Cookin’ on the Grill

The Fun Quote of the Day

“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to
fetch a child of five.” – Groucho Marx

JD’s Quick Tip

To eliminate spattering or sticking when pan frying or sauteeing, always heat your pan before adding the butter or oil.

Cooking On the Grill

Grill Cooking

Summertime is rapidly approaching. This means it is time to begin preparing meals without heating the house whenever possible. If you haven’t considered the value of cooking on the grill in the past, perhaps now is a great time to adjust your way of thinking.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to keep the heat of cooking outside your home as well as to bring the family together for the entire cooking process. Moms read: this is a great way to get dad to help out with meal preparation. While this is said somewhat in jest, there is some truth to the fact that men are much more inclined to slave away over a hot grill than a hot stove. More importantly, most of the mess of cooking on the grill remains outside your kitchen. I don’t know about you, but that is a huge bonus for me, when it comes to cooking.

Cooking on the grill is also a great way to get the kids involved in the meal preparation and clean up process. We like to use disposable plates when grill cooking and keep the dining al fresco. If you are hoping for instant family unity over the picnic table you might want to think again but there isn’t anything quite like it when it comes to not worrying about spills or dropped food as you can rest fairly certain that the animals will take care of anything that gets left behind.

Even small children can help when cooking on the grill by bringing utensils to the grill, holding plates, and ‘setting’ the picnic table for your dining experience. If you intend to do a good deal of cooking on the grill you may want to invest in some portable and ‘kid friendly’ containers for things such as condiments, napkins, plastic ware, and tablecloth holders. Be sure to find containers that can handle a decent gust of wind without flying off too. These may be a little heavier for your little ones to hold but they won’t be nearly as difficult to chase when blowing across the lawn.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to enjoy nature after a long day of work. Be careful that you do not reserve this as a weekend event as you will find you miss out on some of the relaxing qualities it can bring to your midweek slump. One thing that can definitely be said about grill cooking is that the selections are almost as limitless as they are when cooking on the stove. You must use your imagination for maximum effect though very few meats and vegetables are truly off limits when it comes to cooking on the grill.

In addition to cooking meats on the grill, it is important to keep in mind that you can also cook all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables on the grill as well. You should also keep in mind the awesome side dishes that go great with grilled foods such as baked beans, potato salad, and nice cool deserts and pies.

Cooking on the grill is a great way to bring family and friends together. The next time you plan to have a get together why not make it a night of cooking on the grill? You can have the best of all worlds with no muss, no fuss clean up and great food with good friends. Cooking on the grill is certainly a great way to get the neighbors out and about. There’s nothing on earth that can quite compare to the aroma of meat, fruit, and vegetables grilling over hot charcoal. If you don’t remember and your mouth isn’t watering just reading about, it’s been far too long since your last barbecue experience.

The most important thing to remember about cooking on the grill is that it should be an experience rather than a chore. Most of us truly enjoy the thought of having a good dinner under the sun or stars (whichever applies in your case). If you haven’t tried this in a while, it’s time to dust off the grill and refresh your memory and your taste buds.

Check It Out!

Here’s some good information on Grilling Times for Chicken and Poultry over at AllRecipes.com.

Cooking with Charcoal

  • Be sure and light the charcoal 30 to 45 minutes before you are ready to begin cooking.
  • The charcoal is at the proper grilling temperature once they are covered with a light gray ash.
  • Arrange the coals in a single layer but make sure they are touching each other
  • The cooking rack should be about 4 to 5 inches above the coals.

To determine the temperature of the fire:

Count how many seconds you can hold your hand, palm side down over the coals at cooking height (being careful when doing this)

  • Low – 5 seconds
  • Medium – 4 seconds
  • Medium high – 3 seconds
  • High – 2 seconds

On kettle grills, the vent holes, help to control the air flow and the temperature

  • To raise the temperature – open the vents fully
  • To lower the temperature – close the vents halfway
  • To snuff out the coals – close the vents completely

About LindaS

Love to cook and share my culinary experiences. This blog is filled with recipes that were used by my mother and grandmother for 60 years or more. Lived in Dallas, Texas my entire life.
This entry was posted in Tips & Tricks. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Cookin’ on the Grill

  1. Raj says:

    Full disclosure, this isn’t my rcepie, it’s from the Barefoot Contessa.However, everytime I’ve made this on the grill, I get raves! It’s a great side dish for a summer meal.Confetti Corn2 tablespoons olive oil1/2 cup chopped red onion1 red bell pepper, 1/2 inch diced2 tablespoons butter4 cups of kernels cut from the ears of yellow or white corn. (About 6 to 8 ears of corn I mix both white and yellow.)1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt1 teaspoon fresh black pepper2 tablespoons chopped fresh basilOn the grill, heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the red onion and sautee for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. Stir in the bell pepper and sautee for 2 more minutes.Add the butter to the pan and allow it to melt. Over medium heat, add the corn, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring occassionally for 5 to 7 minutes, until the corn just loses its starchiness.Season to taste, and lastly stir in the basil.Enjoy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>