What's Been on the Grill?

Most people would agree that summer is the best time to grill.  Although the evenings are hot here in the Lowcountry, the beverages are cold which means there really is no better time to cook with wood.  It stays light until almost nine, so there's plenty of time to sit on the back porch under the ceiling fan and enjoy the evening with good food and good friends.

Brussels sprouts in a cast iron skillet with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

There's been quite a variety of foods on my grill this summer.  The late spring, early summer is a great time for brussels sprouts and a cast iron skillet over fire is the best place to put them.  I toss them in a little olive oil, season them with salt and pepper, and cook them over a white-hot bed of lump charcoal with a couple of chunks of hickory.  The sprouts do very well with a little smoke flavor.

Corn grilled in the husk rubbed with a little butter.

One of the first things many of us cooked on the grill, whether with gas or charcoal, are hamburgers.  And I know there are millions of ways to do burgers on the grill, but I prefer ground chuck.  I make my patties big, but not too thick.  If they hang off the bun they're perfect!  I season them with a little salt, pepper, and cumin, and grill them over direct heat with lump charcoal and hickory chunks.  I flip them once and add a couple of pieces of bacon, a slice of sharp cheddar, and a slice of colby jack.  My kids describe them as "burger perfection!"

Folks come running when these are on the grill.

I'm always looking for a new appetizer I can throw on the Weber while the main dish is cooking on the big cooker.  A friend of mine found these gems and sent me the link to the recipe.  I just slice a sweet onion into rings, but instead of battering and frying them, I wrap them in bacon and grill them over direct heat until the bacon gets crispy.  To help keep them together, double up the rings.  This keeps them from getting too flimsy as they cook.

Sweet potatoes brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt, and grilled

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It's been years since I have smoked a whole chicken.  So this Fourth of July I decided to do a couple of beer can chickens.  I brined these two birds overnight in a brine recipe from Alton Brown.  And then right before I put them on to cook,  I read an article about how the beer can chicken thing is a myth and a waste of good beer.  So I used the beer can holders to prop the birds up and smoked them at 325 degrees, without the beer can, until the internal temp of the breasts reached 165 degrees.  I then took them off and let them rest for about twenty minutes before I cut them and served them.  Best chicken ever!