Fourth of July BBQ Primer: No Time to Waste, Make a Spice Paste

Unfortunately, sometimes being a lawyer means eating take out for three weeks straight. Sometimes being lazy also means eating out more times than I care to share. However, there are times when using compressed wood as an uneven and inconsistent cooking element takes priority. People tend to shy away from charcoal because they think it takes too long or it's too complicated. With a little practice, you can quickly learn the quirkiness but amazing qualities of charcoal grilling which should alay any qualms you may currently hold. All other things withstanding, summer necessarily means grilling and July 4th weekend absolutely means grilling.

With all that said, I tried to do a fast dinner on the grill before the recklessness of July 4th festivities get underway.

Recipe:

Cooking chicken on the grill can be tricky. How long do you cook it for? What marinade do I use? Since traditional marinades do take some time to....marinate into meats I opted for a spice paste. What's the difference between a marinade and spice paste? Not much. However, you do want to to keep in mind the that a spice paste has the consistency (or viscosity) that is much thicker. So you don't use a lot of liquid in a spice paste.

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Salt/Pepper : Marinades/Spice Paste, Grilling : July 4th Weekend

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To this spice paste, I added garlic powder, paprika, curry powder, and tumeric.

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I used canola oil as my liquid. You can pretty much use anything but keep in mind if your liquid contains sugar, then it'll tend to burn easier.

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Olive v. Canola oil? For grilling I prefer canola oil on meats and olive oil on vegetables. For meats, I don't want to taste anything besides the spices I put in there and the protein. For veggies, I like the olive oil taste with grilled onions, squash, and other grilled vegetables.

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Clean and pat dry your chicken breast. If your chicken is wet, then it won't hold the paste, esspecially a paste made from oil. Something about oil and water not mixing well.

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Spread on your spice paste evenly. With a paste you tend to get clumps of spice paste that needs to be spread. You don't want one bite to be bland and the next bite to be salty.

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To grill corn, I like to leave them in the husks. To help prevent them from burning and to help steam the corn, soak them in water a few minutes before grilling.

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Grilled vidalia onions never hurt anyone. Put onions and other vegetables you want a nice char on in the "hot spot' of the grill.

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Grilled bell peppers are nice.

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Make sure you have clean grates before you put anything on the grill. You don't need to put any oil on the grates. First it'll have a tendency to smoke and burn before you put any meat on it. Second, it's a fire hazard so safety first. All you really need to make sure is that the grates are hot. If they are hot and you leave your chicken on their to cook, it should not stick.

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This is the shot I almost dropped my phone into the grill. It's hot!

We decided to burgers as well. Try to only flip the burgers once.

Grilling tips..

1. Either stack your charcoal like a pyramid and light them, or use a charcoal chimney.

2. If you use the former, don't move the charcoal or start cooking with it until the all the lighter fluid has burned off.

3. You'll know when the lighter fluid is all burned away, when there is a red glow in the center of the pyramid, the charcoals are not flaming, and the charcoals turn white.

4. Only at that point do you want to spread them.

5. The way you spread them is also important. I didn't spread them this time...someone else did. But, you want to have a hot spot where most of the charcoal is at. The hot spot should be the size of a sheet of paper (it really depends on what you are trying to cook). The hot spot should be located the farthest away from you, at the other end of the grill (so build your pyramid and spread your charcoal accordingly). The reason you want the hot spot away on the other side of the grill is because if it was closer to you, you would have to reach over it to flip something on the other side of the grill.

6. Then have some areas with less charcoal and some areas with no charcoal. So effectively you created different cooking stations with charcoal. One to char/sear, one to grill more evenly, and one for indirect cooking.

7. Using the lid and air vents also change the dynamics of the grill. Try all these out and after awhile you'll learn different tricks you can do with the grill.

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Give the chicken about four minutes on the first side before you decide to flip it. It really depends on the temperature of the grill. The point is don't flip it too soon!

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What a pretty looking grill :)

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Bleu cheese on the burger. You can put the lid on to melt the cheese faster.

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Nothing says summer like a Bud Light Lime (hereinafter referred to as "BLL"). Nothing says friendship like taking the BLL when there are only two cold beers left and none of you like above-referenced BLL.

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That's grilling. Happy Fourth of July.