We had an early spring here in Indiana, and grilling
season is well underway. We inaugurated
our grill a couple weeks ago with two racks of baby back pork ribs, made our
special way – simmered in beer, onions and Old Bay seasoning, then grilled HOT
with Smokin’ Joe Jones barbecue sauce (we get it on Netrition) until the sauce
has a bit of nice char and the meat is falling off the bones.
Today, my husband Paul, the undisputed grillmeister,
cooked plain, simple hamburgers.
Half-pound
hamburgers, blissfully seasoned, crunchy on the outside, spurting juice on the
inside. Paul and I like our steaks
fairly rare, but hamburger is riskier, so we straddle the fine line between
cooking it thoroughly while still keeping it juicy. Paul eats his on low-carb bread (from Trader
Joe’s) with cheese, Heinz 1-carb catsup and sliced onion. I eat mine on a toasted Muffin in a Minute
bun with cheese, mayo, and a lot of
freshly ground black pepper. The
wonderful grill “crust” crunches when I bite into it, and juice runs down my
chin and my wrist.
Atkins heaven.
In honor of grilling season, I’m going to pass on a
few of Paul’s precious grill secrets.
Take notes, Grasshopper, and learn from the master.
Hamburgers. Ground chuck and only ground chuck. As Danny
Glover says in Lethal Weapon 3, “You cut the fat, you cut the flavor.” Add your seasonings of choice and leave well
enough alone; hamburgers don’t need “ingredients.” Make your patties thicker at the edges than
the middle; otherwise you’ll end up with a meatball instead of a patty. And for goodness’ sake, don’t mash your
burgers down while they’re cooking!
Steaks. Now, here’s a disclaimer: Paul and I like our steaks black on the
outside and rare in the middle, which isn’t to everyone’s taste. But if that’s how you like your steaks, cut
them thick and cook them hot to get
that crusty exterior while saving that rare, juicy middle!
Lean
pork and chicken.
Any pork and chicken can benefit from a marinade, but lean pork chops,
and even more so boneless skinless chicken breasts, need marinade. A couple of
our favorites are: Beer and jerk
seasoning; olive oil, lemon, garlic and Italian seasoning; and beer and lemon
pepper. It’s not rocket science. Put your marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag
or plastic storage container. Add your
meat. Shake vigorously. Put in your refrigerator and let sit
overnight, or at the very least a couple hours.
Vegetables don’t need to hydrate in the marinade, so a few minutes is
fine for them.
Grill
tips. Always have your grill nice and hot before you put your meat on it so it
won’t stick. And don’t poke holes in
your meat! Turn your food with tongs,
not a fork! Don’t overcook your food –
it’ll continue cooking after you take it off the grill, so take it off just a
little early and let it rest before
you eat it. Yes, these are very simple
tips, but that’s because they’re common mistakes.
Fire it up!