barbeque bri

3rd Annual Grill-a-thon

2011-10-13T20:58:00.000-04:00

In keeping with traditions, I once again neglected to take any good pictures this year basically because I was just having too much fun. Luckily, Dad has some good pics and SeaBass has a budding photo journalism career in the works. All I could manage below is one shot of the Weber line up minus the Genesis, and a rather autumnal Weber self portrait.

2nd Annual Grill-a-thon

2010-09-06T22:34:00.004-04:00

So even though I've been neglecting the blog recently, I'm not going to spend a lot of time writing about the 2nd Annual Grill-a-thon. Just know that everything from the weather to the food and everything in between was just about perfect. My only regret is that I was having so much fun, that I neglected shooting any pictures. I managed to get just a few here and there. (actually most of these below were taken by my wife)

Couple of Pork Shoulders that Dad put on about 7am

The line up left to right: Mark's 22", Me at my 18", Dad's Genesis, Dad at his 22"

For lunch I put on a Bacon Wrapped Sausage Fatty stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

Later that afternoon, I roasted some sweet Onions right on the coals.

Later on the "Melted" Onions hung out in some butter and parsley on the Genesis next to some of Dad's potatoes.

The maiden voyage of Mark's Weber (Look how shiny!) saw Marinated Alligator Kabobs

Last grilling action my Weber saw for the day was a Trio of Chicken Drumsticks

Atomic Buffalo Turds

2010-07-05T20:03:00.004-04:00

I ask myself..."What would George Washington grill on the 4th of July?" So, I think about the United States of America. Which makes me think about the Star Spangled Banner. Which makes me think about "home of the brave", which reminds me of "home on the range", which leads me to "where the buffalo roam". And what do you have where buffalo roam? Yup, Buffalo Turds. Atomic Buffalo Turds that is.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Now go get a whole bunch of jalapeno peppers. You're gonna want to try this. Everything else you probably already have in the fridge.

I've seen this recipe on a couple other sites and I don't know why I waited until now to try this. It really is as simple as it looks. I don't really even need to post a recipe for this one. Just follow the pictures.

Basically we're just slicing jalapenos in half, and scooping out the seeds. Then fill your little jalapeno boats with cream cheese. I mixed cayenne pepper into my cream cheese, but you could put just about anything in yours. Next, poke a Lil' Smokie in the middle and wrap the whole thing in a half piece of bacon secured with a toothpick. One actual tip I read on other sites and found useful enough to mention, would be to pierce just the bacon and the smokie with the toothpick. Try not to go all the way through to the pepper. Otherwise, you've just created a "cheese drainage system" instead of a "flavor containment latch".

Another reason why I liked this recipe is because it will not only satisfy your grilling and bacon desires, but also satisfies your arts and crafts urges.

As for grilling, I set up an indirect heat fire and had them on for a little over half an hour. Some of the other recipes called for an hour and a half at a lower temp, but all you need to do is cook the bacon. So really, grill it as long, or as short as you want. As long as the bacon is done you should be good. I do recommend at least long enough to soften up the peppers. I was pleasantly surprised how well the jalapenos held up on the grill and really came out with nice smoky, spicy flavor.

Overall, I'll definitely be trying this one again. As for variations...maybe I'd work some ground sausage into the cream cheese instead of using a smokie. Or, possibly some pulled chicken leftover from enchilada night. Hmm.... the possibilities are endless with this one.

Barbeque Wings and Buffalo Wings

2010-07-04T23:43:00.000-04:00

As much as I enjoy trying new recipes and foods, sometimes it can be nice just fall back on a simple favorite. It takes hardly any prep, I've got the system down, and it comes out perfect every time. And they still are my favorite wings of all time.

Prep: Weber Grill Creations Chipotle Mix
Fire: Two Zone, High heat

Once everything is cooking along nicely it's just a matter of moving wings around from hot side to cool side to manage cooking. I like bits of crispiness on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. Half of the wings stay naked while the other half get basted with barbeque sauce. When all my wings look happy, I take everything off and the non-sauced wings go into a container with the buffalo sauce for a good shakin'. Then it's just time to sit down to a big plate of Buffalo Wings and Barbeque Wings.

I'm not afraid to say that when I sit down for wings, I basically dive in. There's nothing pretty about it. My wife just looks at me like I've somehow regressed from the man she married into a some sort of caveman, hunched over a pile of bones, pulling every morsel of meat off. But by the time I'm done, beneath the smear of sauce all over my face, is the smile of a satisfied grill man.

On a side note, I thought I'd post one of my many "Weber self portraits". Oh come on...admit it..... we've all got pics like this.

Barbeque Bri on Vacation

2010-06-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

So, I know this blog is supposed to be about grilling on my Weber, but these pics just make me smile.

Grilled up some Italian Sausages with a side of peppers over a campfire, overlooking one of my favorite lakes.

Classic.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

2010-06-01T20:28:00.002-04:00

Pork Tenderloins are the hardest things in the world to photograph. I try going in close for texture. I try a different angle for perspective. Yet it always comes out so boring. Let's face it. It pretty much looks like a big turd. I imagine that it really would be much more compositionally appealling once it was cut with the slices spread out and displayed. But, I always end up more involved with eating than photography once it's serving time. Perhaps someday I'll find a tenderloin with more personality in front of the camera.

As for the details on this one, there really isn't much. Simplicity was the name of the game here. Fire was at med-high direct heat. Flavor was simply from a rub that my cousin Kevin gave me while I was in Detroit. A couple of minutes on the grill for each side with some mesquite chips for smokiness, and we had perfectly done Pork Tenderloin. Simply tasty. Simply delicious.

Above is another example of my struggle with the elusive tenderloin money shot. I suppose I could write a short piece on how the tenderloin is special on the inside and looks don't always matter, and how being photogenic isn't everything...but alas, I spend too much time drooling over sexy T-bone steaks oozing with melted cheese. Damn my shallowness.

T-Bone Steak

2010-05-16T21:49:00.001-04:00

Hello ladies, look at your dinner, now back to mine, now back to your dinner, now back to mine. Sadly your dinner isn't my steak. But if you stopped microwaving frozen stuff and started grilling, you could eat like me.

Look down, back up, where are you? You're at your grill with the steak your dinner could be. What's in your hand, back at me. I have it, it's toppings. Now your steak is covered with those two things you love.

Anything is possible when you get outside and fire up your Weber. I'm on a horse.

Steak Soft Tacos

2010-04-19T20:36:00.000-04:00

Nothing bothers me more than grilling up a great meal, having cool and colorful subject matter to photograph, then uploading your photos and realizing they all stink. Ugh... Sometimes, I rush my photos because I feel like the neighbors are watching me and wondering why that strange man is out in his yard photographing his dinner again while it cooks. So, I end up taking these quick, "hope no one is looking" snapshots, and just hope that I've got enough pics that a couple of them turn out to be good. Add to it the fact that until about 10 seconds before it was time to take the steaks off the grill, the sky was dark gray and very overcast. Things were not good. Cloudy steaks are not good looking steaks.

Now that I've ranted enough about what irks me, let me tell you about something I love. Cilantro. A big bunch of fresh, leafy cilantro is like a fragant, green, punch in the face of flavor. It goes in the marinade, in the corn, in the pico de gallo and it just makes everything delicious. Call me crazy but I even love the way it makes my hands smell all day long after chopping it up.

Alright, now on to the meat. I had started the morning with a couple of nice looking skirt steaks from the meat market. But they needed a good marinade. Skirt steaks benefit nicely from an acidic marinade that helps breakdown and tenderize the meat. I used the fajita marinade (with a few minor adjustements) from Weber's Charcoal Grilling book with fantastic results. You know how sometimes you come across a recipe that just blows you away and you're constantly thinking "I've gotta remember this one". This was one of them.

Fajita Marinade:

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup orange juice

3 tblspns olive oil

1 tblspn lime juice

1 tspn each of chile powder, oregano, kosher salt, cumin, ground coriander

Just for kicks I added one of those little bottles of good tequila too.

With the skirt steaks marinated for about 6 hours it was time to fire up the grill. To manage the steaks and the veggies, I made a two zone medium heat fire and added some mesquite chips for just a little smoke. Veggies went on first and after they got a little charred I just loosely wrapped them up together in some aluminun foil to rest on the cool side while the steaks went on. Aside from a little frustration with the wind making my fire extremely uneven things came out quite nicely.

Overall, a very tasty excuse to go buy some tequila and good mexican beer.

Ultimate Burger 2 (The Foccacia Remix)

2010-04-03T21:33:00.000-04:00

Ahh, it's good to be back. This past winter was dark and cold. Snow was falling by the foot, not by the inch. But beneath the frozen drifts lies a grill in waiting. A grill eagerly waiting to try on it's new accessories that lie still untouched in their boxes. Accessories now on a shelf, instead of beneath a tree as I had originally recieved them. But spring is now upon us and the time to grill is here again. Admittedly, there was more than one instance of off-season grilling, but they were nothing to write home about. Just a few standby favorite recipes that I've already written about. Now, without delaying any further....on to the second season of Barbeque Bri and the Weber Adventure. And what better way to get the grilling started than to open things up with a big ol' burger.

Not wanting to start the season off with a loss, I went back to the first Ultimate Burger post for a tried and true basis for this one. I kept the same blend of 50% ground chuck and 50% ground sirloin for the beef. In fact this burger even has the same type of aged Canadian white cheddar perfectly melted on top. Everything is topped with the classic lettuce, tomato, onion, but the twist lies in the garlic aioli spread on two slices of fresh Foccacia bread. The result is more of a bistro type burger, full of flavor, a little fancy but still a delicious classic.

Garlic Aioli:

6 cloves garlic

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

2 tsps whole grain dijon mustard

fresh ground pepper

-In a small food processor, pulse the garlic until minced. Then combine the remaining ingredients, including the garlic, in a small bowl and mix. Add ground pepper to taste.

I like my burgers with a nice singe on the outside but just a little pink in the middle. I find the best plan of attack for this is a two zone fire with high heat. Hot coals for the perfect burn, and a cool side in case things get a little too ~~"whoa! my burgers' burning!"~~ flared up. This time everything came out quite nicely.

As for the rest of the grilling season, I'm eager take what I learned last year and really step things up. Armed with a gift certificate to my favorite meat market (thank you Dan and Courtney!), and the assistantance of Alexis (who did the grocery shopping for this post and made the garlic aioli), I'm confident that this will be a grilling season to remember. Again, my mission for this season, and for the this blog remains to inspire others to get out of the kitchen, get out your grills and taste something new.

Grilled Apples with Sausage and Sage Stuffing

2009-11-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

I was lost. Armed only with a cup of coffee, a couple of grilling books, and an eagerness to get back to the blog, I sat this morning flipping aimlessly through the pages. Here I was with an entire Sunday ahead of me, beautiful weather that was more like mid May than mid November, and I couldn't come up with a single idea for what to grill. For some reason, I kept thinking turkey. (I'm pretty sure I fell asleep with the Food Network on last night and dreamt through several Thanksgiving episodes) But it was too soon to go back to turkey after the gobbler incident of several weeks ago. I was in the mood for something new, different, yet not complicated. I kept coming back to something I saw on another blog a couple months ago. Hmm, fruit stuffed with meat and topped with butter. Sounds right up my alley. So I figured I'd give Stuffed Apples a try and add the disclaimer that I totally stole this recipe/idea from another blog, but it just looked way too delicious not to try. Thanks for the inspiration Another Pint Please.

I started off with making the stuffing. I sauted some onions and celery in butter, then added the sausage and sage. Pretty easy.

Now for making the apple shells. Not so easy. I started out with a small knife and several utensils later found that a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon seemed to work as an impromtu melon baller where I could scoop out a fair amount of apple guts without worrying about piercing the sides. I always have to resist the urge to go to the tool box when cooking, but i considered a power drill with a 2 inch hole bit. One day, around the time I had aquired a reciprocating saw, I had a hankering for just the corner piece of a whole lasagna that was tempting me from the freezer. (Picture the frozen lasagna C-clamped to the kitchen counter and me hovering over with a power saw) I wisely resisted though. Now back to scooping apples Brian.

Once my apples were ready, I just spooned the sausage stuffing in and drizzled maple syrup over everything. Lastly I topped the apples with a piece of butter. Off to the grill we go.

For some extra flavor I added some apple wood chips to the coals for smokiness. Total cook time was about 30 mins on the indirect heat side.

As for notes to remember for next time:

- smaller fire next time (my apples cooked way too fast)
-Red Delicious apples worked way better than the green Granny Smiths. (they held up better on the grill and i think tasted better)

Oh yeah... I had steak for dinner too. I was going to post that to the blog too but all the pictures were pretty much awful. I hate that it gets dark so early now.

London Broil with Peppercorn Marinade

2009-10-25T20:59:00.000-04:00

Ah... a weekend day without rain. Haven't seen one of these in a while. I assumed I should just take advantage of the opportunity and make it a double grill day. I had been craving some buffalo wings so I grilled a big batch and even upped the ante and went with the extra hot buffalo sauce. Mark stopped by to help me finish those off and honestly, I kinda forgot to take pictures. Enough about that. Moving on to dinner.

I find that deciding what to grill can sometimes be difficult. I'll spend way too much time flipping through books, or browsing some other grill master's blog to see what they've been up to. ( I added links to some of my favorite grill blogs out there that i've come across ) So, I'll sometimes tell Alexis to just buy whatever looks good at the market and surprise me. This weekend she brought home a london broil. I've never actually grilled a london broil, and I wasn't exactly sure what part of the cow it was, but I have done quite a few flank steaks, and it looked pretty similar to me. What was needed here was a little research. I found and article on About.com by Derrick Riches. Here is an excerpt:

London Broil, despite what you might find at the local meat market is not a cut of beef but rather a method of cooking. It was one of the first recipes to become popular in early restaurants and so the name London Broil because synonymous with a cut of meat. Originally that cut of meat was flank steak, but over the years the name has been applied to almost any cut of beef that is very lean and less tender. Hence you might find London Broil being a steak or a roast that comes from the sirloin or round sections of cattle. This of course makes the whole thing very confusing.

So, clearly that made no sense to me and I am still confused. Off to get a beer and start a fire then.

So, I had the ~~london broil~~, ~~flank steak~~, ~~skirt steak~~, piece of cow resting in a black peppercorn marinade all morning long and the plan was for two zone high heat fire. It's best not to cook these types of steaks past medium rare and to serve by slicing thin across the grain. (think fajitas). We paired the steak with some cheesy mashed potatoes and corn and it made for a nice fall, Sunday dinner.

By the way, this wooly catapillar says it's going to be a mild winter.... and no I didn't grill him.

Grilled Acorn Squash

2009-10-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

Just because summer has come and gone doesn't mean it's time to put the grill away. I think cool autumn afternoons can make for some excellent grilling days. Wandering around the farmer's market, I was inspired to try something new. I've always enjoyed acorn squash growing up, but i had never tried grilling it before. One thing I've learned this summer is that grilling vegetables can be very rewarding. You can start with something ordinary, yet after it's grilled, it comes off completely different and delicious. Of course, in this case, you can baste just about anything in a butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup glaze and it will come out great.

Since I needed to grill these guys for a while, I got my fire going with briquettes instead of the lump charcoal I've been using recently. I find they can maintain or more steady, long lasting fire better than lump charcoal. Once I had a good two zone, high heat fire, I simply placed the squash cut side up on the grill, and added some glaze about every 10 minutes. Half way through, I rotated the squash so it cooked evenly. Total grill time ended up to be about 50 minutes. Super simple and super tasty. I enjoyed mine out on the deck in the cool autumn air and it definitely warmed me up just as well as a hearty bowl of soup.

1st Annual Grill-a-thon

2009-09-20T22:58:00.001-04:00

Any time that you have to set an alarm so you can get up to start preparing dinner, you know it's going to be good. It was finally time for the first annual Grill-a-thon 2009. Dad had two big pork shoulders on his Weber charcoal grill by 8am and the Grilling Gods blessed us with perfect weather. I arrived shortly after 9am with my truck packed full of grilling goodies. After my last grilling experience, I was eager to redeem myself and get started early. My part of the menu included Roasted Red Pepper and Grilled Chicken Paninis, and a Center Cut Pork Loin. I always like doing the paninis because it can easily be made into an all day event. I started out by cutting some herbs from the garden for the fresh herb butter (honestly, i think that's the secret must-have ingredient). Then one fire for the roasted red peppers, another fire for the chicken. And I finished the paninis off on the Genesis gas grill. Ordinarily I'd use the same coals from the chicken but I had to occupy the grill with my Pork Loin. My pork ended up being on the grill for just a couple hours. I made sure to feed plenty of hickory chips for good smoke, and I basted pretty often. For an all day grilling event like this I could probably keep typing for hours, but I'll spare you the boring tips and recipes and just post some pictures. All you need to know is everyone left with a full stomach and a smile on their face.

The setup.... My Weber 18.5" kettle, Dad's Weber Genesis, and Dad's 22.5" Kettle

Pork Shoulders early on, for Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Marinated Grilled Shrimp for lunch

Chicken breasts for paninis

Dad grillin up some lunch

Center Cut Pork Loin.

Roasted Red Pepper and Grilled Chicken Paninis. I used a cookie sheet with 3 foil wrapped bricks as my panini press.

And for dessert there was Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream, which we spooned onto grilled peach halves.

It was the first time we tried some grilled peaches before. I wasn't sure what to expect, but they came out suprisingly well. The peaches themselves held together on the grill, but you could easily slice into them with a spoon and they tasted like peach pie without the crust.

Overall, I couldn't have had a more fun day. I think we have ourselves the start of a pretty tasty tradition.

Cedar Plank Turkey

2009-09-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer when I started this blog, I said that I would post my grilling successes and failures. I think this one would be my first failure. It wasn't a complete "let's just order a pizza" failure, but not quite good enough to fall into the success category. I started out with a turkey london broil and the idea to use a cedar plank to add some smokiness and flavor. Turns out the principle was good. The execution was bad. I don't know if it was the rain clouds looming, my meat thermometer lying to me, or if I was just plain too hungry to wait any longer, but I apparently pulled it off the grill too soon. Most of the turkey was juicy, flavorful, and cooked through, but the thicker half was still a bit pink in the middle. Pink in the middle is good for steaks, not for turkey. So I had to take the grill man's walk of shame, and carry my mostly cooked turkey back out to the grill for a while we dined on rice, veggies and bread. As for the good news, the first half of the turkey was actually really good. The marinade I used kept things juicy and the cedar plank added something new to what could have been just another slice of plain turkey. Things to remember for next time: patience is a good thing, and cedar planks aren't just for salmon. I'm looking foward to redeeming myself.

It did make for a nice picture though. Honestly, it looks done doesn't it? :)

I'll file this one under ~~gobbler gaffe~~...~~turkey trip up~~...~~fowl flubb~~...lesson learned.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

2009-09-02T09:47:00.000-04:00

The next best thing to do with beer, besides drinking it, is simmering sausage in it on the grill. I started off dinner by cutting up some peppers and onions. Once I had everything sliced up, I put them in some disposable pans and added a some oil, salt, a pepper. When the grill got hot and I had the coals just the way I wanted them, I added the veggies over direct heat. After a couple mins I moved the veggies to the indirect heat and added the sausages to the grill. I like to get the outsides of the sausages done first then let them finish off simmering in the beer.

I only had three pans at the house so once the veggies cooked down a little I combined them into one pan, so I had two to cook the sausage in. I poured some beer into the pans, then it's bath time for everyone. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get the sausages and the veggies done perfectly and finished at the same time.

Ordinarily I would have had some buns and provolone waiting to make sandwiches, but this time I served them straight with the veggies over top. Mark joined me for dinner out on the deck since Alexis was at grad class. Overall, a simple, yet tasty finish to a good day of grilling. I'll have to try the 2 grilling days more often. Or even better, a 3 grilling day. Anyone know a good breakfast recipe for the grill?

Grill-a-thon update: Mark now wants his own grill to man and is looking to buy a Weber. That would mean we could have 3 charcoal Weber One-touch grills, 1 Weber Genesis propane grill, and a smoker all going at once. We better start working on getting enough people over to eat this much food.

Barbeque Chicken Wings

2009-09-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like getting ready for grilling dinner by grilling lunch. I had the day off work and the sun was shining so that meant I was hanging out on the deck with some beers and tunes. The only thing to add for a perfect afternoon would be some wings. This is basically the same recipe I used in a previous post. (and I did in the Netherlands while visiting Dan and Courtney) I used the chipotle marinade from Weber, but this time instead of letting it marinate in big bowl, I used a big ziplock bag and pressed out all the air so the chicken was getting every little bit of marinade that it could handle.

I made another 2-zone fire with high heat. Midway through, I moved all the wings to the indirect heat side and brushed on some "Bone Suckin Sauce" BBQ sauce.

For the last couple of minutes I moved all the wings back to the direct heat side and did some final basting. I like to let the bbq sauce get nice and caramelized and almost crispy. Buffalo wings sometimes get all the attention, and you see them on every appetizer menu at every restaurant you go to, but I think simple barbequed wings from the grill are one of the tastiest treats to go with some beers.

Black Peppercorn Filet Mignon

2009-08-31T21:42:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting my Weber. I haven't been treating it the way I should have been. All these weeks since I've started this blog, and not once did the Weber get to see a good steak. I've grilled pork, chicken, burgers and even pizzas, but not once all summer, did I put a steak on the grill. I'm sorry Weber. In restitution, I've upgraded the landslide winner of the "what should I cook next?" poll (black peppercorn NY Strip), to the black peppercorn Filet Mignon.

Three good filets. You always want to let them come to room temp first before putting the on the grill.

I spread a little dijon mustard on the steaks first. Then evenly sprinkled on salt a black pepper. The mustard isn't so much for flavor, but more for holding on the peppercorns. Once on the grill the mustard basically burns off so all you left with is the pepper and steak.

I made a 2-zone fire with pretty high heat. The idea is to start on the direct heat side for a couple minutes. Then turn the steaks, (not flip) so you end up with cross hatch grill marks, and sear for a couple more minutes. Then flip to grill the other side. There's no need to turn again since you only see one side of the steak when it's on the plate.

These were pretty thick steaks so once I had the outsides the way I wanted them, I moved them to the indirect heat side to let them finish off. Depending on the thickness of the steak you may not even need the last step. Overall they turned out pretty good. It definitely made me wonder why I waited until almost Labor Day to grill steaks.

On another note, the end of summer grill-a-thon is in the planning stages. So if you're in the Elkton area the weekend of Sept. 19th, and you're hungry, you may want to stop by. Stay tuned. More to come on that soon.

Blackened Mahi-Mahi

2009-08-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

It has been about a month since my last post, which should have given everyone plenty of time to practice their ultimate burger. And even if you had one or two that didn't come out right; well, a bad day on the Weber is still better than most regular days.

Now that my vacation is over I am realizing that the end of summer is closer than you think. It's a thought that quickly vanishes though when you step outside into 90 degree heat with humidity that will make you pass out. This weekend's heat was brutal, and standing over a flaming grill did not seem inviting. I decided this was not the weekend for slow cooking anything. I needed something that grills fast, and is light and flavorful. Mahi-Mahi was the answer.
After a trip to the Newark farmer's market and Captain's Catch Seafood I had everything I needed. I used a recipe online to make my own blackening seasoning and I was all set. I didn't need anything too fancy for the Weber this time. Just hot, direct heat fire, only large enough to cook my fish. Mahi-Mahi, like any thin fish fillet, cooks fast. Just a couple minutes on each side and it's done. It's really tasty on it's own but I dressed it up with a little lime juice and added fresh mango salsa on the side. Bottom line: Mahi-Mahi=tasty-tasty.

Ultimate Burger

2009-07-11T19:03:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make. When I added the "ultimate burger" to the poll last week, I mostly just added it to fill an empty spot. I actually didn't really even know what an ultimate burger was. And I didn't expect it to get any votes at all, but the more I researched and read articles and recipes about burgers, the more I realized that the ultimate burger sounded like a lot of fun to try. The endless possibilities in the burger itself essentially broke the tie. Now, one disclaimer I should add, is that this is what I think the ultimate burger would be. I'm not saying this is the right way, or only way to do it. It's just what I think would be the best. Your favorites may be something completely different. But for now.... here's my Ultimate Burger:

Fresh Kaiser rolls from Bings Bakery
50% Ground Chuck/50% Ground Sirloin blend freshly ground from Herman's Meat Market
Aged Canadian white cheddar
Caramelized onions
Homemade roasted red pepper mayonnaise

The Weber was hoping for a day like today. Good quality ingredients and a good fire always make for a tasty dinner. I lit the coals and set up a two zone fire with med-high heat. I like the two zone fire for burgers because i can easily move a burger to the cooler side in case of flare ups. The indirect heat side also works perfectly for toasting the buns while the burgers finish up. As for the beef, I made some pretty big burgers. I got 4 patties out of 1.5 lbs of beef. The ground chuck was for the fat to keep things juicy, and the sirloin was for the flavor. I may have spoiled myself out of ever buying grocery store shrink wrapped stuff again. Two other things I learned from today: really good cheese is really expensive and really good cheese is totally worth it.

So now I have to ask. What is your Ultimate Burger? Is the beef the priority, or the toppings. Do you crave the classic with lettuce, tomato, mustard and ketchup? Or is your ultimate burger more of a bistro burger with artisan breads and pestos. Is bacon on your must have list? Often overlooked is what kind of bun or roll is to hold your masterpiece. Just a couple of questions to get your creative burger juices flowing. Let me know what you think!

Chipotle Barbeque Chicken

2009-07-08T21:05:00.000-04:00

Who says you have to grill only on the weekends? Besides, I realized I had let myself get just a little too fancy-pants with all the pizzas, peppers, and paninis, and it was time to get back to real grilling. I cant be certain, but I'm pretty sure my Weber called me Creme Brulee Bri as I walked by the other day. Well, this is Barbeque Bri and I was hungry. Plus, I have a lot of marinades to use up. So it was time to fire up the coals and get to grilling. Weber actually makes a pretty good chipotle marinade. Their package says to use it on pork, but I think it does just fine with chicken wings. I find it adds a little smokiness to balance out the sweet barbeque sauce. I'm sure I dont need to tell you how tasty barbeque chicken is, but this one actually had me literally licking my fingers afterwards.

Grillin' Pizzas

2009-07-06T18:14:00.000-04:00

Well I tried to take a break, but I couldn't. The weekend weather was just too nice. This time it was pizza day. I had done another batch of roasted red peppers earlier in the afternoon (because we went through the entire first batch already) so I was already in grilling mode. After the peppers were done I used the left over fire to grill some pineapple slices and ham for my hawaiian pizza. I like to make smaller personal size pizzas on the grill because they are much easier to handle. With the batch of dough the recipe makes we ended up with about 6 pizzas. And I'm pretty sure we made 6 different types of pizzas.

pizza dough (from the Weber cookbook)

1 package active yeast
1.5 cups warm water
4 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
3 tbsp evoo

Alexis helped out with the dough and after letting it rise for about an hour and a half, I shaped out some pizza crusts. Making each on their own piece of parchment paper for easy handling. I fired up the Weber again (medium fire, direct heat) and grilled two crusts at a time. The goal is to cook one side, take it off the grill to put on the toppings on the grilled side, then back on the grill to cook the bottom side. It's really only on there for a couple mins each time. The goal is to get a nice thin crispy crust with an melted top. Overall, this one was a lot of fun but I think I overcomplicated things a bit for myself by having all those extra types of toppings and there was definetly no need for 6 pizzas for just the two of us. I think next time I'll keep things simpler by making only one or two pizzas and saving the rest of the dough for strombolis.

My favorite was the hawaiian pizza, and Alexis' favorite was her pesto, mozzarella, and tomato pizza.

Grilled Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Panini

2009-07-01T19:20:00.000-04:00

This one was pretty simple. I marinated and grilled some chicken breasts. Spread some of my fresh herb butter on foccacia bread, and layered the chicken, provolone cheese, and red peppers from the weekend. Then put everything back on the grill. I've done this treat twice in the past week and it's definitely one of our favorites. It's so simple that I wasn't going to add it to the blog, but I mostly just needed a reason to show off my awesome grill marks.

Roasted Red Peppers

2009-06-28T14:19:00.000-04:00

I found an article online about how to make your own fire roasted red peppers and it seemed just too easy pass up. All it takes is grilling up some red peppers (any type of pepper would work) over direct heat. I got the Weber going with a small, but hot fire, and just kept a close eye on things, turning the peppers often. Once the outsides were black and blistered, I removed the peppers and put them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Apparently the trick is to keep them covered for about 15 mins, and let the peppers steam themselves.After they have steamed, the skins just peel right off real easily. I don't know if there's a good way to describe how the kitchen smelled at this point. The best word I can come up with is"mmmmmm".

Once the skin was off, I just halved them, removed the seeds and cut the peppers into strips. Tossed with a light drizzle of EVOO and I've got a tasty snack or topping for sandwiches. (I foresee a grilled chicken and roasted red pepper panini in my future). This will definitely be something I'll be doing again. Other than grilling hot dogs, this may be the easiest grilling I've ever done.

Apple wood smoked Pork Tenderloin with Maple Glaze

2009-06-27T23:57:00.000-04:00

Although I had to go into work for a little bit today, it was a pretty nice Saturday. I was really eager to open up the deck and fire up the Weber to try out a new grilling recipe. I made it home by 2:30 and the coals were hot by 3:00. I set up the grill for indirect heat, and since I was using apple wood to smoke, I filled the drip pan with a can of apple juice concentrate for a little extra sweetness. I've read that the drip pan is more for heat distribution than flavor, but I've also read recipes that include placing herbs into the drip pan, so I was curious to see if it would make a difference.

It just so happened that pork tenderloins were on sale, so luckily we got two. The picture above shows when I just put them on the grill. I applied just a light rub this time. I had a lot of flavor already in the smoke and glaze. I didn't want a spicy, peppery pork rub getting in the way.

Above you can see my new grill thermometer. Ordinarily I would gauge temperature just with my hand but in this case I felt I needed a little more control with my heat. The picture above is just after the first flip. (about 1 1/2 hours into cooking)

We're almost done at this point. I had the timer set to check on things every 15 mins. If it needed more heat, I added more coals. If it needed more smoke I added more chips. I was also glazing pretty often too. I used a simple glaze of real maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and white vinegar at a 3 to 2 to 1 ratio respectively (I tossed in a pinch of brown sugar just for kicks too). At this point I was keeping a close eye on the meat temperature itself. A pork tenderloin can technically be done pretty quickly. The trick lies in managing the fire so it cooks low and slow.

Once the meat temperature reached 160, it was time to take it off the grill. It ended up with a total cook time of about 2 1/2 hours.

After letting the meat rest about 10 mins, I carved off some slices and served it with wild rice and a salad courtesy of Alexis. With the apple wood smoke, combined with the sweetness of the maple glaze on top of juicy tenderloin, there was a lot going on. To handle that much flavor, I paired it with a nice Gewurztraminer wine. Overall, I'll probably be doing this one again. Maybe next time I'll actually find a recipe for the glaze instead of just throwing some ingredients together. As for the apple juice in the drip pan. I think it added more to aroma then flavor, but it's definitely something to experiment with more.

The Result: 9 out of 10 from Alexis

Welcome to Flavortown

2009-06-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

What do you do when the weather doesn't cooperate, or your weekend plans don't allow you to spend a whole day grilling? You go out and buy enough spices, rubs, sauces, and marinades to flavor up a whole barnyard. This should get me through the summer, but I may have to pick up a couple more cedar planks along the way. Everyone always does the cedar plank salmon (and after our tasty salmon a couple weekends ago, I see why), but I really want to explore the cedar plank method a little more. I think a pork tenderloin could do well and I found a recipe for a cedar planked herb chicken that sounds fun too.

I'm checking the weekend weather report often and it looks like this Saturday is going to be a good day to open up the deck and have a little fun with the Weber. I've recently only been using mesquite hardwood for my smoking but luckily I found some apple wood yesterday and I'm looking foward to exploring a new flavor.

This weekend's proposed menu: Apple wood smoked pork tenderloin with a maple glaze.

sidenote: for those who were wondering, I now have about 5 tomatoes developing nicely

Format change

2009-06-19T23:16:00.000-04:00

After a couple weeks of blogdom I realize that it's really difficult to come up with intresting things to write about that happened to me during the day. I dont think i lead a boring life, by any means, but finding tidbits that not only excited me, but that could also be deemed blogworthy were few and far between. From what i noticed, these blogments (blog moments) or blogcidents (blog incidents) tended to only happen on the weekends and generally revolved around grilling food. I suppose it could be that my focus on grilling was the result of starting a blog at the same time summer started, but I figured what the heck, I'll run with it. So now, I formally welcome you to my new grilling blog. The plan is to post my weekend grilling successes and failures along with recipes, ideas, etc. Basically, I'm just gonna keep posting what I have been, but now I'll be doing it with a little more focus and purpose. I'm still working on coming up with a new name for the blog, because for now I just seem to be stuck on Bri-B-Que. And that's just dumb.
More to come soon....