Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Signe]

I agree that the Weber is the bestest charcoal grill. I have both a 22" and an 18" old style 'Silver' on the front porch. I don't use brickettes in it, just lump charcoal and blocks of wood, and it's fantastic. Last year I upgraded to a heavier gauge hinged steel cooking grate. Makes adding wood in cooking much easier.

That 26.75" seems like it might be even better. Might be big enough to replace both grills on the porch.

Is it?  Maybe that's the one I did look at.  I can't remember the name.  It was months ago.  Anyway, the touch system is just that the ash gets channeled easily into a tray on the bottom so you can just take it off and dump it for disposal.  It makes it really, really easy to clean up. 

[Sky]

Yeah, I want to get a Weber tub, too. I'm just wicked lazy.

Today for lunch I had a slab of leftover rib steak on a bun with a little s&p. I didn't tell my fiancee about it until after she had ordered at Wendy's. I was a bad man.

OMF it was sooooog good and tender. If I had a bar&grill, I would serve that as my burger. Wouldn't be cheap, but zomfg is it gooooood.

[Yegolev]

Yeah, I want to get a Weber tub, too. I'm just wicked lazy.

This is my excuse.  One can tout any cleanup system they want, but unless it involves someone else disposing of the ashes, I'm not going to bother.  There's a reason nomadic people moved around: no one wanted to clean up the ashes.  My LP grill makes perfectly edible steak and cleanup is as simple as turning the burners all the way up for a few minutes and five seconds of brushing.

[rattran]

I keep a small trashcan near the grill. Before grilling, I dump the old ash in the can. Every couple months when the can is full I add it to the pile of leaves/branches/grass clippings. Not a big amount of work for cleanup. I think the charcoal/wood leave less and finer ash than the brickettes do as well.

I've considered getting a small lp grill for winter, it's hard to get the charcoal going when it's below zero here.

[Prospero]

The Weber is so damn easy to clean. I'm a pretty lazy person, and even I can manage to do it. You literally twist one piece, walk to the garbage can, and dump. 30 seconds tops depending on how far away your garbage can is, and the difference in taste between real wood and gas is immeasurable. Really. Try it. You'll like it.

[Sky]

Don't forget buying, loading, and lighting the coal first. There's a bit of overhead and mess compared to twisting a knob. I don't disagree with the flavor part, it's pure laziness. You have no idea how lazy I am :) It's amazing I ever get out of bed. What surprises me is finding out how many people are far lazier!

[Signe]

Gas is so cheap and easy that if I were to be able to get the flavour in red meat and game birds that I can with wood and charcoal, I would have kept our last grill.  These grills with the ash can on the bottom, however, look just as easy.

[Salamok]

I love my gas grill because it is simply the fastest/least hassle way to eat.  Instant heat, consistent temps, very little clean up and virtually no prep.  I do like the added flavor of a wood/charcoal grill but i'd probably grill about 1/4 as much as i do now if I had to wait for the coals (no way i'd be tending that in the rain or cold).

[Yegolev]

I can always put some wood into the gas grill.  Next!

[Signe]

You mean like a plank?  Or can you actually burn hardwood in your gas grill?

[Sky]

I love my gas grill because it is simply the fastest/least hassle way to eat. 

That's the thing. I can grill a couple burgers when I go home for lunch. I can also shut it off and put it in the garage without worrying about burning my house down.

[Signe]

I used to grill a lot more in Britain than I do here, all seasons - all weather but it also didn't rain sideways and wasn't nearly as cold in the winter.  We also had very cool next door neighbours to party with.  With a gas grill, my food tastes just the same as if I used my gas cooker or indoor grill.  It's the char-grilled taste I'm after when I cook outdoors.  I might only use it once every couple of weeks or so, but I enjoy it much more than I did using a gas grill.  I guess I'm not so lazy as a man, too!   

[Sky]

I don't like doing dishes. Grilling = one less pan.

Though I'll be getting into more extravagant dishes once I finally get the plumber out to connect my dishwasher!

[voodoolily]

I don't like doing dishes. Grilling = one less pan.

Are you kidding? Grills are a pain in the ass to clean! And ours was left yucky all winter (looking at you, husband of mine), so we'll probably need to put it in the oven and run the self-cleaning cycle to get it clean.

[Prospero]

What you say?

Stick burning coals in grill
Put grate on grill
Wait till coals cool to proper heat
Brush grate for 30 seconds

I'm usually using a medium heat for all my cooking, so by the time the coals have cooled enough most of the gunk is cooked off.

[Sky]

I've got pretty beefy cast iron grates. Heat them to 450-500, brush 'em down, use some veg oil on 'em. I treat them like my cast iron pans for the most part, only gets real messy if cheese melts on them. Then you gotta char the shit outta the cheese and it scrapes right off.

Cleaning the chassis interior is a pita, though. Mine is due and I'm not looking forward to it...

[rattran]

Meh, I get the power washer out spring and fall and give both grills a good wash. Otherwise as Sky said, just get the grates hot and scrape 'em. Also I shift the bottom grate 1/4 turn each time, as I build the fire up on one side of the kettle so as to have more heat control and don't want the coals to always be against the same spot.

[Salamok]

You mean like a plank?  Or can you actually burn hardwood in your gas grill?

They sell a smoke box type of accessory that is just a metal box you put wood chips in.

[Signe]

I don't like doing dishes. Grilling = one less pan.

Are you kidding? Grills are a pain in the ass to clean! And ours was left yucky all winter (looking at you, husband of mine), so we'll probably need to put it in the oven and run the self-cleaning cycle to get it clean.

You don't need to do anything except sit back and relax with a hot mug of peppermint tea while Sauced takes care of the grill cleaning and your foot massage.

They sell a smoke box type of accessory that is just a metal box you put wood chips in.

I've never seen that.  Does it work well?

[voodoolily]

They sell a smoke box type of accessory that is just a metal box you put wood chips in.

I've never seen that.  Does it work well?

I use aluminum foil. Just make a little packet to hold the chips, seal it up and pierce the foil a few times. Works a charm. Oh, get the chips wet first to get more smoke. A little handful of chips is enough to flavor the whole grill full of food.

[Miguel]

I did Beercan Chicken for the first time.

I got a 22" Weber for my birthday (about 5 years ago!, just got around to putting it together) similar to the one posted end of last page.  I set it up for indirect grilling, and cooked the chicken right in the middle.  About 10 chunks of mesquite charcoal per side gave me the 250 or so degrees I was looking for.  Took two hours.

I added a dry rub of garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and celery seeds.  In the beer can was some Budweiser, some of the dry rub, some honey, and some apple cider vinegar.



Totally worth the prep time.  Juiciest chicken I have ever had!

[Yegolev]

You mean like a plank?  Or can you actually burn hardwood in your gas grill?

Well, there is some actual accessory that I can put into my grill that is basically a tray for wood chips, but I bet I can rig up something that would probably survive at least one grilling cycle.

Grills are a pain in the ass to clean!

Gas grills are not.  Crank it to eleven for a couple of minutes, once over with a wire brush.

OK, look, I have a serious question.  I concocted a marinara that, well, was missing something.  I was going for simple: can of diced tomatoes, two cans of paste, some water since I used one too many cans of paste, garlic powder, salt, sugar.  Then more sugar because those tomatoes were sour as hell.  Then more sugar.  I stopped adding sugar because the boy said he liked it, but it was still sour.  Also some "Italian Seasoning" and a dash of cayenne just on the GP.

That sauce was missing something.  Do I need to simmer for a long while?  Maybe more salt?  Oil?  Cook the diced tomatoes first?  I need some ideas.

[Trippy]

Get better canned tomatoes. You shouldn't need that much sugar. If you are going to add that much you might as well just buy some Prego.

[Bunk]

You shouldn't need any freaking sugar in a tomato based sauce.

[Yegolev]

Get better canned tomatoes.

Any elaboration on that?  I didn't think sugar was anathema to tomato anyway, but hey.

[Trippy]

You shouldn't need any freaking sugar in a tomato based sauce.

Depends on how lazy you are and whether or not you take the time to cook down the canned tomatoes to concentrate the sugars. Even the best canned tomatoes aren't that flavorful if you just heat and serve.

Edit: added quote

[Trippy]

Get better canned tomatoes.

Any elaboration on that?  I didn't think sugar was anathema to tomato anyway, but hey.

Here's some I currently have in my kitchen:


"Conventional Wisdom" says that the San Marzano tomatoes from Italy are the best for this sort of thing. Of the ones I've tried the one on the left is my favorite. The right one is a "random" one that was on sale that's pretty good too. The middle Muir Glen one doesn't use San Marzano tomatoes but it's decent and you are far more likely to find it in your normal US supermarket (the other two are imported).

I prefer whole peeled tomatoes and then I squish them myself with my hands if I need crushed tomatoes for a tomato sauce but sometimes I'm lazy and I need diced tomatoes which is why I have a can of diced ones as well.

[Signe]

If you use something like Hunt's tomatoes, you probably add sugar because there's so much acid.  Maybe a better brand would help.  San Marzano are allegedly at the top of the tomato sauce tree.  They really are nice tasting, too.  Use something like Cento tomatoes.  They're sweet already and not acidy so you won't need sugar.  Unless you're going for that sweet cinnamon-y tomato sauce - which I don't see how you could make that fast.  Also, when I make sauce, I make lots and put it in containers and freeze it all.  Some canned sauce is good, too.  Paul Newman's Basil and Tomato and Wegman's Smooth Marinara are both great.  I don't actually feel guilty about using ready made canned sauce when it's not tomato season.  Nothing worse than sauce made from tomatoes that shouldn't exist.

Or stock up on Spaghetti Os.  I have a friend who kid wouldn't eat anything else until he was 10 or 11.  

[Signe]

Uhh... or what Trippy said.  Sheesh.  Really.  I'm not Trippy!  (or Ookii)  And if I had bothered to read anything after the new post warning, I probably wouldn't have bothered!)

Also - get a veggie mill.  Don't squish em up with your hands!  They're not expensive and you're hands will stay soft as a baby's arse.

[Trippy]

Also - get a veggie mill.  Don't squish em up with your hands!  They're not expensive and you're hands will stay soft as a baby's arse.

Funny you should mention that. There's a brand that uses domestically grown "San Marzano-style" tomatoes that's popular with some celebrity chefs and one of the reasons I don't like them is cause their peeled tomatoes are "tougher" and stringy and you do feel like you need to run them through a food mill. Other brands are "softer" and crushing with your hands gives a nice chunky rustic feel to your sauce rather then using a food mill and ending up with something you would use for, say, gazpacho.

[Yegolev]

Alright, I'm a Muir Glen man already, so my idea of cooking the tomatoes first was probably the key.  I'll give that a shot.  Previously my sauce contained a can of Campbell's tomato soup, but I'm trying to not do that since I might as well just buy premade sauce.  I'm not damn Sandra Lee.

Am I to use a vegetable mill so that my hands stay soft?  Does not sound like something I need to bother with, especially when I can just use a potato-masher if I need to.

Of course, I remember when I shredded cups and cups of potatoes using a handheld grater and cursed Jesus for burying them for us to find.  My wife then says "your food processor has one of those hashbrown blades" and I looked under the cabinet and was all like "fuck, it does".  I'm not sure if that means I should get a vegetable mill or not.

[Trippy]

If you want a smooth sauce you might want to get a food mill.

[Signe]

I like my tomatoes strained and the seeds out.  When I make something like lasagna, I want the sauce very smooth and not chunky at all.  My hands also get irritated from too much tomato and I hate wearing gloves when I cook.  I also don't use tomato paste when I make sauce.  Maybe that makes it bitter, too?  You could probably live your whole life and never think of using a vegetable mill!    

Seriously though, some of the pre-made sauces are really good.  I use them often.

[Salamok]

um why the garlic powder instead of garlic?  No need for any sugar, toss in a finely diced sweet onion and a glass of red wine (be sure and simmer it long enough to reduce the wine out).

[Sky]

Go very light on garlic powder, it can be bitter and add an off taste. And when you add garlic to a saute or anything exposed to medium or high heat, add it just before it's done, like 30 seconds. Just enough to bloom or it'll burn and lend an off-flavor. I'm cuckoo for garlic!

I also use the Muir Glen, with the occasional Redpack. I do use paste, though, I like a thick sauce and rarely have time to simmer it down enough. I usually start my basic sauce by sauteing onions and peppers, adding garlic at the end. Then I dump in some canned tomatoes and a little paste. I only add a pinch of maple sugar, and a few herbs. Voila, quick and easy weeknight sauce.