Bill West

October 12, 2014 Featured

How To Grill Lettuce for a Grilled Salad

Yes you can actually grill a salad… not just the chicken for the salad or a meat on top! Take a look and lettuce know how we did!

Some grilled salad tips:

Start with cold lettuce.

Use a halved whole head (we use iceberg in the video but romaine is also popular see radicchio below)

Grill the cold wedge on a clean searing hot grill grate

Baste with a oil based dressing first to encourage charring…

There are lots of different veggies to cook on a grill. Below some others….

The Best Vegetables to Cook on the Grill
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terry_Retter]Terry Retter

Every time the weather starts to warm up, my grill also starts to get busy heating up. It’s so fun making it possible to cook just about anything on it either inside the kitchen or at the backyard. Summer days for us are also grilled days and among the most favorite foods to grill are vegetables. Like me, perhaps you also believe that grilled veggies do not only give you healthier side dishes, but they are also quick and fun to make. If you are planning to make your summer grilling a lot more fun with your kids, let me share our most favorite vegetables we have so much fun of cooking on the grill.

Zucchini or Summer Squash

Grilling these vegetables over an intense heat loosens excess moisture concentrating the delicate spring flavor and aroma of the squash. I like the way it grills the inside thoroughly without burning the outside skin, making it super delicious.

Peppers

Even without the sun, we like grilled peppers. After seeding, I cut them into halves and put on the grill. My children like wrapping them in foil after drizzling with olive oil. The blend of the locked in moisture, flavor and aroma makes the whole side dish powerful and very appetizing you sure would be asking for more.

Endive and Raddichio

Endive and radicchio are bitter by nature and are tempered by the intense heat of the grill while cooked with the leaves together. But this makes me one of my best salads. I just leave the lettuce in wedges for a more composed presentation and chop the leaves before tossing the rest of the ingredients together. I toast walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant and make a fantastic nutty, citrus vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese to offset the bitter lettuces in my grilled vegetable salad.

Eggplant

Full of fiber and antioxidant and promoting phytonutrients, I too consider eggplant a staple and a very effective meat substitute. Simply brush slices with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper then grill. We sometimes rub minced garlic all over the eggplant for a fabulous garlicky tasting side for dinner.

Asparagus

Fresh asparagus brushed with a little sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, and pepper gets its very best flavor and crunch as it is grilled cooking the asparagus quickly over high heat. Since the stalks easily fall down between the grill grates, we make it fun lining them up and use toothpicks to put them together in two places, top and near the bottom, or I use my grill pan.

Potatoes

Potatoes are amazingly comfortable. I partially cook mine by simmering them before grilling so they only need to be seared over direct heat to create a golden brown crust. Grilled this way, the potatoes will have almost the texture of French fries by the time they’re done. Who wouldn’t enjoy golden on the outside, fluffy and cakey on the inside?

Have you tried combining slices of just the available veggies you have in your pantry, put them in a grill pan, toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then grill for a couple minutes on each side? Trust me; you will not only get veggies nicely marked by the grill, but a taste that you will keep relishing time and again.

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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Best-Vegetables-to-Cook-on-the-Grill&id=6425406] The Best Vegetables to Cook on the Grill

September 21, 2014 Cook

Bic FlameDisk Disposable Fire Source Review

Ever need a fast source of heat or fire in a portable and disposable form? The Bic Flame Disk may be for you. This giant sterno in a pie pan is perfect for fast fire for tailgating or camping as a charcoal alternative.

I know we have a lot of charcoal purists out there. But BBQ Tricks has always been about making things a bit easier. Sometimes that MAY mean taking a short cut to really be able to enjoy the moment. Remember grilling – especially during tailgate season – can be hot and fast as well as low and slow.

The Bic FlameDisk is pretty affordable too – get it here (this is not a paid endorsement but via amazon you will support this site) BIC Charcoal Alternative FlameDisk, 10-Pack.

The fuel inside the sealed tin (like a jiffy pop full of vaseline) is a solid white sterno-like substance. It’s a corn alcohol based fuel (i’m sure sterno is a brand name but it smells the same). The flame/fuel did not add any discernible taste to the food we cooked. Unlike “match light” charcoal.

Sure you could actually save a few bucks with a few sterno tins but the form factor here was really nice. High heat and a super wide flame base due to the evenly spaced holes across the tin’s surface.

http://youtu.be/tfw0zBXLVFE

September 14, 2014 Featured

Hot Dogs – A BBQ Go To

Hot Dogs – From Slur To Delicassy!

By Jay Bateman

Everybody has had a hot dog at one point in their lives. It’s unthinkable to live out your life without ever having had one. Same goes for cheeseburgers, by the way. But let’s face it. The hot dog was here a lot earlier. It’s got decades of history behind it and it’s hard to dethrone ‘the dog’. We all know they are the best thing since slice bread. But you know what makes them even better? If you put them on sliced bread!

There are many different kinds of names for the hot dog. Some people call them red hots, yet others call them frankfurters (although this name is better suited for thicker sausages). Some people call them out for what they are: weiners! I personally think hot dogs deserve to be called just that! And would you believe that at one point that very name used to be a slur?

It was well over a hundred years ago that the very first dogs were being sold on Coney Island, New York. At one point, this tasty sausage snack was being sold in other places throughout the country and the competition became bigger and bigger. Various cities were competing against each other when it came to who was selling the very best dog.

At one point, comic writer Tad Dorgan decided he was going to turn on the original New Yorkian hot dog. So he wrote a comic in which he crassly implied that Coney Island sausages on a bun contained dog meat. And that’s how the name ‘hot dog’ was born. It used to be a slur, before it became the name of the snack that everybody loves to eat the most at baseball games!

It was considered to be such a slur, that the name was illegalized by none other than the chamber of commerce. And it remained an illegal term for a long time to come. It wasn’t until a few decades later that ‘hot dog’ became the name of preference for a sausage on a bun. And we’ve been calling them like that ever since.

If you’ve got a good hot dog, you can rest assured that it won’t contain any dog meat. Not unless you’re living in China that is. But I don’t think China eats a lot of hot dogs. Dogs from the good ole’ USA are mostly made of pork or beef. Sometimes a combination. But cheaper dogs are sometimes made of chicken or turkey. These aren’t the real dogs as they were meant to be. But if you’re on a budget, and you’re willing to put up with a lesser dog…

Beef and pork remains the very best ingredient for a good dog. And I stand by that remark! Of the two, beef is definitely the better one. It’s a matter of taste, I know. But I strongly feel beef gives you a more rich and solid flavor.

But it’s not all about the type of meat. A good sausage must be cased, which means it has a small skin around it that’s made of a sheep’s intestines. Sure, it sounds a little gross. But if you’ve ever had a sausage, 9 out of 10 times it was cased. Which means you’ve already had sheep’s intestines before and you didn’t toss your cookies!

It’s a dog’s casing that gives it that pop the very moment that you sink your teeth into it. This is what causes the flavory juices to come bursting out and give you that feeling of satisfaction from eating a good dog.

Next to the type of meat and the casing, it also pays off to think about what seasoning you want for your dog. You can either go for garlic, salt, or any other kind of herb that you personally prefer. It’s all a matter of taste. There are plenty of suggestions to be found on the Internet. Browse around if you haven’t already made up your mind about your preferred hot dog seasoning!

You can prepare hot dogs in about a million ways. And by million I actually mean about half a dozen ways. You can grill them, you can cook them. You can boil them, you can broil them. You can fry them, you can steam them.

And the last one, the steaming, just so happens to be my personal favorite. In my humble opinion, there is nothing like a dog on a bun that have been steamed together. Don’t you just love to see a dog steam when you’re holding it in your hand? Now that’s the genuine baseball game kind of dog that made America the great country it is today!

Nowadays, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home in order to enjoy a good dog. You can simply steam them at home with a home hot dog steamer. These are plentiful on Amazon these days and you can get them for a handful of dimes. Even if you’re only a moderate dog lover, it’s a pretty good investment if you ask me!

If this article has aroused your appetite and you want to enjoy a good hot dog yourself right in the comfort of your own home, then I highly recommend you read the following article:

http://www.squidoo.com/home-hot-dog-steamer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Bateman
http://EzineArticles.com/?Hot-Dogs—From-Slur-To-Delicassy!&id=8219975

September 2, 2014 Cook

How To Roast Chicken Breast In Your La Caja China Roasting Box

By Diane Louise Villanueva

We don’t eat chicken solely because it is delicious but also it provides a lot of health benefits. First of all, it is rich in protein which makes it excellent in aiding weight loss. Chicken meat is also a natural anti-depressant; bone loss preventer and metabolism booster when taken in the right amounts. Most of all, chicken is among our children’s favorite food items! There’s just no telling why but kids are just so into them. And do you know what the most nutritious part of a chicken is? The breast! That’s because it’s the least fatty. So for today, I’d like to share with you a quick guide on how to roast chicken breast in your La Caja China. Gather up your ingredients and enjoy cooking!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, weighing about 6 ounces each, deboned and skinless

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons garlic or onion powder

2 teaspoons mustard

3 tablespoons dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme or bay leaf)

2 tablespoons vinegar

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper, fresh

Cooking Instructions:

1. Get a large Ziploc bag or anything similar. Pour your vinegar into the bag, followed by your choice of herbs, garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, your choice of mustard and your extra-virgin olive oil. You can use Dijon or whole-grain mustard, whichever you like. Once the ingredients are in the bag, shake it well to create an evenly distributed mixture.

2. Open your re-sealable bag and put your chicken breasts inside. Seal it again and shake it rigorously to coat your chicken meat perfectly. Place the bag inside the refrigerator to marinate the chicken. Leave it soaked in the marinade overnight (or longer) for best results.

3. When it’s time to cook your chicken breasts, take it out of the fridge and let it thaw under cold water. You can leave your tap running to make thawing even faster. If you’re not into using water for this task, you can thaw it in the microwave as long as your bag is microwave-friendly.

4. While waiting for your meat, go ahead and prepare your La Caja China. Put on the grid and the ash pan on the box. Place your natural charcoals and light them up when your chicken breasts are nearly ready for grilling.

5. After about 20 minutes of setting the coals on fire, they should be all ready. Spread the coals evenly on the grid while making sure that you leave a space at one end. That should be your cool section in case one or two of your chicken breasts nearly burns.

6. Start putting your chicken breasts on the grill one by one and remember not to put the lid on your La Caja China. You should also grill one side of the chicken for only 5 minutes. Afterwards, flip the chicken over on the other side and let it cook again for another 5. Repeat this process until they reach your desired result.

7. Take the chicken breasts out of the grill and let them cool down on a plate. Serve with rice or your choice of side such as corn and carrots; good old steamed broccoli or your favorite salad. Enjoy!

I hope that this article has taught you how to roast chicken breast in your roasting box. If you still don’t have one, visit La Caja China ‘s website!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_Louise_Villanueva
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Roast-Chicken-Breast-In-Your-La-Caja-China-Roasting-Box&id=8682114

August 31, 2014 Featured

SlotDog Gator Skin Wieners with Oscar Mayer

Check out what you can do with this nifty BBQ Grillin’ Gadget called the SLOTDOG. Kinda like this Outset Spiral Cutter for Hot Dogs and Weiners – 4 Pc on Amazon – a gadget custom made for customizing your hot dog. It’s a BBQtrick we used a while back on GrateTV called Hot Dog Dogs — > HERE The SlotDog Worked for me right away and gave my Oscar Mayer wiener a Gator-like tire tread look. I figured Oscar Mayer would be a “typical” hot dog for testing purposes. Dont have a slot dog cutter and you’re in a hurry? Well – try to do a spiral cut like shown HERE. Either way it’s a fun conversation starter at your next BBQ and kids would probably love it. Top this! Tell us how you can do a better hot dog in the comments… #topthis

August 30, 2014 Cook

Why Marinate Meat Before You Grill

Why You Should Marinate Your Meat Before You Grill

Photo:Flickr.com/adactio

By Bonnie R Giller

The summer is in full swing which means you are likely putting your outdoor grills to work as you cook up some of your favorite grilled meats. We all know that when grilling meat, fish or poultry, it’s all about the marinade. You may think that the sole purpose of marinating your meat prior to cooking is to enhance the flavor, but there are actually health benefits associated with marinating your meat that go beyond satisfying your taste buds.

So here is what you do know. A marinade acts as a tenderizer and brings out the meat’s natural flavors before grilling. What you may not know is that marinating is one of the most effective ways to reduce the formation of cancer-causing compounds, known as heterocyclic amines (HCA’s). These compounds are produced when meat is cooked at high temperatures, like in grilling. Marinades can reduce the formation of these carcinogenic compounds by up to 99%. You can even boost this benefit by adding rosemary to your marinade. This herb contains the antioxidant carnosol, which has some specific anti-cancer properties.

Though it is unclear why marinating meat before grilling effectively eliminates HCA’s, it is believed that the marinade acts as a barrier between the meat and the direct flames. The cancer fighting power of marinades may also lie in the type of ingredients used. Vinegar, citrus juices, herbs, spices, olive oil and safflower oil are common marinade ingredients that all seem to contribute to the prevention of HCA formation. These acidic ingredients seem to slow the growth of harmful bacteria, like listeria, tenderizing the meat to make the protein easily digestible and moisten the meat, preventing it from becoming tough.

If you are someone who never uses marinades, now is the time you should start! Eating healthy does not mean your food has to be tasteless and bland, especially now that you know marinades do great things for your health. There are endless amounts of ingredients that can be used to create healthy and tasty marinades for any kind of meat, fish or poultry. Start to create the perfect marinade by first knowing the basic ingredients:

1 part acid (vinegar, citrus juice, yogurt)

1 part oil (olive, canola, safflower)

2 parts aromatics (herbs and spices)

Salt and sugar to taste (can substitute with low sodium soy sauce and/or honey)

This is a ratio you can always refer back to when creating your marinade. To keep the calorie count down and avoid having leftover marinade, only use about � cup of marinade for every pound of food, unless you have large pieces that may require a little more. Total immersion is not necessary, but the food should be turned occasionally, so that all surfaces will be in contact with the marinade long enough to benefit. Use non-metal containers or re-sealable plastic bags to hold the marinating food. You may also want to marinate your vegetables to add extra flavor. If this is the case, always make sure you keep the vegetable marinade separate from the meat marinade, to avoid cross contamination of bacteria. Also keep in mind that if you are making skewers, keep vegetables on their own skewer, since meat typically requires longer cooking times.

There has never been a more delicious way to prevent cancerous compounds than marinating. The sky’s the limit when creating a tasty marinade. So, get creative! Make use of a variety of herbs and spices to add natural flavor to your marinade. Yogurt in a marinade is thought to tenderize meats and help balance out sweet and spicy flavors in marinades. While it’s best to use herbs and spices, if you are going to add salt to your marinade, don’t add it until just before you cook the meat as the salt will draw out the moisture creating tough, dry meat.

Bonnie R. Giller is a registered and certified dietitian nutritionist and certified intuitive eating counselor who helps chronic dieters break free of the pain of dieting and get the healthy body they love.

Bonnie utilizes the principles of intuitive eating in her work with her clients, which is eating based on internal signals of hunger and satiety versus situations or emotions. The result is they lose weight, keep it off without dieting and live a healthy life of guilt-free eating.

Download Bonnie’s free e-book “5 Steps to a Body You Love Without Dieting” at http://www.DietFreeZone.com

For more information on Bonnie’s programs, books, lectures and presentations, visit http://www.brghealth.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bonnie_R_Giller
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Should-Marinate-Your-Meat-Before-You-Grill&id=8653831

August 24, 2014 Gadgets

PolyScience The Smoking Gun Product Review

BBQ purists don’t get mad… we won’t argue that traditional low and slow smoking is the BEST way to go when looking for succulent – championship – style ribs, brisket, and chicken. But hey this is http://bbq.backstage.gq and we love a cool kitchen or grilling gadget. So we couldn’t resist giving PolyScience The Smoking Gun Handheld Food Smoker a quick trial run.

I actually received the gun as a Christmas gift and have been dreaming up all sorts of ways to use it. The compact battery operated (four AA) squirt gun sized piston works as promised. Spitting out a heavy stream of your favorite airborne hardwood. The gadget uses surprisingly little wood dust and the BBQ Smoking wood flavors are fairly plentiful.

I think it would be pretty easy to set off smoke alarms with the gun so use caution in the kitchen (check out the cloud I made in the video).

I still want to try a blast or two of smoke in the slow cooker but have played with a few other dishes including chicken in the oil-less fryer (smoke dissipates instantaneously: FAIL). In the video here I attempt to make a smoke infused coffee (I wanted to call it a SMOchacchino) but the smoke did not seem to penetrate the liquid dispite the nifty hose forcing the smoke bubble into the top of the brew. I’ll try smoking the steamed milk next time with hopes the fat or milk will give the smoke something to bond to. Stay tuned.

Cheese worked brilliantly.

Do you have suggestions of a food that would be better with smoke? Feel free to share it in the comments.
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August 17, 2014 Featured

Freeze Your Rub – BBQ Spice Tips

How do you store your spices? With a little care you can make your spices pop just a bit more according to Cheyenne Ledyard from Etsy’s The BBQ Pantry.

The tips and tricks – paraphrased below- are basic but worth noting:

Get Toasty. Toast Your Spices and maximize the potency. This releases oils and flavor.
Stay cool. Never store the spices above a stove. Heat degrades flavor.
Don’t store spices too long. Keep it fresh.
Use your freezer. Dark and sealed dry.
Keep them in the dark. Sunlight degrades flavor too. See tip 2.

My favorite spice trick is using a Monday to Sunday travel pill box to store just enough spices for that trip to the beach… more here…

Got a favorite spice trick for BBQ or just cooking? Love to hear it. Share it in the comments.

Photo – Flickr.com/Larry_Hoffman

July 5, 2014 Featured

4th Of July Red White and Blue Sauce Recipes

Here’s a fun way to celebrate the All American BBQ on a patriotic holiday.. a fun trio of BBQ sauces done up in flag wavin’ Red – White – and Blue. We have a great red sauce (Almost Award Winning) here – but there wasn’t a VIDEO RECIPE FOR THE WHITE OR THE BLUE BBQ SAUCE – so we put one together HERE on YouTube.

First the WHITE SAUCE:

Big Bob Gibson’s is a big name in BBQ especially when it comes to this white sauce…. An Alabama Barbecue traditional ce uses Mayonnaise at it’s core and Bob Gibson of Decatur, Alabama is the guy who launched it back they say in the 19-20’s

Youll want to apply this only at the very end of your grilling or smoking. It will breakdown and separate if it is heated too long.

It’s tangy and thinner than you might think – when grilling chicken; brush lightly over the chicken during the last few minutes of grilling.

Here’s what you’ll need for White BBQ Sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup apple juice I tried corn syrup here
1 tablespoon powdered garlic
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a very large blender or food processor. Blend for 1 minute, or until thoroughly mixed and sauce is smooth. I used a bullet blender – remember it’s almost like a mop – use it to slather on in the very end of the cooking process but you may first want to try it as a dip – again mainly for chicken…

Some people also like to use it a a base for cole slaw and potato salad….

Next THE BLUE SAUCE is unlike anything you’ve tried before.
This version uses dried blueberrys because we couldn’t find fresh at the time… and True it’s not really a Smurf blue color… and that’s probably a good thing. The color is subtle (in fact hard to see here). But the blueberry is defiantly in the flavor.
Perfect for beef or chicken. A side of blue potatoes?
The added bonus is there is a nice hint of blue in the sauce and it’s a great conversation starter.

Ingredients

2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato catsup
1/2 cup dried blueberries minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Add water, blueberries and vinegar to sauce pan and simmer for five to ten minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat until desired thickness.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Strain out blueberry pulp using spoon to force out additional liquid. Discard MOST pulp.

If you want to try a fresh blueberry version ——-from blueberry council.org
Try with 1 to 2 cups fresh (or frozen blueberries) blended in a blender first – let me know in the comments
·

Team this Blue sauce up with our almost award winning red sauce and a unique Alabama White sauce and you have a RED, White, and Blue patriotic BBQ.
For more tips tricks and other fun stuff head over to www.barbecuetricks.com

June 29, 2014 Featured

Oil-Less Fried Pork Chop With Big Boss How To

Watch This Cool Trick for Oil-Less Frying
BIG BOSS 1300-Watt Oil-Less Fryer, 16-Quart

Cooking with The Big Boss Oil-Less Fryer is quick and easy, and my special Pork Skin Pork Chops come out crispy and delicious every time. First you will need to have this fryer… (get it here and support the site) Amazon has it and you will be amazed.
The Big Boss 1300-watt oil-less fryer cooks with low energy and offers triple cooking power with halogen, convection and infrared heat. You can cook from fresh or frozen with no thawing time, and has 2 trays, and holds 16 quarts so you can cook multiple foods at the same time. It even comes with a metal collar so you can “fry” a turkey in it. It cooks up to 3x faster than the oven without preheating, and leaves food moist on the inside and crispy on the outside with little to no fats or oil, so food is not greasy and you don’t have to figure out how to dispose of oil after cooking. There are three cooking elements working in uniform. The halogen directly heats the surface of the food for browning, roasting and flavor. The convection circulates the hot air, evenly distributing the heat for faster cooking, and the gentle infrared heat cooks food from inside out, sealing in the juices. Works great for roasting turkey, baking fish, broiling steaks, air frying chicken, grilling meats, toasting breads, steaming veggies, and even makes dessert.

Pork Skin Pork Chops you will need:
The Big Boss 16 Quart, Oil-Less Fryer
1 bag pork skins
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Cayenne pepper (to taste) – we like it spicy!
4-6 thick cut pork chops
1 egg
Bacos – Imitation Bacon Bits
Olive oil spray (optional)

Crush the pork skins into a fine powder, and pour into a mixing bowl. Add the pepper, garlic and cayenne, and blend thoroughly with a fork. Beat the egg in a small bowl and add a little water. Dip each pork chop in the egg wash and dredge in the crumb mixture to coat on all sides. Place the chops in the wire basket provided with the Big Boss, and place on the higher rack. Spritz the chops with a little olive oil if desired.
Plug the Boss in, set the temperature at 400 degrees and set the timer for about 16-18 minutes. Turn the pork chops half way through, and use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Pork should have an internal temperature of 145°. The chops will come out crispy and moist!

Bill West

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