Fired-up flavors

Marinades make the most of the grilling experience

By John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 03:00 p.m., May 13, 2008
Updated 07:33 p.m., May 13, 2008

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

Southeast Asian Seafood Marinade

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

Hans' Spicy-Sweet Beef Marinade

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

Ingredients for the Southeast Asian Seafood Marinade include coconut milk, herbs, spices, lime juice, peanut oil and orange zest.

Photo by Ellen Jaskol

May is National Barbecue Month, according to the National Barbecue Association. The organization suggests that it's not until Mother's Day or so that any of us haul our Webers (and our pale carcasses) out into the backyard sun again after a long hibernation.

Coloradans know better.

For us, January also is a barbecue month. So are February, June and October. We'll admit there are a few subfreezing winter weeks when we don't feel like shoveling a path to the grill, but it takes a lot to keep us from slapping flesh, fowl and fruit on the fire.

Grilling is a pretty fast process, which means less time to develop flavor inside and outside the food. That's why few foods aside from high-end ribeye steak and sushi- grade tuna go on our gas grill buck naked. Everything else gets bathed in a marinade or massaged with a salty rub.

The Association for Dressings & Sauces really wants you to go to the supermarket and buy your marinades, rubs and sauces. Now, we've got nothing against convenience, but a more affordable and possibly taste-o-rific alternative is to create your own flavor-makers from ingredients you probably already have on the shelf.

First, a few basics:

* A marinade is simply a liquid - often involving tart juices, vinegar or wine, with herbs, spices, salt and sweeteners - that tenderizes food, makes it juicier and infuses it with flavor.

* A rub is a dry mixture of salt, spices, herbs, etc., that's massaged into meats, seafood and vegetables. It seasons the surface and seals in juices.

* A brine is a salty liquid that soaks meats, especially chicken and turkey, and tends to make them juicier.

* Barbecue sauces are meant to be applied to fully cooked food or used as a dip. Never coat raw meat with barbecue sauce and then grill because it will just burn and blacken. Grill or smoke the meat or fish first, then sauce it.

* We won't wade into the great gas-vs.-charcoal debate, except to say that in our experience, people with gas grills tend to cook on them more frequently because they're easier to use.

The rub is choosing a marinade that's right for the food you're grilling.

lehndorffj@RockyMountainNews.com, 303-954-5103

Getting real smoke flavor minus the smoker

Barbecued ribs - slowly and deeply smoked - are a taste treat of the first order. However, most folks don't have a smoker or the hours required to use it properly. That doesn't mean you can't have some smoke flavor in your grilled chicken, beef or tofu.

We're not recommending Liquid Smoke or similarly obnoxious products. Sprinkling on specialty smoked sea salt helps, but the best and easiest way to add smoke is hardwood chips: hickory, mesquite, oak, apple or a mix.

With charcoal-fired grills, the chips can simply be added atop the coals. With a gas grill, you need something to hold the chips. Some use an open metal tray, but our solution is to make a chamber for the chips out of aluminum foil.

Cut two 2-foot-square pieces of foil. Put in a fistful of chips that have been dampened in water beforehand, and crimp the foil to create a sort of "chimney."

Place the foil package on the lowest grill level when you initially light it. The chips will cook and start to smoke. It can take a while before the chips start smoking. When they do, it's essential to keep the grill lid closed as much as possible.

When you're done, leave the chips on the grill. Chances are there's enough wood left that it will smoke even faster the next time you grill, but you can also add a few fresh chips. Another enhancing addition is a bunch of sage or other herb leaves from your garden or dried bay leaves and star anise from your pantry.

Mixed grill

* The 13th Annual Colorado BBQ Challenge, June 22 to 24 in Frisco, is Colorado's state championship barbecue cook-off. Info: townof frisco.com; 1-800-424-1554

* The 2008 Weber GrillWatch Survey reveals that 71 percent of Americans cook on their grill "at least once a week" during grilling season. Thirty-one percent of American grill owners are grilling more than they were a year ago because they're trying to eat healthier. More than a third (38 percent) of respondents are grilling more vegetables.

* The best grill and barbecue Web site we've found is fiery-foods.com/bbq/ index.asp, with a library of stories on grilling, smoking, rubs, marinades, mops, sauces and funny signs outside barbecue joints.

Vegetables

Try this: Marinades add flavor but generally don't do much to tenderize common grilling veggies such as tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, zucchini and bell peppers. Harder, denser vegetables such as potatoes, yams and winter squash need to be partially cooked - steamed, roasted or microwaved until more tender - before marinating and grilling. Our classic Mediterranean marinade also is great with eggplant slices (or halved Asian eggplants), portobello mushrooms, tofu, sliced fennel bulb and rhubarb.

Pork

Try this: Grilled pork goes especially well with marinades (and sauces) involving fruit, including peaches, pineapple, apricot and especially tart pie cherries. Our marinade uses the flavor and tenderizing nature of cherry "juice," drained from canned tart pie cherries, which also gives the meat a pinkish hue. I've used it on pork tenderloin, chops and loin, but it's particularly tasty with country-style boneless pork ribs.

Fish & seafood

Try this: Marinades with lemon, lime and other citrus juices complement scallops, shrimp, calamari and firm-fleshed fish. It's easy to overmarinate because acidic solutions can actually "cook" the shrimp, scallops or tuna; when that happens it can be served as seviche or tiradito. Although they're messier to eat, we prefer grilling shrimp in the shell rather than peeled because they retain more flavor and juiciness. Our marinade uses coconut milk to add a Thai flavor accent and seal in juiciness.

Chicken

Try this: Almost any marinade works well with chicken, and that's true of our four suggested picks for pork, seafood, beef and veggies. Keep in mind that the best chicken for grilling is not the bland, chewy, dry breast but rather boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They're far more moist and flavorful. Just be sure to fork-tenderize or pound the thighs so the marinade can soak in, and then make kebabs. Skewers expose more surfaces of the given protein to the heat, fire and smoke, thus creating caramelization - the flavor- maker when it comes to cooked flesh.

Beef

Try this: Big-ticket items like filet mignon, ribeyes and T- bones are already tender and require only salt and fresh- ground black pepper on the grill. For the flank, skirt steak, tri-tip and round steaks that my 14-year-old son and I typically grill, strong, dark marinades involving soy sauce, balsamic vinegar or stout ale work wonders with beef. Try placing steaks in our marinade made with maple syrup and sesame oil for 2 hours or more, grill to temperature, slice thin and serve with real mashed potatoes.

• May 14, 2008

  5:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  CyberHostage writes:

  I ran for President of the National Barbecue Association, but I was lamb-basted for insisting that one of the SUMMER months should be National Barbecue Month. That's okay. I wasn't up for the frequent roasts and the endless grilling anyhoo.

  Besides I am sure there are other associations. Let me see what the Deep-Fryer people are organizing.