Winter Solstice Supper

It had been 350 years since a total lunar eclipse took place on the day of the Winter Solstice. To commemorate the two Heavenly events taking place at the same time, we celebrated by bringing two Earthly events together at the same time: Grilling and Baking! 


Solstice means "Sun Standing Still." Each fall the Sun crosses the sky at a slightly lower angle every day. Then on one particular day, the Winter Solstice, the Sun stops getting lower. It holds its lowest position as it across the sky for a day. The next day and every day thereafter, the Sun starts to increase its path-angle across the sky until it stops again at its highest point - that happens on the Summer Solstice. So we grill in the cold for the Winter Solstice and we grill in the heat for the Summer Solstice - and we try to grill every other day in between. 

It was cloudy in Tennessee for the Eclipse/Solstice, so try as I might, there was no sightings from beside the grill. But you can see a foil covered pork roast over low heat on the grill. 


The idea of a Winter Solstice Supper came from Dorothy's friends in Lincolnton, Maine at the Saltwater Farm. Dorothy took a baking class overlooking the rocky Maine coastline there last summer and I have never eaten better since. We wish we lived closer so we could participate more in Saltwater's "Farm to Table" movement - but we follow what they are doing there and for the Solstice we decided to grill-bake our version of what Saltwater Farms was serving for their Winter Solstice Supper - a Grilled/Baked Pork Pie! Please visit the Saltwater Farms site and you will see what we mean! http://www.saltwaterfarm.com/

First I took a pork roast and covered it with Canola Oil, coarse Kosher salt, ground peppercorns and oregano. I rolled the roast up in foil, fired up the grill and slow roasted the pork for about two hours. In the last half hour I took the roast from the foil and put it right on the grill grates. I also grilled some sweet Italian Sausage!

The pork roast came off the grill tender and juicy. This could have been the entire meal right here, but that is when Dorothy brought her baking "A" game. Butter, chopped onion, slices carrots and fresh sage leaves went into a saute pan and brought to a sizzle.

To this Dorothy added chicken stock and cream - and everything simmered and reduced. Meanwhile. Dorothy prepared the dough, let the dough rise in front of the fireplace and later rolled it out.

I chopped the pork roast and Italian sausage into chucks and everything went into the baking pan. Rolled dough on the bottom, followed by the pork, the sausage, the onion/carrot/sage cream and shredded cheddar cheese!

Then the top crust-dough went on, vents sliced and butter brushed.

Into the oven - maybe 45 minutes - then perfection!

It was cold outside (maybe not cold by Maine standards), but it was warm inside because of this perfect winter evening collaboration - the best of both worlds Grilling & Baking!

We opened a bottle of Sterling Vintner's Collection Cabernet Sauvignon. We visited the Sterling Vineyards in California and rode the tram up the hill to the winery once. But that was 1988 - we have been Sterling fans ever since and always have a bottle on hand. The label said this Cab would go well with roasted pork and mellow cheeses - that sounded exactly like our menu. It was the perfect wine for our perfect collaboration! Please check out their website and plan to go ride the tram to Sterling someday: http://www.sterlingvineyards.com/age_gateway 

Hope your Winter Solstice Supper was as memorable as ours. With 'Farm to Table' from Maine, wine from California, and Grill/Baking from Tennessee, the Sun, Moon and Stars seemed to all align. Happy Celestial Holidays - Paul 

First Snow/Grill of the season!

We don't get much snow in Tennessee, but when we do the locals sort of freak out. They buy all the milk at the grocery store, close schools and prove that they don't know how to drive on ice and snow. I can joke about Tennesseans and the snow, because I am one. So when you are snowed in and have no place to go - to me that is the perfect invitation to start grilling. I always say that there is no "grilling season" unless you mean every season. You should never put away the grill - instead get your coat and stand a little closer to the fire. 

This is Grill Fire & Ice! Get the fire going and the snow will just get out of the way. In this case the snow got out of the way for Bobby Flay's Turkey Cobb Burger from page 69 of Bobby's Burgers, Fries and Shakes book. The snow does not get out of the way of your wine glass - but the snow is a great wine cooler!

I started with 97% fat free ground turkey and formed it into patties. I treat ground turkey burgers the same as I would ground beef burgers. Don't add a bunch of stuff to the meat when making the patties. If you start adding onions, chopped peppers, tomatoes, etc then pretty soon you are not making burgers, you are making meat loaf instead - these are char-grilled burgers, not meat loaf with some kind of tomato sauce slathered over the top! Form the patties and press a crater in one side, then season with coarse kosher salt and ground peppercorns. What's the crater for? That is one of Bobby Flay's best tips. If you push down a crater in the center of the patty then when it plumps up on the grill it will return to the proper burger shape.  Without the crater the burger will puff up in the middle and look like a flying saucer. Now there is nothing wrong with a flying saucer burger, but some lesser grillers have a tendency to press down on the burger to make it flat. When they do this they squeeze out all the flavorful juices leaving you with dry, tasteless burgers. This is why one of the Commandments of the Grill is: thou shalt not press down on a burger with a spatula. Before these turkey burgers hit the grill I brushed on some Canola Oil and I did sprinkle on some basil that I had been saving since growing it last summer. 

Canola or Olive Oil on grill meats? The best is Canola because it flames up at a much hotter temperature than Olive Oil. If you use Olive Oil the extreme heat of the grill will cause flare ups that can overly char the meat and gives a burnt (not smoked) flavor. A second Commandment of the Grill that is in use here is: Thou shalt turn a burger on the grill once and only once. Flipping burgers sounds like what teenagers do for a part time job - this is grown-up grilling not kids stuff. Turning the burger more than once just is inviting the juices to leave your burger and asking for a shoe-leather consistency. This Commandment goes for steaks as well. After the burger turn, I added Pepper-Jack cheese to the burgers and covered them with a pan - another terrific Bobby Flay tip. Use a pan over the burgers to melt the cheese. You can't have partially melted cheese on a burger - its just not done. So get a pan that is deep enough to cover the burgers without touching the burgers. Let the heat from the grill get caught in the pan so that the burger gets heat from all sides - especially the top side where the cheese is. Check out this fully melted cheese under the pan!

When the burgers came off the grill, we topped them with the ingredients that made this a "cobb" burger: tomato, bacon slices, avocado, and romaine lettuce with a dressing of red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. On the side we prepared Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Potato Salad - you can find that recipe on page 225 of Boy Meets Grill.    

Once again we proved that no matter if its sunny and 90 degrees or snowing and 12 - its always the right time to fire up the grill! Happy Holidays and Grill! Grill! Grill! Paul

Apple Sage Thanksgiving Turkey

From Bobby Flay's television show "Boy Meets Grill" this is an Apple Sage glazed turkey! We had a big crowd coming over so I got a big bird. I got this one from Tag'z Five Star Meats and it weighed in at about 15 pounds. It all started the day before when I prepared the glaze. I put the cast iron skillet over the grill and seared some chopped red onions, garlic and a serrano chili. Meanwhile, I cored and peeled four Granny Smith apples and chopped them into small chunks. Then all the grilled onions, chili, garlic, and apples went into a large pot together with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, brown sugar, some molasses and (I couldn't resist) a pour of Jack Daniels old number 7.

The pot went over the grill and allowed to simmer and reduce for about 20 minutes. The smell was terrific! The apples turned golden brown and then I added the Sage. After coming off the grill and cooling, I used the food processor to produce the puree glaze. I stored the glaze in the fridge until the next morning - Thanksgiving Day. 

Wisdom of the Grill. Here is another great Bobby Flay trick. I rotated the turkey over the grill for about three hours, but I placed a metal pan under the turkey. During the three hours I kept the pan filled with liquids - alternating water, chicken broth and apple juice. The liquid would come to a boil and steam rose up and continuously basted the turkey from below.

You can see the flame curling around the pan and the chicken broth in a rolling boil. This kept the turkey moist and enhanced the flavor even more. As the turkey turned for the last our, I basted with the Apple Sage glaze. During the final 30 minutes or so, I removed the pan and let the bird turn over a direct flame - the glaze carmelized and this gave the turkey a crust on the skin but without drying out the inside.  I was looking for an internal temperature of 160 degrees, but like all meats its best to bring them off the grill and let them stand for several minutes before carving. I let the turkey reach about 157 degrees before I took it off the grill. I knew the temp would continue to rise a little even after coming off - that insured that I got the best temp without overshooting and drying it out. As you know dry turkey is not good - even though we have all endured it before!

The turkey carving must be just as strategic as the turkey grilling. Rule 1: Don't use an electric knife. Use a regular knife that is very sharp. Cut away the legs and wings first then slice the breasts. Carve straight down from either side of the breast bone all the way through. Rule 2: Don't shave off the turkey breast diagonally into thin slices. If you do that only the top piece will have any of the skin. Why go to all that trouble to glaze the turkey for hours only to have glaze on one piece? Instead, with the turkey breast carved off in one large piece, you can cut across and get glaze-skin in every piece:

Check that out. The legs and wings on the right. The properly carved turkey breast on the left with glaze on every slice!

What to drink? The 2010 Georges Dubceuf Beaujolais Nouveau of course. I went to Tim's Premium Wines and got three bottles. I have gotten three bottles every year a decade. Here is the collection going back to 2002.

Of the three bottle each year, we give one to my father. We drink one with the turkey. We save one for the collection. To be honest it is far from the best wine I ever drank, but I just like the story. The "nouveau" means "new." This is the newest wine of the year. This wine was still grapes growing in France just last August. Every year this wine is blessed by the Pope and then FedEx flies only a limited number of cases around the world. There are parties in Japan to mark the arrival of the year's Nouveau. Tim gets only about 24 bottles each year - he hold three for me! 

Snacks before the Turkey and during the first football game? Zig and Julie put out the cheeses and identified each one on Dorothy cheese slate!

Late fall / early winter is a great time of year. The air gets chilled, footballs fly, the Nouveau arrives, the family gathers, the turkey turns over the grill. So don't put those grills away! Winter grilling season is about to begin - its a great time of year. From Zig, Julie, Rose, Anne, Floyd, Jeannie, Phillip, Stevie, Dorothy and myself, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and remember - every season is grilling season. No matter the temperature and no matter the menu from hot dogs to the Thanksgiving Turkey - just grill it!

Paul

Bobby in Nashville!

Welcome Bobby Flay to Nashville! I got a chance to meet Bobby Flay - the namesake of BobbyFlayEveryday - this morning at the Williams Sonoma store in Green Hills/Nashville. In the photo I was telling Bobby that I had grilled a different Bobby Flay recipe everyday for 100 consecutive days earlier this year. He said, "That was a lot of work!" It was, but it was also a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and a lot of relaxing at the grill. Bobby was in town to autograph his new book! 

I actually have already grilled some of the recipes in this book during the 100 days as I got the recipe right off the TV show - Throwdown! Looks like I have another 100 days of grill ideas to go! Throwdown! the book, joined my Bobby Flay Library. The brown book at the end is the journal where I make notes from Bobby's TV shows. 

I was able to give Bobby Flay the address to this website, so Bobby if you did get the chance to check out the site you can look on the right side of the screen and find the Blog Archive (just above the links to your website, your Twitter and where I direct readers to buy your other books on amazon). I hope you get the time to take a look. If you do here are a few of my very favorite Bobby Flay postings and videos! 

>>>Super Bowl Super Burger - February 8, 2010 - with a video!

>>>Valentine's Flay Triple Play - February 15, 2010 - with a video!

>>>From Mesa Grill - January 24, 2010

>>>Tag'z - January 8, 2010

>>>San Gennaro and Yazoo - January 5, 2010

>>>Snowball Salmon - February 3, 2010

>>>Final Four Wings - March 28, 2010

>>>Filet Mignon Nirvana - April 2, 2010

>>>Special Edition: Cinco de Mayo - May 6, 2010 - with a two part video!

Bobby, I really enjoyed meeting you today - but I also really enjoyed looking back at some of my favorite BobbyFlayEveryday recipes and photos. I think the grill is calling and with my new book in hand it proves - "Every season is grilling season!" Paul

Back to School BBQ

These are unbelievable Back Back Ribs with home-grilled Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. It is back to school this week so we decided to send the 2010 Summer out with a big flavor bang. Dorothy and I are college professors and we teach year-round, so "back to school" does not have the same meaning it did when I our kids were young, but the start of school still feels like the end of Summer to me. There is nothing better than spending an summer afternoon watching some baseball, having a few really cold ones, listening to Kenny Chesney's "Summertime" and letting some Baby Backs slow roast for three hours on the grill. Here's how we did it. 

I started in the morning by making a dry-rub. In a small bowl I mixed to together paprika, coarse Kosher salt, Turbinado sugar, light brown sugar, with chipotle and chili powders. I stretched out the Baby Backs on a tray, peeled off the interior membrane (don't forget to do that!) and doused the ribs with some sweet Kentucky Bourbon. With the ribs wet with bourbon, I sprinkled on the rub - both sides. I started a three-hour clock in my head from grill light to first bite. When that clock started, I covered the ribs in foil and lit the grill. I set the grill on low and placed the ribs on an upper grill rack. This method really turns your grill into an oven. The ribs never are exposed to direct flame, so they roast low and slow. 

Remember one of the virtues of the grill is that it forces you to slow down and put yourself on the pace of the grill. This is one of the main reasons that you would want to grill on a week-night during a busy week for instance. Your first thought is that you would not have time - but that is the whole point. The grill forces you to make time and while the grill is doing its work you can talk to your family, listen to some music, open a bottle of wine, watch a ball game - the grill helps you do the things that matter. The stuff we fail to do when we are in a fast-food hurry. You can also use a long grill time to overlap your other preparations. I had the Kentucky Bourbon out, so I decided to make a Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Dorothy made Bourbon BBQ Beans and Skillet Cornbread - the aromas were making the neighbors crazy! I started the sauce by grilling some onions in a skillet with butter and some bacon drippings from Dorothy's beans. When the onions were ready I threw in tomato paste and tomato sauce (instead of ketchup), molasses, honey, dry mustard, chipotle chilies, and then I poured in the bourbon - a lot of bourbon. I have not provided any measurements because I never really measure anything. I keep track of proportions. I know I like equal portions of honey and molasses, but I couldn't tell you how many tablespoons or ounces or cups I use. I use what looks and feels like enough and I taste and make adjustments along the way. This sauce was blended together and placed on the grill under the ribs. The sauce simmered for at least two hours.

The sauce tasted more like bourdon during the first hour, but by the second hour all the flavors came together into a thick sweet sauce with a kick. Meanwhile, Dorothy soaked a combination of Great Northern Beans and Red Beans, then simmered them through several cycles. I don't know all the ingredients she used, but at one point she cooked up some super thick cut bacon and she had onions chopped and garlic from the press - and the rest of the bourbon. The beans were baking during the last hour that the ribs were on the grill. 

    

And if that were not enough she had cornmeal, buttermilk, sugar, honey and I don't know what else going into a cast iron skillet to make ranch-style Cornbread. When it was done it was almost like cake. It had great cornbread flavor, but it was also sweet. Those BBQ ribs and beans had some big flavors but the Skillet Cornbread cooled everything off and balanced the feast.

After three hours it was time for the big unveiling of the Baby Backs. The phrase "fall off the bone" is probably over-used but is the correct description here. I opened the foil and brushed on some of the Bourbon BBQ Sauce and let it sit and soak it in.

According to the planet's orbital mechanics, the end of summer does not occur until the Equinox - but that is still about a month away. For others, the end of summer happens when the kicker's toe hits the football on the first kickoff of the football season. Still others think that summer ends when the State Fair ends, or on Labor Day. For us, because we are teachers, we don't think of the new year as January 1st, but as the first day of classes in "the fall." That is when summer ends. Sadly, summer ends for some when they cover and/or put away the grill - but this, of course, is a mortal sin of the grill. Grill season never ends - not with summer or fall or Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl or the Final Four or when pitcher and catchers report to spring training. Covering your grill against the elements is allowed - but never put away your old friend. We have so much to grill - and the grill creates for us plenty of time to do it.

So keep your tongs at the ready. Don't put away your charcoal, your pepper mills, your grill gloves, and your secret recipes. It is the end of summer - the perfect time to Grill It! Paul


One last thing: The St. Francis Turn Up the Heat Contest is over in two days! My YouTube video entry into the contest to become the Sonoma Grillmaster has more views than any other. You can see that video and the entire collection at http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/f/21/Gr1Y4MUFX_U. 
The judges start their deliberation on September 1st, with the finalist notified by September 15th. Wish me luck!

Sunset Sail & Grill

Check out these bacon-wrapped Beef Filets with roasted peppers and Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Potato Salad! Best of all, this right-off-the-grill meal was prepared and eaten with Dorothy and Floyd on the Sailboat Allegre. 

The temperature topped 97 degrees today, so in an attempt to beat the heat we planned to sail and grill-out near sunset. We pushed off the dock at about 7:00 pm and sailed north toward Percy Priest Dam. There was only light winds - but enough to fill the jib as we turned southeast back toward the open water. After about an hour we sailed parallel to the lake's eastern edge and found a secluded cove. We guided Allegre into position at mid-channel and dropped the Danforth Anchor into about 12 feet of water. The sun disappeared over the cove's western shore and cast a silhouette of trees on the peninsula's horizon. It was time for the air to cool, the stars to come out and to light the grill.

Dorothy gave me a portable boat grill last year - but I had not used it yet. I first had to mount the grill support to the aft railing, then attached the grill itself. The grill has a small canister of propane (you can just see it attached under the grill and in front of the Merc outboard motor). My first attempt to get the propane flowing failed, but eventually the flames came alive hanging out over the water. Earlier in the day, Dorothy had prepared the Mesa Grill Potato Salad with sliced new potatoes, mayo, dijon mustard, fresh chopped poblano chili, green onion, red onion, cilantro and spiced with cayenne, chipotle, sea salt and ground black peppercorns. It is important to mix all the ingredients over the potatoes while they are still hot from cooking. This way all they flavors will absorb right into the potatoes. The dish is usually served cold, but mixing while its still hot makes all the difference! You can find the recipe in Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill. She put the complete potato salad in a large plastic container and into the cooler. I sliced up red, green and orange bell peppers and a Vidalia onion and threw them into a large mixing bowl. Over the peppers and onion went olive oil, salt and pepper. After mixing everything together well, I poured out approximately one third of the peppers and onion onto a sheet of foil and added more olive oil and seasoning. Then I folded the foil over and tucked in all sides to make a pouch. I made three pouches for the three sailors/diners on Allegre. Later on the boat, I just threw the pepper & onion filled foil pouches on the grill. You can see them in the photo hanging on to the stern of the boat. When they got good and hot, I pierced the foil so that steam/smoke could escape - this perfectly roasted the peppers and onions on the grill without ever actually touching them! Then came the bacon-wrapped beef filets

True grillers can bring excellent food off of any grill anywhere! These filets were seasoned with olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper and taken to the lake in a plastic container. The time spent in the container mixing with the olive oil before grilling made these guys almost fork-cut tender. And, as we know, everything goes better with bacon. Using bacon around steak is always a good idea. Not just because of the flavor, but as a thermometer - when the bacon is done on the outside, the steak is medium on the inside. By the time we got everything off the grill and onto the plates it was completely dark. We ate and toasted by the light of lantern hung from the boom, a candle and the stars. 

The wine came from Allegre's wine "cellar." It was a Cabernet from Black Opal that we were not sure would be good, since it had been on the sailboat all summer. Wine should not be agitated. It should not get vibration or frequent sloshing. The wine bottle should also lay on its side in a cool dark place. When the bottle is on its side the wine inside will come in contact with the cork and keep it moist. If the cork dries out, it will allow air in the bottle and ruin the wine. This is why standing a bottle of wine up on top of the refrigerator is the worst place to keep your wine because the cork will dry and the fridge constantly vibrates. Some people prefer a screw-top to avoid the whole cork-dry problem. Me, I like the ceremony of opening a bottle of wine with a cork. This Cab had been on its side in a cool dark place, but  had been rocking in the waves in the boat for months. But - the wine was terrific and paired well with those big grill flavors of steak, peppers and spices in the potato salad. Once in the glass, you do want the wine to swirl so that air mixes in and brings out the aroma and flavor. On the sailboat, the waves took care of the wine swirling for us. 

The prominent mid-summer stars are Altair, Deneb and Vega. These three form the "Summer Triangle." Altair is the one farthest South, Deneb is East and Vega is West. If you draw a line in your mind from Altair up between Deneb and Vega that line points to Polaris, the North Star. Knowing the direction of North is important to sailors and pilots. There was not a cloud in the sky as I turned off the grill fire. The Summer Triangle stood directly over the Allegre in the cove, so we named it The Summer Triangle Cove then I hoisted the Danforth from the bottom of the lake, kept the line through the triangle that points North on my right and sailed to the harbor lights on the horizon.

I grill on land and sea. I will have to figure out how it do it in the air as well! But no matter where you are - grill it! Paul

Please check out the St. Francis "Turn Up The Heat" contest and take a look at my video. I am trying to win a return trip to the St. Francis winery in Sonoma and the title of Grill Master - so follow this link to the website and let me know what you think.  

http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 

Tossed Steak

Tossed Sirloin Steak with peppers and onions in a new grill basket. When you know a griller, there is an endless number of great gift ideas you can go with. Dorothy found this grill basket on sale and once again proved that there is always something you can get for the griller who has everything. This started by mixing a marinade in a bowl using balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, brown sugar and red wine. I sliced red, yellow and orange bell peppers into strips and the sirloin steak into cubes. The peppers and steak sat in the marinade, with occasional stirring, for two hours. In the meantime, I sliced some onions into chunks. When it was time to grill, I poured the steak and peppers into the grill basket and caught the marinade in a tray underneath. I got the grill going hot and brought the grill basket over the heat. I continuously flipped the basket - like flipping an omelet - but without worrying that anything would fly out of the basket. I basted the peppers and meat with the marinade right through the screen top. It was ready in about 10 to 12 minutes and we poured it all over a bed of brown rice - fast and perfect.

We didn't get grill marks on the steak because they were never directly on the grill grates and were being tossed while they cooked - but the steak had great flavor and was extremely tender.


What to Drink? The grill basket had a card that said this type of basket grilling is common in Spain. I don't have any independent confirmation that this is true, but we went with it and paired the Tossed Streak and Peppers with a wine from Spain. It was the 2007 Don Romon from the Campo de Borja region of Spain. I must admit I know less about Spanish wines that others so I did a little research. Campo de Borja is in northeastern Spain where wine has been made since the 12th century. Don Romon is one of only 17 wineries in the region. Camp de Borja specializes in the Garnacha grape. The bottle just said "Red Wine" but it is just being modest. The Garnacha grape makes a wine that is more than just table wine. The bottle we had was like a Cab, but bigger and bolder. By that I mean it had more fruit and spice in the flavor - and that was a great match with the Tossed Steak and Peppers that had been marinated in red wine, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and ground pepper. Its all about the flavor and the wine that goes with it!


What's on YouTube? As you may know, I entered the St. Francis Winery's Turn Up the Heat Contest. I am trying to win the title of St. Francis Master Griller and a return trip to their Sonoma Winery. Mine was the first video up on there site when the contest started. Now there are several other videos, but honestly these other videos are no match! Go watch my video and let me know what you think. The contest winner will be announced sometime in September. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 

Keep grilling and Turn Up The Heat this summer! Paul

Fourth of July Grill Out

The Fourth of July is when we watch baseball, parades and fireworks, but it is also a nationwide grill out. We had relatives over so I tried to have something for everyone. Clockwise from the pickle in the photo is a bacon-cheese burger, an Italian sausage dog with grilled peppers and onions, cole slaw, Mesa Grill Potato Salad, and Molasses and Honey baby back ribs. All these were grilled using Bobby Flay techniques and recipes. I must say that I think the rubs were the best. Four hours before dinner I pulled out the slab and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic and chili powder. I covered the slab with no-stick aluminum foil and placed it on the upper rack of the grill over low heat. I let the grill do its work for the first hour undisturbed. I turned the ribs over during the second hour and prepared the sauce. In a sauce pan over the grill I combined molasses, honey, brown sugar, salt, garlic and ancho chili powder. During the third hour I opened the foil over the top of the slab and slathered on the sauce. I recovered the ribs with the foil - still on low heat - and let the sauce ooze and bubble down over the slab inside the foil. I know people say that their ribs fell off the bone. The meat on these ribs did not fall off the bone - why would you really want that anyway? But they did melt in the mouth. These were the most tender and the most juicy ribs I ever grilled. The secret is not the sauce - although this sauce was terrific - the secret is the long grill time over the low heat. I also grilled a few burgers and dogs...

PS - Remember to check out the St. Francis Winery's Turn Up The Heat Contest. I have a video on their site and I hope that video will win me the title of Grill King of Sonoma Valley! Go watch the video at
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 


Happy Fourth and keep grillin' Paul

Father's Day Burger Blowout

Dorothy picked up a magazine at the grocery store the other day because it had a Bobby Flay Texas Burger Blowout recipe inside. 

The recipe is actually the Dallas Burger from Bobby Flay's Burger, Fries and Shakes book (page 37). The feast also included Mesa Grill Potato Salad (page 225 of Boy Meets Grill) and Buttermilk Onion Rings (page 101 of Burger, Fries and Shakes). It was Father's Day and it was a scorcher on the grill!

But no weather conditions keep the True Keepers of the Flame off the grill! I think this must have been the hottest grill-lighting temperature so far here at Bobby Flay Everyday. The coldest was 9 degrees last January, but like I said nothing stops a griller. I started by roasting the potatoes in the cast iron skillet which was right on the grill. 

In a separate bowl I mixed together the Mesa Grill ingredients: mayo, Dijon mustard, lime juice, chopped red and green onion, sliced jalapeno pepper, fresh cilantro, together with chipotle, garlic, cayenne, Kosher salt and ground black pepper. When the potatoes came off the grill, they went right into the bowl with the Mesa Grill ingredients. The Mesa Grill ingredients were cool, but the potatoes came off smoking hot. It is important to mix these together while the potatoes are still hot so they will absorb the spicy flavors through and through. After mixing, the potatoes were allowed to cool to room temperature. Next came what turned out to be the surprise star of the show - the Buttermilk Onion Rings.

I first sliced two Vidalia Onions crossways into rings. They really need to be Vidalias because these onions really become very sweet over the heat of the grill. Then I set up an assembly line - the onions followed by three pans. The first and third pan contains flour with Kosher salt, ground black pepper and ground cayenne all mixed in. The second pan was filled with buttermilk, salt and pepper. One ring at a time, the onions went down the assembly line: flour, buttermilk, flour and then on to the cast iron skillet over high heat on the grill. Look back at today's first photo and you will see that the flour formed a golden brown crust around the onion rings that was terrific with that kick of cayenne! I had never made the Buttermilk Onion Rings before - but I will again - they were crunchy on the outside, while the onions inside were tender and sweet. The Dallas Burgers were on the grill at the same time as the onion rings.

Earlier in the day, Dorothy made the homemade cole slaw that goes with the Dallas Burger. She used the processor for the cabbage, then added grated carrots, mayo, sugar, celery seeds, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. I seasoned the burgers as they went on the grill with canola oil, ancho chili powder, paprika, dry mustard, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper. I seasoned the burgers this time on both sides to really pile on the flavor and because I knew that the cole slaw would cool it down once it got to the bun. I turned the burgers once - because, as we know, grill commandments #1 is, "Thou Shalt Not Flip Your Burger Multiple Times." Multiple turns just allows juices to escape and that goes along with grill commandment #2 which is, "Thou Shalt Not Press Your Burger Down On The Grill." Pressing the burger down just squeezes out the juice which will leave your burger dry and leather-like. To finish off, I toasted some thin Whole Wheat buns on the grill, melted some cheddar, placed the burgers and topped them the cole slaw and cold dill pickle slices - Fabulous on Father's Day!

If you are around my age (50ish) then I would bet your Father grilled like the pros. My father was traveling on Father's day so I did not get to see him, but I called and caught up with him as he drove across Arkansas. My own kids called and Facebooked. Dorothy made Father's Day perfect in two additional ways. First she made my favor cake - German Chocolate, but with a secret topping. I saw walnuts and chocolate chips on the counter as she was creating - I don't know what else, but I was fantastic!

The second thing she did to make Father's Day perfect is to write about her own father, who sadly passed away seventeen years ago. Please go read her words and see her photos at

http://designdenizen.blogspot.com/2010/06/heres-to-my-father.html

My Dad taught me well in all things, but especially on the grill. He had an old kettle-type grill that lived in the backyard most of the time, but he would place it on the floorboard of our car's back seat and take it with us to grill when we would hike and camp. His specialty is "Hoof and Feather." That's right he grills both beef and chicken at the same time! He insists that everyone gets some of both right off the grill. So thanks Dad, and all Dads, for all the life lessons you taught. Some of those lessons, like patience, the value of a family meal and insisting on quality, were learned over the grill! Yet another reason to Grill It! and pass it on. Paul


PS - Remember to check out the St. Francis Winery's Turn Up The Heat Contest. I have a video on their site and I hope that video will win me the title of Grill King of Sonoma Valley! Go watch the video at
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U

Memorial Day with St. Francis

Great for Memorial Day and the unofficial first grilling day of summer, this is a Filet of Beef grilled with a Coffee-Cocoa rub, cheese grits and grilled asparagus - all paired with the St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel!

The Contest

On May 12, I got and email from Matthew Smith. Matthew is an account executive at Nike Communications in New York City. Matthew said that he was a reader of this blog and was sending advanced notice about the “St. Francis Turn Up The Heat” contest that he was working on. You may remember that I featured the St. Francis wins previously here at Bobbyflayeveryday and that Dorothy and I visited the St. Francis winery several years ago.  I already knew that St. Francis has some great wines so I was excited to hear about the contest. To enter the contest, a person must make a video of themselves grilling a favorite summer recipe and pair it with a St. Francis wine – they didn’t have to ask me twice – I was already going to be grilling and pairing with St. Francis sometime this summer, so why not for Memorial Day and why not on camera! The theme of the contest is “St. Francis’ Quest for the Holy Grill.” Anyone who has followed this blog understands that this is really no quest at all. The location of the Holy Grill is not a secret hidden away since the Dark Ages. No, the Holy Grill is in my courtyard.

Here is the Treasure Map from St. Francis to the Holy Grill that I used in the video! Part of the Challenge was to pair some bold grilling flavors with a bold St. Francis wine. I chose to pair three grilled dishes with three different St. Francis wines. The contest video could not be very long – which was a real hardship. There was no way I could comfortably demonstrate one recipe/wine match so quickly, let alone three. So, I had to really cut down my original plan. In the video you see all three, but I really only was able to demonstrate one. All three are here on the blog however!

The video

Go watch the video and watch it on the contest website: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 

The contest will be judged by a panel of celebrity grilling “gurus.” The gurus will use the following point system to judge the videos:

40 Points: How well your video shows and explains how your grilling recipe turns up the heat to create the boldest flavors

20 Points: How well does your recipe pairs with St. Francis wines

20 Points: Demonstration of the recipe preparation

20 Points: Overall creativity of video

The finalist will be announced in August and the winners will be announced on September 15.  Now I am going for the win because the first prize is:

"A trip for 2 to Sonoma County with VIP visit to St. Francis Winery; Vineyards. Round-trip air transportation for two between San Francisco, CA and a major airport in U.S. nearest winner’s home, 2 nights’ accommodations and 1 day VIP experience at St. Francis Winery; Vineyards, double-occupancy hotel accommodations, airport transfers between airport and winery, and private tour and winery experience."

I don’t know how the grilling gurus will rate my video, but I would love to see what you readers think! After watching the video, please use the judges point system above and send me the score you come up with!

There were a few things that I had to leave out of my original script so that I could keep the video under the time limit. One major point that I wished I had more time for was my theme of “Preparing for the Pairing.” Most people give very little thought to the wine until its time to sit down for the meal and the meal itself has already been prepared. This means that the food/wine match is pretty mush left up to chance and getting a excellent pairing is sort of hit-or-miss. My theory is that you start planning for the meal and the wine at the same time, so its not dumb luck that everything goes together well. As I describe the menu below, I will talk you through my “wine strategy” for each course.

The Menu - Appetizer

The appetizer was a Salmon-Spread-Bread. I plank grilled salmon for another meal several days before the St. Francis challenge but I grilled some extra salmon then for this appetizer. I started by cutting up the salmon but it just flaked off into chunks. I put the mound of salmon chunks in a bowl and mixed it up with cream cheese. Then added dried, crushed basil and dill from Dorothy’s herb gardens.  I then sliced a loaf of long French bread on the bias that made small oval shaped pieces of bread. I brushed the bread with butter and put them on the grill to toast. Later we spread the salmon, cream cheese and herb mix on the toasted French bread.

We paired that with the St. Francis Chardonnay. I did a little research on the wines and here is what is said about this Chardonnay: “Rich with notes of citrus, melon and vanilla, this Chardonnay is a fresh expression of this hand-picked classic varietal. The grapes are 100% whole cluster pressed and fermented in different lots, then barrel aged for six months in French and American oak barrels prior blending. The barrel component adds a toasty complexity to the finished wine, complimenting the fruit and pear aromas on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, this Chardonnay has ripe fruit flavors, crisp high acid in the mouth and a rich lingering finish.”

My wine strategy in pairing the Salmon-Spread-Bread and the St. Francis Chardonnay keyed in on the wine’s aging in oak barrels that would give it a toasty, vanilla flavor that would go with the toasted French bread.  Also the Chardonnay had great fruit flavors (all the St. Francis wines do) and that went great with the cream cheese and bold salmon flavor of the spread. This wine can stand alone and would be a great summer afternoon sipping wine. You could drink this wine with no food at all after a sunset sail! But I think it was great as a snack or appetizer with the my Salmon-Spread-Bread. 

The Menu - Main Course

I went to visit my friend Mike Taglio and his family at Tag'z Five Star Meats. Please go check out their website at http://tagz5starmeats.com/. I asked Mike for his advice on a Filet of Beef - aka Filet Mignon. He brought out a filet that he said "was the best the cow has to offer!" Mike trimmed it up for me and when I left his store, I knew I had the best cut of beef in town. As you will see on the video, I made the rub with ground expresso coffee beans, cocoa powder, sage, Kosher coarse salt, ground red pepper and ground black pepper! I was going for the bold flavors that would match up with the wine, but I also wanted the rub to form an outside crust. You can see from the photo above the crust was forming. The wine I paired with the Filet of Beef with Coffee-Cocoa rub was the St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel and I used three grilling techniques for my "wine strategy." I prepared the filet to insure an excellent pair with this wine. Grill Technique #1. I grilled the filet using indirect heat on an Oak Plank. For salmon, I usually use a Cedar Plank. Sometimes for BBQing beef I use a Hickory Plank. But when I read about the St. Francis Zin this is what I discovered: "The grapes for our 2007 Old Vines Zinfandel program must meet certain criteria to be included in this classic California wine. The vines must be at least 50 years old; many are as old as hundred years old. Once fully ripened the grapes are hand-picked, crushed then fermented in stainless steel tanks for twelve to eighteen days, then pressed and pumped to new American oak barrels for twelve to fifteen months of aging. The wine is then bottled and held for an additional four to eight months until release. This distinct “old world style” Zinfandel displays deep aromas of ripe black cherries and boysenberries laced with licorice, shadowed by spicy toasted oak notes that carry into a long luscious finish." I used an Oak Plank because I wanted the flavor of the oak in the meat to match the oak flavor in the wine. Also notice that I cut two strips of the Oak Plank off the end and laid them across the plank. I think that anytime you can incorporate power tools into your grilling then you get extra credit! When the filet had been rolled in the rub, I placed it over those strips. This held the filet off the surface to insure that the smoke from the plank surrounded the filet while on the grill. Grill Technique #2. I covered the filet and the plank with a pan for most of the grill time.

The pan trapped some of the smoke coming off the plank and further infused the filet with the smoky flavor. Using this technique I was actually turning the grill into a grill-oven-smoker combination! Grill Technique #3. I made a Wine Reduction sauce using the very same wine that later would be paired to drink with the filet. In addition to the St. Francis Zin, the wine sauce had chopped shallots, Kosher salt, ground black pepper and butter. This was all put together in a sauce pan over the grill and allowed to simmer down to about half its original volume. 

Remember a "commandment" of the grill is Never grill with a wine that you would not drink.  In other words, we never use any kind of cooking wine - we use the real thing or nothing at all! When the sauce had reduced down, I injected the sauce right into the filet so that the wine was inside the meat as it grilled. What better way to insure that food and wine will go together than to grill the food using the wine! Later, I also poured the wine sauce over the filet on the plate just before eating - perfect!

The Menu - Dessert

Dorothy made a terrific chocolate bundt cake. It was moist because of several secret ingredients she uses, but you will have to ask her about those ingredients yourself - they are a closely guarded secret!

While the cake was baking, I was at the grill and put together a sauce to be poured over the cake. I matched one more St. Francis wine. This time it was the Sonoma County Merlot. When you read about this Merlot it will be clear why I prepared the sauce the way I did: "Our 2006 Sonoma County Merlot is composed of hand picked grapes from vineyards through out Sonoma County. After fermentation is complete the wine is aged in American and French oak barrels for a full twenty-three months. Spicy herb and vanilla overtones give way to luscious plum and cherry flavors on the palate, with hints of chocolate and generous tannins on the finish. A true varietal classic with marked Sonoma County style." All I had to see was cherries and chocolate! In a sauce pan over the grill, I combined pitted dark sweet cherries with sugar, and a little cinnamon. Once the sugar had melted, I poured in the St. Francis Merlot - leaving plenty to drink with the cake later of course! I don't know how this could have been any better - maybe adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream would have made this reach dessert nirvana! 

I entered the St. Francis Turn Up The Heat Contest on the first day. You can learn about the contest at http://www.stfsavortheflavor.com/index.php?p=home

and all the great St. Francis Wines at http://www.stfranciswinery.com/

St. Francis is a great winery to visit. I hope to go there again, but this time as the Grill Champion! 

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. The official start is, of course, on the Summer Solstice which this year will be on June 21st at 6:28 AM CDT. But I don't like it when I hear people refer to Memorial Day as the first day of Grilling Season. The whole point of this blog is to send the message that there is no one grilling season and if you look back over the history of this site you will see that I grilled in all weather. Go see "Grilling in the Snow" at http://www.youtube.com/user/dvcraig1101#p/u/6/M4DNoHGEafw If you are just now firing up the grill for the first time in a while - welcome back! Check out some of the recipes here on bobbyflayeveryday that you may have missed. It doesn't matter if you just started grilling or never stopped, remember - Just Grill It! Paul