Top 10 tips for grilling after a long winters solstice

1. Clean the grates, take them inside to the kitchen and give them a good cleaning. You can also put them in the oven and use the cleaning cycle. Start the season fresh.

2. Oil the grates. Take a paper towel and apply a liberal dose of oil to the grates before grilling. The cleaning probably removed some of the natural lubrication.

3. Buy a new brush, Your old one is probably really grody. New brushes are $3 at Rainbow.

4. Check your hoses. Turn the gas on at the tank first and listen for any leakage before opening up the burners. If you hear gas escaping but haven't opened up the burners, turn off the tank and replace your hoses.

5. Buy a meat thermometer. Make a deliberate effort to not over cook you rmeat this summer. Meat thermometers are $29 at the Kitchen Store in the Eden Prairie mall and really help take the guess work out of grilling meat. This especially helps with thicker cuts of meat. Chicken is the most likely to be over cooked. Remove chicken when the thickest part is at 165 degrees.

6. Whenever possible, try to use only fresh meat. Frozen steaks never get their texture back due to cellular damage from the freezing process. Buy steaks the day you need them and avoid freezing them. If you must freeze them be sure to squeeze out any air before placing the bags in the freezer.

7. But grown up salt - coarse kosher salt. The taste is much cleaner than iodized salt and do you really need more iodine?

8. Get a good pepper grinder. Most meats need nothing more than kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Try one of the dual slat and pepper grinders from Chef'n.

9. Get some firewire. The flexible grilling utensils are great for marinating meat in.

http://www.firewiregrilling.com/

10.Learn at least one new recipe a month. Here's my favorite.

Rob's Flank Steak Marinade

1 - 1.5 lbs flank steak

1/2 C soy sauce (2/3 C)

1/2 C canola or vegetable oil

4 spoonsfuls molasses

2 spoonfuls fresh ginger

2 spoonfuls mustard

1 spoonful sugar

6 garlic cloves, chopped

Mix together all the ingredients. Marinate flank steak for up to 24 hours but at least 1 hour. Grill over high heat for 3 minutes each side. Let rest and then cut across the grain and on an angle.

© 2008 Cooking for Dads

Cook well, It's worth it.

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Peaches, Chicken And A Little Thyme

We were where I have been many times before, alone, at home (my daughter and I) and no plan for dinner.  Open come the cupboards, the fridge and the scanning begins.  There is some cold grilled chicken, we have mayo, peaches, there are some baby carrots in the bottom drawer. We feel an idea coming on.  Since we're in Pennsylvania we have the delightful and ubiquitous  Martin's Potato Rolls (the best bread product in the world, and I've been a few places) and since we're at my mom's house we have every spice known to man.

We chop the chicken (2 handfuls), the peaches grown in the yard (1 large peach), a handful of finely chopped baby carrots, we add one large spoonful of mayo, salt and pepper.  A quick scan of the spice rack yields crushed thyme and paprika, a half spoonful of each. We stir together.  Rats, no fresh lemons for a spritz. On to the potato rolls with a piece of lettuce. 

A tentative first bite ...

And a new favorite was found - Barrett Chicken and Peach Salad sandwiches. Sweet yet spicy from the paprika, interesting from the thyme and crunchy from the carrots.  

Try it and let me know what you think.

If only we could get Martin's Potato Rolls in Minnesota.  Mr Martin, what do you think?

Grilled Flank Steak, hidden treasures in the meat aisle.

In terms of under-rated foods, there are fewer things that get over looked more than the lowly flank steak.  While ribeyes, filets and top sirloins get all the girls and the endorsements, the flank steak is that 6th grade boy leaning up against the wall at the junior high dance waiting for puberty to hit.   ....  or something like that.

I've really grown to care for Flank Steak.  You could even say I love it.  Low fat, low cost and full of flavour, the flank steak is one of my favorite things to grill.  4 minutes a side on medium high heat, cut across the grain and on an angle, it falls apart as you eat it.  It's great on salads, in tortillas, and even better in sandwiches the next day.

 

Here's my favorite recipe for Flank Steak.  Enjoy and try it before summer is over.

video version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNhjl4TLxU

Flank Steak Marinade. 

1/2 cup soy sauce 
1/2 cup canola oil 
2 spoonfuls of dijon mustard 
2 spoonfuls of ginger, ground or fresh (if fresh chopped finely) 
4 spoonfuls of molasses 
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped 
1 spoonful sugar (or msg) 

Mix all ingredients together, and pour over steak in a bowl or deep dish. Refrigerate and let sit as long as possible, turning occasionally. Grill over high heat for 4 1/2 minutes each side. Let sit for 8-10 minutes. Cut across the grain and on an angle.