Spent the weekend in the Windy City w/ fam. Grilled ribeyes, corn on the cob, rosemary/garlic red potatoes and broccoli on Sat. night. It was one of those meals where everything came together perfectly (or maybe that was the beer and company.)
I'm doing more and more vegetables directly on the grill (i.e., no foil tenting). Haven't tried broccoli that way yet. I've had roasted broccoli before that was pretty good I bet it can be grilled, too.
A good friend of mine bought a smoker last month, just a cheap Chargriller offset smoker. We've smoked on it several times over the past couple of weeks. Usually we do pulled pork with a dry rub, then take some Sweet Baby Ray's or have a friend come make the sauce from scratch. We hardly bother with sides, maybe green beans and potato salad; we're mostly about the meat, though. We also built a horseshoe pit in his backyard, so we sit around and play silly drinking games while, of course, drinking. It's been a great summer thus far.
sWell, between the busted grill I mentioned earlier in the thread and the fact that I'm slightly pyrophobic I haven't grilled in months. But right now I have a sweet motherfrackin' chili slow-cooking in the oven.
1lb Medium ground beef 1/2lb lean ground pork 3 cans diced herbed tomatoes 1 can crushed tomatos 2 yellow peppers chopped coarse 2 red peppers chopped coarse 1 green pepper chopped coarse (by coarse I mean pieces are about 1/2"x1/2" or so) about 1lb of mushrooms chopped coarse 1 small can (all I had unfortunately) pickled jalapenos 1 big can red kidney beans 1 big can romano beans 1 big can six-bean-medley
Browned the meat with some garlic and dehyraded onion flakes (I hate onion and couldn't be bothered to cut actual onion for this) Mixed the rest of the ingredients with the meat in a huge frickin' turkey roasting pan (barely fits in the oven) with a bunch of crushed chili peppers, diced garlic, more dehydrated onion flakes.
Unfortunately I am out of chili powder and it's too late to get any tonight, so I don't honestly know if this will turn out spicy enough, but should be plenty flavorful regardless.
I've been grilling a ton lately now that the heat wave ended. I just haven't had much computer time to edit/upload pics. Some huge sea scallops caught my eye at Kroger's yesterday and I grabbed some jumbo shrimp to skewer as well. The scallops are a basic lemon/pepper, the shrimp is wrapped around pesto. asparagus and fresh Indiana sweet corn grilled alongside it all
scottaa1 wrote:wow, great color in there, that looks awesome
edit: either you've got a platoon to feed or you're gunna be eatin chili for a week and a half at least the stuff freezes well.
It turned out better than I thought it might. Was really worried with the lack of chili powder but the flakes did a good enough job.
I ate chili for three days, shared with the guys at work, and still froze about 4 servings (big healthy servings at that) for later. I don't know how to make a small chili
scottaa1 wrote:I've been grilling a ton lately now that the heat wave ended. I just haven't had much computer time to edit/upload pics. Some huge sea scallops caught my eye at Kroger's yesterday and I grabbed some jumbo shrimp to skewer as well. The scallops are a basic lemon/pepper, the shrimp is wrapped around pesto. asparagus and fresh Indiana sweet corn grilled alongside it all
That looks really really good brother. I haven't made scallops at home in a while but next time I am at the grocery store I just might need to check the selection out. Although I usually prefer the smaller ones myself, I find they have a better flavor.
What type of grills do you guys prefer? Gas, Charcoal, Smoker, Infrared? What type do you despise?
I got a hand-me-down propane gas grill a few years back and that's what I've been using all my grilling life. It has enough room to grill maybe 4 pieces of chicken, and the cooking is uneven across the board. There are certain places that I have to put food in order for it to cook and not burn. I recently talked my wife into looking into getting a new grill right now as they are all going clearance w/ the summer coming to an end.
The one grill I keep coming back to is a Char-Broil Quantum Infrared grill. I've never had any food off an Infrared grill though, so I'm a little skeptical about whether the food really taste the same as a normal grill.
I think most would agree that charcoal is the way to go. It gives incredible results in both flavor and visual appeal (and smells oh so good when cooking). Plus charcoal grills have a cheaper initial cost. If you can meet 3 basic conditions, then get a Weber kettle 22" with some accessories and don't look back. Those basic conditions I mention are:
1) Do you have a location doesn't receive alot of wind and is large enough for a true open flame? (if you get the wind right off the lake, the charcoal will be difficult to lite/keep lit, will burn and heat unevenly, and can melt the siding on your house if you have a very small patio/have someone living above you with a balcony)
2) Do you have a convenient way to clean up the ash? Simple little afterthought, but without a convenient outlet for all that ash it will be a HUGE mess dealing with this and you will get sick of it fast.
3) Are you usually in a rush when you grill? If so, charcoal isn't the answer. Takes too long to heat up, and takes a long time to burn out and cool off. If you want fast heat and fast cooldown, get a gas grill.
Gas grills produce pretty good results but I'd be lying if I said my Weber propane gives the same results as the kettle. But, there's a lot of wind and cleanup is a bit a pain, so I use the propane far more often.
I"ve never owned a smoker or a infrared, so can't comment. I have a coworker who has an indoor infrared oven and she raves about it. A smoker I tend to think is a specialty item, not a replacement or stand-in for a grill. It's a second purchase to use for special items.
Brand is fairly important. I've had a number of cheapo $100 charbroils that at the one year old mark the heat elements were rusted out and letting all the gas out on one side, making a scorch zone on one side and a cold zone on the other. The ignitor no longer worked They're also so lightweight that I've had the wind blow a couple of them over, which breaks the pot metal casing and ruins the whole thing. The replacement cover is as much as a new grill.
You get what you pay for. A brand new $100 gas grill will work fine, for a little while. But you'll be buying a new one every couple years and won't be getting the payoff of working with a higher quality grill every time you cook. I'm a diehard Weber fan which you've probably picked up on. I have a kettle that I bought back in '94, and the propane is from Summer '09. I took the propane apart two weeks ago to clean it, and it is working like brand new again (with all original pieces, I've replaced nothing). And the ignitor works first click, every time.
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(or maybe that was the beer and company.)
at least the stuff freezes well.
