Holiday Gifts for Grillers - Part 3

With the holidays fast approaching, have you figured out what to ask Santa for? We'll be sharing a few of these with you this month :)


7. Marinade Spray Bottle - Stainless steel - all fancy!
 



8. Grillight - A spatula with LED light on it - what WILL they think of next??
 



9. Pizza Stone for the Grill - Remember that Homewrecker BBQ Chicken Pizza?
 



10. Brush & Bowl - Only difficult thing about BBQ is that it's messy, this apparatus might help.
 

Holiday Gifts for Grillers - Part 2

With the holidays fast approaching, have you figured out what to ask Santa for? We'll be sharing a few of these with you this month :)


4. Wing Rack - where has this been my whole life??
 


5. Magnetic Tank Reader - for folks with Propane Tanks. Great stocking stuffer.
 


6. Meat Claws - for shredding your porks, chickens, steak/beef, etc. Plus they're called 'MEAT CLAWS'...how awesome is that?

Holiday Gifts for Grillers - Part 1

With the holidays fast approaching, have you figured out what to ask Santa for? We'll be sharing a few of these with you this month :)


1. Grillbots.com - that's right, a Roomba for the grill!



2. Jalepeno Popper Grill Rack - We may have to do a series on this next season :)



3. Garlic roaster for the Grill - Oh man, I need to send a letter to Santa!!

Grilled Homewrecker Holiday Ham

Many years ago, I was home with my family for Easter - we were leaving for church and turned on the oven to pre-heat, mom was going to be making ham for the family coming over later.

We got home from church and the oven was cold...broke. Now what do we do?

Thinking quickly, she fired up the grill and we had grilled ham!

So - why not brush the leaves and snow off your grill and use it to make a unique Holiday Ham?








Here is a simple example to get you started:

Grilled Holiday Ham with Homewrecker BBQ Glaze

1 ham, spiral cut or not (any size will do - this example is for about 9 lbs)
1 cup honey
1 Tablespoon A-1 sauce
1 Tablespoon Homewrecker BBQ Sauce 
Cloves (optional)

Pre-heat the grill to 300 degrees, follow the cooking instructions that come with your ham.

Mix together the glaze (honey, a1, and Homewrecker bbq sauce).
If you are using a regular ham score your meat with criss cross cuts.  Not too deep, maybe 1/2-1" (you can add cloves at this time if you're into that kind of thing).  Place ham, large side down, on side the coals or flames aren't.  We want to use the indirect heat method. Brush on  a little bit of the glaze.  Don't get too crazy or it will all slide off into the bottom of the grill.

Every 10-15 minutes turn the ham and glaze some more.
If you have a spiral ham lift your slices a little bit or tip the ham back so it opens a little and apply some more glaze. 

Cook as directed in the instructions that come with the ham from a timing perspective - enjoy with the rest of your holiday meal!

Grilled Apple Pie: Just in time for The Holidays!

Straight from the BBQ Pit Boy Youtube page:

Grilled Apple Pie - just in time for the holidays!



Ingredients:

Baking Apples - 8
Lemon – 2 tsp juice
Premade Pie Dough
Butter – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 cup.
Butter – 2 tsp.
Cinnamon – ¼ tsp
Nutmeg – 1/8 tsp
Salt – 1/8 tsp
Pyrex oven safe pie pan

1. Set up your grill for indirect grilling. Place hot coals on 1 side of the grill and no coals on the other side of the grill. You are looking for a temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Core and peel the baking apples
3. Slice the apples into ¼ to 3/8 inch slices
4. Place apples in a bowl and set to the side
5. In a second bowl mix;

1 cup of sugar
1 Tbsp. of Flour
1/8 tsp of Salt

6. Slowly pour the sugar, flour, & salt mixture over the apples mixing to coat all the apples
7. Add to tsp of fresh Lemon Juice to the apples and mix
8. Unroll a pie crust and place into the pie pan
9. Spoon the apple mixture on top of the pie crust in the pan
10. Sprinkle 1/8 tsp of Nutmeg on top of the pie filling
11. Sprinkle 1/8 to ¼ tsp of cinnamon on top of pie filling
12. Place dots of butter on top of the filling, using about 1 tsp of butter
13. Cover the pie with the top pie crust
14. Seal both pie crusts together around the edges (fluting)
15. Score 4 slits in the top pie crust, Do not cut all the way thru the crust
16. Sprinkle light cane sugar on top of the crust
17. Place the Pie on the side of the grill with no coals (indirect grilling)
18. Cover the grill with the lid
19. Cook time will be about 45 minutes depending on the temp of your grill
20. After 20 minutes rotate the pie 180 degrees to promote even cooking
21. After 45 minutes or when done, remove the pie from the grill
22. Let the pie rest and cool down

Video here.

Grilled Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Balsamic

Grilled Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Balsamic - from Daring Gourmet on Tablespoon.com:

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts (outer leaves discarded, bottom stems trimmed), cut in half

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup good quality aged balsamic vinegar

4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled 

 

Directions

• Preheat it to medium-high.
• Lay the Brussels sprouts in a single layer on a non-stick or lined baking sheet. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over the sprouts, sprinkle with some salt and freshly ground black pepper, and toss to evenly coat. Place the Brussels sprouts on a grill rack and grill for 8-10 minutes on each side.
• While the Brussels sprouts are cooking, place the balsamic vinegar in a very small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes or until it is thickened and lightly coats a spoon.
• Arrange the Brussels sprouts on a serving platter, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar reduction and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.

 

Avoiding dry bird meat - just in time for Thanksgiving!

3 great tips borrowed from The Mamas Girls blog:

3 Steps to Never Grill Dry Bird Again!

1. Use a Jaccard Tool

How many of you even know what a jacaard tool is? I sure didn’t. It is, essentially, a small hand-held kitchen tool that tenderizes meat. Depending on the type, they can have anywhere from 15 to 50 tiny blades that pierce the meat with many holes. This does a few things to help the end result. It forms tiny channels through the meat which heat can pass though. This means more even cooking, less shrinking, and can yield faster cooking times. These channels also allow juices and marinades to flow through. Tenderizing before using a marinade can allow flavors to penetrate deeper into the meat. This means more a flavorful result! 

2. Brine the chicken

Many of you have probably heard of brining a turkey for Thanksgiving. Many of you probably dismissed the idea because you were afraid of messing it up and ruining Thanksgiving dinner, and having to order take-out on the most important meal of the year. Some of you just said, “what ever it is, isn’t worth the extra hassle of an already long day in the kitchen”. NOT TRUE! A brine has an acidic quality which tenderizes the driest of meats. Turkey, like chicken, is high on the dry scale. A brine also infuses flavor into the meat. It is basically just a marinade.  Now are you warming up to the idea? Here is the brine recipe:

8 c. water

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 T. black peppercorns

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 T. lemon juice

3 whole bay leaves

4 cloves garlic, sliced

Stir ingredients together in a large pot and bring to a boil. Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool until room temperature. ( I try to make the night before if I remember) After cooling the marinade, place meat or poultry in a Ziploc bag inside another container for support and leakage. Pour cooled marinade into the bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Seal. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours

Discard brine before using.   Make sure to pat chicken dry. Grill chicken until inside  temp reaches  165° F.

3. Let the Meat Rest

I know you’re anxious to dive into this delicious piece of meat, and to experience what the meat tenderizer and the brine have done, but leave it alone for 10 minutes after you take it off the heat. Don’t poke it, don’t prod it , don’t cut into it.  If you’re worried about it being cold when you serve it, place it on tin foil, and cover it. This allows the fibers to relax and settle into that mouth watering tenderness.