Grilling Corn on the Cob!
When planning grilled steak meal, do you ever think, “what’s the BEST vegetable that would go with this juicy steak?” -or- “I need a side dish to off-set the big slab-o-meat sitting there waiting for the grill”. Well, I can tell you one of the BEST options is, grilling corn on the cob. That’s right, corn can easily be grilled without too much trouble. However, there are a few ways to prepare for grilling corn on the cob and here’s what I’ve found to be one of the easiest and frankly one of the ONLY ways to grill corn-on-the-cob.
Steamed corn on the grill - that’s right, you don’t have to get a 
bucket of water, boil it, drop the corn in and/or put it in the steamer on the stove. You can build your own, steamed corn package for the grill.
You’ll need:
- Sweet corn on the cob - most grocers have it now a days. But, do not shuck it at the store. Bring it home with the shucks and silk all intact.
- Aluminum foil - heavy duty is best
- Water - yep, good old tap water will do fine.
Step One
Shuck the corn, but DO NOT pull the shucks off. Leave them attached at the base. The best way is to pull each leaf back one at a time until the corn and silk are exposed. Pull all of the silk out, every string and chuck it. Leave the shucks splayed out at the base. Do each one you plan on using for this meal. We have 3 in the family, we do 3 ears.
Step Two
Prepare the number of aluminum sheets you’ll need for the number of ears you plan on grilling. Each sheet should be a couple of inches longer than the ears of corn.
Step Three
Lay the sheets next to the sink. Pour tap water over the shucked ears of corn and allow it to get the shucks good and wet. Be very liberal with the water by allowing it to pool and catch. Hold the ears vertical is best. Water will settle near the base of the corn.
Step Four
Place each wet ear of corn onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Bring each of the sides up around the corn, fold a seam at the top until the corn is tight. Twist the two ends shut and fold into the entire roll of corn.
Step Five
Place the corn packets on the grill. It’s best to put them on about 10 to 15 minutes before the steaks. The longer the better on the corn. When you place the first steaks on the grill, turn the corn a quarter turn to one side. Some water will escape and try to douse the flames, no problems. For turn times, I time it along with the steaks and just turn the corn every time I turn a steak. When the steaks are done, pull them first, then return for the corn.
Final Prep
This is the easy part, but there’s a WARNING attached. Pull the aluminum packets with the cooked corn and put them in the sink or some where in preparation to pull the hot wet shucks from the corn. Since it’s extremely hot, this is the warning. You’ll burn yourself, so use something with your hands to pull off the extremely hot wet shucks from the corn. Believe it or not a good oven mitt works well. Or, use your grilling tongs, but they’re harder and don’t give you enough grip to pull the HOT WET shucks from the corn.
Ok - If you didn’t get it, the hot wet shucks will scorch your fingers. Experience talking. Once the corn is on a plate, slather it with butter, eat and enjoy.
That’s all there is to it. Pretty easy once you get it down to a science. I’ll attest, you’ll never go back to NOT grilling corn on the cob prepared any other way. Grilled steamed sweet corn is a palate pleaser, every time.
Go grill something!
Monday outdoor grilling, Denver Style!
Grilling any day of the week is perfectly acceptable. A lot of people tend to think that firing up the grill out on their back deck requires a “reason” or should be reserved for a special occasion or party. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Your mindset should be, the grill is just another cooking appliance, but outdoors. Here in the Denver and front-range area, we enjoy many, many days of sun. There are endless opportunities to take advantage of both the sun, a warm deck and wonderfully prepared meal on a grill.
Picture this; after putting in a full day at the office, you’re on your way home. Decisions, decisions, what to do for dinner. Stop at your favorite fast-food place, stop at the grocery store for frozen pizza or just getting home and figure using what’s ever in the fridge?
How about a 15 minute meal. Burgers, cooked on the grill, there’s nothing better and faster. You can of course get these on the run at your favorite drive-thru, but they’re not as good and good for you, my son quoted a statistic from his 8th grade health class, 1 meal at (your-favorite-fast-food-burger-chain-here) equals eating a full stick of butter. So, which would you rather have, control over your own lean burger meat or something processed and unhealthy. It only takes less than 10 minutes or so on the grill to get a perfectly medium cooked burger patty and you have a decent quick meal. Even if you don’t have patties and buns at home, stop by the local grocer and pickup pre-made, bag of patties and some buns.
Besides, while you’re working the meat over, you could be holding a cold one, winding down from a day of crazy conference calls and endless meetings. This also leads to enjoying the scenery and setting sun. If you’re fortunate enough to live in Colorado, you could call this everyday, outdoor grilling, Denver Style.
Go grill something.
Grilled Fish Recipe with Mango!
Grilled Fish is, next to steak, the number one reason to own a grill. If you love sweet mango’s, good thick steak like fish and barbecue sauce, then this recipe is perfect. It’ll satisfy your taste buds and bring some of Caribbean island flavor to your next evening or party.
Two favorites on the island of Barbados are fish and mango. This dish is the best of both in the Bajan world. Enjoy this dish on a cool summer evening with a glass of wine, or with friends for a backyard get-together.
This recipe is a favorite at Food Affairs, prepared by Chef David Watts.
Ingredients:
4 marlin or dolphin steaks, or other meaty fish, cut 1″ thick, brushed with olive oil and pressed garlic, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
(Get the perfect fish,
Thrill of the Grill)
For the barbecue sauce:
1tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 hot pepper, seeded
1/4 cup pureed mango
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp Tabasco
1 pinch salt
1 cup beer
In a large saucepan, over high heat, saute onions and pepper in oil. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil then simmer over medium/low heat for 30 minutes. Puree sauce in a blender or food processor.
If using a barbeque grill, heat for 10 to 15 minutes on high. Sear the fish for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until almost completely opaque. Brush 3/4 of the barbeque sauce onto both sides and grill an additional 1 minute per side. For those who prefer their fish medium rare, reduce cooking time to 3 1/2 minutes per side. Top with the reaming sauce and serve.
Now, enjoy with a glass of white or light shiraz wine.
Go grill something!
5 Steps to seasonal grill preparation. Spring!
In the beginning, there was spring time! Birds chirping, squirrels scooting along fences, light breeze, flowers starting to bud, grass going green and of course, trees starting to add greenery to their branches. Well, ok, spring really isn’t the beginning, but it sure feels like the beginning after winter has kept everything dull and dreary. Spring for with all it’s glory sure seems like the perfect beginning period.
With spring comes the time to shed the winter doldrums and more specifically remove the cracked cover off the grill and prep it for the ensuing season. Now that spring is starting to come into full swing, preparing the grill for that all time high grilling season is paramount. Well, that is if you’re the Grilling Guy and the captain of the all-important GRILL.
Now that the grill cover is off, what’s needed to get it in shape. Here are the 5 main steps in preparing your grill for the next 6 months of “heavy” use:
One: hopefully you had the tank disconnected all winter, then reconnect the tank and check all of the hoses between the main shut-off valve near the tank and the grill burners. If the tank was left connected, or you’re a winter griller, no problem. It’s still imperative that you check the hoses and connections. Winter is hard on metal and plastics both can become damaged. Either way, if anything looks bad, then replace the part, IMMEDIATELY. The last thing you need is a grill, deck, patio or house fire. Neighbors hate that, trees and bushes around the grill usually don’t fair well and worse case scenario, you catch your house on fire and of course, there’s nothing worse than ruining a perfectly good day, then there’s the ruined steak.
Two: Clean the outside of the grill with a good de-greaser. There are two philosophies on this one. First, it’s like driving a clean car, it seems to just drive better when it looks better. Second; if you use the side tables or cabinets around the grill, you want them to be just like the kitchen cabinets, clean. (PS… DO NOT clean the interior, that’s the “secret” grilling taste mechanism.)
Three: Well, okay, you should clean “some” portions of the interior, but not to the point that it’s like the day you brought it home. You will want to reasonably clean the really badly burnt parts off the grill. To do this, warm up the grill with some heat. Using a grill scrubber, simply rub down the tines and brush off the nasty burnt chunks from last season or the last sacrificial offering, which ever it was. However, this cleaning is best if done half heartedly. The goal is to just knock the chunks off.
Four: inspect the burners and burner covers. First, double check that the flame holes are not obstructed or blocked. Even if most of them work, if some are blocked, it will create uneven temperatures, which isn’t desirable. Also, look for the stability of the burners and covers. If they’re falling apart, now is the time to replace. For the covers or defusers, if they’re falling apart, they’ll just get worse. Also, this is a good time to also half heartedly clean out the built up chunks sitting on the covers and around the burners. Don’t remove everything and definitely leave the sides greasy and built up, as long as they’re not blocking the fire. They add flavor.
Five: Cook something, anything. Even if you’re not hungry or not cooking for dinner. Grab a burger or an old frozen steak and let’er rip. This serves two purposes, if something isn’t working right, now is the time to discover it, not when you have all of your friends sitting around with watering mouths waiting for that first steak or burger. Plus, it kicks the summer grill smells and prep off with a bang. Now, eat the early season sacrifice, throw it to the dog or chunk it if it’s an old steak with freezer burn. Probably tough and will not be pleasant. Your call.
So, now that the 5 step early spring program has been completed, you’re ready for the season. Even if you use your grill all winter, following winter’s thaw and prepping the grill for the next full year is always best.
Go grill something!