ArcaMax

'Cue Tips

For lots of people, cooking in the summer revolves around the barbecue. The stereotypical vision is a guy with a slightly rounded belly standing barbecue-ready, favorite beverage in one hand and a long tongs in the other. The grill is smoking away behind him.

I propose we go beyond that vision. Here are my quick barbecue tips. I call them 'Cue Tips.

'Cue Tip #1. It's not just for meat anymore.

Go beyond grilling meat. You can cook the whole dinner on the grill! One of my favorite simple summer appetizers is grilled asparagus with sea salt. Take cleaned asparagus, spray it with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Grill on Medium until the asparagus has char marks all the way around. The asparagus should still be al dente (slightly stiff). Serve it warm or room temperature on a platter, and let your guests eat it with their fingers.

A second idea involves making eggplant chips. If you abhor eggplant, my guess is this simple recipe will change your mind. Take a Japanese eggplant (the skinny light purple eggplant) and slice it thinly. Place the slices on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt. Let stand for 30 minutes or so. Spray with olive oil and grill on Medium High heat until the eggplant is browned on both sides. A few char marks are good. The eggplant chips will be stiff. Sprinkle again with more salt as they come off the grill. The result will taste a lot like a potato chip. Serve as a snack or as a side dish.

'Cue Tip #2. Think international.

The grill isn't just for good ol' American burgers, steaks and ribs. Consider grilled quesadillas. You can really make them with anything you want inside. Just don't forget the cheese. That's the glue that allows you to flip them on the grill. They can be Mexican ingredients like onions, beans (drained or refried) or refried, peppers, etc. Or you can go international like I do and mix styles. Below is a recipe for Asian Grilled Shrimp Quesadillas. The recipe is designed for the grill but, if it's cold or raining outside, you can make these with a grill pan or even a sauté pan indoors.

'Cue Tip #3. Stop playing with your meat.

I know it's fun to squish down the burgers with your spatula, but it really takes the flavor out of the meat and toughens your burger. Leave your meat alone. A good rule of thumb is 7 minutes per inch to cook meat or even fish to a medium temperature. Turn at the 3- or 4-minute point and leave it alone on a Medium High grill. If you want to check for doneness, do it with a sharp paring knife and a fork. Poke the knife in and use the fork to pull the meat apart enough so you can see how pink it is in the middle.

'Cue Tip #4. Think outdoor oven.

If you think of your grill as an outdoor oven, you'll be less likely to burn your food. There are knobs on a gas grill for a reason! Most people turn every burner to High and leave them there. They seem to feel flames indicate cooking is going on. True, but not necessary. There's a thermometer on most grills too. Look at it. Turn the grill on High to pre-heat it. Sear your meat, and then turn the grill temperature down. Keep the temperature around 400 to 425 and things will "roast" in your grill. Your food will stay more moist and tasty, and you won't have to stand around with the spritzer bottle putting out flames. If you are a charcoal griller, use the indirect method.

'Cue Tip #5. Think ahead.

My friend Pete displayed this brilliant idea. He cooked the meat ahead of time! Early in the day it's not so hot and you can grill at your leisure. This leaves more time to talk to guests instead of standing around a very hot grill. Take chicken, for example. You want to make sure chicken is thoroughly grilled so you don't pass out food poisoning to your guests. If you grill it on Medium High earlier in the day, check it with your paring knife in the fattest portion of the meat to make sure it's done. Then you can store it in the refrigerator until guests arrive. Take it out and let it warm up to something closer to room temperature and just reheat the meat on the grill. Takes less time and is less risky. Which leads me to 'Cue Tip #6.

'Cue Tip #6. Leave the sticky stuff for last.

Most often the grill starts to flame up because something on the meat has sugar in it. Think barbecue sauce. Follow Tip #5 and then, when you are reheating your meat, add the barbecue sauce just on top; that way you are less likely to have charred mess on your grill rack at the end of the night. Then again, some people LIKE to have to scrape that stuff off the grill.

'Cue Tip #7. Dessert.

There's a beautiful treat called grilled pineapple. Start with a clean grill. Take large chunks from a ripe pineapple and grill them or, when desperate, you can even use slices from the can. Spray with canola oil and grill gently until the pineapple is soft and slightly browned. Serve on vanilla ice cream. (You can do this with peach halves too.) If they are not sweet enough for you, add a drizzle of maple syrup to the pineapple (careful not to let it burn) or a drizzle of caramel on the peaches.

Hey, I'm no grilling champion, and I know some people get pretty testy when folks question their grilling methods. If you fancy your grilling techniques, stick with them. If you're looking for more from your grill, get out the 'Cue Tips.

Enjoy!

Asian Grilled Shrimp Quesadillas

Mexican and Asian might sound like an odd combination, but these quesadillas aren't hard to do and they sure taste great. Serve these quesadillas as an appetizer, as a lunch or as a light entrée, maybe with a salad for dinner. You'll have it ready in a flash. You can grill them outside, or inside on a newfangled grill pan, or in a large sauté pan on your stove. Each way works. The grill just gives them a bit more of a smoky flavor.

Servings:

Serves 4 as a light lunch or light entrée. Serves up to 8 as an appetizer (one half of a quesadilla each).

Ingredients:
1 bunch of scallions
4 oz. baby bella/Cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 slices pre-cooked bacon chopped
1 Tbl butter
2 tsp olive oil
4 oz. can of baby deveined shrimp (Drain them and rinse them.)
2 Tbl lite soy sauce
8 oz. Mexican blend grated cheese
8 flour tortillas 6-inch size
Olive oil spray

Instructions: Sauté the scallions, mushrooms and bacon in the olive oil and butter on Medium heat. This should take about 5 minutes or until they get browned. Add the shrimp and the soy sauce. Sauté two minutes.

Now you are ready to assemble your quesadillas. Place one tortilla on the counter. Spread one-fourth of the mixture on the tortilla and top with one-fourth of the Mexican cheese. Place a second tortilla on top. If you've never made quesadillas you're basically making a tortilla sandwich with your mixture on the inside. Spray the top tortilla with your olive oil spray.

Assemble the rest of the quesadillas the same way. You'll have four of them.

Spray your grilling surface or the inside of your sauté pan. Heat to Medium High. Carefully place your quesadillas on the grill. Keep the oiled side up. If you are cooking them in a sauté pan, cook them one at a time and put them in the oven to keep warm as they are finished. On a grill you can probably do them all at once.

Grill on Medium until they get the kind of grill stripes you like. I like mine a little crispier. Watch carefully so they don't burn. Your objective is to "toast" them and melt the cheese. You might have to reduce the heat to slow them down. When the one side is grilled the way you like it, put your spatula under each one--and if you're a novice at this, place your hand on top to steady the quesadilla. Then flip it over. You'll have to flip rather quickly to keep the ingredients from flying out. If the cheese has partially melted, it should stick together pretty well. Then crisp up the other side to your liking.

Remove from the grill (or from the oven where they've been staying warm) and slice them with a long knife or pizza cutter. Make as many pieces as you like. Pieces can be in quarters or even smaller.