Saturday, June 26, 2010

Pleasant Surprise!

Our oldest is home from AZ for a wedding.  All three kids home for dinner this past Thursday and unbeknownst to me they had a belated Father's Day dinner in mind with me grilling of course.  Well as usual I could not get out of my office in time and found that Susan had purchased a 'Choice Rib Roast' (as opposed to Prime Rib Roast) for me to grill for Prime Rib.  After consulting amazingribs.com and learning a bit more about grilling Prime Rib (restuarant variety) at home, I realized I did not have enough grilling time- unless we ate way late.   The tribe vetoed that option.

So we decided to 'steak' the roast and seasoned them with Lawry's Seasoning Salt.  We let the steaks come to room temp with the seasoning, now we had all the time we needed for a proper cocktail hour with all three kids and mother-in-law.   I grilled the well marbled steaks at 500F- not too hot.  10 minutes total for 1.5" cut slabs:  WOW!  The steaks were absolutely wet with melted fat and did not shrink up.   They were delicious.  Our grilled prime rib was a huge hit that everyone was talking about the next day.

Why I didn't grab the camera I'll never know.  We're already discussing our Fourth of July Grilling Menu and this little surprise will be one of the main meals we're doing.   What's on your GrillGrates!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

New to Que

I'm man enough to admit that I am new to barbecue! To clarify, I've been a griller for over 30 years, but never a low and slow guy.  Is being from NJ an excuse?  Not really since I've lived in GA for nearly 20 years!  I love eating barbecue and lived in Texas for a while so my pallet became well trained but my grill skills did not include true barbecue.   I've even been a loyal Weber owner since 1978 and it was right under my nose!  But I still never considered smoking ribs, butts, or brisket on my grill.  I stopped at thick london broils!  Not anymore.

My buddy Tommy Boy and I have conquered his gas grill* and put out some smoking barbecue.  We're on a mission this summer to turn his gas grill into a smoking barbecue machine!  

This summer our theme is 'Low and Slow Sunday's  
This past Sunday morning I showed up at Tommy Boy's house with a 1/2 Pork Shoulder, Byron's Butt Rub, print outs from amazingribs.com, and a cup of coffee.   We were starting a new summer tradition.  The week before we felt pretty proud of ourselves as we did ribs and wings that required more than three beers which brought rave reviews from our critics. What a nice way to wind down the weekend.  On Monday we were all remembering the fabulous meal from the night before!

Welcome to the lazy hot days of summer and the best days on the grill! 

DAD- Thank you for teaching me about grilling. 
Meathead, Mike, and Tom- Thank you for teaching me about barbeuce!  
Happy Fathers DAY!

*With all duerespect and deference to my charcoal / wood smoking / pellet toking pure-head friends, its too much work for me to tend the coals and besides Tom and I  don't own a Big Green Egg or one of those fancy pellet grills, so the gas grill is our ticket.  And we're making it sing!
Got any 1, 2 3 beer grilling recipes or stories to share?

Monday, June 7, 2010

Remembering Dad at his Grill and Me By His Side

Last week I blogged about memories of my DAD.  I talked about his passion for grilling and his gift to me of my first grill, a Weber Kettle. I remember hanging out with my Dad at the grill every time he grilled. It was our place and our time.  It still is.

We decided to grill up Dad's signature dish- London Broil marinated in Catalina Dressing. It was fabulous and the taste and flavor was just as I remembered.

Happy Father's Day Dad!  And thank you for your great grilling!

Do you have any grilling with your dad memories or recipes you'd like to share?  Post them here or on our Facebook Fan Page.  

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Remembering DAD at His Grill

What memories do you have of your Dad at the Grill? I have two: My Dad made the best London Broil, he would marinate it in Catalina Dressing (the sugar really softened the meat) overnight in the fridge. He kept a big horse syringe to battle flare-ups and the meat crusted beautifully. He sliced it thin on an angle very rare. For years I made that same London Broil recipe. My other memory is when my Dad gave me his Weber Kettle while I was in college. He had gotten his first gas grill (late 1970's) and I readily snapped up the Weber. I was a grilling fiend in college, and haven't stopped since. I think I need to pick up some London Broil! Thanks Dad!