Winter Squash

While the pumpkins for Halloween were here, Safeway had all these variants of  weird looking pumpkins. I picked a colorful one out for grilling. Cutting in to it brought back memories of carving a jack o' lantern when I was a kid. The color, seeds and smell were the same as a pumpkin. It was pretty good, so I tried other varieties over the past few weeks. Doing some research, I've found  a website having pictures of the squash varieties I have tried so far in this Autumn season. Here are their names:

• Delicata Squash
• Carnival Squash
• Buttercup Squash
• Fairytale Pumpkin Squash

 

Biscuits on the Grill

I've written about grilled bread, and now here are the photos! These are Pillsbury whole wheat biscuits, and Hormel marinaded pork loin. 

 

I served it with KC Masterpiece sauce and Mt Olive pickles.

Sweet Potato Fries

In the past, I usually buy the frozen french fries and cook them in the oven while the meat is on the grill. Also, I have tried the frozen sweet potato fries, knowing they are more nutritious.

Lately, I just grill slices of a fresh russet potato. Now available at Safeway are sweet potatoes and/or yams in three different colors. For my last few barbecues, I've grilled in turn the white, red and yellow skinned varieties.

To prepare, I like to cut the potato lengthwise in six pieces, and brush on olive oil. Here are the yellow sweet potatoes after the first turn. I grill the vegetables first.

Here the potatoes are on the cool side of the grill while my tri-tip steaks drip fat and flare up flames.

Here the meal is served with A.1., my favorite steak sauce for puting on steak fries and steaks.

Grilling Corn in the Husk

I have just seen Steven R's show where he says the great debate is on best way to grill corn on the cob. He demonstrates his favorite method by putting corn in the husk directly on top of lump charcoal, and leaving them until the husks are burned off. He prefers the taste of the caramelized kernels.

I have been grilling corn in the husk routinely ever since seeing my brother-in-law toss them on his gas grill. I have my own favorite way of grilling corn, which I will tell you about.

First step is selecting the corn at the market. Shoppers tend to peel or split the husk to peak at the kernels. I look for corn that has its husk intact. Husk that has been damaged will not stay wrapped around the cob while grilling, and exposing the corn to the grill affects its taste.

Next, I like to prepare my corn in the husk by trimming off the hanging silk and flopping leaves so it becomes a streamlined package. I also remove the few outermost husks that don't cover the whole length of the cob. Removing them is easer than cleaning the husk, and they would separate away from the cob when heated anyway.

To cook, I put the corn on first to give it more grilling time. The green husks should become completely scorched brown from grilling. The kernels are protected by the husks and shouldn't become scorched. I like to use the silk to indicate how done the corn is cooked. Raw silk is springy, and the fibers will fly out all over the place when shucking off the husk. Cooked silk is limp, and the fibers will stick together in a neat glob making it easy to remove them.

To eat, I just peel back the husks and use them as a handle. I love the taste of the natural corn, so I don't put on it any condiments or butter like how Steven does.

Start of Spring

Tuna steak

For February 3rd, Super Sunday, I rooted for my 49er's, and made a classic meal of hamburgers, french fries and root beer soda. For the hamburger buns, I grilled Pillsbury refrigerated French bread dough. We will be there next year!
On Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, I found a lot of seafood on sale at Safeway. I bought a Big Eye Tuna Steak. The next day watching Steven Raichlen, I saw he marinaded his fish steaks in fish sauce (used like soy sauce in southeast Asia). Next time I'll try my tuna steak marinated.
It's Spring, barbecue weather, and the Giants and A's will soon be playing as I'm barbecuing.

BBQ Blog Update for Summer of 2012

We have been watching a lot of Steven Raichlen and been inspired to grill a variety of foods. In the past year, we had quesadillas, bratwurst, fish and corned beef. And the usual chicken, steaks, country style ribs and corn in the husk.  For something we haven't grilled before, we had smoked sausage, Spam, and refrigerated French bread dough. We formed the dough into biscuits and split them after grilling to make sandwiches. The resulting bread was totally different: it's not toasted; it's not baked; but it's bread from grilled dough, and very easy to cook!
For the Father's Day camp out, we've had marinated three kinds of meat, beef, chicken and pork, which is our classic barbecue medley, and with grilled corn and jalapenos on the side. Then we tried another kind of grilled bread, refrigerated biscuit dough along with ground pork. For July 4th, we had ground turkey and grilled eggplant on sesame seed buns.
This brings us to our to-do list:

• Ground Italian sausage and refrigerated pizza dough. Not exactly grilled pizza. But after assembling a sandwich with a little pasta sauce and sliced cheese, it should approach the pizza flavor.
• Beef marinated in red wine vinegar, which has been sitting in the cupboard since we last marinated beef with it long ago. This time we'll try thin sliced beef to get maximum exposure to the marinade.
• Lamb, thanks to Steven saying it is very popular on planet barbecue.
• Pork tenderloin, an old favorite and long overdue for another appearance.

Forth of July

Labor Day Celebration

Breast-halves and leg-quarters gotten on sale at Safeway

Holy Smokes!

Mmm... Barbecue!

Spring Campout

When I go camping, I pack my Weber Smokey Joe. When I barbecue with it, I consider that everything is scaled down: the size of the kettle, the size of the cuts of meat, the amount of briquets, and the cooking time. Using smaller cuts of meat, I like to do a “barbecue medley”: that is cook and serve beef, chicken and pork all at the same time.

Saint Patrick's Day

What else? Shenson corned beef brisket in the green shamrock package. Here it is after the first turn. I've found instructions that say to bake at 350° for 50 minutes per pound, and also to boil for 3 hours or until fork tender. I've tried BBQ'ing this twice already to practice the technique. It does take 3 to 4 hours depending how hot your coals are. You will have to get the outside bacon crispy to get the meat to shred.

Super Bowl XLIV

My BBQ strategy for the all day Super Bowl XLIV celebration is to split the cooking over a short term and then a long term. For lunch during the pre-game show, I'll quickly grill a fish fillet. Then for dinner, I'll BBQ some Pork Shoulder Country Style Ribs (Boneless) leaving then on the grill for hours while I watch the game.

The issue with grilling fish is the fillet may stick to the grill and flake apart when it's done. There I several things I do to prevent sticking without using a grilling basket. First, my food grill is not shiny chrome new. My grill wires are blackened with the baked-on oil you season with your iron frying pan to make it non-stick. You could apply cooking oil to the grill, but don't do this while over the hot coals because it will catch fire. I put Star Olive Oil on the fish fillets instead. Next, I rub on Zatarain's Fish-Fri seasoned breading to give the fillets a non-stick surface. On the grill, soon as the first side gets scorch marks, I'll turn the fillets over. Then I'll leave them alone until they are ready to come off the grill. My fillets stay whole using these techniques.

For my special Super Bowl meals, I served my fish and pork BBQ on tacos. I throw on the grill a flour tortilla, spread some shredded Mexican cheeses, and take it off just when the cheese melts. I assemble the taco with pico de gallo, extra cilantro, and Mexican hot sauce.

Grilling on a Saturday night

Here is what I'm cooking now while listening to Jose's Radio Show! Golden potatos, corn on the cob, and Caribbean Jerk Chicken.

Marinaded Chicken

Today, we have my favorite: grilled chicken marinaded with Lawry's Caribbean Jerk. I put 1 pound of skinless-boneless breasts or thighs into a 1 gallon zip lock bag with half a bottle of marinade. I massage the bag to distribute the marinade, roll the bag to remove all the air, then zip it shut.

Beef Loin Tri-tip Steak

The tri-tip steak is my favorite cut of meat. The preparation is to pat McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning on to both sides of the steaks. The meat marinates while you wait for the briquets to start.

Shown is after the first turn and corn on the cob in the husk.

Starting the Briquets

The preferred technique is a little lighter fluid in the throat of a volcano shaped pile. When it's going it's like your science project. It lights first in the center of the pile. This technique works with a small amount of lighter fluid so it doesn't create soot and smoke. Using newspaper in a chimney starter makes too much smoke.

The Basics

The basic equipment for my backyard BBQ is this old 22 inch Weber kettle.

It is fired with Kingsford briquets, lighter fluid and kitchen matches.