Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill

PREFACE

My first memories of grilling go back to when I was four or five years old and my mom and dad would rent a house from Memorial Day to Labor Day in Sea Girt, a beautiful small town on the New Jersey shore. Most of my summer diet consisted of "boardwalk food"—hot dogs, hamburgers, and lots of candy. But my favorite meals were when we would break out the grill in the backyard: big lobsters, sweet corn, and, of course, more burgers. The only difficult task was trying to keep the raccoons away after we went to sleep. Lobster shells and corn cobs were their favorite banquet.

I can still remember what those meals tasted like. They were not perfect, but I remember them as delicious and, most important, lots of fun.

For the most part, grilling has always been the focal point of the restaurants that I have worked in or owned. I remember one particular Saturday night at a restaurant named Bud's when we had about 250 reservations and I was working the grill station. We used only mesquite wood, and the grill had to be tended for six hours during dinner service. (You can imagine how much wood we would go through in an evening.) The most crucial part of the night was getting the grill started, not an easy task. It generally took about an hour to get a good hot fire going so that everything—chicken, meats, game, fish, and vegetables—could be cooked to perfection. It was important to know the "hot spots" and "cold spots," and to have a certain command of the grill so that you worked it, as opposed to its working you.

With all this in mind, I waited for my first orders to come spilling in, and as they did, I suddenly realized that my greatest nightmare had come true. I had forgotten to light the grill! What happened over the next few hours is indescribable, but I think that night has something to do with my preference for gas grills. Press a few buttons, turn a few knobs, and you have a hot, even grill, ready to go.

Today, grilling continues to be much more than a way to cook—it's a whole culture all its own. There's no better way to spend an afternoon for lunch, or a warm evening for a casual dinner. It seems that at every barbecue, at least one person has "the best recipe for this," or "the best way to cook that." Grilling techniques, dry rubs, and marinades have been passed down through generations, and, of course, the best way to fire up a grill always makes for an amusing conversation.

My daughter, Sophie, at a very young age, already has an appreciation for all good things grilled. She must have some of her dad's food genes, because Sophie has been seen running around many backyard barbecues, double-fisted, with grilled lobster and corn niblets in her teeth.

Grilling is a universal word that means something to everyone. Grilling means good times, good friends, and, hopefully, great food. As my good friend Jack McDavid likes to say, "Once you learn how to grill, it's real easy to chill."

—BOBBY FLAY
NEW YORK CITY

1. A BOY'S INTRODUCTION TO THE GRILL

Just mention grilling and the first thing I think of is hamburgers. There's absolutely nothing better than a great burger on the grill, seared dark brown and dripping savory juices, covered with melted cheese and grilled sweet onions. I like them a little more well done than most things I grill—probably because I loved those blackened hamburgers I ate at cookouts when I was a kid.

Grilling has always appealed to the "boy" in me, and there's no way I would abandon the classic burgers I remember. But my menu has grown, and I like to slip in the unexpected, as well: clams or mussels steamed in a kettle set on the rack; an entire paella made on the grill; or a table filled with mountains of seared, golden vegetables. I still love to grill simple food, but I add a jolt of bold flavors with seasonings, marinades, and sauces.

I do most of my outdoor cooking during the relaxed weekends I spend on Long Island. The beach, golf, and grilling make up my ritual—they are what life in the summer is all about. I love hitting the farmers' markets, picking up whatever is ripe and fresh, going home, and throwing it on the fire. The great thing is that you can get all this food at the peak of perfection and cook it immediately. I grill dinner almost every night that I'm out there, and often a simple lunch, too, like softshell crabs that I turn into a fabulous sandwich.

My little daughter, Sophie, follows after me, usually with a bag of potato chips in her hand. She likes to help, or at least to hang around while I'm cooking her favorite foods—grilled onions, corn, and lobster.

With great ingredients tempting me on all sides, everything I put together on the grill works. In addition, I accumulate interesting spices and flavorings over the season and use them as the spirit moves me. By the time the summer is in full swing, my pantry will contain, in addition to pepper and kosher salt:

One thing I don't use is dried herbs—to me, they all taste like tea. (The only exception is in dry rubs, for crusting steaks or turkey.) Nothing beats fresh herbs, and they are easy to find at most greengrocers and even at supermarkets.

I also make a few stocks the day I plan to cook with them, or else I keep them in the freezer, to be defrosted when needed. Chicken Stock enriches the Sherry Vinegar–Brown Sugar Barbecue Baste for chicken, the Honey Mustard Pan Juice for porterhouse steak, and the Charred Corn Polenta; Shrimp Stock adds flavor to Peanut Dipping Sauce for shrimp; and Vegetable Stock is the base for Grilled Asparagus Risotto. Recipes for these stocks appear at the end of this chapter.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE FIRE

Don't be intimidated by the grill! It is a source of heat, just like a stove, and very user friendly.

Grilling simply means cooking food quickly over a very hot fire. The food develops a seared, flavorful crust and a juicy interior, but you have to start out with tender meat, fish, or vegetables for this method to work. Grilling differs from barbecuing, which is slow cooking over a lower fire and is suitable for less tender foods.

I'm devoted to my gas grill, but sometimes I also cook with charcoal, and there are a few things to remember in order to do it well. First, hardwood lump charcoal is considered to be better than the more easily available briquettes, because it burns hotter and cleaner. Use plenty of charcoal and light it with an electric coil starter or a chimney starter. The latter device is an open-ended cylinder into which you put crumpled newspaper, top it with charcoal, and light the newspaper. When the charcoal becomes hot, you pour it onto the grill and add additional charcoal on top. There also is a kettle grill that lights the charcoal using gas ignition.

A two-level fire is recommended for cooking flexibility, and this can be constructed in different ways. Either light two piles of charcoal, one larger and one smaller; or light a large pile and after it is hot, move some of the coals off into a smaller pile.

Some of my recipes require high heat, some medium high, and a few require low heat. If you aren't using a gas grill, which has a temperature gauge, measuring the temperature can be a little tricky. The tried and true way is to place your hand an inch or two above the hot charcoal. If you can keep it there for up to two seconds, the fire is hot; three to four seconds means medium hot, five to six indicates medium low to low.

There is some controversy over whether it is better to cook with the grill lid closed or open. Advocates of charcoal grilling seem to prefer the flavor of uncovered food; gas-grill enthusiasts hold that food cooks more evenly and heat is retained better when the cover is down. As with most aspects of grilling, this comes down to personal taste. I always keep the cover down when I am preheating the grill, and I leave it that way through most of the cooking process, as well—otherwise the heat escapes. My general rule is, cook with the grill closed for anything that takes more than four minutes. I close the lid even for most of the quicker things.

When people put something down on the grill, the tendency is to start moving it around immediately, so it won't stick. Actually, the opposite happens: if you move it too soon, it's bound to stick. When you put a piece of food on the grate, let it sit a couple of minutes so it starts to get a seared surface and grill marks. Then move it, if you have to—the seared crust will protect it.

Food cooks quickly on the grill, and it's not difficult to measure doneness. I prefer to decide by appearance, and each recipe will tell you what to look for when you pull the food off the rack. It's a good idea to check while it is cooking, as well, by prodding it a little to judge its firmness (remember how it felt before you put it on the fire, and how it usually feels when it is sitting on your plate); or by cutting into it to see if the inside looks done. The United States Department of Agriculture is more specific and if you want to follow their rules, you will need an instant-read thermometer.

CHOOSING A GRILL

The first choice you make about buying a grill is charcoal or gas. (Electric grills, both outdoor and indoor, don't have the heat you need to grill well, so they aren't an option.) Both can give excellent results, so choose the one that best suits your style of cooking. Gas grills fire up much faster than charcoal, which is one reason I like them so much. My feeling is, now that we have the technology, we might as well use it, but that's strictly personal.

The purist considers only charcoal grilling to be the real thing. There is a whole ritual about choosing the best charcoal, laying the fire and lighting it, and moving food around from hotter to cooler cooking areas. Charcoal provides an extremely hot fire, but it can be difficult to get lit, and then it takes about a half hour to reach cooking temperature, when it becomes covered with a film of gray ash. It can be hard to control the heat, to keep it even. True, charcoal does impart a certain distinctive flavor, although I find the real flavor boost comes from marinades and seasonings, and from quick searing directly over a very hot fire—which a good gas grill does as well as charcoal.

If charcoal is your choice, you will find even the top grills are reasonably priced. Look for a sturdy grill with a cover and a large grilling surface, and, if possible, an adjustable grate and firebox. Weber kettle grills are among the most popular.

A powerful gas grill provides strong heat and is far easier to light—just turn it on. It gives consistent temperatures, whether your food requires low heat or high, and temperature can be adjusted any time during cooking, so you don't have to move the food around. Because gas grills are easy to ignite and they get hot fast, you can spend your time preparing the food, not working on the fire—that's what I like to do. The simple start-up allows for real spontaneity: ten minutes after you make the decision to grill, you can throw the food on the fire.

When shopping for a gas grill, look for one that heats up fast and is sturdy. A porcelain-coated grate will keep the food from sticking—the food comes away from the grill, and that's half the battle. The heat source may be lava rocks, ceramic briquettes, or metal plates or triangles. All are good, but the rocks and briquettes may need occasional cleaning and sometimes replacement. Some grills offer electric rotisseries and side burners as extra features. Among the popular manufacturers are Weber, Viking, Charbroil, and DCS, which manufactures grills for Williams Sonoma. Gas grills are more expensive than charcoal, starting at several hundred dollars and reaching to the stratosphere.

If open-air grilling, either charcoal or gas, isn't an option, its principles can be applied using indoor equipment. A fireplace is the closest alternative, with the addition of a Tuscan grill, a metal frame that holds a grilling grate. Or you can set an ordinary grill rack on top of some bricks to raise the cooking surface above the flames. Keep the flue wide open, just as you must when you light an ordinary fire. Cooking may take a few minutes longer when you use a fireplace, since the food will not be covered.

Some kitchen ranges come with gas grills, but not all provide enough heat to give good results, so check their specifications carefully. Again, you won't cover this grill, so you may need to cook food a little longer.

Finally, consider using a heavy, ridged cast-iron grill pan, preferably seasoned, on your stovetop. Heat it for five to ten minutes before adding the food. You won't achieve optimum results, but you will reach a version of what we're trying to accomplish.

GRILLING EQUIPMENT

Forget the bells and whistles and keep your equipment simple—too many of the accessories you see hanging from hooks on fancy grills are not good for grilling. I prefer my regular kitchen tools to long-handled implements, which I find clumsy to use: I rely on a good, strong pair of tongs and a sturdy spatula that I'm really comfortable with. Don't forget a few heavy-duty potholders or mitts and a strong wire scraper to keep the grid clean. I would rather test food for doneness as it cooks than bother with a thermometer, but if you want to be extra sure when cooking a piece of meat, go ahead and use one. Grilling baskets and trays for vegetables prevent small pieces of food from falling through the grate, although food sometimes can steam rather than grill on them because there is less surface contact with the fire. For kebobs, I prefer bamboo skewers to the thicker metal ones simply because they leave smaller holes in the food.

A WORD ABOUT QUESADILLAS

Grilled foods and tortillas are a natural match, and one of the best ways to combine the two is in a quesadilla. The traditional quesadilla is a stuffed tortilla, more like a turnover. The tortilla is folded in half, covering its filling, and then fried in lots of hot oil. While the idea of a crisp tortilla shell enclosing a spicy, creamy, or chewy filling appeals to me, a turnover seems kind of a dull way to get there. And you can't heap very much filling on half a tortilla.

That's why my quesadillas are stacked: each one has three tortillas separated by two layers of filling—a sort of club quesadilla. I thought these tortilla sandwiches would be a natural for outdoor cooking, and I was right. Over the fire, the tortillas soften a little, the cheese melts beautifully, and all the flavors in the filling—whether lobster and toasted garlic, prosciutto and mozzarella, or chicken and grilled tomatoes—are heightened by the smokiness of the grill.

TIPS FOR GRILLING BOBBY'S WAY

The whole idea of grilling is to be casual and festive, so keep it simple. Even if you love to grill as much as I do, don't get carried away and make too much food. Make sure you have a nice array of things to put out, but don't turn the cooking into a burden.

I don't know of any other style of cooking that so easily lends itself to relaxed good times. A meal that's prepared outdoors on the grill invites everyone to loosen up and enjoy the party. People gather around with their drinks, checking on the food and the fire, helping the chef, or just talking and laughing in anticipation of a great meal. All the food goes out on big platters and guests can simply dig in and help themselves. This is my kind of entertaining—give it a try.

STOCKS

2. BURGERS, SAUSAGES, AND THEIR ACCOMPANIMENTS

Hamburgers have always been the most basic and accessible of grilled foods, and for many people, they still are what grilling is all about. Why would anyone need a recipe for the original cooking-by-instinct dish? Just get some ground meat and throw it on the grill—even a rank amateur can't mess up with that.

I don't want to complicate something so beautifully simple, but I have a few things to add.

Quality ingredients and a little care in cooking will make the difference between a spectacular burger and one that is only passable, or maybe even bland and dried out. Get fresh coarsely ground chuck (extra lean cuts won't make a tastier burger) and use it as soon as you can after purchase. Form it into somewhat loose patties and season them with salt and pepper.

Turn the gas grill to high or prepare a hot charcoal fire and sear the burgers to seal in the juices and get those appetizing dark-brown grill marks. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, with the cover closed, for medium rare; 5 for medium; and 6 for well done.

Buffalo, which is low in fat and has an intense beefy flavor, also makes an excellent hamburger, especially with slices of goat cheese melted over the top. Because it has less fat than beef, be extra careful to watch it so it doesn't overcook and dry out.

There is a whole world of burgers out there, and only some of them are made from red meat. I especially like a terrific turkey burger that has a molten center of melted Brie. The cheese adds moisture to the ground turkey, which tends to be dry, and enriches its flavor. And it makes for a nice surprise when you take a bite. Good-quality ground turkey is easy to find at your butcher or supermarket, or you can grind your own in the food processor, customizing the proportions of light and dark meat.

Tuna makes a hearty, chewy burger and rumor has it that it's kind to the cholesterol level. Make sure the fish is perfectly fresh and keep it cold, so it holds together when you form the burgers. Mince it very fine with a sharp knife, not in a food processor, which will turn it to mush. I find tuna burgers take well to a sweet and spicy glaze of pineapple and mustard. Delicious!

Italian sausage is another kind of ground meat that's sensational on the grill. Nothing brings out its sweet fennel flavor or peppery spiciness like cooking over a hot fire; it comes off crisp and smoky and ready to be paired with sweet and tart Grilled Onion Marmalade and deliciously charred Grilled Bell Peppers. A crowd pleaser every time.

The accompaniments are what really make burgers and sausages soar. Your Roasted Tomato Ketchup will be miles ahead of the bottled red stuff, with the freshness of ripe tomatoes, plus its own uniquely smoky notes, and the garlic bread you make with Roasted Garlic Butter will have a crisp-toasted grilled surface. Homemade Grilled Onion Marmalade, Spicy Cucumber Pickles, and Red Chile–Dusted Potato Chips are all easy to make and round out any menu.

You will find all these accompaniments listed in chapter 2, and many others throughout this and other chapters, as part of specific recipes. They all can be mixed and matched according to your own taste and the current bounty of the farmers' market. For instance, try your tuna burgers with the Fig and Nectarine Relish that goes so well with grilled tuna; serve turkey burgers with the Yellow Tomato–Roasted Garlic Salsa that you normally make with a Grilled Lobster Quesadilla; or accompany your buffalo burger with Basil-Marinated Tomatoes, from the porterhouse steak recipe. Instead of the Grilled Onion Marmalade on your sausage sandwich, try the Grilled Pineapple Relish I give you with Spicy Pineapple-Glazed Sea Scallops, or the Apricot Chutney that goes with the Moroccan Spice–Rubbed Leg of Lamb.

Flatbreads are pizza by another name, and they make terrific partners to any grilled dish—or outstanding meals on their own. As long as your grill is hot enough and you have your dough made ahead of time, all you do is roll out the dough, brush with a little olive oil, add your topping, and grill. The list of possibilities is basically endless.