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Grilled and Smoked Recipes to Make in September
Some parts of the country have already experienced the first snowfall of the season, signaling it’s not too early to put cool-weather foods on your grill or smoker. Below are seven of our season-straddling favorites, from appetizers to dessert.
7 Early Fall Grilled and Smoked Recipes
1. Smoky Bloody Marys
An uncertain tailgating season means more of us will be cheering on our favorite sports teams from home rather than stadium parking lots. Set up a Bloody Mary bar with your favorite condiments, and let guests serve themselves. Steven likes to make his cocktails with smoky-tasting mezcal, but feel free to use the more traditional vodka. Either way, we wouldn’t say no to a beef jerky stirring stick. If you’re a jerky newbie, check out our blog on how to make it.
2. Grilled Clams with Italian Sausage and Sambuca
If you follow the folkloric rule that shellfish should be consumed only in the months that end with the letter “R,” the last quarter of the year is your time. While we love the clambakes that are a fall tradition in some parts of the country, these clams, topped with Italian sausage and bread crumbs and drizzled with anise-y Sambuca are positively addictive. A shellfish rack is a handy thing to have, but you can also balance the bivalves between the bars of the grill grate.
3. Inside-Out Cheeseburgers with Homemade Ketchup
Take your burger game to the next level with this juicy, cheese-stuffed “inside out” burger with homemade ketchup. The latter is a great use for those end-of-the-season sun-ripened tomatoes. You can even can the ketchup and give it away as holiday gifts.
4. Squash and Black Bean Pizza with Queso Fresco
You could certainly buy a pound or two of dough at your favorite pizza parlor, but the Honey Beer Pizza Dough is easy to make–definitely a recipe you’ll want to add to your repertoire. Top it with this imaginative combination of autumn-appropriate black beans and butternut squash roasted in the embers (a technique we call caveman grilling). Finish it off with crumbled queso fresco and fresh cilantro.
5. Spit-Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables
The most difficult part of this recipe is affixing a plump chicken to the rotisserie spit. (Don’t have a rotisserie set-up? Below, we suggest a work-around.) It’s truly a simple meal. Spin the chicken over a foil pan of root vegetables–sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, shallots, golden beets, carrots, or parsnips (your choice).
In the absence of a rotisserie, set up your grill for indirect grilling. Place the vegetables (quartered or halved, depending on their size) in a sturdy foil roasting pan. Place a wire cooling rack over the pan and arrange the chicken on top. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to medium-high. Place the chicken and the root vegetables on the grill grate away from direct heat. Place the lid on the grill. Roast the chicken until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh is 165 degrees and the vegetables are tender when pierced with a skewer.
6. Smoked Beet Salad with Smoky Raisin Vinaigrette
The fire wrangler on Steven’s show, Project Fire, recently shared on of his favorite recipes with us; a version of it will appear in Steven’s next book, How to Grill Vegetables. (The book will be released in April, but will be available for preorders soon. Watch for news!) With its jewel-like colors, it’s a great way to segue from summer to fall salads.
7. Smoky Bourbon Peach Cobbler
From our friend Russ Falk, the designer behind the jaw-dropping grills from the Kalamazoo Gourmet line—you’ve seen them on Project Fire and Project Smoke—comes this recipe for a soul-satisfying peach cobbler smoked with chunks (or chips) of pecan wood. Serve it with a dollop of smoked ice cream. (Or if you missed peach season, substitute other fruits like apple.)
What’s on your grill or smoker this month? Share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, or Instagram!