Tricks

January 27, 2015 iTunes

Trick to Peeling Roasted Peppers (it’s in the BAG)

If you’re a fan of great bbq you already know fire roasting does something magical to food. It brings out deep rich flavors in everything from meat to veggies – in fact these days one of the most popular foods to fire roast is the sweet bell pepper.

But fire roasting and peeling roasted peppers at home can be a pain.. Lots of picking and sometimes you’re forced to rinse off flavor along with pesky skin under the tap… we stumbled upon a little trick that can help make the process easy and a less of a mess. All you need is a paper lunch bag.

One of the things hat make bell peppers so popular is the great color they bring to a dish…. We love the red but green Orange… Even purple work too… They store great in the refrigator crisper drawer too… Red peppers area also a favorite because they pack a nutritional punch from ripening on the vine longer. -loaded with vitamin a and c along with folate – all good for pregnant women (so we hear)..

Once you fire roast these guys you get an intensely rich, sweetness with a juicy – almost velvety texture…
You can bake them in a hot oven -400 degrees or so- but since we like to work with live fire – we recommend cooking right on top of live hardwood coals… It’s ok to let them get really black and rotate them around with tongs to char on all sides…

The only thing that’s cooler than cooking directly on live coals is watching your bbq guests react in shock to the scene of you tossing their dinner into the fire! Roasting with this kind of direct high heat really enhances the char on and under the skin The pepper skin is actually pretty resilient…

And once you’re convinced you have unlocked some of the deep flavors – shake, tap or brush off any residual embers or ashes. And drop the pepper into a regular old lunch bag... Or for some of you that would be the ba from the liquor store… Seal it up and let it rest or for ten minutes… Long enough to let the steam do its trick…
Pretty simple… You can shake it up and and just use the bag to pull the skin off — nice and easy… You won’t believe how easy it peels right off and keeps the trashy skin right in the bag…

Fire Roasted sweet peppers peeled easily with no picking with this paper bag trick… With easy clean up too.

Got a better way to peel a pepper… share in the comments please!

November 23, 2014 Gadgets

Rotisserie Chicken and Rotisserie Turkey

CLICK FOR VIDEO There’s something about a rotisserie chicken.

They’re everywhere these days in supermarkets – slow roasting by the dozen on display in industrial cookers the size of your guest bedroom. But the truth is if you have a rotisserie kit (it may have come with that fancy new grill and is now in a box in the attic somewhere) it’s actually pretty easy.

Every attempt we made with our gas powered Sam’s Club spit and electric motor set up ended with incredibly succulent and golden brown bird.

There’s only about four ingredients.

Here’s an updated video overview using turkey: http://youtu.be/xqB5mLKevxI First start with a clean bird – Chicken and small Turkey seem to work equally as well. Rub lightly (watch for too much salt) with BBQ Tricks house seasoning UNDER the skin and over the entire outer surface of the skin. Rub seasoning generously inside the cavity of the bird (remove any “spare parts.” Let the bird rest (upright if possible) uncovered in the refrigerator for about four hours to allow the seasoning to take and also to dry the skin a bit (this helps to crisp the skin later). My hunch is you could bypass all the above and still have an incredible meal but the little things do make a difference. Remove the bird and let it come to room temperature about an hour before you plan to cook. two or three hours before you plan to serve. Before you put the chicken or turkey on the spit mark the location of the grill’s burner with two marks (with a Sharpie Permanent Marker) so you’ll always know exactly where to slide the meat in the future. The most important thing to accomplish is to balance and secure the bird firmly on the rotisserie prongs so that the entire mechanism rotates smoothly on the spit. Use trussing to help if needed. Test it by rolling the spit ends on a flat surface or even on your hands. After you have it on a hot grill it’s very difficult to adjust. Also use pliers to secure thumb screws. You don’t want an end to slide.

Finally make sure the spit is secure in the motor mechanism. Confirm there is no way for it to slide out (does it sound like it happened to me?)! After you start the spin and cook come back and sight check everything after five minutes. Let it Cook til golden brown checking infrequently for one to two hours. Our 4.72 lbs chicken took just over two hours.

When golden check the temperature with a good thermometer and remove to a cutting board to rest. BBQ Tricks House Seasoning 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper (grinding is a little bit more work but worth it) 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder add Paprika for color

November 18, 2014 Featured

Oyster Months – Oyster Roast Months

Planning an oyster roast? If you need to remember the peak months for oysters and oyster roasts just keep this in mind…

Talk like a pirate!!!

It used to be said that you shouldn’t consume oysters in months without the letter R but due to commercial harvesting and modern refrigeration and other factors it’s just not as big an issue these days unless you’re actually harvesting yourself. Still it’s good to remember that the summer months – that is for most of us watching this episode – are the spawning months for oysters & the meat just isn’t as good – due to how they reproduce the flesh ends up with the a thinner milky texture.

Off season oysters will probably not be as readily available as they will be just due to traditional seasons and when you do find them the price won’t be as good as the R months but don’t be afraid if you see it on a menu in a nice restaurant.

Easy to remember–the Pirates favorite letter is “R” or AAAAhhhhhhrrrrrrrrRRRRR. Peak months for oysters are September to April when they’re at their best —but for that reason traditional oyster roast are always in colder months they contain the letter “R”– September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April.

In South Carolina the tradition is to steam oysters not really literally “roast” them but steam them on a flat metal pan under wet burlap bags…

Oyster – roast -( the word roast starts with the letter R by the way) the Pirates favorite letter something to remember. for more tips tricks other fun stuff head on over to www.barbecuetricks.com

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 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

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

June 15, 2014 Cook

MAKE A GRILL HOTSPOT MAP WITH BISCUITS

If you find yourself shuffling your food around the grill haphazardly hoping to find the cool or hot spot this may be of service. At least you’ll end up with brunch.

Here’s a fun and fast way to pinpoint the hot spots on your grill. We use a few tubes of refrigerated “poppin” biscuit dough. A few tips: get your gas flowing freely first… start with all your dough the same temperature… and make sure the dough slices are of identical thickness. Take a biscuit selfy and save if for future reference. Carolina Pitmaster Jack Waiboer suggests this as the first cook on any new grill. A GRATE idea.

Watch the Grill HotSpot Video HERE

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