Get Your Grill Groove On

Trish (the "T" in KT's) and I have four girls and the daily question around 3 pm is, "What's for dinner?", and the daily answer is (surprise!), "I don't know". 

I've come to the conclusion, that my girls don't really care what the answer the answer is (unless I say chocolate pudding cake), it's just an idle 3 o'clock in the afternoon question.

But it's summer and hot in our house (no AC) so we often consider grilling something not only because it hot inside and we don't want to make it hotter, but because grilling always sounds fast and fresh and it seems the right thing to do since it's summer and all (and you get to play with fire).

The key to getting in the groove of grilling on a regular basis is mostly a change in thinking, i.e. "I'm going to grill more often!". 

One year, 1993 I think, my New Year's resolution was simply to "eat more shrimp".  What a game changer for me - every time I was faced with an opportunity to eat shrimp, I took it, and I had my best year ever of shrimp eating. 

Making a similar, simple resolution to grill on a regular basis could be a game changer for you too.

With the difficult commitment part under your belt (particularly if you're a guy), there's a few steps you can take to help make this worthy goal a reality.

Do your grocery shopping with your new goal in mind (it might be helpful to make a little sign up that you can tape to the handle of your shopping cart that says, "Would this be good grilled?").   

Also, choose items that can be frozen or have a decent shelf life in the fridge, the idea being you've always got something on hand to throw on the grill.

Think boneless chicken breasts; chicken thighs; tri-tip (kabobs baby!); pork tenderloin(not in a marinade); kielbasa; hamburger; shrimp (oh yeah!); tilapia, salmon. 

Consider; corn on the cob; asparagus; red peppers; onions; mushrooms; pineapple; cantaloupe (what about French bread?); don't forget to pick-up a spice blend or two to sprinkle on (or make your own).

With the pantry stocked, check and round out your tools (because the right tools make any job a snap).  Have a sturdy wooden handled grill brush, an accurate probe thermometer, a pair of 12" stainless tongs and good spatula. 

Finally, clean your grill if you need to - a 20 minute job will get rid of the crud blocking your burners and creating nasty smoke.

Last but not least, know and apply the three keys to great grilling.

1.       Set-up a two sided fire on your grill

a.        A raging hot side to sear food to beautifulness

b.       A "cool" side to finish cooking food indirectly to internal doneness wonderfulness

2.       When searing on the  hot side never walk away - bad things happen fast over a raging hot fire

3.       Use an accurate probe thermometer to ensure things are cooked just the way you like them every time