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!

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?

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.  

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!

Grilled Pizza 2.0 Fresh and Loaded High Pizza Pie!

Tom and Bev invited us to come over for dinner- Natalie and Blake were cooking.  Tom even bought Pigs Nose Scotch so I knew it was going to be great.  I walked in the door and saw FOUR gorgeous pizzas piled high with fresh toppings and turned right around and went home to get my cameras.  I should have known something good was going on the grill.

Natalie told me that she and Blake grill her favorite pizza all the time and I really got a lesson in healthier pizza building!   We named it Natalie and Blakes Piled High Pizza and here are a few of the ingredients.  Full recipe link grillgrate.com

Just a few secrets:

1. Ground Turkey with Fennel delivers great sausage flavor without the grease and thinly sliced pepperoni keeps the taste but eliminates the oil
2. Roast peppers, onions and garlic in shell ahead of time on the grill or in the oven
3. FRESH sliced mozzarella
4. GrillGrates!

So cool to see Natalie a MamaMary's Pizza Crust fan and for sharing her wonderful recipe with us last night! Glad I ran home to get my camera. Thanks Tommy Boy, Ralphie and Natalie!

Science of Grate Grilling 5.5 CINCO DE MAYO Grilled Quesadillas

Break out GrillGrates to grill fabulous Cinco de Mayo Quesadillas.  Invite your friends over for a real treat that you can make ahead of time and just add the toppings before grilling.

Two flour tortillas form a sandwich that becomes the platform for the quesadilla toppings.  You can use several different fillings for the sandwich between the tortillas. 

• Just Cheese- 3 part mexican cheese or whatever you have in the fridge
• 3 Bean Mash or can of refried beans sprinkled with a little cheese
• Even sliced pears and goat cheese

TIP:  Make the flour tortilla bases ahead of time and separate with wax paper.   Make two or three and enjoy putting the toppings on with your guests.  Suggested toppings:

• Salsa
• Tomato slices
• Mexican Cheese
• Avocado slices
• NONE- bring inside as chip for dips!

Links to quesadilla recipes:  

• Natalies Two-Fisted Quesadilla (basic cheese and salsa)
• Laura's Austin Quesadilla (with pears and goat cheese)
• Sweet & Spicy Quesadilla (brie or swiss cheese and pepper jelly)
  

GrillGrate TIP:  Keep GrillGrate temp below 400F- no burning of the bottom of the tortilla- just crispy golden sear marks.   LOW on Gas Grills- hood temp will read 300F.  10 minute grilling time required to thoroughly grill toppings and get tortillas crispy.

Science of GrillGrate Part 6 EZ SMOKING with BBQR's Delight All Natural Pellets

It doesn't get any easier than this!  Sprinkle a few pellets on the fringe area of your GrillGrates and almost instantly- smoke is wafting your way.  Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn of amazingribs.com  introduced me to their all natural wood pellets last fall and hooked me up with Candy Sue Weaver owner of BBQR's Delight- a serious pittmaster and bbq businesswoman.  Craig called our products peanut butter and jelly because we go so well together.   Now we include a sample bag of pellets with every GrillGrate order. They're that good! -and the scent in the backyard is just unbelieveable.