Smokin’

Since smoke was in second place on the top ten list of flavourings mentioned on restaurant menus last year (yes, it really is someone’s job to keep track of these things!), it’s true that smoke is hot with consumers and chefs alike. While chefs can use tools such as The Smoking Gun to short cut to smoky flavour, home cooks need to put in a bit more effort. But the effort is well worth it!

Below are my tried and true tips for turning your grill into a smoke filled cradle that can infuse steaks, fish, chicken and even grilled veggies with intense, deep flavour.

Smoking box:
• You can buy a cast iron smoking box for your grill for $25 dollars or so at many department and hardware stores.
• Lift the grate off your gas grill and place the smoking box in a corner of the grill where it will be exposed to intense heat.
• Next, close the windows in your house and car.
• Fill the smoker box with wet wood chips and fill the reservoir with water; put on the lid (if it has one) and replace the grate. Turn the grill on high and heat until enormous clouds of smoke billow out of the vent holes in the lid. Reduce the heat to desired cooking temperature and proceed as usual.

Foil pan:
• No smoking box? Choose a small, disposable foil baking pan that will fit between the grate and the burners. Position as recommended above.
• Soak enough wood chips to cover the bottom of the pan completely in water for 15 minutes or so before draining and adding chips to the pan and proceeding as above.

Choosing wood chips:
• Wood chips designed for culinary smoking are usually available in the same section as smoker boxes.
• Prepackaged hickory, mesquite, fruitwood and other specialty wood varieties (such as bourbon soaked, wine wood, etc) are all great options.
• Never use pressure treated or scrap building materials for smoking food since lumber can contain toxic chemicals.
• If using wood from your own trees, make sure it is fully dried and brittle before use. Chop into cracker-sized pieces so that it burns quickly and easily.
• Moisten or soak wood chips before adding to the foil tray or smoking box to ensure that they smolder and don’t produce flames that can singe food.
• Before storing the grill, drizzle the wood chips remaining in the smoker box with additional water to ensure that the fire is completely extinguished.

Cheeseburger tips for Dad

Three times a year I find myself with the same dilemma: what to get my dad for his birthday, Christmas or Father’s Day. He’s a tough person to shop for since he doesn’t do the basic ‘Dad’ stuff. Not only is he not a golfer, but he doesn’t wear ties to work and he has no nifty collections that need augmentation.

Fortunately, my dad does like to grill. And, since the day he discovered instant read thermometers, he’s actually become pretty good at it.

Last week Dad called me up to ask questions about cheeseburgers. It was obvious that he doesn’t read the cookbooks I write since he wanted to know if I had any recipes for burgers that

1. have cheese fillings
2. are coated with sauces.

My last book, Dana’s Top Ten Table, contains 20 burger recipes, many of which are saucy, cheesy or both. So much for having a home grown fan base!

The good news is that I can take this info and make my Dad a little cheeseburger kit for Father’s Day and he won’t know I’m using old material.

Here are some of the tips I’m going to include in his burger kit as well as a recipe for Gourmet Brie Burgers (pictured above). They’re both saucy and cheesy, which makes them pretty much made to order for my Dad!

Tips for My Dad the Cheeseburger Lover:

• Top burgers with sliced cheese only after they are cooked to the desired internal temperature. Adding cheese too early can lead to tough, greasy cheese.
• If topping burgers with crumbled cheese (such as Stilton, Feta, etc), add the cheese to the warm burgers after they’ve been removed from the grill. These cheeses will soften and begin to melt just from the heat in the meat.
• If adding cheese to the inside of a burger to make a molten centre, use cold cheese and ensure it is fully encased by the meat. If there are any gaps, the cheese will drip out into the grill and cause flare-ups. Besides the recipe below which uses Brie, cheddar, Stilton and other semi-soft and firm cheeses can be used as fillings, too. In fact, this recipe I developed for Heinz several years ago is a great example of how to use sliced cheese as a burger filling.
• Adding shredded cheese to burgers is becoming a popular technique in recipes; however, I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. I find that the shredded cheese on the outside surface of the burger scorches easily and you never get a good cheesy bite. Instead the shredded cheese makes the burger seem greasy.

Dana’s Gourmet Brie Burger

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes

There will never be any shame in serving these super thick, molten cheese filled patties at a dinner party! In fact, you may even get applause. Superbly decadent and wonderfully impressive looking, these glossy burgers are in the same league as fillet mignon but much less expensive to make.

Brie is a soft, mild cheese with a downy, edible rind. As the burgers cook, it will become molten and saucy. Mmmm! As exciting to look at as they are to eat!

1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp (30 mL) ketchup
1 tbsp (15 mL) liquid honey
2 tsp (10 mL) dried thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp (4 mL) each salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, melted
2 lb (1 kg) ground sirloin
1/4 lb (125 g) cold Brie cheese or Camembert, cut into 6 equal-sized cubes
1/2 cup (125 mL) barbecue sauce

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Whisk the egg with the ketchup, honey, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk in the butter until completely combined. Crumble the meat into a large bowl using your fingers. Pour in the egg mixture and gently blend into meat until just combined.

Line a baking sheet with perforated grill foil or greased heavy duty foil that has been pierced all over to allow drainage. Divide the meat mixture into 12 portions. Gently pat one portion of meat into a 1 cup (250 mL) dry measuring cup. Add a piece of the cheese and another portion of meat. Pat firmly to compress the mixture so that the cup is filled to about 3/4 full, making a very thick patty with the cheese sealed inside. Run a butter knife or another knife around the edge of the measuring cup and turn each patty out onto the foil-lined tray. Repeat with remaining meat and cheese.

Transfer the burger-topped tray to the grill. Slide the foil onto the grate. Cook the burgers for 6 minutes. Turn and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, turning at least once and basting often with barbecue sauce, for about 15 minutes longer or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centre of each patty registers 170F (85C). Serve patties on buns with traditional burger condiments or with a side dish such as roasted potatoes or baked sweet potatoes. Makes 6 burgers.

Variation:
Bacon-wrapped Brie burgers: Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each raw patty. Tie a piece of butcher’s twine around each patty until snug but not tight. Proceed as directed above.

Recipe and photo from Dana’s Top Ten Table: 200 Fresh Takes on Family-Favourite Meals. Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Copyright (c) 2007 by Dana McCauley. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Are you a Grill Master?

It’s not news that many grillers have an emotional connection to both seared foods and the backyard appliances used to make such recipes. The picture above illustrates test kitchen assistant Amy Grigg’s passion for grilling. While I admire Amy’s affection for her grill, I caution her and other grill lovers never to kiss a hot grill. Instead, show your commitment to grilling by testing your knowledge.

Did you know that…?

• More than 7 billion grilled hot dogs will be eaten this summer in America with many more consumed here in Canada
• Our top four favorite burger toppings are: cheese (70%), ketchup (63%), mustard (50%)
• 76% of households own a grill of some kind
• 75% of grill owners have a gas grill
• If you don’t have a gauge, you can weigh propane tanks on a bathroom scale. An empty tank will weigh between 17 and 19 pounds so if the scale reads less than 20 lbs, refill before you try to cook

If you had these facts top of mind, it’s likely that you are, indeed, a grill master. However, if you want more proof of your grill master status before bragging to your friends, try this quiz to test the limits of your knowledge.

Or, skip the test and take a second to share your secret grilling tips with the rest of us by commenting below.

Championship grilling

The food I associate with summertime weekends is just as important as sun and fun. Together, these factors contribute to the mounting anticipation I feel as summertime approaches. Burgers, rotisserie-turned roasts and whole chickens, sticky ribs and buttery fresh corn are the foods that epitomize fantastic summertime weekends.

In the past, people like me have needed to work for their summertime grilling satisfaction. I’ve spent hours burning charcoal down until only embers remained, brined and marinated and rubbed meats with secret ingredients and then lovingly cooked the food, stopping often to baste and brush, hoping to produce great memory-making foods. Now, on almost any summer weekend, I can attend a championship grilling event where professional grillers make and sell ideal versions of these summery foods.

If you haven’t heard of it before, championship grilling is a ‘sport’ that’s perfect for people who like to eat ribs, inhale mesquite smoke and drink beer. It’s a macho domain that, although not athletic, is taken very seriously by those who participate. In fact, placing at the Memphis in May, Kansas City BBQ Society or Florida BBQ Association grilling events places any griller in the professional category and qualifies him or her to go to the world championships in Belgium (no, really, they do grill in Belgium. It isn’t only about French fries there). Here in Canada, we have some mighty fine grillers with a professional league of our own. Check out the Canadian Barbecue Association’s calendar of events for opportunities to get your fingers sticky this summer.

Hungry for more details about championship grilling? Delve into these online sources:
http://bbq.about.com/library/weekly/aa101197.htm
http://www.ronshewchuk.com/bbq/eventPDFs/Langley.pdf
http://www.tedreader.com/
http://www.canadaslargestribfest.com/
http://www.blazinbbq.ca/

Photocredit: www.blazinbbq.ca

The best rib recipe for summer 2008

Like a good burger, there’s something about feasting on a platter of sticky, gooey pork ribs that epitomizes summertime in Canada. This particular rib recipe is a hit during hot weather since it eliminates the precooking step by using a foil-grilling packet to steam cook the meat and glaze it simultaneously. It’s also one of the recipes that my guests always ask for when I make these ribs for a backyard barbecue. You’ve gotta love it when an easy recipe with a short ingredient list is also a crowd pleaser!

Althought the word ‘chili’ is in the title, the flavour of these ribs is sweet and only slightly spicy since Thai sweet chili sauce is not nearly as hot as the unsweetened versions. Perfect with a cold, frosty beer on a hot day, these ribs can be served with rice or a grill top baked potato. Regardless of what you serve with these ribs, make sure you have plenty of napkins – or better yet finger bowls – handy because they are notoriously sticky!

Thai Chili Glazed Ribs

2 lb (1 kg) pork ribs, sliced into single pieces
1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) Thai sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup (50 mL) hoisin sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
Chives or green onions

Preheat the grill to medium. Sprinkle the ribs evenly with flour. Stir the chili sauce with the hoisin sauce and sesame oil. Pour the sauce into a large, foil-grilling bag (or place in the centre of a very large piece of heavy duty foil that has been brushed with oil), set on a baking sheet.

Add the ribs and spread evenly in the bag in a single layer. Fold over the open edge of the bag and seal tightly and so that the foil fits around the food snugly. (Alternatively, scrunch up the edges of the foil to create a secure packet).

Slide the bag onto the preheated grill. Cook, flipping bag every 15 minutes, for 65 minutes. Let ribs rest in the bag for 10 minutes. Cut bag open using kitchen shears. Arrange ribs on a platter and sprinkle with chives before serving. Makes 4 servings.