Holidays
Hot Stuff
Not Your Same Old Burger: 3 New Burger Recipes for the Grill
We all have our own version of the perfect burger. And we’ve probably grilled it more than we care to admit over the past few months. Now it’s time to step out of your burger comfort zone and graduate to some burgers that stretch not just your jaws, but your imagination. We give you: an American inside-out cheeseburger, a Greek-style ground lamb burger, and a Thai flavor ground veal burger. You can make these burgers with me while watching Project Smoke Season 3!...
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Celebrate National Bratwurst Day!
Bratwurst have become a staple of American cuisine, with grilled brats topping the list of favorite summer foods for many. So much have brats made their impression in this country, we now have a National Bratwurst Day dedicated to this tube-shaped food. August 16th is the official day - our friends at Johnsonville have even created a storybook character dedicated to this celebration and titled the day Bratsgiving. How will YOU be celebrating? Here are some facts about the...
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The Raichlen July 4th Menu
They get me when the first veterans march by. World War Two vets, white-haired but proud, followed by the men and women who served in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, and now Afghanistan and Iraq. Then comes a real Fife and Drum Corps in Revolutionary War garb, their snare drums rattling you to attention. It’s the Independence Day parade in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. I’ve celebrated July 4th in a lot of places (including overseas), but there’s nothing like a small town parade to make you feel patriotic. This Independence Day marks another...
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In Time for Father’s Day: 5 Great Recipes for Grilled Steak
George Stephens, Sr. fabricated the first prototype of his iconic Weber kettle grill in 1952. My family didn’t get the memo until the 1970s, meaning that all the steaks that ended up on our table were cooked on a grill with a lidless shallow fire pan. I recall the grill grate could be raised or lowered via a crank-operated center stem over the coals, but only by a couple of inches. Consequently, everything was direct grilled. And my father did steaks one way and one way only—hot, fast, and well done, seasoned...
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10 Awesome Gift Ideas for Dad on Father’s Day
Compared to moms, dads are notoriously difficult to shop for. One thing’s for sure: a bouquet of flowers won’t cut it. But if your father enjoys grilling or barbecuing (and few dads don’t), you don’t need to stress out. Which brings us to one of our most popular blogs of the year: our annual Father’s Day Gift Guide. We’re publishing it well in advance of June 18th this year, to give you a full month to shop for a gift for that most important man in your life. And if you’re a father yourself and see anything here you’d like . . . well, no one would blame you for printing out this list and...
Read more →Grilled and Smoked: Super Bowl LI, Part 2
Left two photos by Richard Dallett; bottom right by Lucy Schaeffer. Last week, we gave you a preview of our Super Bowl playbook—strategies for feeding ravenous sports fans who’ve been invited to your house for Sunday’s big game. Today, we’re making good on our promise to share more amazing Raichlen recipes for what is now the second biggest eating holiday after Thanksgiving. Truth be told, there were so many contenders for this year’s Super Bowl menu that it was difficult to narrow the field. Like a parent of multiple children,...
Read more →Grilled and Smoked: Super Bowl LI
Top left photo by Richard Dallett; top right and bottom left by Lucy Schaeffer. The suspense is over: The New England Patriots will face the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI (that’s 51 if your recall of Roman numerals is rusty) on Sunday, February 5, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. If you’re among the estimated 45 million Americans who will be hosting game day festivities at your house, the party planning can now begin in earnest. Super Bowl Sunday is, after all, one of the biggest eating days of the year, second only to Thanksgiving....
Read more →Reverse-Seared Smoked Beef Tenderloin for New Year’s
Whether you’re planning to ring in the New Year by hosting a festive sit-down dinner or an over-the-top buffet, there’s nothing more celebratory than a whole beef tenderloin. Yes, it’s extravagant. And, no, it’s not inexpensive. But it’s guaranteed to delight the carnivores in your circle—especially when smoke-roasted to sanguine perfection. An added bonus? It’s ridiculously easy to prepare—you can even do it ahead—and can be served...
Read more →Smoked Eggnog for the Holidays
Here’s something to get your holiday party rolling—a brimming punchbowl of eggnog. Not the cloying, additive-laced stuff sold in cardboard containers in your supermarket dairy section. No, we’re talking real eggnog, made with real eggs heavy cream, fortified with not one, but three spirits (a practice favored by no less than George Washington, who spiked his eggnog with sherry, rum, and rye whisky). The sort of eggnog that’s as thick...
Read more →The Ultimate Holiday Prime Rib
All photos by Rob Baas. Prime rib. No other hunk of meat has such wow power. And no other cut strikes more fear in the hearts of home grill masters. With the holidays just a few days away, I feel the anxiety level rising. My inbox is inundated with questions, while search engines thrum with the words “prime rib recipe.” For the record, Google returns 1,430,000 results. Your search is over, however. My two-step method, which I debuted on Project Smoke, is simply the...
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