I’m quickly becoming a fan of the Mountain Man Grill. I used the charcoal tray and was a bit skimpy with the charcoal for the wind there was the other night.  I moved the griddle down over the BBQ grate to help hold the heat. Being used to cooking with propane I had to muster some patience.

But what else was there to do but sit and watch it cook while nursing a beverage? It is BBQ after all and not a race!

Afterwards it was “roast the mellow” time. I didn’t spend quite enough time in the woods with my oldest son. He has not quite figured out the efficient or “Native American Fire”. He chose instead a “white man” fire which almost melted the siding on the house. Thirty Year Olds….all amped up and nowhere to go!

It was a great evening,

GP

Bar-B-Que Chicken Quesadillas

2 cups cooked chicken
1 tomato chopped
1 green pepper chopped fine
Spicy barbecue sauce
1 red onion sliced thin
8 flour tortillas
1 cup cheese

Spread barbecue sauce on the tortillas, or mix in with cooked chicken. 

Layer the ingredients on tortillas, and place on a griddle.  Top with another tortilla, and let cook until cheese is melted. 

Quesadillas are done when filling is hot and tortilla is crisp.  Serve with additional barbecue sauce or ranch dressing.

So after the kid has caught the fish….then what? We’ll I’m pretty sure it is time to teach them to clean, cook and eat them (not necessarily in that order).

The kid handling the knife under adult supervision will be dictated by the maturity level and earlier practice with the duty of a knife. With my 6 year old we are at the point of where I cut and he guts. About two more years and I’ll let him handle the knife.

Cooking is pretty easy. We just fired up the Big Gas Grill to medium heat, sprayed the grate with some olive oil and slapped them on after a five minute pre-heat. Five minutes into that he gave them a flip and let them cook another seven minutes. I think he had as much fun using the spatula as he did catching them.

I guess part three will be the eating there of. What is so hard about that you may say? Well, many people will not mess with fish unless it is filleted. I’ll show you how to de bone them after they are cooked. You’ll get a little more meat for your mileage that way.

We bone the breasts off and that gives us two large slabs that we cut into 8 steaks cutting horizontally and vertically. I like to choose the pieces that match the closest in size and grill them together. Towards the back of the breast you will get the thinner pieces.

Riley made up a marinade for this last bird. I ask him if he measured so I could tell you folks but….Like his Father…..he has an aversion to measuring while cooking. So I’ll just say try this and see where it goes it will be close.

1 cup of Lemon Juice
2 cups of Water
4 Tablespoon heaping of Dill
4 Tablespoons heaping of Emeril’s Original Essence Seasoning.

Soak the cut pieces for approx 8 hours in the fridge
Pre-Heat the grill to medium Sear both sides then turn grill to low and allow to cook till internal temp is 165.

Riley chose the side dishes-what else potatoes and stuffing. He’s a teenager!

Pizza Panini

½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 slices crusty Italian bread (about 1” thick) Sourdough and Ciabatta both work great
¼ cup thick marinara sauce
4 ounces sliced part-skim mozzarella or provolone cheese
Thinly sliced pepperoni (optional)
Thinly sliced vegetables such as mushrooms or peppers (optional)

Instructions:
1.  Preheat grill and panini press on the grill
2. Brush each slice of bread with olive oil (or butter).  Place one crust on work surface, oiled side down.  Top with sauce, spreading to within ½” of edges.  Arrange cheese slices over sauce, add pepperoni and/or vegetables, if using.  Top with second slice of bread, oiled side up.
3. Place Panini press on top of Panini, and apply light pressure to handle for about 20-30 seconds.  Let sit for 3-4 minute, or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.
4. Remove Panini from grill and let rest for 5 minutes.  Cut in half on the diagonal and serve warm.

Margarita Panini

½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 slices crusty Italian bread (about 1” thick) Sourdough and Ciabatta both work great
4 ounces sliced part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 Roma tomato sliced
Fresh basil
Pesto sauce (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat grill and panini press on the grill
2. Brush each slice of bread with olive oil (or butter).  Place one crust on work surface, oiled side down.  Top with Pesto sauce (if using) and spread to within ½” of edges.  Arrange cheese slices over sauce, add tomatoes and fresh basil.  Top with second slice of bread, oiled side up.
3. Place Panini press on top of Panini, and apply light pressure to handle for about 20-30 seconds.  Let cook for 3-4 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.
4. Remove Panini from grill and let rest for 5 minutes.  Cut in half on the diagonal and serve warm.

Chocolate Croissant Panini

Nutella
Croissant
Strawberries – sliced

Spread Nutella thinly on sliced croissant, and top with sliced strawberries.  Place on grill and top with Panini press.  Grill approx. 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. 

I had the grill hot and started with it meat side down to sear some nice grill marks then flipped it to the skin side and turned the heat down. Ten minutes was all it took and the fish was grilled to perfection.

Happy grilling!
 
Look for a review of the new Solar Flare Lantern from Camp Chef next week.

Camp Chef had the perfect Cast iron for this dish, their Seasoned Bead Pan, perfect for meatloaf. I have the grill, my very sad and tired Weber (still putting out the heat), and I had the idea for a Turkey and Pork Meatloaf recipe and a neat trick called a Bacon weave for taste and eye appeal!

Here is the result of combining all of the above, Bacon Weave Meatloaf:

Turkey and Pork Meatloaf
1pd ground Turkey
1pd ground Pork
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic salt
1 small onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup favorite BBQ sauce for the meatloaf mix
½ cup favorite BBQ sauce for the topping
3 – 4 slices Bacon

Mix all of the above ingredients, except the bacon and ½ cup of BBQ Sauce reserved for the topping, together until blended well. Grease your Bread Pan well. Place the meatloaf mixture inside of the Bread Pan and form into place. Pour ½ cup of BBQ sauce over the top of meatloaf. Cut bacon to size and weave together as in the picture.

Fire up the grill and place your Bread Pan in the middle so that you are grilling with indirect heat (Depending on your heat source, location may vary). Cook for 1 hr at 350°F until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 160°F. Carefully remove meatloaf from grill – the Bread Pan will be extremely hot! Take a bulb baster that can be used with hot grease and remove the excess grease from the Bread Pan before it soaks back into the meatloaf. Let everything rest for 10 minutes, serve and just try to have one piece!

This recipe can easily be made with beef if you have that desire. Let me know what you think I would love to hear your comments!

Gary House
The “Outdoor Cook”
http://www.Cooking-Outdoors.com

Are you looking for something new to try for your Memorial Day Barbecue besides the usual burgers and hotdogs?  Here are a couple great recipes to try out, and get your grill going for the season!

Stuffed Grilled Mushrooms

¼ cup olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
16 large button mushrooms, stems removed and finely chopped
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Dash of hot pepper sauce
1 (8 oz) tub of cheese spread (I use Rondele gourmet cheese spread with Garlic and Herbs)
 
Directions
Use side burners or preheat grill.  Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until soft.  Add mushroom stems and cook until golden brown.  Remove from heat and add bread crumbs, parsley, hot pepper sauce and cheese.  Mix until well combined (if mixture looks too dry, and more olive oil.)  Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.  Fill the mushroom caps with the mixture and brush the entire mushroom with more olive oil.  Grill over medium heat until tender.

Glazed Grilled Salmon

(this recipe can be doubled or tripled)

3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 7-to 8-ounce salmon steaks (about ¾ – inch thick)

Directions
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).  Combine brown sugar, mustard, soy sauce and rice vinegar in bowl; whisk to blend.  Brush 1 side of salmon steaks generously with half of glaze.  Place salmon steaks, glazed side down, onto barbecue.  Grill until glaze is slightly charred, about 4 minutes.  Brush top side of salmon steaks with remaining glaze.  Turn salmon over and grill until second side is slightly charred and salmon is just opaque in center, about 5 minutes longer.  Transfer salmon to plates.  Drizzle reserved glaze in small bowl over salmon and serve.

I have good luck towards the end of the cook setting the BBQ sauce by reducing the heat and turning the lids sideways to let moisture escape and this seems to set the BBQ glaze.

There are 2 ways to do this:

First, place wet smoke chips in a metal container on the grill grate and turn that side of the grill box on low or medium heat. Place your meat on the other-side and leave the heat off. The heat will burn the chips and cook the meat slowly. Just like a smoker, nice slow smokey heat.

The second way is to put the chips under the grill grate on to the diffuser plate over the burner you are going to cook on and cook your meat like usual. This will give a hint of smoke flavoring to whatever you are grilling.