Grilling—The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Happy Thursday all—the week is rolling to an end!

The temps here have still been on the up and up which means it’s time to pull out the grill! We’ve actually been grilling for a good three weeks or so now—nothing better than a that tantalizing grilled flavor you just can’t get any other way! However, grilling is not all about just firing it up, closing the lid, and getting a good meal when you open it…there is a lot more it ensues, and safety is a big one.  Normally you don’t think about the downside of cooking—burnt food, fires, anything gone awry, but this past week our town experienced one of the biggest fires they have had since the 60’s and low and behold it started due to a grill out on a patio.

Thankfully no one was hurt, but the whole apartment building is no longer livable. So just let it serve as a reminder to brush up on your grilling safety tips…

Gas grill safety tips
When cooking outdoors with a gas grill, check the air tubes that lead into the burner for any blockage from insects, spiders or food grease, and follow these tips to reduce the risk of fire or explosion:

• Check grill hoses for cracking, brittleness, holes and leaks. Make sure there are no sharp bends in the hose or tubing.
• Move gas hoses as far away as possible from hot surfaces and dripping hot grease.
• Always keep propane gas containers upright.
• Never store a spare gas container under or near the grill or indoors.
• Never store or use flammable liquids, like gasoline, near the grill.
• Never keep a filled container in a hot car or car trunk. Heat will cause the gas pressure to increase, which may open the relief valve and allow gas to escape.
  Charcoal grill safety tips
  Charcoal produces carbon monoxide (CO) when it is burned. CO is a colorless, odorless gas that can accumulate to toxic levels in closed environments. To reduce the risk of CO poisoning:
• Never burn charcoal inside of homes, vehicles, tents or campers.
• Charcoal should never be used indoors, even if ventilation is provided.
• Since charcoal produces CO fumes until the charcoal is completely extinguished, do not store the grill indoors with freshly used coals.

Now onto the good side of grilling..the food!

((Steaks))

((Boneless Pork Chops))

We wanted to test two new sauces for marinating the pork..

The lovely people at Tribal Moose sent their unique Cranberry BBQ Sauce to accompany our grilling escapades. We didn’t know how well a cranberry flavor would meld with a BBQ sauce, but it was surprisingly a great combo!  We both agreed the sauce is on the spicy side, so you just need a little to achieve a great flavor punch. It also held up really well when used as a marinade and stays on once grilled.

And the next sauce was one I picked up when I was out in Boston a few weeks ago..The Iron Chef Thai Sweet Pepper and Garlic sauce. You could smell this through the top of the bottle before you even open it, so you know it’s not going to be lacking in the flavor department. It’s more like a jelly consistency, so perfect for spreading on as a marinade, however it didn’t stay on too well during the grilling stage and we had a hard time finding the flavor on the one pork chop we used it on. I am sure I can find other uses for it, so no biggie!

 

*Back left is marinated with Sweet Pepper sauce, front left is Cranberry BBQ sauce and two on the right are just plain*

((Apples and Onions))

When grilling, you can still fit in your 5-a-day!

• 1 apple
• 1/2 red onion, sliced,
• few sprays of cooking spray
• tinfoil
• dash of pepper

Simple steps: Make a tinfoil pack and spray the inside. Add in apples, onions and pepper. Fold up leaving a vent for steam on the top. Place on low on grill and keep checking for doneness every few minutes..apples will be fork tender.

I tried some new springtime frozen steam veggies from Target..

Thumbs up—you get a lot in a package for the price and the citrus sauce complements grilled meats very well!

What are your favorite grilled meals to make/eat?