Year 'Round Grilling

Barbecuing enhances the hearty flavors of autumn cooking. Don’t put your grill away yet!

According to the folks at the Barbecue Industry Association, 57% of those who cook on a grill, do so all year. And why not? The distinctive, smoky taste of grilled food perfectly complements the more substantial menus of fall and winter cooking.

Abandoning the notion that the barbecue is just a summer fixture opens up a world of cooking possibilities. Try an unusual kabob fashioned from ground bison and accompanied by grilled vegetables. A spicy orange barbecue sauce adds a zingy kick. Shrimp cook quickly on the grill, infused with the flavors of a chili lime marinade. Chicken breasts are basted with a tarragon mustard sauce, and new potatoes and shallots are roasted in a foil packet until they are crispy and golden. Quick and delicious, these recipes prove that the barbecue grill deserves a permanent place on the patio.

Grilled Bison and Roasted Vegetable Skewers

1 pound ground lean bison

6 crumbled saltines

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1 egg white, beaten

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press or minced

1 green bell pepper, cut into 2-inch squares

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 2-inch squares

1 red bell pepper, cut into 2-inch squares

12 8-inch wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes

Spicy Orange Barbeque Sauce (recipe follows)

1 small zucchini, cut in 8 pieces

1 small yellow squash, cut in 8 pieces

4 new potatoes, quartered, parboiled in boiling water for 4 minutes and drained

1 small red onion, cut in 8 pieces

8 cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, combine bison, cracker crumbs, cilantro, egg white, feta cheese, olives, salt, cinnamon, black pepper and garlic. Mix until well blended. Shape into 8 large meatballs. To prepare a skewer, alternate 4 bell pepper squares and 2 meatballs per skewer. Repeat the process, making a total of 4 skewers.

Toss the zucchini, squash, potatoes, onion and cherry tomatoes in the olive oil. Thread a skewer with a potato, a bell pepper square, a zucchini slice, a tomato, an onion slice and a yellow squash slice. Repeat the process, making a total of 8 vegetable skewers.

To barbecue: Grill over moderately hot coals. Barbecue bison and vegetable skewers for 5 minutes. Turn, baste bison skewers with Spicy Orange Barbecue Sauce and grill 4 to 5 minutes longer or until done. Baste vegetable skewers with olive oil and grill 5 to 7 minutes longer or until tender. Serve immediately. 4 servings.

Spicy Orange Barbeque Sauce

1/2 cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Use as a basting sauce.

Adapted from a recipe from the National Bison Association.

Chili Shrimp Brochettes

12 large or 20 medium uncooked shrimp

3 to 5 scallions, halved lengthwise and blanched for 1 minute in boiling water

Chili Lime Marinade (recipe follows)

12 or 20 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Cut down the back of each shrimp and remove the black vein, but do not peel the shrimp. In a medium bowl, pour the Chili Lime Marinade over the shrimp and marinate for 30 minutes.

Light an outdoor grill or preheat a broiler or stovetop grill pan. For each shrimp, insert a soaked bamboo skewer through the shrimp and tie the shrimp tail close to the chest with a blanched scallion leaf. Brush with the marinade and grill or broil for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until the shells are brown and crispy and the flesh is opaque. 4 servings.

Chili Lime Marinade

4 red chilies, seeded and chopped

2-4 garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press or minced

1/2 cup corn or peanut oil

grated zest and juice of 3 limes

generous pinch of sea salt

Using a mortar and pestle or a fork in a small bowl, crush the chiles, garlic and salt. Add the oil, lime juice and zest and mix well.

From Sticks and Skewers by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern, Time-Life Books.

Chicken Breasts With Lemon-Mustard Tarragon Baste

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, minced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon, or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, well trimmed

Whisk together all ingredients except chicken in a small bowl. Place the chicken breasts on a plate and pour the marinade over them, turning to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning the chicken breasts once or twice.

Preheat the grill to medium-high or 400 degrees F. Place the rack 4 inches above heat. Remove chicken from marinade and place on rack; grill for about 5 minutes on the first side. Turn and grill another 5 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and the internal temperature is 185 degrees. Remove to a clean platter and serve. Serves 4. 

From Jane Butel’s Southwestern Grill by Jane Butel with Gordon McMeen, The Berkley Publishing Group.

Grilled Herbed Potatoes

3 pounds small red potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup chopped shallots

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper

3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
 

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salt water until almost tender. Drain and cool. Preheat grill. Cut potatoes in half and combine with the shallots in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and toss. Make a packet of heavy aluminum foil and put the potatoes inside, sealing the edges tightly. Put the packet on the grill and cook the potatoes over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally. (Open one edge of the packet and check to see if the potatoes are brown. Continue grilling if needed.) Transfer to a serving dish and toss with chopped parsley and oregano. Serve immediately. 6 servings.

(Sidebar #1)

Tips for Successful Grilling

As you are preparing food for the grill, be sure not to allow raw meat and fish to come into contact with other foods. Use separate cutting boards, or thoroughly sanitize the board after working with each ingredient.

If the meat you are preparing was previously frozen, make sure it is fully defrosted before cooking.

Clean the grill thoroughly before use. The easiest method is to fire up the grill, let it get hot, and then clean it with a wire brush, allowing the debris to fall into the flame.

Using a basting brush, lightly coat the grill with vegetable oil so that foods won’t stick.

Cut the fatty edge of steaks and chops to prevent curling. Slice through the fat at 2 to 3 inch intervals, cutting just to the meat.

Direct heat, cooking directly over the heat source, works best for thin cuts of meat, fillets, kabobs, sates, and vegetables.

Indirect heat is used for larger pieces of meat, such as thick steaks, roasts, and whole fish. In this method, the food is cooked just off the heat at about 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). The lid is closed, and the cooking times are somewhat longer.

Most basting sauces can be brushed on throughout the cooking process. However, sugar based sauces, including many commercial barbecue sauces,  tend to burn if applied to early. Brush them on foods during the last few minutes of cooking.

Marinades should always be boiled first if they are to be used as basting sauce during grilling.

Poking the meat will cause the loss of juices that keep your meat moist and tender. Do not attempt to turn the meat with a carving fork. Instead, use long handled tongs or spatulas to turn the meat.

The easiest method of ascertaining when beef is cooked sufficiently is to slice it and observe the color of the juices. If the juices are red, the meat is rare. Pink juices indicate medium rare, and well done meat will have clear juices.

 Do not carve cooked meat on the board or plate that was used to hold or cut raw meat.

Serve grilled foods immediately, as they will continue to cook slightly after being removed from the grill.

In snowy climates, protect the grill’s finish by keeping it covered during the winter when not in use. 

(Sidebar #2)

Useful Tools for Good Grilling

A wire grill brush, to clean the brush before grilling.

Skewers – metal or bamboo, to make kebabs.

A brush with natural bristles, for basting on sauces.

A grilling basket or screen, for cooking smaller items and more delicate foods like seafood.

Tongs – much better for handling meat than a fork.

A large spatula, for turning chops and fish filets.

A squirt bottle, to spritz on flare-ups. (Also handy to discourage poaching off the grill.)

An instant read thermometer.  Insert it into the thickest part of the meat, away from the bone, to measure the internal temperature of the food.