Get Your Grill On

The following factoids are from www.hpba.org.

A Sizzling Industry

· More than 17.4 million grills were shipped in 2007, marking a 13 percent increase since 2000.

· Nine out of 10 (95 percent) grill owners used their grill in the past year, an increase of 4 percent over 2003.

· Nearly eight out of 10 (77 percent) households own an outdoor barbecue grill or smoker, a 5 percent increase from 2003.

· Sixty-eight percent of households own a gas grill, followed by charcoal (37 percent) and electric (2 percent).

· LP gas grills continue to be the most widely owned type of grill, with 94 percent of all gas grill owners owning an LP gas grill.

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A few weeks ago l cooked up what I’m now calling SPAM “Burnt Ends.” I had been looking for an interesting take on SPAM that I could serve at a luau my wife and I are planning for later in the summer (SPAM is huge in Hawaii, so it would make a novel appetizer). I had seen some recipes for barbecued bologna and could easily just adapt those to the SPAM, but I took things a few steps further.

The inspiration comes from the burnt ends of brisket at RUB (New York City): take an overly rich cut of meat, rub it, smoke it, sauce it, cube it, rub it again and smoke it again. On most days I’ll take RUB’s burnt ends over what you see here, but it would take about six times the investment in both meat and smoking time. With brisket burnt ends, the crispness is a byproduct of rendering out some of the fat. Here, it’s a way to make a cheap hunk of processed meat a little more palatable.

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“In some social circles, I am known as Chileverde”. That is a quote from my infamous 6 minutes of fame on Joey Altman’s “Bay Cafe”. I now go by Chilebrown. Today I am making my award winning Chileverde. Well, sort of award winning. It took the ‘Peoples Choice’ award at the “Calistoga Beer,Sausage and Chili Festival”. The judges voted the Police Captain First and the Fire Chief Second. I have a little twist to kick up my chili. I barbeque all the vegetables and Meat.

Lets start with the ingredients.

• 8 pounds of Pork Shoulder (Butt)
• cilantro
• 1 pound of tomatillas
• 1 TBS honey2 onions
• 1 TBS cumin

Dry Rub

• Salt and pepper
• 1 TBS oregano
• 1 head of garlic
• 8-10 large Anaheim style peppers. If you can get New Hatch, I am jealous.

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With Memorial Day weekend looming on the calendar, if you haven’t kicked off your grilling season already, you’re getting awfully close to the official start. These Cuban-Style Hamburgers are a snap to whip up, making them perfect for either a weeknight when you’re short on time, or a weekend when the gang appears, hungry, at your place. Dig in!

Cuban-Style Hamburgers
Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay

• 2 pounds ground chuck
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup best-quality mayonnaise
• 3 cloves roasted garlic, pureed
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 4 soft, classic hamburger buns
• 8 slices thinly sliced Swiss cheese
• 4 slices thinly sliced smoked ham
• 2 dill pickles, sliced 1/4-inch thick

Preheat the grill to high. Form the meat into 4 (1/4-inch thick) burgers. Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes on both sides for medium doneness. When the burgers are done, remove from the heat and reduce heat to medium-low.

Meanwhile, combine the mayonnaise and roasted garlic in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spread both sides of each bun with mayonnaise and mustard. Place a slice of cheese on the bottom portion of each bun, place the burger on top of the cheese, then top the cheese with a slice of ham and another slice of cheese, and finally, the pickle slices. Place the tops of the bun over the pickles, wrap the burgers in aluminum foil, and place them on the grill. Using a heavy pan or a brick wrapped in foil, press down on the burgers for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lower the lid on the grill and continue grilling for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the bun has become pressed and firm.

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Now that my wife and I are “empty nesters” we are enjoy trying different types of foods and flavor profiles that we couldn’t try with kids at home. We are also trying to eat healthier. Ellie Krieger’s book “The Food You Crave” has given us several great meals that don’t necessarily taste “healthy.”

Tonight we tried her Grill Thai Beef Salad. (You can find the recipe on the Food Network here)

Celeste whipped up the marinade this morning and got flank steak soaking away in what smelled like a fantastic mixture of ginger, soy and garlic chili sauce.

After getting a nice bed of goals on my trusty weber kettle I got to grilling the flank steak:

Check out the close up of the chili sauce and garlic along with other morsels of tasty goodness.

All and all this was a meal that was both satisfying and flavorful. The combination of the basil and cilantro in the salad combined with the chili sauce marinade made of a taste that satisfied my need for a little heat, but wasn’t overpowering.

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