Archive for June, 2006
A Simple, Cheap Rub Recipe for Crowds
There’s lots of nice, fancy rub recipes out there with all sorts of exotic spices. Don’t get me wrong, these have their place for certain. Sometimes however, like when cooking for 100 people, you’ll want to opt for something cheaper and more convenient to make in big batches.
One good general purpose rub recipe I can recommend calls for equal parts of salt, ground black pepper, paprika and brown sugar. Follow this recipe you can easily create a giant tub of rub, for a crowd or for long term usage. Two cups of each, two quarts of each, doesn’t matter. It won’t last forever, but it should be fine for six to eight months if kept in an airtight container. The ingredients here are cheap, and not too volatile.
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Steven Raichlen Comments on Dangers of Grilling
An interesting comment from author Steven Raichlen concerning the health risks associated with grilled foods appeared on The Slate the other day.
I feel obliged to discuss one topic we haven’t raised that may concern some nervous Nellies: barbecue and carcinogens. At the heart of the debate are HCAs (heterocyclic amines)—alleged carcinogens that form when dripping fat and meat juices hit the hot coals. One way to avoid this is to indirect grill or smoke. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, even if you’re fanatic about direct grilling (and you should be). Columnist Ed Blonz, who holds a Ph.D. in nutrition, puts it in perspective this way: Eating 100 charcoal-grilled steaks will statistically increase your odds of dying by one in a million—but so will rock climbing for 1.5 minutes, bicycle riding for 10 minutes, and being a 60-year-old man for 20 minutes. In other words, the risks are greatly overrated.
This issue comes up quite a bit, and I really agree with Steven on this one. Yes there’s some measure of risk, but it’s trivial in the grand scheme of things. I wonder in fact how many more people are injured by hot coals each year? You don’t hear people worrying about that.
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World Cup BBQ Ideas
If you are a World Cup fan you’ll want to check out this recent article in the Austin Chronicle. The author’s doing a themed cookout with each game, with recipes that coordinate with the teams.
So for example for Serbia & Montenegro vs. Netherlands they’ve selected cevapcici, grilled ground meat patties, sometimes sausage-shaped, and considered the national dish of Serbia. They are traditionally made with ground beef, pork, and lamb, but may be found in any combination. This is paired with Hutspot, a traditional dish from Leiden, made from the potatos, onions and carrots.
To drink, Dutch beer. Recipes and other combinations can be found in the article.
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The Perfect BBQ Grill for World Cup Cookouts
If you and your rowdy soccer hooligans are getting together to watch the World Cup over some barbecue or burgers, and you don’t mind looking like a dork, this could be the grill for you. I’m guess barbecue aficionado Rick Browne doesn’t have anything to do with these grills, apart from using his name to sell them through his website.
Could any self respecting grill master see themselves using one of these toys? Maybe talk on the foot ball phone while you are at it. No thanks, I don’t need occasion themed grilling hardware.
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Budweiser Barbecue Sauce
Budweiser has launched its own line of barbecue sauces, just on the heals of new flavors from Bulls Eye. The Budweiser-branded sauces will be available in major grocery and club stores in addition to restaurants nationwide. In addition, the sauces will be sold at all Anheuser-Busch tour center gift shop locations. Here’s the flavors they’ve announced.
- Budweiser Basting Sauce A perfect fit for fish, chicken, pork and beef. This sauce has a distinct mustard flavor that’s enhanced with a blend of fresh garden vegetables, herbs and a nice hint of caramelized sweetness. A touch of soy and citrus rounds out this great baste.
- Budweiser Wing Sauce Built for, what else, a Budweiser and wings! The wing sauce is nicely balanced with the right amount of heat, a hint of sweetness, a nice intermingling of butter and garlic with a pallet-cleansing burst of vinegar. This sauce is comfortably mild and can be kicked up for those who love hot and spicy.
- Budweiser Barbecue Sauce This sauce holds a blend of heat, vinegar, fresh herbs and garden vegetables with subtle notes of hops, malts and rice from the Budweiser.
- Beechwood Smoked Budweiser Barbecue Sauce Offers traditional barbecue flavor with subtle smokiness and a slightly tart and sweet balance that has a caramelized sugar finish. This sauce is complex enough to work with both lighter meats such as chicken, while holding true to bigger flavors like beef and ribs. The special beechwood chips, made famous in the crafting of Budweiser, are used in creating this sauce and the result is a flavor like no other with a finish that is subtly smoky with hints of hops and malt.
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Smoked Chicken with the Smokenator
A few weeks ago I wrote about the The Smokenator contraption that converts your Weber grill into a water smoker. The other day I tried out a smoked chicken recipe to see how it did.
To get started, cut some pats of butter (about 1/2 a stick) and some fresh herbs such as rosemary and basil. Using a knife, loosen the skin under the breast, thighs, and legs. Push the butter and herbs between the skin and the meat, distributing them throughout the chicken.
To prepare I lit my coals, added some wood chunks, and filled the pan with water. To cook the chicken I sat it atop a broiler pan in the bottom of the grill, rising it up a few inches. About 1 1/2 hours later (a little faster than my Brinkman water smoker, as the smokenator runs hot) the chicken was ready. Tasty!
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Bull’s-Eye Barbecue Sauce Introduces New Flavors
Venerable favorite mega-mart barbecue sauce favorite Bulls-Eye now comes in four new flavors. Earlier this month Kraft announced an upgrade to their line of popular barbecue sauces. The new flavors of barbecue provide some new options for the backyard griller looking for something new.
The new flavors added to the line are:
- Steakhouse BBQ with A.1. – Bulls-Eye barbecue sauce, flavored with the ever popular A.1. steak sauce.
- Smokin’ Chipotle Spiked with the smokey kick of chipotle peppers
- Raging Buffalo A combination of classic barbecue and hot wing sauce
- Sweet & Sticky BBQ Rib Sauce An extra thick sauce with a shot of apple cider
The new flavors of Bull’s-Eye Barbecue Sauce should be in store now.
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The Weber Grill Restaurant
The Weber Grill Restaurant in Chicago put their grilling expertise to the test with their all grill kitchen. Billing themselves as the “ultimate upscale grilling experience”, they bring Chicago area residents the delicious flavor of the grill in a restaurant package. Patrons can enjoy the dining room, or for a more authentic cookout experience, enjoy their food on the spacious patio.
There are actually three Weber Grill Restaurant locations in the area: Chicago, Lombard, and Schaumburg. In the Weber Grill kitchen their experienced grilling staff cook up delicious backyard favorites like hamburgers, steaks, and chops. But being an upscale restaurant they also offer prime rib as well as grilled seafood and vegetables.
Grilling classes are also a popular reason to visit the Weber Grill Restaurant. Once a month at the Schaumburg location, you can learn to grill from the expert grill masters at Weber.
Another unique fact about the Weber Grill Restaurant is their open kitchen design that allows you to observes the chefs in action behind their grills. Cooking over real charcoal (up to 2000 pounds per day), the Weber chefs use the popular Weber Chimney Starter to light up, just like you would at home. The food is cooked over giant size versions of the famous Weber kettle grill.
If you are ever in the Chicago area, drop in for a bite at the Weber Grill Restaurant. They take reservations, and they stay very busy – especially on the weekends. Those of too far away will have to be satisfied with our own Weber cookouts.
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Ronnie’s Steak House
Ronnie’s Steak House is a Orlando landmark of sorts. Here’s everything you need to know about this popular Florida steak house. Every visitor to Disney World who does their research will come across Ronnie’s Steak House at least once in their online research when searching for restaurant reviews in Orlando, Florida. Ronnie’s always shows up listed as the best steak house in town, and the worst!
Serving fine grilled steaks and chops, Ronnie’s Steak House location at 7500 International Drive in Orlando, Florida made it a prime advertising target for those on a Disney Vacation seeking an aged, prime steak or juicy lobster. But the verdict was always split down the middle, with some visitors claiming it the best steak they’d every eaten, other’s the worst. My theory is that lots of Orlando tourists aren’t exactly familiar with top quality steaks, and believe whatever they are told about the quality of the meal.
A favorite tactic at Ronnie’s Steak House was the bait and switch on the wine. When an unsuspecting tourist dropped in and order a bottle of wine, the waiter would claim that they were out but would “upgrade” them to a “better” bottle of wine to accompany their t-bone, strip steak, or fillet. Inevitably this would turn out to be the cheapest wine around.
If you’re looking to make reservations to Ronnie’s Steak House you are too late. Ronnie’s has closed their doors for good. Seems the good reviews from clueless customers could not overcome the bad reviews from more discerning patrons.
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Grilling corn on the cob
There’s nothing quite as easy as grilling corn on the cob. Grilled corn on the cob is not only tasty, but grilling your corn never fails to impress your guests.
There’s lots of ways to prepare corn on the cob, but I only eat my corn one way of course, and that’s grilling it. Grilled corn on the cob is super easy to prepare, and it looks and tastes great. There’s two basic theories on grilling corn on the cob, with foil and without.
Grilling corn on the cob with foil
Some people like grilling corn on the cob by wrapping it in aluminum foil or its own husk, packed with butter and seasonings, then baking it on the grill until done. While this does indeed cook the corn, and it does taste pretty good, it’s not really grilling now is it? I mean if it’s wrapped in aluminum foil it doesn’t get any smoke, or char, or magic grilling vapors, or any of the other things that make up the beauty of grilled corn.
Grilling corn on the cob with direct heat
Let me explain how I go about grilling corn on the cob. The way I prefer grilling my corn is by placing it directly on the rack over high heat where it can catch a little flame. This grilled corn recipe, if you want to call it that, couldn’t be simpler.
Start your fire or preheat your gas grill on high, then peel the husk and silk away from the corn before grilling. If you want to make a nice presentation, you can save the corn husks and use them as decoration when serving. In any case, throw away the silk, which is not good for much of anything.
Next, drizzle the corn on the cob with a little olive oil. I’ve tried using herbed butter instead of olive oil, but I think garlic butter is best applied after the corn comes off the grill.
Place the corn on the cob directly on the grill grate over high heat. Grill the corn on the cob for about 10 minutes, rotating the corn as needed to keep it from getting charred too much on one side. What you are looking for is enough time to lightly blacken some of the kernels. Don’t overcook the corn however or it will become mushy. You know when you’ve gone too far if the corn cob flexes easily in your hands.
After grilling the corn on the cob, season with salt and pepper and a slather of butter if desired. For a twist, I like to sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on grilled corn, which calls to mind the corn cooked in crab boil.
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