Get those lids off your grills. Now! Covering the grill is one of the biggest mistakes grillers make, outdoor cooking experts Cheryl and Bill Jamison say. They also contend this is strictly an American problem; grillers in other countries never use covers.
The authors of numerous barbecuing and grilling cookbooks, the Jamisons told students at a cooking class here they aren’t talking about keeping off the lid part of the time.
Unless you’re preheating the grill, or doing smoking, which takes hours, there’s no reason to cover the grill, regardless of how your dad did it.
The “covered-grill problem” started in the ’50s, when meats were fattier and seasonings were usually marinades drenched in oil.
The combination made for a lot of flare-ups, Cheryl says. “Also, mostly men who were otherwise inexperienced cooks were not having a lot of luck controlling (the flames and cooking process). Lids seemed a good solution,” she says.
As it turns out, it wasn’t the answer.
“For flavor, you want to brown the surface around all the food.
You want it seared on all sides. True grill flavor is getting that sear as perfectly as you can. The grill can do that rapidly, thoroughly and simply – no other cooking method can accomplish that as well,” Bill says.
“To do that, you have to have the grill open. If you close the lid, food is getting cooked but you’re not getting the full grill flavor.” Other mistakes? Cooking over too low a heat; wrapping food, such as shrimp, in foil rather than putting it over direct heat; and, failing to oil the grate, even if you have oil on the food.
And, of course, the “fooling around with the food” problem, as Bill describes it.
“People want to turn food after 15 seconds or press on it. Put the food down, leave it right in place where you put it until it gets that sear. When it gets that sear, you’re going to be able to lift it off very easily.” Bill recommends holding your hand 2-3 inches above the grate to test a fire’s heat. If you have to pull your hand away in 1-2 seconds, your fire is hot. This is the temperature you should use on steaks.
If you can hold your hand above the heat for 3 seconds, the fire is medium-high. This is the temperature at which most fish should be grilled.
If you can hold your hand there 4-5 seconds, you have a medium fire. This is a good temperature for chicken, pork chops, pears or other fruit and all vegetables that need a steady heat.
The Jamisons, who live in Santa Fe, think the type of fuel you use – gas, charcoal or wood – makes little difference to the result.
“It’s the heat that matters, not the source of the heat,” Bill says. “We devoted most of a summer cooking the exact same thing on gas and charcoal fires. We made sure we had the same temperature on both. As long as we had the same heat level, the taste was not different.” At home, they use all three, depending on the circumstances.
When they have guests over for dinner on a weekend, they might use charcoal or burn logs in their outdoor Tuscan grill.
“We might use gas on a Tuesday night,” he says.
They also can detect no difference between natural and propane gas.
“You have to be cautious about a gas grill. You want one with a broad range of temperatures. The early ones didn’t – they were designed for covered cooking,” Bill says.
“At one time charcoal was better than gas. That has changed, but not so much at lower heat.”
Grilled Pears with Serano Ham and Cabrales Blue Crumbles
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8 servings.
Ingredients
4 ripe medium pears, peeled, halved and cored
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons walnut oil
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
8 ounces crumbled Cabrales blue cheese, or other creamy blue cheese
8 paper-thin slices Serrano ham, other Spanish ham, or prosciutto
Handful of mixed greens
Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, to taste
Directions
Place pears in shallow dish.
Pour oil over pears and turn them to coat evenly. Sprinkle with brown sugar and let them sit while you prepare the grill.
Fire up grill, bringing heat to medium (4-5 seconds with the hand test).
Drain the pears, reserving the oil- sugar mixture.
Arrange pears on grill cut-side down. Grill pears over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning once. Drizzle a little of the oil-sugar mixture into cavities of pears. If you plan on serving them immediately, sprinkle the pears with cheese and remove from grill. Serve atop mixed greens on individual plates beside nicely arranged ham slices while pears are still warm and cheese soft. Alternately, let pears cool, then add cheese crumbles and arrange ham. In either case, drizzle with just a bit of vinegar right before serving.
Grilled Vegetable Platter
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8 or more servings.
Ingredients
Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt, to taste
Freshly milled pepper, to taste
Vegetables:
1 large red onion, sliced into 1/2-inch rings
1 whole large red, orange or yellow bell pepper
1 pound eggplant, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch rounds
1 small fennel bulb, sliced
1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick through stem end
1 zucchini, about 1/2 pound, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch- thick lengths
4 small heads radicchio, quartered through stem end, or 4-6 endives, halved through stem end
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Relish:
2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or parsley
1 tablespoon flavorful olive oil
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
For serving:
Capers, caper berries, green or black olives or parmesan curls, made with a vegetable peeler (optional)
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
Directions
For Vinaigrette: Whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper in small bowl.
For Vegetables: Run a thin metal skewer through each onion slice to hold it together.
Brush vegetables with about 3/4 of the vinaigrette. Give eggplant heaviest coat.
Fire up grill, bringing temperature to medium (4-5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill vegetables, in batches if necessary. Plan on grilling times of about 12-15 minutes for pepper and onion slices, 8-12 minutes for eggplant, radicchio and endive, 6-8 minutes for zucchini and 4-6 minutes for tomatoes. Arrange tomatoes cut-side down to start. Turn pepper on all sides to cook evenly, and rest of vegetables 3 times, brushing with remaining vinaigrette as they cook.
Cook until tender, removing each vegetable as it is done.
Transfer pepper to plastic bag and close to let it steam and loosen skin.
When cool enough to handle, pull off any loose charred pieces of skin. Slice pepper into thin strips, discarding seeds and stem.
Arrange vegetables attractively on platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
For Relish: Just before serving, stir together tomatoes, basil, oil and salt. Top the platter with the relish.
For Serving: Top platter with any of the optional garnishes, if desired, and a sprinkling of salt.
Planked Salmon
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 8-12 servings.
Ingredients
1 plank, preferably alder or cedar, long enough for salmon, but short enough to fit inside grill
1 1/2 to 3-pound salmon fillet, skin-on or off, or full side of salmon, preferably 1/2- to 3/4-inch in thickness
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt or coarse salt, to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste Ingredients
Directions
Soak plank in water, at least 30 minutes for a one-time-use plank, and up to 2 hours for a 1/2- to 1-inch thick board.
Weight it down if it wants to float.
Stroke surface of salmon, feeling for tiny pin bones. Remove any that you find with tweezers. Coat surface with oil and then season generously with salt and pepper. Cover salmon and let it sit at room temperature about 30 minutes.
Fire up grill to high heat (1-2 seconds with the hand test).
Transfer salmon to plank, skin-side down if there is skin. Place plank in center of grill and close grill cover, to hold in smoke from wood. Cook for 8-10 minutes over high heat. You should see a light plume of smoke emitted during the whole cooking process. If you see a billowing dark cloud emerging, or any other sign that board is burning instead of smoldering, open grill carefully and douse any flames with spray bottle of water.
Turn off or shut down heat and let salmon sit in covered grill approximately 8-10 minutes longer. (The plank helps shield the salmon from the heat, making the cooking time longer than if you were cooking it directly.) The smoke will brown the surface, and the high heat will nicely crisp it, an effect enhanced by the coarse spices. The salmon is done when just barely opaque, with a touch of darker translucence remaining at center.
Use a pair of heatproof mitts, preferably easily rinsable, to remove plank with salmon from grill. Transfer plank to upside-down baking sheet placed on work surface near grill. The bottom of the plank will be sooty, so be careful about what you put it on, even after it’s cooled.
Definitely show off your salmon on the plank before divvying it up. The easiest way to serve is to bring the plates to the plank.
If you want to serve the salmon at the table, cover baking sheet with a washable large cloth napkin or other fabric that can be cleaned easily. Then place plank with salmon on napkin and take the whole thing to the table to serve.
Be sure to let plank cool completely before you think about stashing it somewhere or tossing it out. Rinse well, whether you plan to use it again or not.
Piña Colada Sorbet
From Cheryl and Bill Jamison, makes 6-8 servings.
Ingredients
1 quart pineapple or tropical fruit
sorbet or 1 pint pineapple or tropical fruit sorbet and 1 pint coconut sorbet
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (8-ounce) can cream of coconut
(not coconut milk)
1/4 cup white rum
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Mint leaves, for garnish
Directions
Let sorbet sit at room temperature until softened, about 45 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, give it a few brief zaps in microwave. Pour into a bowl. Add crushed pineapple, cream of coconut, rum and lime juice and whisk together. Freeze until set, generally a couple of hours, stirring a couple of times and redistributing the pineapple pieces. (To speed it along, freeze it in a broad shallow dish.) It will remain a bit chunky. The sorbet is best the day it’s made, but leftovers will keep up to a week. Top individual portions with mint leaves just before serving.
Adding a Personal Signature: Enhance the sorbet by serving it with some grilled spears of fresh pineapple. Brush them with butter and cook on a medium fire for about 5-6 minutes. If the party’s for adults, pass dark rum to pour over scoops of the sorbet.
