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CHAPTER 5: |
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WHEN YOU’VE GOT A GARDEN GOING AND THE GRILL FIRED UP, dinner is only minutes away. A few fresh-picked vegetables and fruits, snipped herbs, and tender cuts of poultry, pork, beef, fish, and shellfish can all combine for a meal worth celebrating. At the very least, you can add a handful of fresh greens to each plate, top them with something grilled, and drizzle the plate with garden-fresh vinaigrette.
Choose thin, tender, boneless cuts of chicken, turkey, pork, or beef to cook as quickly as the vegetables do. Boneless chicken or turkey breast, boneless chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, and boneless steaks all grill well with vegetables.
You can easily substitute firm tofu for any of the chicken, turkey, pork, or beef cuts; simply brush the tofu with olive oil, season to taste, and grill, turning once, until the tofu has good grill marks. Tofu is already “cooked,” so you’re just adding the grill flavor.
Chicken, turkey, pork, and sausage of all kinds should be completely cooked through to a temperature of 160 to 165°F. Remember that the meat’s internal temperature will continue to rise by about 5 degrees after you take it off the grill. Thin cuts are difficult to judge by temperature; it’s just as easy to cut into the middle to check doneness. The juices should run clear.
Beef steaks, on the other hand, can be easily checked with a grill or instant-read thermometer. Just remember that the temperature will continue to rise by about 5 degrees after you take the steak off the grill. So, if you like your steak rare (125°F), pull it off the grill when the internal temperature reaches 120°F. Let the steak rest for about 5 to 10 minutes; this also helps keep the juices from running out of the steak when it’s cut. Fish fillets and shellfish cook quickly. Fish cooks in about 10 minutes per inch of thickness over a hot fire, turning once. Most fish fillets are about 3/4 inch thick in the thickest part, so they take about 7 to 8 minutes total to grill. By turning fish fillets only once (and preferably with a wide fish spatula), you keep the delicate fish from falling apart on the grill. If you’ve never grilled a fish fillet before, practice on a less expensive, but still delicious, farm-raised catfish fillet.
If you have a large grill, you can do the meat on one side and the vegetables on the other. If you have a small grill, it’s best for food safety reasons to grill the vegetables first.
Chicken Paillard and Baby Green Beans
with Mustard Seed Sauce
Tandoori Turkey Burgers with
Grilled Red Onions and Tomatoes
Grilled Turkey Breast over Winter Greens with
Warm Cranberry Vinaigrette
Brats with Grilled Kale and Horseradish Butter
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Fig Skewers
Wood-Grilled Shrimp and Yellow Peppers
Peppered Tuna with Grilled Peach, Red Bell Pepper,
and Onion Relish
Char-Grilled Salmon and Baby Squash
Blackened Beef with Thai Chile Noodles
and Baby Bok Choy
Flank Steak with Grilled Peppers and Onions
Kansas City Strip Steaks with
Parmesan Grilled Vegetables
