June 2003 - Where There's a Grill... Going Out for Dinner is Very In Whether you call it barbecuing or grilling ("barbecue" is generally defined as slow cooking via indirect heat and "grilling" means cooking food quickly at high temperatures), outdoor cooking is more popular than ever. It's fast, easy, fun, interactive, entertaining and spares us a sink full of dirty pots and pans. Plus, it brings more flavor to food than any other cooking method, and it's forgiving in terms of measurements and proportions, meaning less stress for the home chef. More than 75 percent of American households own a grill; more than 15 million grills were sold in 2002. It's possible our passion for crackling flames, smoky aromas and a natural setting is fueled by an ancient connection - after all, fireside cooking was "it" for many a millennia. Put our taste for barbecue together with our love for porches, patios and decks, add an upswing in sales of outdoor fireplaces and chimineas, and you get one of the hottest trends going: the outdoor living room/kitchen. The most luxurious of these have built-in grills housed in islands that provide counter and storage space, along with sinks, wet bars, icemakers, refrigerators and sound systems. But getting back to the main attraction, if you're still relying on barbecue basics like hamburgers and hot dogs, it's time to broaden your repertoire. You (yes, you!) can cook a complete meal on the grill, including side dishes and dessert. Heat your veggies Some of the best vegetables for grilling are eggplant, zucchini, yellow and green squash, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Wash first, but don't peel them. Cut zucchini and squash into three-quarter-inch thick slices so they won't fall through the grate. Remove seeds from peppers, then slice or quarter. Regular white or brown mushrooms can stay whole, just brush with a small amount of marinade or olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper; portabellas should be cut into quarter-inch slices. Peppers and eggplant will take longest to cook, mushrooms the least amount of time. Try brushing eggplant slices with olive oil, placing on the grill, then adding salt and pepper. Does corn on the cob say summer to you? Boil ears for a few minutes, and then put on the grill to finish cooking. Potatoes can be wrapped in foil and placed on cooler sides of the grill, where they'll cook more evenly. Take small, red new potatoes, whole or cut in half, and steam until tender enough to be pierced with a fork. Dry, baste with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill until golden brown and crispy. Sweet potatoes work too: steam first, then cut into two- to three-inch rounds for grilling. Be Cool in the Kitchen Here are some new and popular items you might want to think about adding to your outdoor kitchen: o See what you're cooking! The Olympia Bar-B-Que Light is a halogen light that clamps onto the side of the grill, a deck rail or table, so you can stay fired up long after the sun goes down. $89.95. Grillin': The Cookout Superstore, 815-4200. o The Grill Alert talking remote thermometer announces when your meat is ready. A probe goes into the center of the meat and a wireless digital monitor clips onto your belt. $75. Brookstone, 341-3033, www.brookstone.com. o Turning, flipping, moving and carrying "weightier" foods is easy with the Pig Tail Food Flipper. $18.95. Grillin'. o The Big Green Egg is a ceramic-walled cooker, fueled by charcoal, which cooks slowly at 200 degrees or broils at 700 degrees. $600. Grillin' or www.biggreenegg.com. o The Evo Flattop Grill looks something like a flying saucer. Sear steaks, steam vegetables and create a sauce on the same surface at the same time. Burners run on natural gas or propane and heat to 630 degrees. $2,495. www.frontgate.com. o The TEC Infra-Red Radiant Wave is a stainless steel, standalone, family-size grill. Infrared radiant energy is generated via a ceramic burner with thousands of flame ports. Energy from the flames is absorbed by the ceramic, which then cooks like charcoal. $1,189. Grillin' or www.tecinfrared.com. o Keep pests away once and for all with The Mosquito Magnet. It runs on propane and works by mimicking human breath to attract insects. Grillin' or www.mosquitomagnet.com. o Four-in-one spatulas give you a meat tenderizer, bottle opener, and knife; a personal rotisserie fork makes roasting hot dogs or marshmallows easy and fun. Grillin'. o The center of "The Chickcan"rack holds a can, filled with beer and barbecue sauce, inserted into the cavity of a whole chicken. The standing bird roasts to a golden brown with a moist interior. $15.95. Grillin'. o The Weber "Q"Grill is a hybrid that doubles as both a backyard and portable gas grill. $179.99. Ace Hardware or www.weber.com. o Larry's Bag of Smoke is a muslin bag of pre-soaked wood chips that fits in the palm of your hand. Puncture a few holes, soak for a minute or two, and place it on the fire. Get three bags for $5.95. www.larrysbagofsmoke.com. o Bry Brushless Baste spray comes in mesquite and Cajun flavors and lets you baste meats as they cook. Grillin'. If you're feeling adventurous, try grilling radicchio, asparagus, fennel, leeks and scallions. Blanch in boiling water, run under cold water, pat dry, brush with oil, and put on a hot grill until crispy tender. Pass the Chips:Cooking Wood is on Fire A handful of wood chips on your grill can add a savory, smoky or fruity flavor to food. And what could be better than enhancing flavor without adding calories? Wood chips come in a wide variety and your taste buds are the ultimate decision-maker about what goes with what, but here are some guidelines: o Hickory - the traditional Southern barbecue wood, this is a good choice for pork but can mask the flavor of other meats. o Apple - especially good for chicken, ham and sausage, it lends a sweet, mellow flavor. Fruitwoods, like apple and cherry, impart a slightly sweet flavor good for pork and game. Try cherry for thick red meats and vegetables, too. o Mesquite - a favorite with many because it burns hot and long and has a pleasing fragrance. Gives an earthy flavor to poultry, fish or meat. Use modestly with vegetables. o Oak - a lighter version of mesquite, gives a distinctive taste to any meat, poultry, and seafood. o Pecan - a nutty, sweet flavor. Goes with steaks, ribs; many like it for fish and game. o Alder - usually paired with seafood, salmon especially. Good with pork and chicken, too. Feel free to experiment by mixing different woods for unique, complex flavors.If wood chips are fresh, just put a handful on the coals and let them start to smoke. If wood is dried, it should be soaked in water first. You can also soak in apple or pineapple juice for a sweeter taste. Some caution against using wet chips for foods that will be on the grill for a short time; cooking may be finished before the chips begin to burn. You may want to use dry chips for steaks, fish, or anything that cooks quickly. Try mixing equal parts dry and wet chips together for chicken, ribs, and roasts that will be cooking more than 20 minutes. If using soaked wood chips, wrap in foil packets, poke holes with a fork, and lay the packets on the charcoal or other heat source. (This approach works with dry chips as well, and for both gas and charcoal grills.) Each packet will last about a half hour; add more as needed. To use wood chips on a gas grill, you can also put them in a smoke box or pie pan. If you have a large grill and plan on slow cooking, you may want to go with wood chunks rather than chips. Grill experts warn that there's a learning curve to wood cooking. Beginners tend to use too much wood and build larger than needed fires, with overcooking the result. Give yourself two or three attempts to get the hang of it. Getting to the meat Marinate meat and poultry for one to four hours before cooking, or leave in the refrigerator overnight. Then brush on more throughout cooking time. Buy marinade or make your own by combining fresh minced herbs (thyme, rosemary, cilantro) with chopped garlic, salt and pepper, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Increasingly popular are sprays used to baste meats as they're cooking. And if you're using barbecue sauce, apply just a small amount during the last ten minutes or so. Because sugar is a major sauce ingredient, it burns easily and could give you charred meat. The best cuts of beef to grill are porterhouse, filet and ribeye. Whatever you choose will taste better if you let it stand on a cutting board for a few minutes before serving. Juices are drawn toward the outer surface of meat during cooking, so if you cut right away, juices will cover the cutting board and meat will turn a dull gray. Give juices time to redistribute back to the center of the meat. Additional tips: o If you have a large cut of meat or poultry, such as a whole chicken, keep the grill covered. o A brick, wrapped in aluminum foil and placed on top of chicken while it grills, will keep it from drying out. If you're more of a fish person, thick filets or steaks with strong flavor are best suited for grilling. Swordfish, tuna, salmon, mackerel and bluefish are all good choices- they have natural oils that help keep them moist. Fish should be marinated for no more than a half hour. Wipe excess marinade off with a paper towel before cooking. Don't thaw frozen fish before you put it on the grill. To keep any fish from sticking, the grill must be very hot and well oiled. Put the fish on and don't touch for at least five minutes. The big finish Fruit makes for a light summer dessert, and most any fruit can be grilled. Popular choices include bananas, melon, figs, peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, pineapple and apple. The objective is not to actually cook it, but to warm it through and give it a caramelized surface. Brush pineapple slices with olive oil, grill, and serve with ice cream. Or try brushing fruit with butter, or basting with a honey/lemon juice combination before grilling. Serve alone, or with blue or Stilton cheese, toasted nuts, or a rich piece of chocolate. Fruit is best grilled over gentle heat, so wait until the main course is done and the heat has died down slightly before you get started. And be sure you clean the grill with a wire brush first. (Use crumpled aluminum foil in a pinch.) Gas or charcoal? There's no definitive answer; both have advantages and disadvantages. Charcoal takes longer since you have to light the coals and wait for them to heat up. Still, it provides a flavor you can't get with a gas grill. Charcoal grills can be purchased for as little as $20, with deluxe models ranging up to $400 or more. With a gas grill, there's no charcoal to buy, no worry about running out of lighter fluid. Cooking is quicker, it's easier to regulate heat, and with no ashes to empty, the risk of burning yourself is lower. You'll spend anywhere from $300 to $1,500 for a gas grill, depending on the features you select. Top-of-the-line gas grills can cost $5,000 to $10,000. One of the latest trends is the infrared grill. These run on propane or natural gas like typical grills, but use a special kind of burner with thousands of tiny holes that turn red hot. Temperature reaches 1,650 degrees, more than double that of a standard gas grill. Also new: o Benson Barbecues grills, which give you the option of gas or wood fires along with a hydraulic system that lets you adjust the distance between your steaks and the flames. Weighing in at 700 pounds, it can run you as much as $12,000. o Grills with halogen lights inside the hoods; also, grills with lights in the handles that shine down on the grid when you open the lid. o Dual fuel grills that offer the convenience of gas and the flavor of charcoal. You light it with gas and then insert a charcoal tray that holds ashes as you cook. ™