Gannett
Fire up the grill
You don’t have to be an expert chef to pull off a great meal from the grill. In fact, your success behind the barbecue is pretty much determined at your neighborhood meat counter. Do you have the right meat? Fish? Marinade? To help ensure that you do, we asked a few suburban New York food vendors to dish out their favorite grill-friendly meats, fish, chicken and veggies — along with a few sure-fire tips.
Burgers Expert: Steve Campanella, owner of Steve’s Prime Meats in Congers, N.Y. What you’ll need: A combo of beef brisket and sirloin will give you both flavor and leanness. Ratchet up the flavor by stuffing the patties with ingredients like chopped bacon, Cheddar and barbecue sauce before they kiss the grill. How to grill it: Start by getting the grill really hot (put it on high for 15 minutes, then lower it to a medium-high). Spray it down with cooking spray or olive oil to prevent sticking, then sear each side of the burger for 3-4 minutes. Patties should be on the larger size (8-10 ounces) for stuffed burgers. It’s best for the meat in the center to reach 135-140 degrees, Campanella says. Top tip: Keep the grill flame under control. Too fiery a flame “burns the outside, and sometimes you won’t even taste the other ingredients,” Campanella says.
Steak Expert: Jack Neugarten at Ed’s Meats in Pearl River, N.Y. What you’ll need: This old-school butcher recommends prime and aged cuts of meat with white marbling within the red meat — not just surrounding it. That fat makes for great flavor. Neugarten says mignon will really wow meat-lovers, but says porterhouse and ribeye cuts work well on the grill, too. How to grill it: Brush olive oil onto the
56
GANNETT PHOTO
Ed Rodriguez of Midwestern Meats in Phoenix prepared these kebabs on a grill.
grill to keep food from sticking. Toss on the steak, close the hood to sear the meat on one side for three or four minutes, then flip it, close the hood and do the same. Keep the hood open for the rest of the process to grill the steak to your liking of doneness. If you want it to marinate, do so for a half-hour before hitting the grill. Top tip: Before cooking the steak, put six pieces of bread on the grill to figure out where the hot spots are. “No matter what grill you have, it’s not the same (heat) all the way around,” Neugarten says. “People who like (steak) well-done should put it on the hot spot. If somebody doesn’t like it as well-done, you put it on the spot that’s not that hot.”
Fish Expert: Abraham Urrutia, manager of
W N C PA R E N T | J U LY 2 010
C&M Seafood in Pomona, N.Y. What you’ll need: Swordfish, sea bass and salmon are grill-friendly fishies, but Urrutia suggests a No. 1 sushi-grade yellowfin tuna for its combination of ease and flavor. To ensure freshness, make sure the tuna has firmness, a dark hue and minimal odor. How to grill it: Urrutia recommends marinating the tuna in teriyaki sauce “just a couple of minutes” before it hits the grill. Top tip: Don’t overcook.
Chicken Expert: Steve Gold of Murray’s Chicken in New City, N.Y. What you’ll need: Dark meat thrives on the grill “because it doesn’t tend to dry out like white meat,” Gold says.