Each month three or four of my favorite internet BBQ friends will use the same four or five ingredients to cook a meal. The only real rule is that the “protein” must be cooked outdoors. It should be interesting to see what each of these experienced outdoor chefs have up their sleeves each month. At the end of this post you will find a brief description of their blogs and links to the great creations they’ve come up with.
This month’s challenge was to come up with a meal that contained the following ingredients:
- Fish
- Couscous
- Figs
- Eggplant
When the first ingredients were announced I knew I wanted to do a whole fish. The main reason was that I have very little experience with grilling whole fish and I knew this would be a good time to give it a try.
One of my favorite markets to shop at when I want the nicest produce and fish is our local Nugget Market. I know that I can always find something different to cook there. When I walked into the meat department my eyes were drawn quickly to the bright colors of the (farmed) Golden Trout.
Continue reading Maple Planked Grilled Golden Trout With Fig Compound Butter
Ingredients: 1 15 oz can low sodium vegetable broth 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 2 Green Onions 4 Matchstick size pieces of fresh Ginger 1 Clove Garlic, smashed and peeled 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce 1 tablespoon Lemon or Lime juice Directions:
Cut white off the green onions making 2 1 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the
Continue reading … Grilled Ahi Tuna In Ginger Broth With Udon Noodles
Growing up I was never exposed to very many different fresh vegetables. Vegetables were something you “had” to have on the plate and for the most part not a great deal of thought went into them. Most of the time they were the frozen type that got nuked in the microwave just before we all sat down at the table.
Winter squash is a vegetable that has always sort of baffled me. I’d pick them up at the store and wonder just how in the world you could eat something as hard as these appeared to be. Last year I gave Acorn Squash a try for the first time and really enjoyed the flavors it gave me off the grill. So when Mrs. Grail sent me to the store with the instruction of “just get a vegetable” I decided to give Butternut Squash a try. The squash grilled up great and tasted fantastic.
Ground pork with garlic, onions and all the spices.
On a recent episode of “The Next Food Network Star” one of the contestants, Aarti Sequeira made a dish called Kofto Kebabs. Her dish was excellently executed and was popular with the judges and dinner guests.
Every once in awhile I get the urge to recreate a dish from one of the realty TV cooking shows I often find myself watching. I knew immediately that Aarti’s dish was was one that I needed to adapt to the grill or smoker.
As is often the case, Google was my friend. I started comparing recipes and soon realized the spices used in making typical Kofto Kebabs was very similar to the spices I might use in making up a BBQ rub.
From my research I learned that Kofto Kebabs are most often made with lamb and/or beef. Fish can be used, and there are vegetarian versions out there. I used pork for mine. I know it’s way out of the box for a middle eastern dish, but because Kofto is also found in South Asia and the Balkans it might not be so bad.
Continue reading BBQ Grail’s (Sort of…) Kofto Kebabs
The Sioux City Journal does a great job of promoting BBQ with online videos. Here’s the most recent video and The BBQ Grail gets a mention for the Rosemary Garlic Poultry Brine recently posted.
Last night I posted a review of the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less Fryer. The chicken came out fabulous. It is close to the best piece of chicken I have ever cooked. Certainly the Big Easy was a huge part of the process. But the brine I used also produced an incredible flavor and helped
Continue reading … Rosemary Garlic Poultry Brine
Got home from watching “Land of the Lost” with my son and after such a stupid experience as that movie I needed something tasty to eat. It amazes me sometimes at how good something so simple can be. A couple of grilled Aidells Roasted Garlic and Gruyere Cheese Sausage, french fries and sliced tomatoes
Continue reading … Aidells Sausage! So simple, yet so good.
