Beer & Italian Dressing Steak Marinade for the Charcoal BBQ

Recently we looked at a method of grilling cuts of steak like rib-eyes or T-bones on the charcoal BBQ. Here we are also going to be charcoal BBQing steaks, but this time using more inexpensive but tougher cuts like flank or round and marinading them to make them more tender and flavourful.

There are lots of steak marinades out there -- and we have shared some on The Left Chapter before -- but this one uses beer and Italian dressing to great effect.

The amount of marinade here was used for 4 flank or round steaks.

Marinade Ingredients: 

- 450-500 ml of Italian Salad Dressing (I like to use the classic thick style, that I would actually never use on salad, as opposed to the "fancier" options)
- 250 ml of beer - This should be a pale lager that is not too hoppy. I used a Polish beer, Tyskie
- 1 tablespoon of hot sauce - Use whichever one use like but I used Cholula
- 2 teaspoons each of Soy Sauce and Worcestershire sauce

Prick your steaks in several places with a fork and season them liberally with garlic salt and black pepper. Place in a large bowl and cover with the marinade. Make sure all the steaks are fully submerged.

Put them in the fridge and leave them to marinade for around 4 hours.

About a half an hour or 45 minutes before cooking take your steaks out in the marinade and let them sit in the bowl and marinade at room temperature.

Meanwhile, prepare your BBQ as usual.

Place your steaks on the grill over hot coals. You can pour a little of the marinade over the steak at the very beginning of cooking but should not do so after this. Be careful not to dampen your coals should you chose to do so. Discard all the rest of the marinade after this.

Cook the steaks about 3-5 minutes a side depending on thickness. While I am a fan of rare steak, I think this marinaded steak is better in both texture and flavour when cooked to medium-rare. (Again, if you are nervous about such things, Health Canada says a steak is medium-rare when it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.).

After cooking let your steaks sit for around 3 minutes. Then cut them into thin strips slicing across the grain.

Serve on a platter topped with fresh basil and mint. These make a perfect backyard BBQ finger food or meal. Terrific with everything steak is good with including cold beer, red wine and friends.

Enjoy.

BBQed Pork Chops with Dijon and Dill Sauce

Today we are going to take a look at making seasoned pork chops on the charcoal BBQ that are served accompanied by a Dijon and dill sauce.

When barbecuing pork chops I like to use bone-in cuts as I find they are less likely to dry out.


While you can make the sauce during cooking, if at all possible it is good to make it a couple of hours prior to cooking.

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons mayonnaise 
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dill weed
2 or 3 dashes of cayenne pepper or hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
salt and black pepper to taste

Mix until thoroughly blended and refrigerate until about half-an-hour before cooking when you should take it out to bring to room temperature. You can, of course, make more of the sauce by using the same ratio of ingredients.

About half-an-hour prior to cooking you should also bring out your chops. I like to season the chops on both sides with Montreal Chicken Spice, a commonly available variation on Montreal Steak Spice. Alternately they are nice seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

Start your BBQ as normal. I use charcoal and generally use the chimney method to get the chunks going.

Depending on their thickness cook the chops directly over the coals for about 7 to 8 minutes a side. While it is important not to serve pork rare, overcooked pork is very tough. (If in doubt or if you are concerned Health Canada recommends cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.)

After cooking let the chops sit for 3-5 minutes and then top each chop with the sauce. The combination of dill and Dijon goes very nicely with pork.

The chops are nice served with a side salad or some grilled or fresh vegetables and can go with either white or red wine.

Enjoy.

See also: Boneless Leg of Lamb on the Charcoal BBQ

See also: Charcoal BBQ Jerk Style Chicken

Boneless Leg of Lamb on the Charcoal BBQ

Today we are looking at how to make a boneless leg of lamb on the charcoal BBQ. Leg of lamb is terrific barbecued as the length of cooking gives a smokey flavour that compliments it perfectly.

Here we are using a boneless leg of lamb in a string casing. To start, take out your lamb forty-five minutes to half-an-hour before cooking. Season the lamb liberally with sea salt and black pepper all over. Then rub about a tablespoon of olive oil all over the leg as well. Finally, season with a tablespoon of garlic powder.

When you have finished seasoning, mince up about a tablespoon of rosemary and a large garlic clove. Add some olive oil to this and the zest of one lemon. Mix this all together into a paste.

Place the paste evenly around the lamb rubbing it in with a spoon. After you have done this, slice up a large garlic clove and push the pieces into the lamb at various soft spots around it.

Meanwhile, prep your charcoal BBQ the usual way. Here I want to profile an amazing idea my brother-in-law Brad had to convert an old Broil King gas BBQ into a charcoal one. He removed all of the gas components, of course, and then placed a deep metal basin into the BBQ's basin and found a grill that fit over top.

This conversion works especially well as the Broil King lid is very heavy, there is a side flue in the bottom almost as with a smoker and there is a built-in thermometer that allows you to regulate the heat.

It also had a space on the side for indirect cooking, which is a must for this dish.

Of course, you can use any charcoal BBQ big enough to allow for indirect heating, a technique we have looked at multiple times in the past which simply means that you arrange the charcoal so that there is a space (generally in the middle) without charcoal where you can place ribs, roasts, etc, so that they can be cooked for a long time without burning. 

After your charcoal is ready for cooking, put your roast directly over the coals and sear it for 5 minutes a side. You want to get a nice char without burning it so if you are getting too many flare ups simply close the lid for a portion of the searing time.

Once seared, move the leg of lamb so that it is on the grill but not over the charcoal. 

BBQ the lamb for 15-20 minutes a pound to get rare-medium to medium-rare which is how I think boneless leg of lamb should be prepared. You regulate the heat by opening and closing the lid at various points. I generally cook with the lid on for around ten minutes, lid off for around 5 minutes. 

If you are using a meat thermometer boneless leg of lamb is ready as follows: 130 degrees for rare, 140-145 for medium rare, 150 for medium, 160 for medium-well and 170 for well done (not sure why you would do this, but...). For the record Health Canada recommends cooking lamb to an internal temperature of at least 145. 

When done to your liking place your leg of lamb on a platter and let rest for 5-10 minutes. 

Remove the netting and carve into slices.

The lamb will come out moist, smokey and delicious!

Perfect served with red wine and sides such as a Greek salad and grilled zucchini and eggplant as pictured here:

Enjoy!

See also: Pesto Encrusted Boneless Leg of Lamb

See also: Broiled Lamb Chops with Goat Cheese

Doing Chicken Wings on the Charcoal BBQ

Today we are going to take a look at what I think is the best technique for doing chicken wings on the charcoal BBQ. This method produces smokey wings with a nice char and texture, but avoids common problems when doing wings on the BBQ such as burning or the skin sticking to the grill / grill pan. 


You can use this method for wings that are simply tossed in a seasoning blend, or for wings that have been sauced or marinaded. It works either way. You could also toss wings in seasoning and then serve them with a commercially prepared or a homemade wing sauce such as the classic Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Sauce or a Spicy Mayo.

One great way to prepare them is to do your wings jerk style by following the marinading and jerk sauce preparation instructions in our post Charcoal BBQ Jerk Style Chicken and then using the wing grilling technique outlined here.

For this post I used both a commercially prepared seasoning blend and wing sauce. I also made around 3 lb. of wings.

First, I put all the wings in a large freezer bag and added Cool Runnings Caribbean Spice and Roasted Garlic seasoning, tossing the wings with the seasoning in the sealed bag until coated to taste. Again, you can use a homemade seasoning blend or any number of other variations such as Montreal Chicken Spice.

After seasoning the wings I poured a full bottle of Cool Runnings Hot Chicken Wing Sauce into the bag, sealed it and made sure the sauce was all around the wings. the Cool Runnings sauce is one of many available premade and I like its spice level and overall flavours.

Place the wings in the freezer bag in the fridge to marinade for one to two hours minimum.

When your charcoal BBQ is ready to go take the marinaded wings out of the bag and place them directly over the coals on the grill for around a minute to a minute and a half a side. Depending on how many wings you are doing you may have to do multiple batches. 

Watch for flare-ups and burning. You want a little bit of charring but not burnt wings!

Meanwhile, prepare a large aluminum foil pan by placing a layer of romaine lettuce across the bottom. The lettuce will prevent your wings from sticking to the tray. Place your grilled wings on top of the bed of lettuce arranging them so that they are, ideally, not too crowded and in a single layer. You can either discard or pour any remaining marinade over the top of the wings (I always do the latter) as in this case doing so is safe as you are cooking the wings for considerably more time. 

Place the tray right onto your grill above the coals. 

Cook the wings for 40-45 minutes or until done, flipping the wings once halfway through. You want to cook the wings regulating the heat by doing them approximately 10 minutes with your BBQ's lid down (flue open) and 5 minutes lid off. 

When done place the wings on a large platter discarding the lettuce. 

You will find these wings moist with that great charcoal BBQ flavour. Serve with all the things you usually want wings with; friends, cold beer or vinho verde, more sauce on the side, etc.

Enjoy.

See also: Southern Style Chicken Wings Stove-top Deep Fried

See also: Spanish-Style Fried Chicken Strips w. Spicy Mayo

Beef Short Ribs Charcoal Barbecued with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Just in time for the Labour Day long weekend we are going to take a look at how to BBQ perfectly tender, seasoned beef short ribs basted and cooked in a homemade BBQ sauce.

This dish is cooked on a charcoal grill and has to be done over indirect heat.


We looked at using the indirect method with charcoal before. It simply means that you bunch your charcoal towards the sides of your barbecue leaving a fairly large space in the middle without any hot charcoal.


This dish also requires buying some aluminium foil BBQ trays. It is preferable if you can get the ones with small slits on the bottom, but not essential.

The "indirect method" with charcoal at the sides

Here we are going to be making 6-8 bone-in beef short ribs uncut.

The first step is to take out your ribs and season them liberally on both sides with sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and mustard powder.

Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice up two large Spanish onions and two celery stalks and line the bottom of your foil pans with them

Take your seasoned ribs and, in batches, sear them over the hot charcoal at the sides of the grill for about one minute a side.

Place your seared and seasoned ribs on top of the bed of onions and celery and put the trays over the center of the grill with no charcoal underneath.

The total cooking time for this dish is 2 to 2 1/2 hours. This first part of the grilling takes 30 minutes. You want to maintain a consistent heat but not allow this to get too high, meaning you want to be cooking 10-15 minutes top on your barbecue and then 5 minutes top off to let the coals flare back up.

During this first grilling period you can make your homemade BBQ sauce. To do this mix the following ingredients throughly in a bowl:

BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons Tabasco Sauce

This is a terrific BBQ sauce for any number of dishes and works very well here.

You should put some aside in a separate bowl for dipping later if you want extra sauce so as to prevent cross-contamination.

After the first half hour of cooking, spoon some sauce over the top of each of the ribs so that they are covered with it. Flip each of the ribs and cover the other side with sauce as well. This is the only time you will flip the ribs.

BBQ the ribs for another 90 minutes to 2 hours until they are tender and the meat can be easily pulled from the bone. Remember to continue to alternate 10-15 minutes top on, 5 minutes top off throughout the entire cooking process.

Be sure to sit out, listen to some radio, chat with friends or loved ones and have some drinks while doing this!

The onions and celery will be very browned and even caramelized in parts, but are really tasty. While you can cut the ribs up into riblets I like to serve them uncut and to pull them apart and eat them by hand.

They are a perfect weekend or holiday dish that go nicely with rice and salads, garlic bread and red wine or beer!

Enjoy.

See also: Standing Prime Rib Roast done two ways: On the BBQ or in the oven with mushroom gravy

See also: Beer Can Chicken with "French Fried" Asparagus on the BBQ!

Spicy Mint Chutney w. BBQ Lamb Chops

With Natalie 

Today we are going to take a look at how to make a fiery, flavourful mint chutney. While you can use this as a condiment on any number of things (samosas for example) it is absolutely perfect on barbecued or grilled lamb.

To make the chutney you should use a food processor if you have access to one, but a blender works too, just push down on the chutney between pulses with the end of a wooden spoon.

Ingredients:

• 2 good sized garlic cloves
• 2 green chilies chopped or 1 chopped unseeded jalapeno + 1/4 green scotch bonnet) 
• knob of ginger-peeled with a spoon
• 1tsp sugar
• juice of half a lemon.
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1 cup chopped coriander

Grind first 5 ingredients till coarse-medium consistency.

Add coriander leaves and mint leaves, lemon & water and grind again til desired consistency is achieved.

This is a nice, hot, minty chutney. If it is too intense for some folks at your BBQ or for your kids you can just take a bit and mix with plain yogurt and a squeeze of lime for a more mild sauce.

As we said above the chutney is terrific with lamb. 

Take some lamb shoulder chops, brush them with olive oil and then season them with some minced rosemary, minced garlic, some sea salt and some black pepper. Let them sit out (covered) at room temperature for about half-an-hour and then BBQ them over charcoal until done to your liking (in the case of lamb this really should be in the range of rare to medium-rare).

Serve with the chutney on the side or on top. It will perfectly compliment the lamb.

It will keep, covered, for a few days in the fridge. Like many such sauces is often spicier and bolder the next day so it can also be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator until the BBQ. 

Enjoy.

See also: Indian Style Ground Lamb Flatbread Wraps

See also: Argentinian Chimichurri grilling sauce

See also: Easy homemade jalapeno hot sauce

The Master Chef's Outdoor Grill Cookbook w. Beef Roast on a Spit, Barbecued Bologna Roll & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: The Master Chef's Outdoor Grill Cookbook

Publication Details: American People's Press, 1960

Today we are looking at a really fun vintage cookbook that is just perfect for the season.

 The Master Chef's Outdoor Grill cookbook is a truly campy trip through the world of outdoor cooking c. 1960. From liver steaks to Barbecued Bologna Roll the menus are...well...at times quite interesting.

On the upside, there are lots of great recipes and menus as well and it is an all charcoal book, just as it should be. No gas to kill the mood. In addition, the BBQs in the pictures all look amazing. I would love to get my hands on any them and especially the ones with two grills divided by a small island for your utensils, beer, etc.

The book starts with lots of basic tips on getting a grill going, types of charcoal and wood and whatnot. It then runs through a variety of BBQ menus and even ends with a handy set of dips, sauces and even alcoholic mixed drinks to make the backyard party complete.

(Click on images to enlarge)

See also: The Steak Book 1966 w. Steak Diane, Chopped Steak Provencal & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook TBT List