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I have 70+ grilling-related cookbooks on my shelves, but there are only about a dozen that I go back to time after time. Steven Raichlen's classic Barbecue! Bible [Amazon Affiliate Link] is one of those. It has over 500 tried and true recipes with influences from around the world. I recently made the book's recipe for Afghan-Style Game Hens, which was phenomenal.
Afghan-Style Game Hens with Harissa Yogurt Sauce
The recipe has you marinate split game hens in a blend of yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, herbs, and spices, and then grill to perfection. The marinade results in vivid orange color, tangy flavor, and juicy meat. He suggests using a rotisserie or two-zone fire. I was using a Big Green Egg and decided to use the raised direct method to get a crispy crust.
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This wrap's bright and bold flavors make my mouth do a happy dance.
It starts with thinly sliced Greek seasoned flank steak that we top with a sultry tahini sauce. Next, we add a Shirazi salad bursting with Middle Eastern flavors and finally sprinkle on some crumbled feta. We wrap all of that up in a warm, soft piece of naan bread, and it is oh so fantastic!
Shirazi Salad
Shirazi is named after the region from whence it hails, Iran. We like to call it Middle-Eastern pico de gallo. It is a salad with tomatoes, Persian cucumber, onion, herbs, and an acidic dressing. We can't always get Persian cukes, but English cukes work. Like pico, we find it is best served about an hour or two after making it.
Shirazi salad is brightly flavored and is fantastic with grilled chicken, steak, or by itself.
Here's the recipe for the whole shebang, with pictures and tips following the recipe.
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After my recent post about the Green Chile Flank Steak I had a lot of people ask about my process for making the garlicky smashed potatoes.
Three S's of Smashed Potatoes - Size, Seasoning, Smash
It is a simple method - boil the potatoes until they are fork-tender, smash them, cook them on a griddle, season them and cover them with luscious garlic butter. The trick is to follow the Three-Ss.
Size - You can use just about any variety of potato for this, the trick is to use "b-sized" potatoes, which is 1.5 to 2.5" in diameter. We used red bliss potatoes for this batch.
Seasoning - A simple SPG rub (salt, pepper, garlic) works the best. I like using my NMT Beef Rub V.2 recipe. For commercial, Fire and Smoke BBQ Company's The Classic is an excellent choice.
Smash - You want to smash the potato thin enough to get the maximum flat surface area you can while still leaving the potatoes intact. For me, that works out to about 1/2 inch in thickness. If you smash them too thinly, they will be pulverized. I find that smashing them between a folded deli sheet or wax paper makes smashing and handling them easier.
For me, the easiest way to smash them is with a recessed burger press. Instead of a flat bottom, this press is recessed so I only smash them to about 1/2 inch no matter how hard I press. Perfect every time. In lieu of this, you can smash them with any sturdy, flat surface - a skillet bottom, a stiff spatula, a plate, you name it.
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This weekend, we made green chile-crusted flank steak with chimichurri, garlicky smashed potatoes, and Mexican street corn.
Green chile-crusted flank steak with chimichurri, garlicky smashed potatoes, and Mexican street corn.
When I enjoy a meal out at a restaurant, I often like to recreate it at home. Last week, Alexis and I went out to dinner with our older son, his girlfriend, and some friends at Point B on their opening day. We saw that they offered all sorts of boards (charcuterie and otherwise), so we were excited to try them out.
There I got the steak with chimichurri, smashed potatoes, and elote. The steak was tender and it was tasty with the chimi. The potatoes were nicely roasted medallions. I'm always a sucker for elote. The place has a ton of potential, and we are looking forward to going back to try out their boards.
I thought it might be hanger steak. The waiter asked and was told it was flank steak, but I'm pretty sure it was a hanger. The shape was nothing like a flank unless it was a super thick one cut in steaks lengthwise. That said, I love flank steak, so that's what I used when I did my spin on this meal.
I dry-brined the flank steak with my Green Chile Steak Seasoning recipe and then grilled it on a griddle on the grill to get that broad, crispy crust. The kosher salt, black pepper, garlic, shallot, green chile, cumin, and coriander give it a deep flavor. If you don't feel like making the rub, pick up a jar of Albukirky's Green Chile Seasoning, it's fantastic stuff. I used a variation of Steven Raichlen's The Real Chimichurri because I like my chimi to be more like a light dressing than a thick condiment.
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I haven't been cooking many steaks this year because food prices have skyrocketed. But when I saw a half strip loin of Certified Angus Beef® Brand for under $50, I couldn't resist it. I cut it into thick steaks and the first thing that I made was these Boursin Black Pepper Strip Steaks.
What is Boursin?
Boursin cheese is a brand of Gournay cheese, which is a soft, creamy cheese. I didn't know they had a cracked black pepper version until I saw it at the store last week. The pepper adds a slightly spicy kick. The contrast between the creaminess and sharpness of flavor sort of reminds me of gorgonzola or mild blue cheese. I'm not saying it tastes like blue cheese, just a sharp contrast like blue cheese.
My immediate impression was that it would be perfect in compound butter for steaks. So here we are.
[FTC Standard Disclosure] I received a Char-Broil Cruise grill with Cruise Control Technology free of charge for review purposes. I receive no other compensation for this post and I have no business dealings with Char-Broil.
Grilled chicken teriyaki is a classic and it is an excellent recipe for beginning grillers because it is simple yet creates a delicious flavor.
Two-Phase Glaze
You can't glaze grilled meats with teriyaki sauce too early in the process because the sugar will burn. I like to use a two-phase approach. After grilling for a few minutes, I start basting with teriyaki sauce that has been cut with chicken stock or broth in a 3:1 ratio. This lets the sauce cook onto the chicken without burning. Then in the last few minutes, I use a thicker glaze to finish it off.
I cooked this recipe on the Char-Broil Cruise gas grill; you can find my full review here. Teriyaki can make a mess on your grill, so I wanted to take advantage of the Auto-Clean feature after cooking. It would work just as effectively on a charcoal grill; I was just being lazy...there I admitted it.
Grilled Chicken Teriyaki with Pepper and Onion Skewers
[FTC Standard Disclosure] I received a Char-Broil Cruise at no cost
for review purposes. All opinions are my own. I receive no
compensation for this post, nor do I have any other financial
arrangements with Char-Broil or their affiliates.
Earlier this year, Char-Broil introduced their newest, game-changing grill –
The Char-Broil Cruise. I was lucky enough to receive a Cruise unit
from Char-Broil and have put this new grill through real-life cooking
for the past few weeks. Here are my thoughts and experience with this
new grill.
Tame The Flame, Change The Game
So
what makes this grill a game-changer? Until now, gas grill heat
controls have been knobs that control the gas flow at a
set rate of consumption. If I set my old gas grill on “medium”,
the grill will let the gas flow at that designated rate. That rate of
flow doesn’t change regardless of the actual cooking temperature it
achieves or factors like ambient temperature or wind.
The
Char-Broil Cruise changes this by cooking at a specific set
temperature. If
I set the grill for 500°f, the Cruise will assess the grill
temperature and if it is anything
but 500°f,
the grill will adjust the gas flow to achieve 500°f and maintain
that temperature. No more guessing or
adjusting.
The Char-Broil Cruise automatically adjusts gas flow to maintain a specific cooking temperature.
Let’s look at the features that I like and the experience I had
while cooking some of the typical backyard basics.
Features
Digital Temperature Control and Auto-Calibration
The
ability to set a precise cooking temperature and
know that the grill will maintain it gives a cook confidence. This is true from beginning backyard chefs to seasoned
pros like me. The
Cruise has a thermometer mounted inside the cooking chamber that
provides feedback to a processor. The processor controls the two-burner
tubes to maintain the set temperature.
The controls are straightforward. The dial controls the temperature setting in 5°f increments.
