Diablo Potatoes

In case you don't know Diablo is another name for the Devil and we gave this potato recipe the name Diablo for a couple of reasons.

First it is a quick way to remember how long to cook them- 666- 6 minutes, 6 minutes, 6 -10 minutes. And secondly we almost always serve these with a simple Sriracha Mayonnaise for dipping.

Now before we get to the potatoes I have to ask are you familiar with Sriracha? If you like spicy foods and you aren't you need to run to the store and get some of this wonderful condiment. It will be found on the aisle with the Asian foods, it is a wonderfully spicy sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. It is one of my go to ingredients when I want to add a bit of heat to just about any dish. To make Sriracha Mayonnaise simply add some Sriracha to mayonnaise to taste, a little goes a long way so add it in small amounts and taste as you go. I like to make this up around the time I start the grill so it has time to sit in the fridge. This allows the flavors to “marry” a bit.

Now onto those potatoes. Start with large baking type potatoes, one per person is usually enough but if you think people are going to be really hungry it is certainly easy to add a few extras to the batch.

Wash those potatoes really well and then cut them lengthwise into 6 – 8 wedges each. I normally do e 6 unless the potatoes are really fat. Now immediately toss the wedges of potato with some oil- either vegetable oil or olive oil- whatever is handy. I like to do this in a large plastic bag to make clean up super easy. Now season to taste with salt, pepper and dry herbs/spices. This is where you can get creative use whatever sounds good to you at the time or that you feel will go well with the rest of the meal. If you are using Italian dry herb seasoning in the maindish throw some in with the potatoes, maybe some chili powder or whatever. Remember potatoes are fairly bland and take well to just about any seasoning. The only thing you can really do wrong here is to not season them, at the very least throw in some salt and pepper.

Now over direct heat on the grill- and you want it to be a fairly hot grill- place the potatoes laying on one of the cut sides. Let them cook on the covered grill for 6 minutes. Now turn them all to the other cut side keeping them over direct heat for another 6 minutes. At this point they should be cooked most of the way through and be nicely browned on both cut sides. Now flip them over onto the peel side and place them to the side of the grill (indirect heat part) and cook for another 6 to 10 minutes. This is usually a good time to get the burgers or steaks cooked. At the end of the last cooking time they should be cooked through. They can actually hang out for a few more minutes if need be on the cooler side of the grill. 

on the first side

second side

finishing off on the cool side of the grill while the rest of dinner cooks

 

Serve with the Sriracha Mayonnaise or whatever you like to dip your fries into.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon on the Grill

This is a really quick little dress up for salmon that I think you will really enjoy. It has a hint of sweetness offset by a bit of sour and hint of heat. How can it get any better than that.

The last time I made this we used the amounts for the sauce that I am giving you here and for most people they would probably be perfect. Next time my son wants me to double the Sriracha because he felt it was not spicy enough. So if you like spicy you might want to increase the hot sauce a bit when you make it. I thought it was wonderful and liked the fact that none of the flavors (spicy, sour, sweet) was in the forefront, they played well together and were very balanced.

If you are not familiar with Sriracha sauce I highly recommend you add it to your list of staple ingredients to keep on hand. You will find it with the Asian foods in most grocery stores. It is easy to identify by the rooster on the label. It originates in Thai cooking and is just wonderful in so many dishes. It adds not only a bit of heat but also a garlicky slightly sweet almost smokey flavor to anything you add it to. I use it to season so many things.

If you are braver than I am you can cook this right on the grill rack, I cooked ours on a piece of well oiled foil. I didn't want to risk loosing any of the fish to the grill. I have had bad luck in the past trying to deal with delicate fish on the grill racks. For me the aluminum foil underneath just is a bit of insurance that I will get to eat the fish and not watch it fall through the rack to the charcoal below. You still get the smokiness that we are looking for on the grill so it is up to you. I think I really should go get a fish basket for the grill but I never remember that when I am in the store, I remember it when I am facing the grill with a chunk of fish. The only real downside to cooking on the foil was we lost the wonderful salmon skin to the foil, it stuck and was not to be removed. With a fish basket I am sure the skin would have been left intact on the fillet.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon on the Grill

1 (1 lb) salmon fillet (skin on)

oil

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon prepared mustard (any variety)

¼ teaspoon Sriracha Sauce (or to taste)

Fresh chopped chives

Look over your salmon and remove any remaining bones (they always seem to miss a few) and use the oil to coat the skin.

Lay skin side down on well oiled aluminum foil or in a fish basket.

Combine brown sugar, vinegar, honey, mustard and Sriracha sauce in a small bowl. Brush the salmon with the sauce.

Grill skin side down, over medium coals 10 to 15 minutes or until the salmon flesh flakes easily and is opaque.

Sprinkle with chopped chives just before serving.

Beer Can Chicken

We make this chicken several time every summer and it is really popular every time I start just like I do every time I cook a whole bird, I brine the chicken. If you have never brined a bird check out my blog post on roasted chicken (here) to find my brine recipe. I use the same brine whether anytime I cook a whole bird everything from a Cornish game hen to a turkey. For a small bird (like the Cornish game hen) I only brine for an hour or two, the chicken today for 4 to 6 hours and for that turkey overnight. It really does make a difference in the not only the flavor but the moistness of your finished bird.

For beer can chicken I buy a 12 pack of beer in 12 oz cans at the beginning of every summer. These are reserved as my “cooking beer” and by summer's end they will be gone. I use them in a lot things from the this chicken to BBQ sauce.

So on the morning you want to cook your beer can chicken get that chicken into the brine solution and let it hang out in the fridge soaking up the brine all day. About 3 hours before we want to eat we get the charcoal grill started up, I want that charcoal to burning really well and have a chance to get the grill nice and hot. I do only cook on charcoal and in a typical week we can go through 20 to 40 pounds of charcoal in the summer, especially if it is hot and I want to avoid my kitchen. We started using a charcoal chimney several years ago and I haven't bought lighter fluid since. We find we can taste the lighter fluid in the food so we are much happier with this method.

We are going to cook our chicken using the indirect heat method. After those coals get a chance to get going really well, divide them into two piles one of each side of your grill. Add more charcoal to each pile, you need to have enough to maintain a medium fire for about 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on how big your chicken is. In the open space between these piles of charcoal place an aluminum foil pan to catch the drippings from your chicken. Place your rack on the grill.

Now drain the brine off the chicken and rinse off the skin then dry the surface off with some paper towels.

Open your can of beer and make several additional openings in the top with a can opener. Pour off ½ to 2/3 cup of beer from the can and add a couple of peeled cloves of garlic to the beer in the can. Coat the outside of the can with vegetable oil.

When you are ready to grill the chicken carefully place the chicken over the can (inserting the can into the opening in the chicken)

When placing the chicken and beer can on the grill you will have to adjust the balance a bit to make it stand up. This can be tricky the first time but be patient and you should be able to balance the combination. Now carefully lower the lid on your grill and cook the chicken for about 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the chicken is cooked through (meat thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180 degrees Fahrenheit)

Carefully, using thick hot pads and a spatula (long tongs and an extra set of hands are good too) remove the chicken and the can from the grill. Remember the contents of the can are extremely hot don't get it on yourself. Carefully remove the can from the chicken (you might need to twist it a bit to get it to release) and discard the contents of the can.

Allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting up and serving.

Lemon Chili Salmon

Since I live a bit out of town and it is not always convenient to get to the grocery store I like to keep a good variety of stuff on hand that is easy and quick for dinner. Since I really love fish and seafood I like to keep a lot of those items on hand.  For connivance sake I like the frozen products that individually vacuum packed and then frozen. The fish is frozen fresh and since it remains frozen until I thaw it out it stays that way. I was looking through  the freezer at one of my local stores and I noticed a package of salmon fillets, I hadn't  tried these before so I threw them into my cart. I removed them from the freezer to thaw out in my fridge today, then started to think about what direction I wanted to take with this meal. I checked out what was on hand and based on those items and our tastes I decided this meal will take a Southwest trend. I started the rice cooker with some brown rice along with some chopped green onion, cumin, chili powder, chicken bouillon powder and a little fresh ground pepper along with the required amount of water. We love brown rice and it is a wonderful blank canvass to add seasonings so it will go with your meal. I will be doing so actual recipes for the rice cooker in the next week or so.  I decided to cook the salmon on my grill pan on the stove top. Then I combined some spices with some fresh lemon juice to brush on the salmon. I also cut some lemon halves to grill alongside the fish. I made sure the bottom side of the salmon was well oiled so it wouldn't stick to the grill. When the grill pan was thoroughly heated I brushed the lemon juice/spice mixture over the top side of the salmon. I carefully placed the salmon on the heated grill oiled side down and tucked the lemon halves next to them and cooked them until the were done to our liking. With a nice vegetable to round out the meal we had a very nice, easy and satisfying meal.

Lemon Chili Salmon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
2 lemons, cut in half

Prepare your grill to cook the fish.
Oil the bottoms of the fish fillets (skin side) and the cut edges of the cut lemons.
Combine the spices with the lemon juice and brush over the tops of the salmon fillets and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
Place the salmon and the lemons cut sides down on the gull. Watch the lemons, they cook quickly remove them when they get good grill marks on the cut sides. Cook the salmon for about 15 to 18 minutes depending on how you like your salmon cooked. Turning these over is optional. I did this time because I did these in the house on the stove top grill, if I was outside where I could cover the grill I wouldn't have turned them.