All Fired Up! It's BBQ Season again!

by Chef Brian Henry www.thespiceco.ca www.chefbrianhenry.com

Kickin’ Recipes

GETTING ALL

FIRED UP!

Chef Brian Henry has been a Chef for 35 years. He is the owner of Angle Iron Kitchens and The Spice Co.

BBQ season is here! With the relentless weather we have experienced, firing up the BBQ is a welcomed change for sure. It’s time to get cooking outdoors again and to do this you should give your barbecue a good cleaning and tune up before firing it up for the season.

Once you have done this and are ready to get cooking, you need to recognize two important things; never leave your barbecue when cooking, and your barbecue has variable temperature control dials; therefore you should not always have your barbecue cranked on high. To do this you need to assemble all of the items that you will need to get the job done. Including a squirt bottle of water to put out any small flare-ups as well as a fire extinguisher for large flare-ups!

Cuts of beef to utilize are striploin, rib eye, tenderloin, or sirloin. About 5-10 minutes prior to cooking the steaks lightly drizzle them with cooking oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Cook steaks on a hot barbecue. Do not keep flipping them or turning them. You will only need to touch your steaks five times when cooking them. 1) Place steaks on hot barbecue. 2) After the flesh has been seared and marked, give the steak a quarter turn. This ensures the crisscrossed grill marks you get in restaurants. 3) Flip the steak over. 4) Repeat step 2, and finally remove the steaks from the barbecue.

This process is the same for chicken; lightly oil the chicken prior to BBQing it as this will ensure that the chicken will not stick to the grill.

For grilling fish, choose firm fleshed fish such as salmon or tuna. Grilling fish reqires everything to get a light coating of oil, your flipper, tongs the heated grill and the fish. This will allow you to cook the fish just like a steak. You also can cook the fish with the skin on it. Lightly oil the skin and cook it skin side down on the BBQ. This technique will allow you to cook your fish without it breaking or flaking apart on the BBQ.

For grilling veggies such as zucchini, eggplant and Portobello’s, lightly marinate the veg in olive oil with balsamic vinegar in a ratio of two-parts vinegar to one-part oil. The vegetables do not need to be soaked in this mixture, just a light drizzled will do.

Cedar planking… Make sure when you purchase your planks that they are untreated. Also, you must soak the planks for at least two to three hours prior to cooking with them. When cedar planking foods, I recommend that you keep a bucket full of water close at hand, as this will allow you to gracefully dunk any burning planks into the water safely to douse any unwanted fires.

Page 6

BBQ MEALS ARE A CELEBRATION OF SPRING

CEDAR PLANK BRIE WITH CHARRED PINAPPLE SALSA

1 pineapple peeled and quartered 1 medium red onion peeled and diced 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced Two mini-wheels of Brie or Camembert 1 cedar plank soaked in water for 2-3 hours

Method:

Toss pineapple in a little olive oil, enough to lightly coat it. Grill pineapple on barbecue until golden brown.

Place cheese onto a pre-soaked cedar plank and cook on the barbecue, with the lid closed, until golden brown. While the cheese is cooking, make the salsa by chopping up the pineapple, red pepper and onion into small pieces and mix together. If you choose, you may want to add chopped basil or cilantro as well. When the cheese is soft and golden, remove it from the barbecue and serve with the salsa over top with baguette or crackers.