The Grill Connoisseur

Quick, Simple, and Easy Steak.

2010-07-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

One grilled food I commonly see cooked wrong, is steak. Steak is one of the more popular food items on the grill, and it saddens me to see an overcooked, under seasoned steak. So here is a quick recipe, that it followed will result in mouth watering steak, with little prep that anybody can do. I will post up a more advanced steak recipe a little later.

Steak...it's whats for dinner.

1 16oz Porterhouse Steak, 1" thick (any cut can be used, I prefer NY strip, but this is what I had in my fridge)
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tsp McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

1. Remove the steak from the fridge, and allow it to rest 30-45 minutes before cooking. This allows the internal temperature of the steak to rise, helping cook it quicker and consistent throughout the meat.

2. Coat both sides of the steak with the olive oil, and generously season both sides of the steak with the Montreal Steak Seasoning. This can be purchased an most local grocery stores.

3. Prepare a direct high temp fire on your grill. If possible, you want your grill temp to be around 500-600 degrees. The hotter the better.

4. Place steak on hot grill, and place steak on grill. Cook about 4 minutes on each side to obtain a medium-rare cooked steak.

5. Remove from grill, and allow the steak to rest on a plate for about 5 minutes. This allows the juices to start to flow out, and for the steak to finish cooking. If you desire you steak cooked different, use a meat thermometer and refer to the chart below.

Grilled Scallops Skewers

2010-07-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned many times before, seafood is my favorite thing to grill, and one of my favorite seafood items are scallops. Scallops are a tougher dish to grill, because many people don't know when to remove the scallops, and if overcooked, they will turn into rubbery almost inedible objects, but that should not scare you from trying this delicious shellfish.

Bacon-Wrapped Scallop Skewers

1 lbs large Bay Scallops
4 slices bacon
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Kosher Salt and fresh cracked coarse black pepper (to taste)

1. In a frying pan, precook the bacon about 3 minutes, but do not fully cook, making sure that the bacon is still pliable enough to be wrapped around scallops.

2. Rinse the scallops in cold water, and place into a bowl.

3. Pour the olive oil over the scallops, and mix with a spoon to be sure each scallop has a light coating of olive oil. Pour the lemon juice into the bowl, and mix also.

4. Season with the Old Bay, salt and pepper. Be sure not to use too much salt, as the bacon will add salt to the dish.

5. Next thread the scallops onto the skewer, and alternate wrapping the scallops with bacon as shown in the picture. In the end, every other scallop should be wrapped with bacon.

6. Place on the grill in a direct medium fire, and cook the scallops. Turn the skewers over after about 3 minutes, and continue to cook on the other side for 2-3 more minutes. Cook until bacon is slightly crisp and the scallops are slightly opaque.

- As with any meal you are cooking on skewers, soak wooden skewers for at least an hour before using. I know other websites and cookbooks may say soak for 20 minutes, but I recommend longer.
- If you think the scallops are done, they most likely are. Don't make the mistake of putting them back on the grill for another minute or two because you think they aren't. You will end up with rubber balls on a stick.

Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon

2010-06-15T14:06:00.001-07:00

Now cooking with different woods is something I enjoy...but actually cooking on a piece of wood I easily could go without. But...I had a request for cedar plank salmon from a friend and his wife in Dallas, so I did a little research on how to properly grill with the cedar plank, and I am using my own salmon recipe here, but the pictures are not mines. So enjoy!!!

Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon

1 Cedar Plank roughly 6" by 12" (or big enough for all of fish to rest on)
2 Salmon Fillets 1-1 1/2 lbs each
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Kosher Salt and fresh cracked coarse black pepper (to taste)

The Cedar Plank

Purchase your cedar planks from a cooking store, gourmet supermarket or other establishment. Do not go to your local hardware store and buy a piece of cedar to cook on. Some of the wood may have been chemical treated and intended for other uses.

1. Prepare the plank by soaking it for 24 hours in water, fruit juices, vinegar, wine. Be sure to use something heavier than the plank to hold it down, like a brick or other object to ensure the wood soaks up the liquid.

2. Remove the skin from the back of the salmon (or score it, and leave it...this is a personal preference), coat both sides with the olive oil.

3. Season the salmon with the old bay, salt, pepper, and garlic.

4. Prepare your grill for direct medium cooking, but only put the charcoal on one half of the grill. Leave the other side with no charcoal.

5. Place the soaked cedar plank on the grill by itself, directly over the coals. Close the lid on the grill and wait for the plank to start smoking. This should take about five minutes.

6. Place the salmon directly on the hot plank, and move the plank from the direct heat to the other side of the grill. Cook the salmon until opaque throughout (130 on a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest section) opaque throughout (130 on a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest section) 25-35 minutes or longer, depending on thickness and grill temperature.

7. Drizzle the lemon juice over the entire fish, and enjoy.

White Wine & Garlic Mussels

2010-06-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Seafood is my favorite food....hands down. So naturally, grilling seafood is my favorite thing to do on the grill. Mussels are an awesome shellfish, and is much easier to cook than most people think.

White Wine and Garlic Mussels

- 2 lbs fresh Mussels
- 1.5 to 2 cups of white wine (I use a dry chardonnay, stay away from the sweeter wines when cooking with wine)
- 3 tbsp of Unsalted Butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning
- 2 tsp of Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce (cayenne pepper may be used as a substitute)
- Pepper to taste

Garnish
- 1/8 cup of fresh Parsley
- 1/8 cup of fresh Cilantro

1. In a sauce pan on the stove, mix the wine, butter, Old Bay, salt, garlic, hot sauce and pepper to a simmer.
2. Prepare grill for direct heat, around 350-400 degrees.
3. Place the mussels into a 9 x 12 aluminum pan and place directly on grill.

4. Pour the sauce directly over the mussels and cook mussels on grill for 6-8 minutes. Mussels are done when they open.
5. Pour the parsley and cilantro over the mussels and stir while still on the grill. Cook the mussels for another minute.
6. Discard and do not eat any mussels that did not open while cooking.

Requests, requests, requests.....

2010-06-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Most of my friends know I love to grill, and have requested a few recipes from me. I will be putting these up in the next few weeks.

So far, I have the following requests:

Cedar Planked Salmon - (personally I hate cedar planked anything, but I will find a recipe)

Chicken Wings

Scallops

Hamburgers - I have an awesome recipe from my sister in law for this one...

Steak

If anyone visiting this page has a recipe request, please leave it in the comment section and I will have it up for you soon.

Coming soon....RIBS!!!

2010-06-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite foods to grill are baby back ribs. The thing I love about cooking ribs is that there are so many different techniques and methods to doing them, and the flavors possible are mind-boggling. I cook ribs pretty often, but I frequently kindly oblige the rib duty to my older brother at family functions because he is a tad better with the dry rubs than me. I am constantly working to perfect my ribs, and you will most likely see many rib posts on this website.

Here are a few pics of some ribs my brother and I cooked this past weekend...

Here are a few I've done the past month or two...

Spicy Italian BBQ Sausage and Pepper

2010-06-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

I frequently roam the internet looking for new recipes, old recipes, things I've never tried to cook before, and about a month ago I went into a skewer and kabob phase where I put everything imaginable on a wooden stick for two weeks. After doing the normal steak, chicken, and shrimp, I came across an awesome recipe on allrecipes.com for an Italian sausage skewer that can only be described as 'awesome'.

This recipe is not for the faint of heart...it is SPICY!!!

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 pounds spicy Italian sausage, sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cut into large chunks
1/4 pound jalapeno peppers, cut into large pieces
1 large red onion, cut into chunks
1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
1/2 pound sliced provolone cheese

Directions

1. Place sausage, red bell pepper, jalapeno peppers, and red onion in a large bowl.

2. Pour in beer. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.

4. Alternately thread sausage, red pepper, jalapenos, and onion onto skewers.

5. Cook on the prepared grill until sausage is evenly brown and vegetables are tender.

6. Melt provolone cheese over the hot ingredients during the last few minutes of cooking.

I have cooked these 3 times within the past 2 months, and it has came out awesome every time. I can add a few tips that will help in preparing this dish.

- I add scotch bonnet peppers, and any other spicy peppers I can get my hands on when preparing this dish.
- Soak the peppers and sausage separate in the beer first for at least 2-3 hours before adding the sausage. The beer will pull some of the spice out of the peppers, and help permeate the sausage when placed in.
- Do not soak the sausage in the beer for more than 3 hours. This will cause the sausage to start to break apart.
- As with any meal you are cooking on skewers, soak wooden skewers for at least an hour before using. I know other websites and cookbooks may say soak for 20 minutes, but I recommend longer.
- After cuting the sausage, remove the casings before placing it into the beer marinade.
- The more spicy peppers the better.

Jerk Seasoning

2010-06-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Q. What is jerk seasoning?

A. Jerk seasoning, which originated in Jamaica, is a blend of dried herbs and spices rubbed on meat and poultry prior to grilling or added to liquid marinades.

The blend often contains onions, garlic, thyme, chilies, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. If you can't find a brand that is sugar and sodium free, make your own blend.

This is a recipe my brother stumbled upon about 2 years ago, and it has been a staple at all family cookouts ever since. Though the recipe below is for steak, the jerk seasoning can be used on chicken, seafood, or anything else you decide to grill.

Jerk Seasoned Rib-eye Steak

2-3 16oz cuts of boneless or bone-in Rib-Eye Steak

Ingredients for jerk paste:
1tsp Nutmeg
2tsp White Pepper
¼ C Black Pepper
½ C Kosher salt
¾ C freshly ground Allspice
¾ C Brown Sugar
¾ C Orange Juice
1 whole Scotch Bonnet pepper (habaernos)
1 bunch Jamaican Thyme
8 whole Garlic cloves
¾ C chopped Scallions (green onions)
2 cups whole Ajicito pepper (flavorful but not hot)

METHOD:
Put ajicito peppers, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic cloves, thyme and scallions in food processor and pulse until it forms a paste. Then add the remaining ingredients except for the orange juice and blend. Slowly stream OJ into the processor. (Jerk paste keeps for approximately 1 week in the refrigerator). Smear paste over one side of steak and season the other side with salt and pepper. Marinate for 1 hour or up to 48 hours. Place steak on a hot grill and cook to desired doneness.

iPhone blog test

2010-05-31T16:38:00.001-07:00

Oh, so I can blog from my phone?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Fairpines Rd,Dale,United States

Skewers, Kabobs, Meat on a Stick.

2010-05-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite foods to grill are Beef Kabobs. Here is a quick recipe that will please the eyes and the mouth.

2 lbs of bone in strip (or your favorite cut of steak, cut into cubes at least 1"x1", no bigger than 2"x2".
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Onion
3-4 medium sized pieces of squash
Olive Oil
McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

Cut the red pepper, bell pepper, and red onion up into pieces, 1"x1" or larger. Next, slice the squash into slices as desired. Mix all the vegetables in a bowl, lightly coat with olive oil, and lightly season with about a tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning. Next, after the meat is cut into cubes, lightly coat it with olive oil, and again season with the Montreal steak seasoning. Put meat onto presoaked (at least one hour of soaking) wooden skewers alternating the items in any arrangement you desire. Place on the grill in a medium direct fire and cook for 10-12 minutes, turning skewer over halfway through cooking.

The King of Charcoal Grills

2010-05-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Okay...my one rule in grilling is that you don't use gas, mention gas, or ask me any gas grilling questions. I'm have never used a gas grill, nor will I. I am a charcoal griller, and inherited the charcoal passion from my mom.

With that being said, there are tons of charcoal grills out on the market. But after using several different ones and styles, I am come to the conclusion, like many others, that in the $200 and under category no grill beats the Weber One Touch line of grills.

There are many imitation grills out there that look like the kettle style grill that Weber makes, but they fall short when it comes to performance. The grill is made from high quality materials, and you feel the difference once you pick up the heavy, sturdy lid of the grill.

Most recipes I techniques I put on this blog will be based off of experiences on the Weber One Touch 22.5" grill, and feel free to email with any questions or comments, and I'll be glad to answer...as long as you are not talking about gas grilling.

I'm back...

2010-05-28T17:53:00.001-07:00

Grilled Turkey

2009-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, I decided to try something different. After doing some research in cookbooks and online, I wanted to take a chance on grilling a turkey. I have grilled pretty much every cut of meat known to man, except a turkey.

COMING SOON!!!