Newsletter Archive
Do you have a favorite restaurant, food truck, or burger joint (or even a fond memory of one) that makes outstanding burgers, burgers that are uncommonly, inexplicably good? “Wait a minute,” you think. “I make good burgers at home. Why don’t they taste like this?” The answer? Because many of these chefs and chef-like ground beef greats have a few tricks up their sleeves. Read on, and you’ll be privy to “secrets” that will have the guests at your table murmuring, “Best burger…ever!”
In our experience, the serious practitioners of barbecue always have a few tricks up their sleeves. Below, we share with you some of the most useful we’ve collected, along with several recipes to back them up.
In our experience, the serious practitioners of barbecue always have a few tricks up their sleeves. Below, we share with you some of the most useful we’ve collected, along with several recipes to back them up.
April is a tease—sometimes warm enough to make you believe summer is on its way—before cruelly yanking your hope away! However, we urge you to take advantage of those “let’s fire up the grill” days by making these tantalizing recipes.
This spring, we urge you to give versatile lamb a try! Tender, rich, meaty, and compatible with many flavor combinations, lamb’s versatility is unmatched. Explore its many cuts to find your favorites—loin, shoulder, ribs, brisket, bone-in or boneless leg of lamb, steaks, loin or rib chops, etc.
If you’re new to grilling lamb, we recommend you start with a leg of lamb or shoulder. If using shoulder, ask your butcher to remove any excess intermuscular fat (this is where the gamier flavors hang out) and to roll and tie it for a more uniform shape that can be rotisseried or indirect grilled.
Here are a few of our favorite recipes:
Revised, redesigned, and beautifully photographed, this updated classic from America’s barbecue guru offers 50 recipes for the ultimate chicken grilling technique—on a beer can—plus brilliant recipes for birds off the can, perfect sides, and even desserts!
Chicken on a beer can? You bet! When Steven Raichlen, America’s barbecue guru, says it’s the best grilled chicken he’s ever tasted, cooks stop and listen. An essential addition to every grill jockey’s library, Beer-Can Chicken presents foolproof recipes for the ultimate poultry grilling technique, plus the perfect sides and desserts—more than 50 recipes in all. The results? The perfect bird, crackly crisp, succulent within—the most flavorful chicken you’ve ever tasted. Beer-Can Tandoori with yogurt, warming spices, and of course, India’s Kingfisher Lager. Sake Chicken with a wasabi-sesame rub. Truffled Chicken and Cousin Rob’s Cajun Chicken. Other birds on the can: Root Beer Game Hens and Beer-Can Turkey (perched on a 32-ounce can of Foster’s). ”Beerless birds” (Ginger Ale Chicken, Black Cherry Soda Chicken), and birds cooked off the can in clever ways—like Stoned Chicken (grilled under a brick) and Welder’s Chicken (wrapped in foil and turned with welder’s gloves). Whether on a can, under a brick, or in the embers, each grilling technique is explained in easy-to-follow steps, with recipes that guarantee no matter how wild the process, the results are always outstanding. Includes sides, desserts, and all new instructions for beer-canning on a pellet grill—with full-color step-by-step and beauty photography throughout.
Are you up for a gratifying challenge this year? Want to serve a genuine home-cured ham to your guests this Easter? There’s plenty of time for Smokehouse Shoulder Ham if you start soon.
Just as a Thanksgiving holiday turkey often delivers an even stronger performance as a sandwich the following day, the same can be said for St. Patrick’s Day corned beef. Below are some of our best suggestions for corned beef leftovers. If you’re lucky enough to have them!
There’s something so seductive about a whole chicken rotating slowly on a spit, its skin browning to crisp perfection, its rich-tasting fat basting the meat as it roasts over the flavor-boosting powers of wood smoke.
Can you buy rotisserie chicken at your local big box store or supermarket? Of course. (Costco sells over 170 million per year.) But why would you, when a chicken seasoned and smoke-roasted at home is easy, versatile, and so satisfying? This cooking technique not only ensures even cooking, but also imparts a delightful crispy skin and succulent meat. Follow these simple steps, found in Steven’s book, Project Smoke, and you’ll be a rotisserie chicken master in no time.
March Madness is right around the corner and that means watching your favorite team with family and friends. It is more fun that way, but the group will want to eat! Here are two simple appetizers to keep your crew fed while watching the game.
One of my go-to appetizers for a crowd is chicken wings. They are easy to make and the flavor profiles for wings are endless. My second appetizer is not as common as wings but is simple and always a hit. It is smoked camembert cheese with grilled bread.
Today I will share how I spiced up my wings and smoked cheese with the help of the Texas Pepper Jelly Company.
While many people confine their grilling to weekends or their days off, your grill can be an ally in putting great food on the table fast any night of the week. An added bonus? Clean-up’s easier, too.
Whether you cook over charcoal or gas, it generally takes less than 15 minutes for your grill to come up to temperature—time you can use to give foods like chicken breast or shrimp a quick marinade in your favorite vinaigrette, or season simply with a rub. Other proteins that can be finished in minutes include pork tenderloin or chops, burgers, thinner cuts of steak, brats, lamb chops, or fish fillets. Prepare extra servings so you’ll have the makings for another meal.
As an active recipe tester for many years for barbecue master Steven Raichlen, I have taken to buying premium meats online from some of the country’s most well-regarded artisanal purveyors. One of my favorites is Porter Road.
Porter Road recently sent me a magnificent trio of pork cuts, including pork flank, bavette, and short ribs.
The pork flank I received was pasture-raised and generously marbled. My mind went immediately to fajitas.
