Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

The buttermilk will leave a slight tang to this chicken which is nicely balanced with the garlic and herbs. The buttermilk will also impart a nice, juicy tenderness to the chicken.



Grilled Buttermilk Chicken (Adapted from Martha Stewart)

1 whole chicken, cut up into quarters (or you can also use bone in, skin on chicken thighs, drumsticks, chicken breasts)
4 smashed garlic cloves
1/3 cup fresh rosemary and/or thyme (use less if using dried variations)
~3cups of buttermilk

Combine buttermilk, garlic, rosemary and/or thyme, salt and pepper in a large gallon size resealable plastic bag (or alternatively a container with a tight fitting lid.) Once the marinade has combined, add chicken. Toss and turn the chicken in the marinade to ensure that it is fully coated in the buttermilk mixture.

Place the sealed bag or container in the lowest shelf of the refridgerator. The chicken and marinade can be left undisturbed for a minimum of four hours or at the most overnight. Remove the chicken from the refridgerator 30 minutes prior to cooking.

Preheat the grill to medium, designating half of the grill to a direct heat zone, and reserving half of the grill for indirect heat. Brush the grates of the grill with oil.

Remove the chicken from the grill and place skin side down over direct heat. Allow the chicken to cook for ten minutes and then flip. Cook for a few more minutes and move the chicken towards the indirect heat zone (the other side of the grill.)

Once the chicken has good color and the skin looks relatively done, that is the time to move the chicken to the indirect heat. The insides will continue to cook, without charring the outside. Make sure the cover to the grill is closed top keep all of the heat trapped inside.

Using a meat thermometer, continue to monitor the temperature until it reaches 165 degrees internally. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and let rest for about 10 minutes before enjoying so that the juices have time to redistribute. This will ensure your chicken is juicy and moist.



**The foil packets on the left would be baked potatoes on the grill. They are very quick and easy, simply select and scrub the outside of the potato so it has been cleaned. Slice the potatoe lengthwise and between the two slices put a big slice of white or yellow onion and a tablespoon of butter. Wrap each potato individually in aluminum foil and grill for about 40 minutes. The potatoes don't have to be directly over high heat, but not way off to the side, they should be in the medium zone.

Grilling "How-To": Smoked Baby Back Ribs

My husband I both love the smoky taste barbecuing lends to foods. However, we've never tried to smoke something. We have a gas grill, and I have heard that you could do it, though I wasn't sure. I know that with charcoal grill you could, and if you had a designated smoker, it was obviously possible.

With a little help from a friend, I felt confident giving it a try. In order to smoke something, you have to use indirect heat/cooking method. With a gas grill, you have control over which burners/zones to use and how hot you want to make them, or whether you just want to keep them off.

Our grill has four burners, and I don't think it matters how many yours has, as long as you keep it even, half is designated to use as the direct heat, half designated as indirect heating.

Supplies Needed:

Wood Chips/Chunks (I used mesquite, experiment with other types of woods for different flavors)
Disposable cake or lasagna pan. Just make sure sure it fits in and on half of the grill.
Aluminum Foil
Roaster Pan
rack to fit inside roaster pan
Rack of Baby Back Ribs (recommended prep here)

Method: Soak the wood chips/chunks in water for about one hour, this is very important for a longer cooking methods like this. Once that is complete, scoop the wood out and place in disposable pan and cover disposable pan with foil. Poke generous size holes in the foil to allow all of that smoke to escape.



In the roaster pan, place an inch or two of water. Remove a good length of foil from the dispenser and ball it up, these acts as supports for the rack that fits inside roaster pan so the ribs do not sit in the cooking liquid.



Place the prepared ribs on the rack, that is sitting on the foil supports, that sit in the cooking liquid.

Move the wood chip filled pan to the grill area and preheat half of the grill to high heat, once the grill is preheated, put the wood chip filled pan on the half of the grill that is preheated over high heat and close the lid of the grill.

Allow the wood chips to start to smoke a little bit, about 5 minutes. Open the grill and place the pan with the rack of ribs on the half of the grill that is not directly heated. Close the grill cover. And leave it closed.



Once the wood chips/chunks have started to fully smoke, turn the heat down to low. You do not want the grills temperature to get too hot. This is supposed to be a longer cooking method, higher temperatures will cook the meat too fast. That will toughen the ribs, rather than leave them tender and juicy.



You can peak in there once or twice if you want, but in general, leave the grill closed. You need to keep all of the flavor inside the grill.

My cooking time was a little more than two hours on the grill. Once your ribs have finished cooking, let them rest for 10 minutes, this help to redistribute some of the juices in the meat, leaving it more juicy.

Slice the ribs, serve on a platter with homemade BBQ sauce and enjoy your feast!



**While cleaning up afterwards, make sure the wood chips/chunks are fully extinguished before moving them to the garbage. I used the chunks and a few hours later, some of them were still smoldering.

Pork Souvlaki

Souvlaki is a favorite Greek street food, it's also a favorite grill food. I've never had Souvlaki before. Whenever I frequent Greek restaurants, I tend to always drift towards my favorites. So I was so delighted that this turned out as lovely as it did, this will definitely be put into our dinner rotation!

One of the best parts was the grilled Naan. I don't think I've ever had it before. To me it was similar to a fresh pita bread. I picked up a package of two in my local grocery store, I didn't have to search for it at a special store. I had some roasted red pepper hummus from a local greek restaurant that went well with this dish.

Pork Souvlaki (From Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-to-2-inch chunks (I used Pork Tenderloin Tips because they were a better price than the Tenderloins)

Combine the shallots, garlic, oregano, jalapeno, lemon juice and olive oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Add the pork, turn to coat, and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Soak 10-12 wooden skewers in water, at least 20 minutes.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium. Remove the pork from the marinade and thread 2-3 pieces onto each skewer. Grill until cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side



Rub each side of the Naan and place on the grill or grill pan a few minutes on each side. This will warm and soften the bread.

Serve the Souvlaki with sliced cucumbers, tzatziki and/or hummus, and grilled pita or Naan. Opah!!

Grilled Chicken Legs

As summer gratefully draws closer and closer, I think most grill owners take advantage of the nice weather and fire it up! I want to do a how to on some basic's that are very easy, they are not rocket science, but if you do not grill often, it can be kind of daunting. I know, I've been there (sometimes I'm still kind of there I think :)

This how to can be applied to chicken legs as well as chicken breasts and thighs.

Fire up the grill, mine is a 4 burner. I usually turn on three of the four burners to medium high, the fourth one I leave off so later in the cooking process I can move the chicken to an area of indirect heat. Close the top of the grill, do not leave open.

Step One: Unwrap chicken

Step Two: Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with a seasoning or salt and pepper. I usually use Penzeys Poultry Seasoning or Penzeys BBQ 3000. Use whatever you'd like.

Step Three: Move outside to the grill and place the chicken, skin side down if grilling a breast or thigh, over direct heat. You really want to get some good color on the outside and some fancy grill marks on your chicken to make it look as tasty as it's going to taste! Close the top of the grill, do not leave open.

Step Four: Turn your chicken legs after a few minutes, and work on getting some good color on the other sides also. Close the top of the grill again.

Step Five: Once the outside looks golden and delicious, move the chicken to indirect heat (the side of the grill that does have the burners turned on.) Close the top of the grill again. Moving the chicken to indirect heat utilizes the heat of the grill, kind of like an oven. It keeps cooking without burning the outside of the meat.

Step Six: When in doubt, use a meat thermometer. The goal for chicken is 165 degrees. When you pierce the flesh, juices should run clear. But if the sunshine is bright outside, it may be hard to see, so try a thermometer.

Once you have achieved 165 degrees, pull your chicken off to your serving platter. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.

*This same process can be done on a charcoal grill, when moving the chicken to indirect heat, use the perimeter of the charcoal grill not the center where the direct heat is the most intense.

*If you are using a sauce like barbecue or other sweet sauce, baste your chicken with it towards the end of the cooking time. The sugars will burn if added to early.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue Sauce is soo easy to make, and since we grill so often especially in the summer, I took to making it! I know that some sauces have a really smoky or spicy flavor, so if those are your preference, you might have to adjust this recipe. This is a very good sauce, and the good thing with sauces, you can adjust them fairly easy-it's very forgiving we'll say. Not like baking when every ingredient must be measured exactly. This excerpt was taken from Wiki, kind of interesting read...

"The precise origin of barbecue sauce is unclear. Some trace it to the end of the 15th century, when Christopher Columbus brought a sauce back from Hispaniola, while others place it at the formation of the first American colonies in the 17th century.[2] References to the substance start occurring in both English and French literature over the next two hundred years. South Carolina mustard sauce, a type of barbecue sauce, can be traced to German settlers in the 18th century."

"Early cookbooks did not tend to include recipes for barbecue sauce. The first commercially-produced barbecue sauce was made by the Louis Maull co. in 1923, but the first nationally distributed barbecue sauce did not appear until 1951, when Heinz released a product in the United States.[3] Kraft Foods also started making cooking oils with bags of spices attached, supplying another market entrance of barbecue sauce"

Neely's BBQ Sauce (from Food Network)

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers

Even though Autumn is in full swing in this neck of the woods, I am still thinking about summer food-kebabs on the grill! I love it! Every time I make these I love them even more. There is something about sweet and sour grilled pineapple, red peppers, and chicken with fried rice that is absolutely perfect. Additionally the leftovers are perfect for bringing to work the next day.

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers (from Sandra Lee)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in juice (reserve juice for sauce)
1 Tbsp corn starch (mixed with 1 Tbsp. cold water)
1 red bell pepper (cut into one inch pieces)
1 package boneless skinless chicken thighs
kosher salt and course ground pepper

9-10 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes prior)

Put the reserved pineapple juice, corn starch slurry, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, this will take about 8 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. If you wish, separate out half of the mixture to use as a dipping sauce for the skewers

Slice the chicken thighs into smaller pieces, about 6 pieces. It's important to keep each piece uniform so they cook evenly. Core and seed the red pepper, cut each piece roughly about the same size, about one inch in size.

Assemble the skewers, alternate the ingredients as you wish. Continue this until all of your ingredients are used up. Sprinkle the skewers with a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Then using a basting brush, dip it in the sauce and brush each skewer generously. All of those good flavors will caramelize and make that yummy flavor I love.

At this point I moved to the preheated outdoor grill, of course you could also do this indoors on a grill pan. Since all of the pieces are rather small they will cook quickly. After a few minutes, give each skewer and a little turn to cook evenly. At this point if you prefer you can baste a little more of that sauce on.


Once the skewers are complete, serve over your favorite side, ours is fried rice. Whatever your choice is, I hope you love these :)