Summertime Grill

Wesley & Matthew gave me a new gas grill for my birthday, and we’ve been experimenting with some new recipes.  Here are a few of our favorites:

Balsamic Grilled Vegetables (Recipe from the Food Network)

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow squash, sliced on bias
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced on bias
• 1 medium eggplant sliced into 1/2-inch thick circles (I omitted this… don’t like eggplant)
• 1 red onion, sliced in 1/2-inch thick circles
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise (I used large cherry tomatoes)
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
• 1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
• 2 portobello mushroom caps, gilled and peeled
• 3 green onions
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• I added about a teaspoon of herbs from the McCormick Italian Herb Seasoning Grinder, i think a sprinkle of Italian seasoning would also work.

Directions (modified by Laura)

Cut up all vegetables, and place in a one-gallon zip lock.  Pour marinade over, and refrigerate until ready for grilling.  Our vegetables actually filled two bags (one for today, one for tomorrow…. of course the veggies that soaked an extra day were best, but the bag prepared after about an hour was tasty too). 

Pre-heat grill to high.

Place vegetables in a grilling wok or basket (example shown in these photos):

Grill for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, but not soft, and are evenly marked with grill marks.  Enjoy!

Rock’s T-Bone Steaks (Courtesy of All Recipes.com, link here)

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander, or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric, or to taste
• 4 (16 ounce) t-bone steaks, at room temperature.  We actually used this rub on both beef t-bone steak, and buffalo ribeye.

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate. Stir the salt, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, coriander, and turmeric together in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Rub the steaks on all sides with the seasoning mixture. Cook on the preheated grill to your desired degree of doneness, 3 to 3 1/2 minutes per side for medium-rare. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 130 degrees F (54 degrees C).

Grilled Corn

1.) Select nice sweet corn for grilling.  It’s okay to peel away a little of the husk to peek at the rows.

2.) Trim the messy tip of husk/silk away with kitchen scissors, but do not remove the husks or try to open and peel away the corn silk.   Some recipes said you had to do that, and others said you didn’t.  I didn’t, and it worked out perfectly.

3.) Gently wash the husk-covered cobs in the kitchen sink, and then fill the sink with cool water.  Soak the cobs for at least 2-3 hours, with some sort of a weight on top of them to keep them from floating.  I used my grill basket… it was the right size in the sink, and heavy enough to keep the cobs under water.

4.) Drain the excess water out the tops and put them on a hot grill for approximately 30 minutes.  Turn them every 5 minutes or so, using tongs.

5.)  Expect that the husks will burn and some may catch on fire.  Move the scorched pieces away. The corn will not burn, as long as it is moved/rotated, and  it steams from the inside.  Do not put directly on hot coals.  Once the husks are mostly all blackened,  and just a few layers remain, remove from grill, and husk.  Careful, the cobs are hot!  Most of the silk will easily come off with the husks.  Just pick off the last few strands, cover with butter, salt, and pepper (if desired), and enjoy!