serve pork shoulder in the Carolinas—“pulled,” that is shredded and doused with one of the world’s strangest barbecue sauces. In eastern North Carolina, that sauce consists of vinegar, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (sometimes with a whisper of sugar). In western North Carolina, they redden this vinegar sauce with a shot of ketchup.

In South Carolina, pulled or sliced pork is often served with mustard sauce. In Tennessee, you may encounter tomato-based barbecue sauce, while northern Alabama is famous for its mayonnaise-based white sauce.

But American pork shoulder is just a start. In Germany’s Saarland, cooks marinate pork neck or shoulder steaks with onions and spices, then grill them over a traditional beechwood fire on a swinging grate called a schwenker. In Greece, they perfume it with oregano, paprika, and pepper. In Bali, they blast it with ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and fiery chilies. The truth is pork shoulder is so easy to prepare and forgiving to cook, you can season it with almost anything.

Just the Facts About Pork Butt

• A whole pork shoulder (14 to 18 pounds) consists of two parts—the Boston butt and the picnic shoulder (also known as the picnic ham). The former is the top part of the shoulder—5 to 8 pounds of rich, luscious meat, with only a shoulder blade to stand in the way of your carving knife. (When properly cooked, which is to say overcooked, you can pull said bone out with your fingers.)
• The picnic ham is the bottom part of the shoulder, including the top of the leg. The drawback of a picnic ham is its high proportion of skin and bone to meat, which is why I prefer Boston butt. So if Boston butt comes from the shoulder, not the posterior, how did it get its curious name? In ancient times, New England butchers packed salted pork shoulders in barrels, aka “butts.”

  

• When I started out in barbecue, pork was pretty much just pork. Today, connoisseurs choose heritage breeds like Berkshire, Duroc, and Mangalitsa. Berkshire (sometimes sold by its Japanese name, Kurobuta—literally “black pig”), for example, boasts richly flavored, well-marbled, dark-pink meat that makes commodity pork taste downright bland.
• Most of the pork shoulder you buy today comes with the skin removed. Otherwise, trim it off with a paring knife and deep-fry it to make cracklings. (Prolonged grilling or smoking makes the skin leathery.)
• Pork is safe to eat at 145^°F followed by a three-minute rest, but pork butt usually needs to reach approximately 195^°F to 205^°F before its connective tissue has softened enough for easy pulling.
• Chase the smoke ring. Smoke a pork shoulder low and slow in the presence of wood smoke, and you wind up with a pink ring just below the surface—the coveted smoke ring. No, it doesn’t mean that the meat is undercooked. The pigmentation occurs naturally—think of it as the red badge of barbecue honor.
• Finally, the traditional way to serve pork shoulder in the American South is chopped with a cleaver or shredded with meat claws or your fingers. Elsewhere on Planet Barbecue, pork shoulder—particularly boneless shoulder—is served sliced.

4 Pork Butt Recipes to Try Right Now

Frequently Asked Questions

Is pork butt the same as pork shoulder?

Pork butt is one part of the pork shoulder. A whole shoulder consists of the Boston butt at the top and the picnic shoulder below it. The Boston butt contains more intramuscular fat and less skin and bone, making it the preferred cut for pulled pork. Recipes and meat counters often use the names pork butt, Boston butt, and pork shoulder interchangeably, so check the label or ask your butcher when in doubt.

What temperature should pork butt reach for pulled pork?

Pork is safe to eat at 145°F followed by a three-minute rest, but that doesn’t mean a pork butt is ready to pull. For tender, easily shredded pork, cook it to an internal temperature of approximately 195°F to 205°F. The thermometer is only part of the test: The shoulder blade should pull out easily, and a thermometer probe should slide into the meat with little resistance.

How long does it take to barbecue a pork butt?

Cooking time depends on the size of the pork butt, the temperature of your grill or smoker, and whether you wrap the meat. A smaller shoulder cooked at 275°F to 325°F may be ready in four to six hours, while a larger one smoked low and slow can take eight hours or more. Cook to tenderness and internal temperature, not strictly by the clock, and leave extra time for resting before pulling.

The post Why You Need to Barbecue a Pork Butt Right Now appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Heat domes. Uncontrollable forest fires. Triple-digit temperatures in Boston, Paris, Rome and New York. Yes, in many places, this has been one of the hottest summers in recent memory. It sure seems like this summer the world is burning up.

So what’s the best way to beat the heat? I’ve got a paradoxical solution. Fire up your grill.

More specifically, these cold summer recipes are served chilled, but their flavors are intensified by smoking and grilling.

• Sangria? It’s the perfect summer thirst quencher. But crust the lemons, oranges, limes, and cinnamon sticks with sugar first, then caramelize them on the grill—the resulting smoky wine punch will come as a revelation.
• Gazpacho? It’s another Spanish cooler and it requires little more in terms of cooking than switching on your blender. Until you’ve tasted my smoked gazpacho— you’ll never want to serve gazpacho any other way.
• Then there are bread salads. Italians call it panzanella; Lebanese call it fattoush. Besides being refreshing enough to double as a light summer supper, it’s also a great way to revive stale bread. This version combines grilled pita or bread with fresh vegetables and sweet-sour narsharab, or pomegranate molasses.
• When it comes to beating the heat, sultry Thailand has plenty of experience. They’ve invented the world’s best way to combine steak and salad: yum nua—an invigorating blend of lettuce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and thin-sliced fire-charred flank steak. The seasonings—sour lime juice, salty fish sauce, sweet sugar, and fiery chilies—are as bracing as the massive doses of fragrant cilantro, Thai basil, and refreshing mint.
• But the ultimate antidote to a heat wave is ice cream—lots of it. Here in Raichlen-land, we have a barbecued twist on that too. Smoke it with hickory wood. If smoke is the “umami of barbecue” (as I call it in my book, Project Smoke), this will be the most interesting ice cream you’ve ever tasted.

Admittedly, firing up your grill when the temperature tops 100 degrees may seem daunting, but the resulting intense flavors are worth it. And because all these dishes are served cold, you can grill at night, when the temperature drops, or at least you’re not grilling in the hot sun. Alternatively, grill or smoke the ingredients for all these dishes at a single grill session, then serve them throughout the week.

Heat wave got you down? Try the Raichlen way to beat the heat: fire up your grill!

5 Chilled Dishes to Beat the Heat

The post Too Hot to Cook? 5 Cold Summer Recipes Made Better on the Grill appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

By Steven Raichlen

Some years ago, while researching Japanese barbecue, I found myself at a produce market in Tokyo. There, amid the Yubari king melons and giant Amaou strawberries, was a $70 peach.

Flabbergasted, I asked the vendor how a single peach could cost $70. He explained the philosophical differences between Japanese and American agriculture.

“An American farmer looks at a peach orchard and thinks about how many tons of peaches he will harvest,” the vendor said. “A Japanese farmer looks at his orchard and thinks that one tree will produce peaches far superior to all the rest. And on that tree, one branch will produce a peach so extraordinary, connoisseurs will line up to pay $70 for the privilege of buying it.” (Sadly, I was not among them.)

Why Grill Peaches?

I’m not going to tell you about a $70 peach this week, but I will tell you about a peach dish that tastes like a million bucks. It involves a spice, an herb, and a piece of cooking equipment near and dear to our hearts. You guessed it: the grill.

The spice in question is cinnamon—more precisely, the rolled bark of the tree that gives us ground cinnamon: the cinnamon stick.

The herb is celebrated across Planet Barbecue for its vibrant refreshing flavor: fresh mint.

To put them together, you make mini kebabs with peach quarters and mint, using cinnamon sticks as skewers.

The Bourbon-Brown Sugar “B3” Glaze

Like all good barbecue, these grilled peach kebabs come with a sauce—in this case, my “B3” sauce. The three Bs are bourbon, brown sugar, and butter, with a whisper of heavy cream to hold them together.

Grill over a hot fire to caramelize the outside of the peaches, leaving the inside juicy and raw.

The crowning touch? Serve the grilled peaches over ice cream.

Summer never tasted so good!

How to Make Cinnamon-Grilled Peaches

Recipe

Cinnamon-Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Glaze

Recipe by Steven Raichlen

These fresh peach kebabs use cinnamon sticks as skewers, with mint leaves tucked between the fruit. As the cinnamon sticks char, the heat releases their aromatic oils. The peaches are finished with a creamy bourbon, brown sugar, and butter glaze.

Method
Direct grilling

Serves
4

Ingredients

• 4 large ripe freestone peaches
• 1 bunch large fresh mint leaves
• 8 cinnamon sticks

For the B3 Glaze

• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream, for serving

You’ll also need: Bamboo skewer and martini glasses

Instructions

1. Cut each peach in half along the crease, running your knife in a circular motion around the peach and cutting to the pit. Twist the halves in opposite directions to separate them. Using a spoon, pry out and discard the pit. Cut each peach half in half.
2. Using a bamboo skewer, poke a starter hole through the middle of each peach quarter. Skewer 2 quarters on each cinnamon stick, placing a fresh mint leaf between them.
3. Make the B3 glaze: Combine the bourbon, brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Let the glaze boil until thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes.
4. Set up the grill for direct grilling and heat to high. Brush and oil the grill grate.
5. Arrange the peaches on the hot grate and grill until nicely browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side, basting frequently with the bourbon glaze.
6. Spoon the ice cream into martini glasses. Place 2 peach skewers in each glass and spoon the remaining bourbon glaze on top. Garnish each with a sprig of mint and serve at once.

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design and illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products that will provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

The post Peach Meets Grill: Cinnamon-Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Glaze appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Steak! A five-letter word that spells a mountain of pleasure. For some of us, it’s the ultimate luxury; for others, a weeknight dinner. It’s so easy to grill, even a first-timer can earn bragging rights, yet you can spend a lifetime perfecting the fine points. Steak is the one dish everyone should know how to grill.

Too often, people make simple, avoidable mistakes: Undercooking. Overcooking. Flipping too seldom or too often. Leaving the beef out to warm to room temperature (especially dangerous in summertime heat). Serving it hot off the grill or resting it so long, the steak is cold by the time you cut into it.

Here’s the ultimate guide to achieving the perfect steak every time.

Steak Cooking at a Glance

• Best Steaks: Ribeye, NY Strip, Porterhouse, Filet Mignon, Skirt, Flank, Hanger
• Seasoning: Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• Doneness (Med-Rare): 130^°F to 135^°∘F
• Resting: 1 to 2 minutes on a wire rack
• Best Method: Direct grilling for steaks up to 1-1/2 inches thick; reverse searing link for 3- to 4-inch thick monsters

Step 1: Start with the Right Steak

Five factors determine the excellence of your steak: cattle breed, feed, aging, grade, and cut.

• Prime vs. Choice: The USDA grades beef on marbling (intramuscular fat). Only 2% of beef qualifies as Prime—highly flavorful, tender, and luscious. Choice is what you find at most supermarkets—less rich, but still very tasty.
• Wagyu vs. Angus: Wagyu is renowned for its hyper-generous marbling; an A-5 Japanese Wagyu looks like white lace on red cloth. Angus delivers a bold, robust, classic beefy flavor enjoyed across North America.

  

• Grain-Fed vs. Grass-Fed: Corn-fed beef produces rich, buttery, meaty steaks. Grass-fed beef is leaner with a distinctive, almost herbaceous flavor. The ideal compromise is beef raised on grass, then finished with grain.
• Dry-Aged vs. Wet: Dry-aged beef, hung unwrapped in climate-controlled rooms for 28 to 36 days, loses moisture, concentrating the beefy flavor and creating rich umami notes. Wet-aged beef matures in vacuum-sealed plastic; it is faster, cheaper, and tasty enough, but lacks the rich, concentrated flavor of dry-aged beef.

  

The Four Steak Categories

1. The Noble Steaks: Upper steer cuts (filet mignon, ribeye, strip, porterhouse) that are intrinsically tender and rich.

   

2. The Belly Steaks: Undercarriage cuts (skirt, flank, hanger). Intensely flavorful but stringy; slice thinly against the grain to ensure tenderness.
3. The Tough Steaks: Round and chuck. Slice paper-thin for cheesesteaks or chop fine for carne asada.

   

4. The Cult Steaks: Unique cuts like tri-tip, picanha (featuring a luscious fat cap), and flatiron.

Step 2: Keep Seasoning Simple and Strategic

For premium beef, skip heavy, muddying marinades. Stick to coarse sea salt or kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Season your steak early—about 45 to 60 minutes before grilling. This allows the salt to draw out moisture, dissolve, and reabsorb back into the fibers, seasoning the meat deeply. If you’re short on time, season immediately before the steak hits the grates.

Do not let steaks warm to room temperature beforehand. The difference in cooking time is negligible, and it is simply not worth the food safety risk. Keep them cold until they go on the grill.

Step 3: Set Up Your Grill for Two-Zone Cooking (Wood Smoke Optional, But Desired)

Arrange your coals or burners so you have a screaming-hot direct zone for searing and a cooler, zone for cooking. Control the cooking by moving the steak back and forth between the hot and less hot zone. Add wood chunks or chips (like oak, hickory, or pecan) directly to your coals or place in your gas grill’s smoker box. A quick blast of wood smoke during grilling makes a good steak great and a great steak unforgettable.

Step 4: Sear Hot and Flip Frequently

Forget the old myth of flipping your steak only once to get crosshatch grill marks. (Mea culpa—I used to recommend this in my earlier books.) I’ve come to see that flipping your steak often—every 20 to 30 seconds—cooks the meat more evenly and helps build a darker, richer crust. Focus on the crust and flip often.

Step 5: Master the Reverse Sear

1. Place your seasoned steak on the cooler, indirect side of your grill (225^°F to 250^°F).
2. Indirect grill (with grill lid down) to heat the meat to an internal temperature about 20^°F below your target doneness (for example, to 110^°F for a medium-rare steak)
3. Move the steak directly over the high-heat, searing for 1 to 2 minutes per side to build a sizzling dark crust and internal temperature of 130^°F.

Note: Measure internal temperature using an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally through the side of the steak. For the poke test, press the top of the steak with your forefinger. The amount of resistance will tell you the doneness. Use a thermometer for thicker steaks; the poke test for thin steaks like skirt.

Step 6: Give It a Rest

A steak served “hot off the grill” sounds romantic, but resting your steak on a wire rack over a sheet pan for a minute or two will give you a tenderer, juicier steak. (Resting relaxes the meat, allowing the juices to redistribute. The wire rack keep the bottom from getting soggy.) But over-resting results in a lukewarm or even cold steak, which does the meat an injustice.

Step 7: Carve It Right

It has become fashionable, if not de rigueur, for steakhouses to pre-slice your steak before serving. Don’t. This may look dramatic, but a pre-sliced steak gets cold and dry very quickly. Serve your steak whole and let the diner slice it him- or herself.

Note: the one exception here are belly steaks, like skirt and flank, which should be thinly sliced across the grain to shorten the tough meat fibers.

Finally, don’t forget to anoint

A great steak needs little more than salt and pepper by way of a seasoning, but a pat of compound butter link or drizzle of melted butter or extra virgin olive oil makes a great steak even better

Great Steak Recipes to Try Next

• Smoked-Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks with Jalapeño-Horseradish Butter: Ribeyes get a blast of wood smoke and a rich, spicy compound butter.
• Classic Tuscan Bistecca alla Fiorentina: A thick Porterhouse finished with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.
• Reverse-Seared Tomahawk Steaks with Blue Cheese Butter: Thick tomahawk steaks are reverse-seared, then finished with a bold blue cheese butter.
• Churrasco-Style Skirt Steak: Searing hot skirt steak served with bright chimichurri.

More Steak Recipes »

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to cook steak on the grill?

For thick cuts, use the reverse sear method. For thinner cuts, cook directly over high heat, flipping frequently.

How long should you grill steak?

Figure on 2 to 2-1/2 minutes per side for thin steaks, about 1/2 inch thick; 3 to 4 minutes per side for 1-inch steaks; and about 5 minutes per side for 1-1/2-inch steaks. When using the reverse sear method for a really thick steak, figure on 40 to 60 minutes for the low-heat indirect grilling, followed by 2 to 3 minutes per side for the high-heat sear.

What temperature should steak be cooked to?

Medium-rare, 130^°F to 135^°F, is ideal for many steaks. Use an instant-read thermometer inserted into the side of the steak to verify doneness. For thinner steaks, like skirt and flank, use the poke test: press the meat with your forefinger to feel the resistance. Pull the steak a few degrees early, as carryover cooking will raise the temperature during resting.

How do you make steak tender on the grill?

Select well-marbled cuts, season like you mean it, do not overcook, and rest the meat for a minute or two before serving.

Should you grill steak with the lid open or closed?

Keep the lid open when searing thin steaks over high heat. Keep the lid closed during indirect cooking or when finishing thick steaks.

The post How to Grill the Perfect Steak: 7 Steps to Tender, Juicy, Smoky Beefy Nirvana appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

If you’re like us, we wait all year for summer corn. Wherever you live, summer means one thing: corn is at its peak, and there’s no better way to cook it than—you guessed it—on the grill. Live fire brings out corn’s sweetness, adding an inimitable smoky flavor. Grilling turns a simple ear into one of the great pleasures of the season.

Selecting Good Corn

Great grilled corn starts at the market. Look for ears with bright green husks that cling tightly to the cob and silk that feels slightly moist, not dry or brittle. The kernels should feel plump through the husk, and the ear should feel heavy for its size.

And, of course, buy local. Here at barbecuebible.com, we’re incredibly lucky. Steven lives in Martha’s Vineyard; Daniel in North Carolina, John in New Jersey, Nancy in Iowa, and Jared in New York. All of us have fantastic local corn in July and August.

Avoid corn with dried-out husks, blackened silk, soft spots, or missing kernels near the tip. Corn starts losing sweetness soon after it’s picked, so buy it as fresh as you can and grill it the same day if possible.

Ways to Grill Corn

There are a few basic ways to grill corn, and each gives you a different result.

Corn Naked (without the husk and directly over a hot fire)

This is my favorite way to grill corn. You remove the husk (or fold it back over the stem to make a handle), brush the ears with melted butter or extra virgin olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Then direct grill it over high heat until the kernels are nicely browned, basting with more melted butter as the corn cooks. The high dry heat caramelizes the natural plant sugars in the corn, making it all that much sweeter and smokier.

Corn Caveman Style

If you like your corn with even more smoke and char flavor, set up your grill (charcoal please) for caveman grilling—that is remove the grill grate ad rake out the embers in an even layer. Lay the corn in its husk directly on the coals. Grill until the husk burns off, turning with tongs, but not so long that the sweet kernels burn. Figure on 2 to 3 minutes per side, 8 to 12 minutes in all.

Corn in the husk

This method gives you juicy corn with a gentle roasted flavor. Pull back the husks without removing them, strip away the silk, brush the ears with melted butter and season with salt and pepper, then pull the husks back over the ears. Direct grill the corn over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the husks are browned and the kernels are tender.

Corn in Foil

In a word, don’t. Foiled corn steams rather than grills. Use one of the methods above.

How to Know When Corn Is Done

Corn is done when the kernels are golden brown, hot, and tender. If you press a kernel lightly, it should give a little and release juice. Corn grilled directly on the grates should have browned or lightly charred spots, but the kernels should still look plump.

Flavor Ideas from Planet Barbecue

Once the corn comes off the grill, the fun starts. Butter, salt, and pepper are enough when the corn is fresh and sweet, but grilled corn also loves bold seasonings. In Mexico, it’s slathered with mayonnaise, sprinkled with grated Cotija cheese (parmigiano or romano also work well), and sparked with chile and lime. In India, it might be electrified with cayenne and lime. Steven loves Cambodian style grilled corn, brushed with coconut milk and curry paste and dusted with shredded coconut.

Here are some fantastic recipes to try to make the best grilled corn you’ve ever tasted!

The Best Way to Grill Corn

However you grill it, corn does not need much to be great. Start with fresh ears, choose the method that gives you the texture and char you want, and serve it hot. Husk, foil, or directly on the grates—when summer corn is at its peak, the grill is the best place for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does corn take on the grill?

Naked corn, with the husk removed, usually takes 8 to 12 minutes over high heat. Turn the ears every 2 to 3 minutes so the kernels brown evenly without burning.

Is it better to grill corn in the husk, in foil, or directly on the grates?

It depends on the result you want. Corn grilled naked, meaning husked and cooked directly over the fire, gives you the most char and live-fire flavor. Corn grilled caveman style has the biggest wow factor because the ears cook directly on the embers. Corn grilled in the husk stays juicy and has a gentle roasted flavor.

Should you soak corn before grilling?

You can soak corn if you’re grilling it in the husk, but it is not mandatory. A 15- to 30-minute soak can help keep the husks from burning too quickly. You do not need to soak corn that is grilled directly on the grates or caveman style.

Why did my grilled corn dry out?

Corn can dry out if it cooks too long, if the heat is too high, or if it is grilled directly over the fire without enough turning. Pull the corn while the kernels are still plump and juicy, and baste often with melted butter or extra-virgin olive oil. Once the kernels start to shrivel, the corn is overcooked.

Can you put butter or olive oil on corn before grilling?

Yes, but it depends on the method. For corn grilled directly on the grates, use a light coating of oil before grilling, then add butter after the corn comes off the grill to avoid flare-ups.

The post Corn on the Grill: Three Ways to Do It Right appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

By Daniel Hale

All hail the hotdog! For some people, it’s an affordable staple. For others, it’s a rite of summer—along with baseball and backyard barbecues. For yet others, it’s the barbecue equivalent of a blank canvas—awaiting embellishments ranging from green pickle relish and chopped onions (Chicago) to beef chili (Detroit) to bacon and pinto beans (the Sonoran hotdog from Arizona).

Few foods are as regional as the humble hot dog. Nearly every part of the country has its version, and everyone has a favorite they’ll insist is the best.

Since July is National Hot Dog Month, I decided to make six different American hotdogs. Some are classics, some are personal favorites, and all of them prove there’s more than one way to build a great dog.

Setting Up the Grill

One of the things I wanted to take advantage of for this cook was the versatility of the Denali 605 Pro from Monument Grills. Besides its spacious cooking surface, the grill features a removable center cooking grate that can be swapped out for accessories. For this cook, I replaced it with Monument’s Round Cast Iron Cooking Plate.

That gave me the best of both worlds. The hot dogs cooked over the main grill grates while the cast iron plate handled everything else. Onions and peppers caramelized, and the plancha was perfect for cooking the bacon-wrapped hot dogs without worrying about flare-ups. Having both cooking surfaces going at the same time made preparing six different hot dogs much easier than trying to juggle multiple pans indoors.

6 Regional American Hot Dogs

Frankie Frankk’s “Lou Dog”

This one is special for me because it’s local. If you live in the Raleigh area, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Frankie Frankk’s, a popular hot dog cart that’s developed a loyal following over the years. One of their signature creations is the Lou Dog, and while this isn’t an exact copy, it’s definitely inspired by it.

Chili, pimento cheese, and a drizzle of hot honey works surprisingly well. The rich chili and creamy pimento cheese create a classic Southern flavor, while the hot honey adds just enough sweetness and heat.

The Barbecue Dog

This one may not belong to any particular city, but it absolutely belongs on this list. I wrapped the hot dog in bacon, seasoned it with barbecue rub, and cooked it on the cast iron cooking plate until the bacon was crisp. After that came a brush of barbecue sauce and a handful of pickle chips.

Smoky bacon, sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, a little extra seasoning, and crunchy pickles turn an ordinary hot dog into something that eats more like barbecue.

Kansas City Dog

The Kansas City Dog keeps things relatively simple, but sometimes simple is exactly what works. Melted Swiss cheese and tangy sauerkraut are served on a sesame seed bun, creating a balanced combination.

The sauerkraut cuts through the richness of the hot dog while the Swiss adds a mild, nutty flavor. It’s one of those combinations you probably wouldn’t think to make, but after one bite you’ll understand why it’s become a regional favorite.

Coney Dog

No list of iconic American hot dogs would feel complete without a Coney Dog. Not to be confused with Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Coney Dog is most closely associated with Detroit. Piled high with chili, chopped raw onions, yellow mustard, and shredded cheddar cheese, it’s messy, hearty, and worth every napkin you’ll need afterward.

LA Street Dog

Speaking of messy, this one might be my favorite simply because of the memories it brings back. I grew up in Los Angeles, and bacon-wrapped street dogs were everywhere after concerts, sporting events, and nights out. You could smell them cooking from half a block away.

Wrapped in bacon and topped with grilled onions, peppers, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and a whole jalapeño, this is definitely the biggest hot dog of the bunch. Cooking it on the cast iron plate made it easy to crisp the bacon while caramelizing the vegetables right beside it. One bite immediately transported me back to SoCal.

Southern Slaw Dog

Sometimes less really is more. The Southern Slaw Dog skips all the extra toppings and lets creamy coleslaw do the work.

Cool, crunchy slaw adds freshness and texture while complementing the smoky flavor of the grilled hot dog. Around the Carolinas, this combination has been a favorite for decades, and after one bite it’s easy to understand why.

Which One Will You Try First?

One of the best things about hot dogs is how personal they are. Every region has its own version, and every griller eventually finds a favorite combination. That’s what made this cook so much fun. It was simple, messy, and a good reminder that sometimes the best grilling ideas start with something as familiar as a hot dog.

The Denali 605 Pro made this cook especially enjoyable. I was able to grill the hot dogs on the main grates while cooking the vegetables and bacon-wrapped dogs on the Round Cast Iron Cooking Plate. It kept everything moving and made it easy to build six different hot dogs without juggling pans indoors. Thanks to Monument Grills for sponsoring this post.

The post Grilling Across America: <br />6 Regional Hot Dogs I Love appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

July is the heart of grilling season, the time of year when meals move outside and smoke, fire, and fresh summer flavors do most of the heavy lifting. This month’s recipe roundup is built for easygoing outdoor cooking, whether you’re planning a weeknight dinner, a weekend gathering, or something a little unexpected from the grill.

What to Grill in July

However you like to grill in July, keep it simple and make the most of the season. Pick a recipe, get outside, and enjoy the kind of easy summer meal that tastes better when it comes off the grill.

More Recipes for July

• For the Best July Yet, 8 Great Recipes for the Grill
• 8 Recipes We’re Grilling This July
• How to Grill Burgers: 12 Surefire Ways to Build the Best Burger!

The post What to Grill in July appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.