Monday, May 23, 2011

On Our Grills May

It is time again for the monthly "On Our Grills" challenge.

On Our Grills is a regular event that tests a collection of grilling/smoking geniuses and/or misfits are tested with making a meal around 4 ingredients.  The only rules are that you must use all of the ingredients and at least the protein must be cooked over some form of live fire (grilling, smoking, stir fire, cold smoking, flame thrower, molotov cocktail, etc).   

There is no winner or prize.  The whole point is to compare notes on how we all approached the menu, cooking techniques, and execution of the meal.  Plus it was a way to get us hard core grillers to realize there are more food groups than meat, bacon, bbq rub, and bbq sauce.  The ingredients for May 2011 were:

Chicken

Wild Rice

Fava Beans

"anything starting with the first letter of your name"
I chose chorizo

This is one of the easiest lists we have had.  Except for the fact I couldn't find fava beans in the 4 stores that I went to.  So I substituted butter beans. 

I also cheated had help.  My chicken dish was 99.9 1/2% stolen from inspired by Mike and Debbie Davis of the world championship BBQ team Lotta Bull.   I took their cooking class at Dead End BBQ this weekend and they did a kielbasa stuffed chicken breast.

So I did pretty much the same thing but used chorizo instead.   I had my Big Green Egg running at 350f set up for direct heat with my grid (grill grate) raised 2 1/2" inches.  I grilled a 4 ounce link of Johnsonville chorizo for about 20 minutes, turning 1/4 turn every 5 minutes.  I sliced it into 1/4" slices.


I sliced a pocket into the side of each chicken breast and stuffed 2-3 slices of chorizo in each.  Seal the edge with a couple of toothpicks.

Then I seasoned them with Lotta Bull's UnBullevable All Purpose Seasoning.  I had it on several things in the class and liked the flavors it brings.  You can order it online or use your favorite season salt or creole seasoning if you have to use what is on hand.
I remembered the toothpicks before grilling.

Finally, I grilled the chicken for about 24 minutes flipping every 5-6 minutes.   About halfway through, I applied a special oil based baste, super secret ingredient.  It comes in a plastic blue bottle, starts with a P and rhymes with "dark day".   I know a lot of BBQrs have used this for ribs on the pro circuit but this was my first time using it.


For the butter beans, I chopped two slices of bacon and par-cooked them in a tin.  Then I added the butter beans and 1 tsp of my rib rub.  I let that cook for about 1 hour on the grill.  Simple but Alexis said that they were the best beans she's eaten.


For the wild rice, I took the easy route, cooked it and served it inside of a reverse timbale of white rice.

The overall results were good.  I'll definitely be making the beans this way again.  Next time on the chicken, I'll butterfly the breasts instead (like Mike did) and season the inside too.  I wish I had done something more with the rice.  It was good but some chopped dried cherries would have been good or maybe some other add ins.

Check out the other participants below to see what they came up with using these same 4 ingredients.

Grill Grrrl- Adventures of a Girl on the Grill
Robyn Medlin is the "grill girl" behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This "grill girl" holds quarterly "Women's Grilling Clinics" as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick's flavor correspondent for their "This Week in Grilling Campaign", Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.
May Challenge Recipe

Grill Adventures by Broadcast Marc
Grill Adventures by broadcastmarc was started in March of 2010. I started the BBQ thing when I was 30, before that we ate a lot outside. had fun, but when the kids came into our life we started serious cooking. Most of it is really healthy I think). The grill has a special place in my heart because we love to do things outside. Everything I make is an adventure, and sometimes we use the books. We try to grill as much as we can year round.
Marc's May Challenge Recipe:


The BBQ Grail
The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed onAlltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.
Larry's May Challenge Recipe

Bob’s Brew and ‘Que
Bob started Bob’s Brew and ‘Que in August of 2009 with the intent of sharing his views on food and drink. Originally focused on BBQ and Homebrew, it was inevitable that the influences of his upbringing in the San Francisco Bay Area and it’s wealth of ingredients as well as his heritage as an American of Japanese ancestry would help focus his blog, as it has his approach to food and drink.
Bob’s May Challenge Recipe

No Excuses BBQ
The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author's goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control...
No Excuses BBQ’s May Challenge Recipe

Grilling with Rich
I am a young person breaking into the great world of barbecue. I enjoy everything about barbecue from the culture to the food. I am just a regular guy trying to have fun and enjoy the food and the process of cooking the food on the grill.  At Grilling with Rich.com we go beyond just the normal cooking adventures and dig deeper into the large world of BBQ’ing, both professionally and for amateurs. Grilling with Rich focuses on the adventures of a regular guy and his quest to understand and learn as much as possible about the BBQ world.
Grilling with Rich's May Challenge Recipe

The Dutchess Cooks
About Hanneke: After years of cooking, grilling, baking and reading other people’s blogs, I thought “why not start my own blog??” And I did, in 2010, but already after a short period of time, a blog wasn’t enough, and I started my own website. It’s not my goal to publish or come up with fancy and difficult recipes:  just good and delicious food with an international twist! Straight from my plate to yours!
Dutchess' May Challenge Recipe