The Grillin Fools tackled this three different ways.  The first was my take on the classic dish which can be found by clicking here. This is the second installment which was done by my father, Greg – Smokin’ on the Water, Thomas.  He took one of our favorite methods for doing pork loin or brisket of inserting slivers of garlic into the meat as well as a fairly standard brisket mop sauce to make the traditional corned beef into something a little unconventional.  His tribute to Reichlen’s grilled cabbage is truly worth reading about.  Click below to see the process as my dad lines out step by step and pic by pic…

Take a peek at this first photo—it’s a crime scene:

So after a couple months of colder than normal winter St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and it’s time to get the grill fires going.

***Editor’s note ~ I can’t think of a better time to cook than when it looks like that, but I’m a little twisted!?***

This effort will include a Corned Beef Flat, Cabbage, and ‘b’ size Potatoes all done on the grill.

Corned Beef
One 3 lb. Flat
One Garlic Clove-slivered
Seasoning packet (came with beef)
One cup Beer
One cup White Vinegar

An important ingredient for the celebration is beer—for the griller and guests of course!  I chose Smithwick’s (pronounced Smittix I’m told) Irish Ale:

It was quite tasty and not as heavy as some of the stout varieties.

Smoking wood chosen was Pecan—this has worked well with earlier brisket efforts so I thought I’d give it a go here:

Click here to see more than 50 different things you can use to smoke meats.

I soaked the Corned Beef in warm water for approximately 4 hours, changing water every hour making sure to rinse the meat each time, to remove the salt from the brine. Not leaching the salt out will cause the beef to be practically inedible.

Next I cut slits in the beef with a thin sharp knife and inserted slivers of garlic in each slit:

***Editor’s note ~ The process of leaching the salt out of meat with water will make the meat looked washed out and gray but don’t sweat that.  It will look plenty red when you grill it.  Even more so than if you were to boil it***

I decided to grill the beef in a foil pan and apply a mop sauce every half hour.  The mop sauce consisted of one cup of beer, one cup of white vinegar, and the seasoning packet that arrived with the beef:

No rub applied—I figured we I had enough going on with garlic, mop sauce, and smoke flavor—after all, this is an experiment.

Cabbage
One 3 lb. Head
¼ Stick of Butter
One small Onion diced
4 slices of Bacon diced
Coarse Salt and Pepper

One tbsp. of butter was added to a skillet along with the onion and bacon and simmered till it was just beginning to brown:

That mixture was strained and the onion and bacon added to the core of the cabbage along with the remaining butter which had been cubed:

I then painted the outside of the cabbage with the remaining drippings from the straining:

Potatoes
2 lbs. ‘b’ size Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Coarse Salt
Black Pepper

The potatoes were quartered and drizzled with olive oil and dusted with salt and pepper:

I had a bit of the drippings left from the butter, bacon, onion mixture so that was added also—no sense wasting pork fat!  This was all placed into aluminum foil and a packet created for the grill:

This will go on the grill during the last 45 minutes to an hour of the anticipated grilling time for the beef and cabbage of 3 hours.

The old Charbroil was set up for indirect grilling with coals on the left and the beef and cabbage on the right.  In retrospect, I probably should’ve used the flank method and placed the beef and cabbage in the center.  Either method will work:

The cabbage on a foil ring and the corned beef in an aluminum pan fat side down:

One hour in and the cabbage in getting rather charred on the outside so at Scott’s urging I foiled it for the remaining cooking time:

It was hard to tell how the brisket was doing—the temps ranged from 275 to 350 and fluctuated a bit with the breeze flowing through the drafty old grill.  More briquettes were added and the lid closed and we’ll check it a bit later.

After an hour and a half I’m getting nervous.  I’m considering foiling the beef for the last hour:

Now 2 hours have passed and I’m foiling the beef and adding the remaining mop sauce and pan juices to the foil tent.  The packet containing the potatoes was added to the grill over direct heat:

The 3 hours are up and we are starving by this time.  We’ve decided to serve sandwich style so I purchased some onion buns at the local grocer, buttered the inside, and toasted them on the grill:

Here is the meat after a rest of about 15 minutes ready to carve:

Carved:

The cabbage was very browned on the outside so I’m thankful that I listened to Scott about foiling it:

I peeled the outer leaves off to make it more presentable but I did not try those outer leaves and probably should have:

And here are the potatoes:

All three plated:

The final result was rather tasty—Mimi enjoyed it so I must be happy too.  She added mustard and horseradish to her bun and I took mine ‘straight’ trying to determine how the flavors came through.

The beef was good but I couldn’t pick up much of the garlic flavor and could’ve added more in hindsight.  The cabbage was done completely through and was quite tender with still a slight bit of chew to it and full of flavor from the smoke wood and the mixture applied.  To test for doneness on the cabbage you can pierce with a wood skewer—if it goes in easily—it’s done.  The potatoes were right on with flavor and doneness after approximately 45 minutes on the grill.  Oh, the beer?  It was a fantastic compliment to the meal. No wine pairing considered—after all—it’s for St. Patrick’s Day!  Have a great holiday everyone!

With St. Patrick’s day just around the corner and the typical fare of corned beef and cabbage on the menu, the Grillin Fools thought we would do these traditional favorites our way.  My father and cousin, Greg – Smokin on the Water, and Tom – the Big Green Eggspert, will have their own twists on these two items soon so check back.  Dad’s is up on the site and can be found here. Here’s what I did to shake up the typical St. Patty’s Day menu…

First off I started with a 3.5 LB premade corned beef from the grocery store that’s been brined already:

Here is the meat and the seasoning packet:

I did not use that seasoning packet at all in this cookout, but in retrospect I probably should have.  If you want a more traditional corned beef done on the grill, you will want to use that.  I will go into it more at the end on how to use this for a more traditional corned beef.

Normally corned beef is boiled with that seasoning packet and the boiling helps to remove the overpowering salt that has infused into the meat from the brine.  Since I’m not boiling it, I have to leach that salt out of the meat or it will only be useful as a salt lick in a cow pasture.  To leach the salt out submerse it in water:

Change the water one time for every pound of meat plus one change of the water.  So for this one I changed it four times, and probably should’ve done it five times.  When you change the water rinse the meat off.  I put it in water Thursday night and had planned to change it Friday morning but forgot before I went to work.  I changed it Friday night, then again Saturday morning and one more time about two hours later on Saturday morning.

I’ve done some research and some say that you can do the water changes every hour and knock it out all in one day.  I didn’t have that kind of time and did not test that.  If you do it every hour, you may want change the water a couple extra times.

After three changes here’s what it looked like:

The water makes the meat look grayer and drabber but that’s not an issue at all.  Now for the fourth time I soaked it in a marinade that also leached off some of the salt.  For the final soak, I marinaded the meat in something I thought was completely appropriate for this cookout – Murphy’s Irish Stout:

I also added a a couple heaping table spoons of minced garlic and some black and white pepper in a ziplock bag:

That went into the fridge for 3 hours.  When I pulled it out I decided to trim some of the fat off the bottom:

I still left a thin layer of fat but the rest was not needed.

Then I made up a rub:

1/3 cup granulated garlic
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sweet paprika
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp of mustard powder
Black and white pepper
But you can use whatever rub you prefer

Notice no salt.  None on the meat or in the rub.  You don’t want to add any more salt to the brined beef:

And now it’s off to the grill for indirect grilling/smoking:

On the right we have apricot wood to flavor the meat:

Now before anyone jumps up and says that smoked corned beef is just pastrami, calm down for a sec.  I’m not smoking this thing all the way through.  I just smoked it for an hour and 15 minutes and then foiled it.  So, I made sort of a tweener between corned beef and pastrami.  Also, you may have noticed something a little odd about the beef:

Yes, there are two probes in that hunk of beef.  The reason for this is I got a new probe thermometer with a remote alarm that lets me know when the proper temp is reached.  I wanted to make sure the thermometer is accurate so I tested against my old one that I tested against a couple other regular oven thermometers:

As you can see the temp’s are off between the two.  My new one on the left is three degrees higher than my old stand by.  If the temp is off by a few degrees, that’s not all bad as long as it’s consistent and it was throughout the process.  It was always 2-3 degrees high.

Back to the grill.  Time to close the lid and check the temp:

And make sure I have good smoke:

I let the brisket smoke for about an hour before I went to work on my cabbage which was 3.25 pounds:

The problem with grilling cabbage is that it’s round.  How do you keep it from rolling around?  A foil ring:

Set the cabbage on the ring to keep it in place:

Now slice around the core at about a 30 degree angle and remove the core:

Then a sprinkle of coarse salt, couple turns of black and white pepper and then slather with minced garlic and about a third of a stick of butter:

Then cover it entirely in foil.  The goal here is to cook the cabbage in the foil and soften it up before we smoke it:

Now back out to the grill.  The corned beef has been smoking for one hour and fifteen minutes:

Here we can see the temps and it’s still two degrees apart but the temps are consistent:

Now it’s time to foil and do some steaming.  What to steam the beef in?  How about some Irish Stout.  Half a can was just about right:

What to do with that other half a beer?  Hmmm?  Easy.  Add it, along with another full can, to your favorite mug:

One hour later the cabbage is pretty soft and I decided to open up the foil and smoke the cabbage:

Then eight ounces of shredded mozzarella:

Then about a half cup of fresh grated picarino romano:

Forty five minutes later the corned beef hit my desired internal temp of 180 degrees so I pulled it off the grill and drained out as much of the fluid as I could:

I let that rest for 15 minutes while I let my cabbage to continue to smoke:

Sliced:

And now onto the cabbage that I pulled off the grill after one hour in the foil and one hour in the smoke:

And here we have it sliced:

Notice the arrows?  Time to move on to what I should’ve done differently.   See how the very heart of the cabbage is yellow while the rest is white?  That’s because what was yellow was still fairly al dente.  The recipe I checked to find cooking times had a two pound cabbage cooked for 60-90 minutes.  I went a full two hours but should’ve gone more like 2.5-3 hours.  The flavor was delicious, but it could’ve cooked longer.  And the head felt very soft before I pulled it from the grill, so keep that in mind.   Just because it feels soft, you may want to leave it on the grill for a bit longer.

Also, the critique my wonderful Mother in Law gave for the beef was that it wasn’t a traditional corned beef. She said it tasted more like beer beef.  I loved it but she was right, it didn’t have the traditional flavor.  If you want that then you may want to use the seasoning packet in the marinade or for an even more traditional meal then use the spice packet in the foil with the beer.

And before you give me grief for kissing up to my MiL for calling her wonderful, on top of all the amazing things she does for my wife and son she is also my main guinea pig in terms of trying new things.  If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have perfected the Apple/Pumpkin ribs.

I mentioned earlier that I should’ve changed the water one more time.  The salt was a little heavy for me, but I don’t put much salt on anything but french fries and use it sparingly in my cooking, except of course the dry marinaded steaks.  My MiL didn’t mind the salt at all, so if you are as sensitive to salt as I am then you may want to add an extra water change.

So, that’s my twist on the typical St. Patty’s day meal.  I hope it inspires you to shake things up a little when you sup on March 17th.

If you like this recipe and are looking for more beef recipes on the grill, click here.

If you have any questions feel free to comment below or send me an email at Scott@GrillinFools.com

I realize that at the time this post was added to the website that a lot of us are right in the middle of winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come back and reference this later or refer to this on your own island getaway.  Click below to see how my dad and cousin (the other two Grillin Fools) and their wives and some friends grill it up island style.  I’ll hand the reins over to dad for the write up…

This is a feature that was supposed to be posted to the website last summer but due to a water line break requiring the removal of everything from the room that is my home office the notes were misplaced.  They were rediscovered a few days ago and I thought we are now in the depths of winter so why not put this together to give us all a warmer feeling during this dreary season.  So here we go on a seaside adventure with Shrimp and accompanying goodies.  While not all the Shrimp are grilled I think you’ll find an enjoyable experience unfolding here.

It’s that time of year for a couple of Grillin Fools to take a much needed break.  For several years the vacation trek has landed us on Dauphin Island, Alabama for a bit of seaside relaxation.  Typically, the trip occurs the end of April through the beginning of May when condo rates are off-peak making the jaunt very affordable.  A couple of thoughts immediately come to mind—grilling (of course!) and shrimp.  Shrimp are caught off the adjacent shore and we often are able to watch several boats harvesting these tasty treats while sipping a cool beverage from our balcony.  I hope you enjoy the journey—we certainly did.

The accommodations provide a grill??

Please note this contraption is not a grill—it’s a “hotplate”.  Should any device with an electrical cord be considered a grill by a Grillin Fool?  This situation was remedied a couple of years ago with the purchase of a “travelin’ grill” that fits nicely into the trunk of the car:

The legs fold up and it is transported similar to luggage on wheels.  Two weeks ocean-side without a charcoal grill was NOT going to happen.  It’s not a Big Green Egg but it’s not a hot plate.

U.S. Gulf Shrimp, no imports—we support the local economy whenever possible, were next on the agenda.  Over the years a relationship has developed with the crew at the local seafood shop, Skinner’s Seafood:

Left to right we have Gary Skinner (Old Fart) and the lovely associates Kellie (Blondie) and Gloria (Dingbat) are really customer friendly and have the freshest, best shrimp and seafood in the area.  Skinner’s offers much more than just shrimp—oysters, crab, scallops, flounder, red snapper, and my favorite Royal Red Shrimp along with a selection of seasonings and crab boil.

They’ll even season and steam your purchase on site if requested and at no additional charge.  Should you ever visit Dauphin Island The Grillin Fools suggest you stop by Skinner’s Seafood and enjoy some great seafood or visit them at SkinnerSeafood.com.  This Grillin Fool usually returns home with a couple of coolers of fresh gulf shrimp (frozen with water in Ziploc bags) to last until the next annual visit to the seashore.  When the shrimp are thawed they are just like they would taste the day they were caught and will easily keep frozen for two years—I’ve only made it one year and then I’m returning for more.

Here’s a look at the Royal Red Shrimp mentioned previously.  This photo shows them with heads on:

You will lose quite a bit when de-heading them but the stellar flavor of Royal Reds is certainly worth it:

Normally I like to grill most anything but my favorite way to prepare Royal Reds is to head them, peel and de-vein them, and then boil them in my special crab or shrimp boil (courtesy of the Old Fart) and dip them in warm, melted butter.  Why??  Because Royal Reds (close your eyes while tasting) taste like….Lobster!  It lends itself to an economical ‘surf n’ turf’ dinner because Royal Reds were only $5.99 per pound at Skinner’s.  In order to realize what a bargain this is please know that these shrimp were caught at a depth of 2200-2300 feet 80 miles out to sea then flash-frozen on board due to the distance involved.  Catch depth can range from 1600-2500 feet below the surface.  Royal Reds are not available everywhere—they’re caught off the coast of Alabama and a few select areas off the East Coast.  Most of you reading this will not find them at your local supermarket or fishmonger so if you visit the area be sure to give them a try and bring a few home—I usually return with 20 pounds or so and reserve them for special occasions.

This is the standard recipe, provided by Gary Skinner, I’ve used for years to boil shrimp.  In a large pot filled approximately ½ full of water—shrimp can be shell on or off if you prefer:  I apply a couple tablespoons of the crab boil mixture after combined.

3 parts Louisiana Crab Boil
1 part Swampfire Crab Boil
1 each Lemon/Lime cut and squeezed
Black Pepper to taste (optional)

Bring to a boil—drop in shrimp for 2-3 minutes—turn off heat and let rest for one minute—remove shrimp.  Serve immediately to enjoy warm or refrigerate and served chilled later with your favorite cocktail sauce.

OK—enough of that stuff—it’s time to turn to grillin’.  Everyone’s favorite each visit here is Grilled Kabobs.  Several skewers of Fresh Gulf Shrimp (peeled and de-veined) from Skinner’s, Beef Tenderloin seasoned with garlic and pepper, Mushrooms, Sweet Onions, Red and Yellow Sweet Peppers, and Fresh Pineapple.  What a cacophony of flavors with this combination—add some smoky grilled flavor and I’m in heaven:

The travelin’ grill was fired up using an electric starter—no charcoal chimney because of coastal breeze being a bit hazardous:

A basting sauce of Orange Juice, Brown Sugar, and Honey will be applied several times during the grilling process.  Sorry—no recipe—I just pour and mix till dissolved.  Vegetables, Fruit, and Beef were on the fire first as they require a bit more grilling time than Shrimp.  The Shrimp were grilled until pink and opaque.  Eight people were served and enjoyed this seaside delight.  White wine was selected to pair with the many flavors but a smooth light red might have sufficed.  A good Red Burgundy or Pinot Noir perhaps?  There is beef involved here.  Choose what you like wine-wise—I don’t think you’ll go wrong whatever you choose.  Here is a pic of the finished product:

Another evening meal featured Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp.  Bacon slices, sliced into thirds, were wrapped around each Shrimp and held in place with toothpicks.  These tasty morsels were glazed on the grill with 3 parts Dijon Mustard, 1 part Honey, and few dashes of spicy Chipotle Tobasco Sauce:

The bacon insulates the Shrimp from cooking too quickly and permits absorption of smoky grilled flavor:

It has been suggested that pre-cooking the bacon a bit prior to wrapping the Shrimp allows more even cooking and renders a bit more fat from this menu.  I’m ok with that process or perhaps just using thin sliced bacon will suffice—either way will work.

Here’s the Kabob version during week 2.  Beef was omitted this time, our supply of tenderloin was totally consumed during the previous effort.  This time around potatoes were added:

In order to cook them quickly and impart some grill flavor the potatoes should be boiled prior to grilling, allowed to cool, and then cut into chunks to fit on the skewers.  Incidentally, if using wood skewers they should be soaked in water for an hour or so before hitting the fire.  During the first week when Tom, The Big Green Eggspert was here he prepared small ‘b’ size red potatoes by boiling them and then soaking the spuds in Cajun seasoning.  The leftovers were discovered, still intact, in the fridge so they were added to this effort.  Half of the Shrimp were dusted with Slap Ya’ Mama seasoning found on Skinner’s seasoning rack or can be purchased at SauceHut.com if you can’t find it locally:

The other half were basted with Raspberry Chipotle Salsa (to the left in the pic below) suggested by friend Dan P. who vacationed with us the second week.  The Salsa glazed Shrimp was top notch and The Grillin Fools later prepared this for our friend Joe Bonwich, food writer for the STL Post-Dispatch in May.

The wine was an 06 Columbia Riesling—Eroica—Dr. Loosen by Chateau St. Michelle and it combined nicely with all the flavors presented to our palates.  The basting sauce was modified this time as well—we were out of Orange Juice—so white wine was substituted.  Oops!  I just located the recipe for the original basting sauce/glaze:

1 cup Orange Juice

½ cup Brown Sugar

¼ cup Honey

Heated till combined.

On the grill:

While relaxing on the balcony or sunning by the pool I took the opportunity to catch up on a bit of literature by reading a book or two.  I shopped at a bookstore across Mobile Bay near Gulf Shores and picked up a copy of recently released ‘Emeril At The Grill’.  It was interesting reading and may provide additional inspiration for an upcoming feature.  I’ve long been a fan of Emeril and have dined at his restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Gulfport.  Earlier in the week Emeril’s Risotto recipe was served alongside grilled rib-eye steaks.  I recently commented to Mimi that he was overdue for a book on grillin’—I was surprised to find the edition on the shelf and certainly enjoyed his latest effort.

Seaside grilling has always been a challenge for me.  Apparently the constant salt-air breeze affects the maintenance and temperature of a charcoal fire.  I’ve tried it with the lid to the grill open, lid closed, vents open, vents closed, and all combinations thereof and still have difficulty maintaining temperature.  I’d like to hear from anyone else that has experienced this and any solutions offered.

I hope you have the opportunity to visit Dauphin Island, Alabama someday and partake of the great fresh Gulf Shrimp at Skinner’s and try seaside grilling for yourself.  It’s a great place to relax without city hassle—there isn’t even a stoplight on the island.  There is a great little bakery and Skinner’s Seafood plus a grill—oh—and a refreshing beverage—what more could you possibly want?  Ok—maybe a little Jimmy Buffet, Reggae, and Zydeco on the CD player.  Want more motivation to check it out?  Here you go:

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below or send an email to Greg at Greg@GrillinFools.com

If you are looking for more seafood recipes, check out some of our other offerings:

Sea Bass, Shrimp and Crostinis

Yellow Fin Tuna Steak in an Asian Sauce

Grilled Crab Legs and a Seafood Butter Boil

Grilled Lobster Tails

The Grillin Fools will be at the Fishing Hole in Swansea, ILL next to Leisure Time Pools and Spas this Saturday, the 23rd, all day grilling and selling our product.  We’re doing some of the basics with brats and dogs as well as dad’s amazing rib eye steak sammiches.

Whether you are a pro angler or a non fisherman, come on by and check us out and have a steak sammy.  We’ll be there from about 9:00 a.m. till maybe 5:00 and possibly beyond.

The address is 2415 N. Illinois, Swansea, IL 62226.

For the fishermen that may be interested here is the schedule of speakers on Saturday:

-11:00 AM LUKE ESTEL-CRANKBAIT FISHING
-12:30 PM JACK WATKINS -LINE CHOICES AND KNOTS
-2:00 PM STEVE SCHIMSA-FISHING ELECTRONICS
-4:00 PM JOHN NEPORANDY-LAKE OF THE OZARKS FISHING
-6:00 PM TBA

A couple of pics from the event.  Here are Dad and Tom setting up with a couple friends of Tom’s:

Mom and Tracy waiting to serve the masses:

And the three Grillin’ Fools enjoying their time together:

A previous post, Beer Butt Chicken Stew, featured the birds smoking on the grill over a pan of vegetables and broth which allowed us to capture all the flavorful drippings from the birds in the stew below.  Now that “comfort food” weather has arrived I thought the same process should be applied to beef chuck roast and all the fixins’.  Click below to see how we did it…

Years ago I prepared just the roast on the grill at the urging of my dear departed father-in-law Russ.  He created a whiskey marinate that gave me heartburn for a couple of days so I needed a different, yet simple, approach for this method.  Here are the ingredients.

2—21/2 lb. beef chuck roasts

5-lbs. red potatoes sliced into equal sized chunks

2-lbs. mini-carrots

1—16 oz. bottle italian dressing

8—stalks celery chopped

1—cup red wine

1—large yellow onion diced

a few pinches of coarse salt

1—large garlic clove

fresh ground black pepper to taste

2-3 cans beef broth

2-3 cups of water

One day prior to grilling the roasts were placed into a plastic container with the Italian Dressing, Red Wine, Salt, and Pepper added:

The roasts were returned to the icebox (I love that term!) to marinate overnight.  Halfway into the marinating time the container was flipped over to insure both sides of the roasts are coated evenly with the mixture.

The next afternoon the veggies were washed and prepared along with the rest of the ingredients:

The old Char-Broil was set up for indirect grilling employing the flank method.  I rearranged a few coals to be underneath the pan to get this mixture bubbling quickly however:

***Editor’s Note ~Notice how there are a few unlit coals placed around the ones that are ashed over?  Adding some extra unlit coals will keep the temps up for a longer period of time and save you one lid opening to add more coals.  The lid is already open right now as the grill is being prepped.  This is particularly important with cold weather grilling as each and every time you open the lid all the heat is wicked away and it takes that much longer to grill because it takes longer for the heat to build back up in the chamber.***

Smoking wood chosen was apple but I also tossed in my last couple of chunks of pecan:

The roasts were removed from the icebox and allowed to come to room temperature before grilling.  Here’s a pic after soaking in the marinade overnight:

Once the coals are ready and properly spread the cooking grate will be left high to first sear the roast to seal the juices inside.  The roasts hit the grate with the excess marinade wiped off but the residual kicks up a bit of smoke:

Here they are turned after 5 minutes on one side:

Now a close up—are we really going after grill marks on a Chuck Roast??

The roasts are seared and it’s time to place the rest of the ingredients into the pan and get them going.  Here is the roasting pan and roast rack needed for the rest of the process:

First, 2 cans of Beef Broth and a cup of water followed by the Carrots, Onion, Celery, Garlic, and finally the Potatoes:

For the first half of the cooking time a roast rack (flipped over it’s a great rib rack too!) is employed to elevate the beef to absorb more of the smoke flavor and permit the juices to drip into the mixture below:

A third can of Beef Broth is added (I bought 4 just in case) plus another cup of water and I now feel comfortable with the fluid mixture:

A couple large chunks of Apple wood are added adjacent to the coals, the thermometer placed (heaven forbid I forget that gizmo!), and the lid closed once the grate containing the coals is dropped to its lowest point.

One hour in and it’s time to reload the coals, stir the veggies, and flip the roasts over—no one-sided grilling here!  I brought out the insulated gloves to temporarily remove the roast rack to achieve easier access to the veggies:

The rack is place back into the pan, charcoal added, and a couple more chunks of wood applied.

Mother Nature is interfering with the process a bit now.  The wind has kicked up and I’ve been the recipient of a few sprinkles of rain:

I’m hoping the wind doesn’t affect the drafty old grill very much.  The fire has been stoked and I really need to see the liquid around the veggies bubbling but it hasn’t happened yet.  I may have added too much liquid but time and taste will tell the story.  This is my first attempt at this recipe and the family that will be arriving for dinner soon will be victims of this experiment.  The GrillinFools will show you our first effort as well as a perfected last effort.  No practice runs to show you success always, just the same thing you would encounter when trying something new on your grill.

I took another peek after another 20 minutes and the broth is bubbling and progress is being made.  I’m debating whether to drop the roasts into the pan for the last half of my estimated cooking time.  After consulting with Mimi the decision is made and the roasts are dropped into the pan mixture after 1.5 hours into the process:

The broth was bubbling gently but kicked up a bit when wood caught fire and shot flames under the pan—a couple of squirts of water cooled the wood down and I think we’re back to normal grilling.  I took the opportunity to give the veggies another stir as some of the potatoes were browning on the edges from the heat and smoke.

Here’s an observation.  I walked around to the front of the house and the aroma of Apple wood smoke seemed to follow.  I’m filling the neighborhood with this wonderful fragrance!  Given the inclement weather I must be the only one grilling today.  I probably should canvass the neighborhood and hand out some GrillinFools biz-cards.

Here’s a pic of a small flock of geese that have wandered in.  I wonder if they were attracted by the aroma.  If it were legal I’d like to have one of them on my grill:

Now it’s drizzling a bit harder so it is a good thing this event requires the lid to the firebox to be closed.  My notepad is now dappled with rain drops.  A GrillinFool is not daunted by this situation.

It has been 45 minutes since the roasts were dropped into the mix and I’m going to turn them over and give the veggies another stir.  The liquid is cooking down so another can of broth is added:

I’m hopeful this effort will be complete in another 45 minutes but perhaps a taste of the veggies is in order.  Scott, The Original Grillin Fool is due to arrive soon so I’ll wait for that moment to taste test.

The roasts are flipped once again and I tasted the potatoes and carrots—I didn’t wait for the OGF—they were just super and full of flavor.  I’m a little concerned about the beef so will allow it to continue to simmer.  The thermometer is only showing 250 but the liquid is bubbling nicely:

Here’s a pic at 2 hours 45 minutes and the beef roasts appear to be done.  Taste test coming up!

Here is the first roast sliced:

The juices and broth mixture is reserved to pour over the beef and vegetables.  The roast is done, tender, and very flavorful.  The great part of this effort is that the veggies picked up that sweet apple wood smoke flavor.  The consensus of the dining guests, including the OGF Scott, was that this effort was a “home run” and worthy of a repeat performance.  What a great dinner!  Grilled comfort food all in one pan with fantastic flavor!  Don’t let Old Man Winter get you down—give this a try and you’ll be rewarded with a tasty meal.  Many grocers feature Chuck Roast in their ads this time of year so you can have an economical meal as well.  Oh, and it goes great with a spicy glass of red:

If you have any questions please feel free to comment below or send me an email at Greg@GrillinFools.com.

If you liked this recipe you may like other beef recipes we’ve done:

Prime Rib

Beef Brisket

Flat Iron Steak

Dry Marinated NY Strip Steaks

Tis the season for caroling, shopping, freezing, snowing, sharing, giving, and, of course, maybe the most important part which is spending time with friends and family.  It’s this time of year that we get together to be thankful as the Pilgrims did so many years ago and then to share and give on Christmas Eve and Christmas as well as ring in the new year to cap off the season.  All of these special nights usually require a great deal of cooking.  Why not break out of the mold and do something on the grill?  Click below to see how to make what’s in those pictures yourselves with step by step and picture by picture instructions on how to do each one…

Grilled whole turkey

Nothing is more traditional than the holiday bird but why not leave the tradition right there and step out of the kitchen and make one on the grill?  Add some sweet smoke flavor to the bird this year and do it on the grill and you may never cook one indoors again.

Grilled Turkey Breast

Not grilling for a crowd but still want a succulent turkey?  May I suggest a whole or even split turkey breast.  This guy will easy feed four and possibly even six. All that great turkey flavor, including that crispy skin, shorter cooking time without having to buy a 20 pounder.

Prime rib on the grill

How about a little less traditional than the turkey or the ham?  It’s a time to celebrate.  Go all out and try this Grillin Fools favorite.  My dad has this down to a science so follow his step by step instructions and you will blow the minds of your friends and family.

French cut lamb racks

And a little farther off the beaten path is one of my favorites – lamb.  These succulent little meat lollipops can be served as an entree or an appetizer.  That link has two different marinades and most can’t decide which is better but all agree that they are both great.

New Years Eve is becoming more and more of a night to stay in and revel over a good meal than go out to the bars and revel in, well, revelry.  It’s also a night where my family tends to go all out on a seafood dish and the GrillinFools have a few options for you on that front.

Whole lobsters, prawns, and escargot

Disclaimer – OK, I realize that there was in fact no grilling involved in this recipe, but I hope you don’t hold that against it.  It was one of the best meals I have ever had and so simple.  In fact we are planning on repeating this endeavor this year on NYE.  Boiled whole lobsters, stuffed prawns, and escargot on the fancy eatin’ plates.  MmmmmMmmmm

Grilled crab legs along with a butter boil of shrimp, scallops and little neck clams

The butter boil is an amazing app or side dish that is the epitome of a social dish.  Couple sticks of butter in a grill safe pot (although this can be done on the stove but don’t tell anyone), some white wine, garlic, maybe some herbs if you feel the need, insert some seafood, simmer till done and hand everyone a fork.  Eat it right out of the pot.

And for the main course, watching Alton Brown recently, he said the single best way to cook crab legs was on the grill based on the fact that they are already cooked and then frozen.  He said it’s better than boiling them with a crab boil and after having them both ways I have to agree.  My wife, who is not a fan of the grill (ironic, ain’t it?) prefers them this way over the traditional method of boiling them.

Grilled sea bass, shrimps, sweet potatoes, salad and even a dessert

Why not make NYE a date night such as my cousin, Tom, and his wife did over the summer.  NYE doesn’t have to be all shell fish or prime rib.  What better night than to make an elaborate meal to impress someone than on NYE?

Grilled Lobster Tails

Lobster is downright cheap these days and what better time to practice on them than right now?  Better to prefect your lobster grilling technique right now when they are cheap so when the price does go back up, you won’t be too intimidated by the cost to try this amazing crustacean on the grill.

Pig Candy

And don’t forget this appetizer.  The response we have gotten from the Pig Candy is phenomenal.  I can’t stress enough how much you need to try this.  Even next to a whole lobster the talk of the evening for the weeks to come will be the pig candy.

Check back soon for a grilled ham recipe that I hope to have up in the near future.

As usual, if you have any questions please leave a comment below or feel free to shoot me an email at Scott@GrillinFools.com

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Football, pies, brisk air, stuffing, friends and family, and of course turkey.  We all know the drill.  Place bird in aluminum tray, insert in the oven, bake till the little thing pops up, serve and hope it’s not dry.  If it is dry, well, make sure there’s a gravy boat nearby.

What happened?  The turkey used to be the star of the show.  Now it’s just something we do every year because it’s tradition.  I’m not saying to break tradition and go with ribs on Thanksgiving (but if you do I’m pretty sure we have a recipe for you).  I’m saying make that bird the star again.  Send your guests away full and commenting on how great that turkey was rather than how well the gravy was that moistened up the dry turkey.  And I realize that the cool weather is not traditionally grilling weather but think about it, rather than the grill making you sweat in the Summer time, it will actually warm you up when you check on the bird.

I will hand this off to my cousin, Tom – the Big Green Eggspert – Jones.  He will be doing this on his Big Green Egg.  For those of us that don’t have a BGE, simply follow the temperature guidelines for whatever grill you have.  Click below to learn how to make the turkey something to be thankful for once again…

Tom’s Thanksgiving Day Turkey Brined and cooked on the grill!

Ingredients:

• 1 – 20 pound turkey
• 12 cups water
• 3 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 4 stalks celery
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup cajun seasoning (or seasoning of your choice) If you don’t use this increase salt to 1 1/2 cups
• 1 TBS black pepper

If using a frozen turkey, please safely thaw the bird. Place the frozen turkey (in the original packaging) in a shallow pan in your refrigerator. Allow 24 hours thawing time for every four pounds of turkey.  The bird, all 20 pounds:

***Editor’s note – Whether you are grilling the bird or not I cannot stress enough the importance of brining.  If you brine properly you will never have another dry bird.  Click here to learn a little bit about the science behind brining.***

The Brine:

Bring water to boil, add salt and stir until dissolved. Let mixture come down to room temperature while you prep the remaining ingredients for the brine.

Chop onion, celery and carrots into large pieces:

Either crush or rough chop the garlic:

After the salt water mixture has cooled, add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined:

Place the turkey, breast side down into a large bag that can be sealed (some grocery stores sell very large zip-lock type bag for this purpose):

Pour the brine over the turkey ensuring the cavity fills with the brine. Place the bag containing the turkey and brine in cooler along with ice for several hours (overnight is best):

Remove the turkey from the brine, making sure to drain liquid from the cavity and pat dry with paper towels. Drizzle olive oil over the bird and season lightly with salt, pepper and seasoning of your choice (if using cajun seasoning don’t use salt). Place some of the vegetables from the brine inside the cavity:

The Grill:

Prepare grill for indirect heat and add wood for smoking if desired (we used peach wood). Place a pan with liquid in it under the grate positioned below the turkey. This will add moisture and will catching the drippings from the turkey. The liquid can be plain water, wine, beer, etc:

***Editor’s note – If you don’t have peach wood available, apple, apricot, nectarine and pear are all good substitutes.  Click here to see the Grillin Fools guide to smoke woods.***

Place on the grill breast side up:

Cook at approximately 300 degrees. Cooking time will be about 15 minutes for every pound of turkey.  Coming along nicely:

Starting to become a really nice golden brown:

During the last 30 minutes of cooking baste with butter and it should look something like this when removed from the grill:

To check doneness of the bird, use an instant read thermometer. Place thermometer into into the thickest part of the thigh, making sure the thermometer does not touch bone. The juices should run clear from the thigh, also wiggle a drumstick to see if it moves easily at the joint. The final internal temperature in the breast and thigh should reach 165 degrees.

You may want to remove the turkey from the grill at 160 as the residual heat in the turkey will continue to cook while it stands / rests before carving. Important! Allow turkey to stand 20 – 30 minutes before carving.

If you have achieved the correct internal temperature and the juices are clear, the meat near the bone may appear pink. This is normal and the turkey is perfectly safe to eat.

Note: This may sound like a lot of seasoning and salt. However, the end result is a perfectly seasoned, moist and delicious bird that your family will devour!!

If you are looking for other poultry dishes for Thanksgiving or otherwise check out these other offerings:

Smoked Turkey Breast with compound butter under the skin

Spatchcocked Game Hens

Beer Butt Chicken Stew

If you really want to spice up Thanksgiving, how about Jerk Chicken?

The simplest chicken recipe on the site

And of course you could serve this bird on Thanksgiving to add a little humor to the event.  Feel free to forward this link on to your friends for a little chuckle.

If you have any questions about the recipe above feel free to email Tom at Tom@GrillinFools.com or simply leave a comment below and one of us fools will get back to you as soon as possible.

Below you can click on the links to actually listen to some discussion of what you read about on the website:

In this clip aired February 20th, 2010 we discussed grilling for a crowd which works well with this post which goes into low maintenance grilling for the masses.  This one was too long for Youtube so I just went with the audio here:

Episode 6 2-10-2010

In this clip that aired on January 16th of 2010 we discussed the different fruit woods that are excellent for smoking meat on the grill:

In this clip that aired November 14th 2009 we discussed holiday grilling in particular grilling a whole turkey or turkey breast for Thanksgiving or Christmas:

In this clip we discuss the things that have changed over the years in terms of grilling.  Mistakes we have made and lessons we have learned. I also do a great job of butchering the name of the website so pay close attention for that flub. This clip aired on October 3rd, 2009:

Just in time for Halloween we discuss the perfect Fall recipe which is Apple Pumpkin Ribs as well as Pig Candy. I very nearly make a rather large flub in this clip by coming very close to accidentally insulting my wife’s parents.  This clip aired October 24th, 2009:

The picture in the audio clip was taken by Christian Gooden of the St. Louis Post Dispatch which was used in the article that Joe Bonwich did on the Grilling Fools in May of 2009.  In the pic from the bottom is my dad Greg – Smokin’ on the Water – Thomas, behind him is my cousin Tom – Big Green Eggspert – Jones and I’m the silly guy on the right with the shaved melon, Scott Thomas – The Original Grillin’ Fool.

Check back periodically for future interviews.

And don’t forget to check out our other foray outside of the World Wide Web which is an article that was done by Joe Bonwich for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

No Snickers at my place this year.  Nope.  No Smarties, Sweet Tarts, Twix, Baby Ruth’s, or Butterfingers.  I’m not handing out any run of the mill candy.  I’m handing out pig candy.  If your kids are on a kosher diet, my house may not be the place to be on October 31st because the Grillin Fools are taking Halloween candy to the next level.

What is pig candy?  Well, it involved bacon so you know it’s going to be good.  But beyond that, you’re going to have to click below to find out because if I talk about it any more there won’t be any need for the link below…

There is literally nothing to this.  Bacon, brown sugar, tin foil and a grill.  Place half strips of bacon on a sheet of tin foil and cover them with brown sugar.  Use the back of the spoon to distribute the brown sugar evenly:

Place them on the grill indirect.  These have been on the grill for about 15 minutes:

You can see how some of the bacon in the middle on the left have black tips?  That’s because I took this picture right after I rotated the bacon 180 degrees.  The blackened bacon was on the side closest to the fire and the sugar, which has a much higher propensity to blacken than the bacon, got charred a little bit.

Another 15 minutes later and you see a little blackening on the other side:

After I took this shot, I removed the bacon from the grill and served it.  That’s the extent of this recipe. I wish I could’ve gotten another shot of them plated but they were gone too fast.

I was serving a dozen or so people all of which I have fed my grilled delights to dozens, and even hundreds of times for some, and someone actually said, “that is the single best thing you have ever served me from the grill.”

A word of warning with these things.  This was not the first time I made them.  I made them the night before as well.  At first I put them indirect and they were looking pretty good:

But then I got impatient as I wanted to eat the pig candy with the turkey breast that was inside resting and ready to carve.  Seeing how I normally cook bacon on the stove over direct heat in a skillet I placed the foil right over the fire to accelerate the cooking process.  And in just a matter of a couple of minutes that beautiful golden brown bacon above became this:

It still wasn’t bad but not as good as the stuff I did the next day.  So be careful.  The bacon may be able to handle a lot of heat but that brown sugar will blacken in a heartbeat.

That’s pig candy.  Short and sweet – literally.

***I just wanted to add, that since making this post I have had turkey candy.  That’s right, turkey bacon makes a great treat similar to the pig candy.  It’s not quite as good as pig candy, but it’s is really good and minus a boatload of fat.

If you have any questions about the pig candy, simply leave a comment below or email me at Scott@GrillinFools.com

Ahhhh, my favorite time of year is here.  It’s officially Fall.  The temp is dropping, soon the leaves will be too after that magnificent color change.  The Cards are heading to the playoffs, football is back, well in other cities its back, no so much here in St. Louis.  The Blues are in training camp, Mizzou is off to a 3-0 start and my Irish just eked one out against Michigan State.  Halloween is just around the corner and the pumpkin ales are on the store shelves.  It’s a glorious time my friends.

Oh, and did I mention it’s the single greatest time of year to grill?  Most people think it’s the summer.  That’s just not the case.  Think about it.  It’s 95 degrees outside, let’s go build a fire and stand around it? Firing up the grill when it’s chilly outside makes much more sense than adding more heat to a hot summer day doesn’t it?  Now if I could get Shawn and Blinda, hosts of Your Livable Garden in Houston and owners of Mirror Lake Designs, up to St. Louis to build me one of those outdoor kitchens with the ceiling fans I might be singing a different tune.  While I grill all year round some of the most miserable cookouts for me are on those ridiculously muggy summer days that we get here in St. Louis.

All of this revelry in the season got me thinking of some sort of fall themed recipe.  It took some doing but I finally came up with the Grillin Fools official recipe for the Fall – Apple-Pumpkin Ribs.  Bear with me here.  Click below to see the steps I took to come up with surprisingly easy recipe that I initially did my best to over think and overdo.  The final result, though, will impress you and your friends.  And realize that this recipe was inspired by the beer shown above…

OK, so let’s start off with the inspiration for this.  O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale:

This is probably my favorite beer.  I don’t know if it would be if I could get it all year round but I can’t wait for it to hit every year at the beginning of September and it just makes me believe it is Fall outside when I taste it.  I wanted to grill something that when I tasted it would have the same effect.

Just to give you an idea of how this recipe came into being I thought I would show you how badly I messed it up before I got it right.  My first attempt was less than impressive.  First I tried marinating ribs in actual pumpkin pie filling:

MmmmmMmmmmm.  Appetizing, huh?

Yeah, didn’t think so.

What a huge orange mess that was.  But I wasn’t done wrecking the ribs with the pumpkin pie filling marinade.  Oh no.  I had a ways to go yet before these thing were thoroughly bad.  I also tried to infuse the flavors that make a good pumpkin pie via a rub.  I ground up whole cloves and cinnamon sticks to be combined with brown sugar, ground ginger, allspice and granulated garlic for the rub.  It was way over the top.  Fresh ground cinnamon and cloves can be overpowering.  It was just an assault on the taste buds.

My poor in laws were subjected to the first iteration of this.  My lovely Mother in Law actually suggested that I tone it down and keep it simple and it was her advice that helped me come up with the final product which I tested out a few days later.

The next Thursday was the first game of the NFL season and I had some of my boys over for the game.  One of them, Bill, had expressed a desire a few days prior to learn how to grill ribs.  I told him to go pick some up and that I would teach him.  Ribs 101 if you will.  He had 2.5 slabs of baby backs and I told him to skin the membrane off, put them in ziplocks with apple cider, a half cup of brown sugar and a few teaspoons of fresh minced garlic.  He put that in the fridge overnight and then came over the next evening before the game so I could show him how to grill them.

I walked Bill through the basics of making a rub for two of the slabs but the last half slab I decided to try my Mother in Law’s advice.  Keep it simple.  And again, I took inspiration from the pumpkin beer.  The pumpkin beer does not taste overwhelming like pumpkins.  It tastes like the spices that makes pumpkin pie so distinctive – cinnamon, clove, ginger, all spice, maybe nutmeg.  If they only had something that was comprised of all those ingredients?  Well they do.  It’s called, sort of appropriately, pumpkin pie spice:

The rub was comprised of 4 ingredients and two of them were black and white pepper.  The rub was simply equal parts pumpkin pie spice shown above and granulated garlic along with a few cranks of black and white pepper.  I put a little coarse salt on each side of the ribs before I applied the rub but that was it.

Nothing fancy in terms of grilling the ribs.  Just the basic two hour method I’ve started using exclusively now where I indirect the ribs at about 275 for two hours.  A more detailed write up on the 2 hour cooking process can be found here.

They were a huge hit with my second set of guinea pig tasters:

Now that the picture was over with, back to business:

Starting from the left we have Chad, Art, Roy and Bill. BTW, those 5 half slabs of ribs were gone in all of about 3 minutes along with the, appropriately enough, apple fatty I did.

So the following weekend, I decided to try a couple more variations just to make sure I had the process down.  I took two slabs of ribs, one I just applied the rub to and put in a ziplock overnight.  The second I marinated in apple cider, garlic and brown sugar as Bill had done a few days prior.  And not just any apple cider.  That dark stuff that is available from the local farmers this time of year:

The next evening I pulled the ribs out of the bags.  The ones with a rub on them got a little coarse salt and straight on the grill.  The other ones were taken out of the wet marinade and patted dry, then the rub was applied along with a little salt.  I also tried some Szechuan salt I got from Penzey’s on one of the marinated half slabs but it had no effect on the final result at all.  Still trying to find a way to utilize the flavor of that salt but it was not with this recipe.

Here they are on the grill about ready to be taken inside to be carved up after being smoked for two hours with, you guessed it, apple wood:

Sliced.  Notice there is not a prominent a smoke ring with apple as you would get with a cherry or say a red oak.  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s just the nature of apple wood.  It’s more subtle than cherry in flavor and the smoke ring:

Three bones of each kind on the plate:

In the end, the ribs marinated in the apple cider/garlic/brown sugar with the pumpkin pie/granulated garlic/pepper rub were by far the best of the three.  The apple cider really permeates the meat and the rub gave that distinct pie flavoring as well as a bit of garlic so as to not make them over the top  sweet.  I may do these again and add a little brown sugar to the rub.  See, I’m never satisfied.  I gotta keep tweaking until it’s just right, but there’s always something more to tweak it with so will it ever be just right?  Alas, this is my lot in life.

And I just wanted to give you an idea of how obsessive I can be to get something like this right.  I had baby back ribs three times in a seven day span simply because I wanted to make sure they were perfect.  I’m a slave to this obsession I tell my wife is just a hobby.

If you liked the rib recipe above you might want to check these out:

Peachy Sweet Spare Ribs

Jerk Ribs

Country Style Ribs

And as usual, if you have any questions or comments about the Apple-Pumpkin Ribs please respond below or simply shoot me an email at Scott@GrillinFools.com