Primal Grill 210 recipes

Barbecue neophytes and brining are a little like teenagers and sex: the minute they learn how to do it, nothing else seems to matter. Brining may seem like a relatively modern technique, but it’s centuries, if not millennia, old. In fact, that’s the origin of the English word pickle—pockel was the Old English word for brine. Brining has the dual advantages of keeping intrinsically dry foods, like pork chops and chicken breasts, moist on the grill, and it also adds an extra layer of flavor. In this show you’ll learn all about brining and marinating, including a wine-brined butterflied leg of lamb, bourbon-brined pork chops, and a “brine” you actually inject into a turkey with a hypodermic needle.

Leg Of Lamb
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    Source: How to Grill, pg. 168
    Method: Direct
    Serves: 6 to 8
    Advance Preparation: 4 to 24 hours for marinating the lamb

    For the lamb and marinade:

    Butt end of a leg of lamb (4 to 5 pounds bone-in; 3 to 4 pounds
    butterflied)

    For the marinade:
    2 tablespoons peeled, chopped fresh ginger
    4 cloves garlic, chopped
    1 bunch scallions, trimmed and finely chopped (set aside 1/4 cup
    scallion greens for garnish)
    3/4 cup soy sauce
    3/4 cup sake, rice wine, or dry sherry
    1/2 cup Asian (dark) sesame oil
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    For the glaze:
    3 tablespoons butter
    1 tablespoons sugar

    For serving:
    2 Asian or Bosc pears, cut into thin wedges and seeded
    Asian Pear Dipping Sauce (see below)
    1 head romaine lettuce (or two heads of romaine hearts), separated
    into leaves and washed

    1. Butterfly the lamb or have your butcher do it. 
    2. Prepare the marinade.  Combine the ginger, garlic, and scallions in a food processor and process to mix.  Work in the soy sauce, sake, sesame oil, sugar, and pepper and process to mix.  Pour 1/3 of this mixture over the bottom of a baking dish just large enough to hold the lamb.  Arrange the lamb on top and pour the remaining marinade over it.  Marinate the lamb, covered, in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours (or even overnight—the longer the better), turning the lamb once or twice to insure even marinating. 
    3. Set up your grill for direct grilling and preheat to medium high.
    4. Drain the lamb, pouring any marinade into a saucepan.  Add the butter and sugar and boil the mixture until thick and syrupy, 3 minutes.  You’ll use this glaze for basting.
    5. Brush and oil the grill grate.   Spread out the lamb on the grate, fat-side down.  Grill until the lamb is cooked to taste, 10 to 15 minutes per side for medium-rare.  (If the lamb starts to burn, lower the heat to medium or move the lamb to a cooler section of the grill.)  During the last 5 minutes on each side, brush the lamb with the glaze.
    6. Grill the pear wedges over the hottest section of the grill, turning the slices 90 degrees after a minute or so to create a handsome crosshatch of grill marks.    
    7. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.  Using a sharp carving knife or electric knife, thinly slice the lamb across the grain.  Arrange the slices on a platter and sprinkle with the reserved scallion greens.  Arrange the grilled pears, lettuce leaves, and bowls of dipping sauce on the platter. 
    8. To eat, wrap a piece of lamb and a wedge of pear in a lettuce leaf, dip it into the sauce (if using), and pop it into your mouth.
       
    Asian Pear Dipping Sauce
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    Makes about 1-1/2 cups

    2/3 cup soy sauce
    2/3 cup sake, Chinese rice wine, or dry sherry
    1/2 cup sugar
    1 Asian pear, peeled, halved, cored, and finely
    chopped
    3 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
    2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more
    to taste

    Place the soy sauce, sake, and sugar in a nonreactive mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the pear, scallions, sesame seeds, and pepper.  Divide the sauce among small bowls for dipping.

       
    Bourbon Pork Chops
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    Source: How to Grill, pg. 129
    Method: Direct
    Serves: 4
    Advance Preparation: 2 to 4 hours for brining the meat

    4 loin pork chops (each 1-inch thick and 10 to 12 ounces)
    1 small onion, thinly sliced
    2 bay leaves
    1 cinnamon stick
    10 black peppercorns
    5 allspice berries
    3 cloves
    3 tablespoons brown sugar
    3 tablespoons coarse salt
    1 cup hot water
    2 cups cold water
    3 tablespoons bourbon
    2 tablespoons walnut, hazelnut, or vegetable oil, plus
    1 to 2 tablespoons for basting
    Volcanic Apple Sauce (recipe follows) for serving

    You’ll also need:

    2 cups wood chips (preferably hickory), soaked for 1 hour in cold
    water to cover, then drained

    Rinse the  chops under cold running water and blot dry with paper towels.  Arrange the chops in a baking dish just large enough to hold them or in a resealable plastic bag.  Arrange the onion, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, allspice, and cloves over the meat.

    Make the brine: Combine the brown sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add the hot water and whisk until the sugar and salt are dissolved.  Stir in the cold water, bourbon, and 2 tablespoons of oil.  Pour this mixture over the chops, turning the chops a couple of times to coat evenly.  Brine the chops, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, turning once or twice to ensure even brining.

    Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to high.  If using a gas grill, place the wood chips in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and preheat until you see smoke.

    When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate.  Drain the pork chops and blot dry with paper towels, dusting off any loose spices.
    Brush the chops on both sides with the remaining oil.  Arrange the chops in the center of the hot grate away from the heat.  If using a charcoal grill, toss the wood chips on the coals.  Cover the grill and smoke the chops for 20 minutes.  Then move the chops directly over the heat: If using a charcoal grill, place 2 chops on each side over the mounds of coals.  If using a gas grill, place all a4 chops over the lit portion of the grill.  Grill the chops, uncovered, until cooked through, about 160 degrees F on an instant-read meat thermometer, 4 to 7 minutes per side, rotating the chops 90 degrees after 2 minutes to create an attractive crosshatch of grill marks.  Transfer the chops to plates or a platter and let rest for 3 minutes, then serve at once with the applesauce.

       
    Volcanic Applesauce
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    Makes 1 cup, serving 4

    1 piece (1 to 2 inches long and 1 to 1-1/2 inches across; about 2
    ounces) fresh horseradish
    1 cup applesauce (preferably homemade)
    1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    Peel the horseradish and finely grate it into a mixing bowl or chop it in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  (If using a food processor, cut the horseradish into 1/4-inch thick slices before processing.)  Whichever method you use, take care not to breathe the potent horseradish fumes.  Stir in the applesauce and cinnamon.  The applesauce can be made up to 12 hours ahead.  Store it in the refrigerator, covered.

       
    Cajun Smoked Turkey
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    Source: How to Grill, pg. 261
    Method: Indirect
    Serves: 12 to 14

     

    1 turkey (12 to 14 pounds), completely thawed if frozen
    3/4 cup Injector Sauce (recipe follows)
    2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
    Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

    You’ll also need:

    Kitchen syringe; 3 to 4 cups wood chips (preferably apple or cherry), soaked for 1 hour to cover, then drained; butcher’s
    string (optional)

    Remove the packet of giblets from the neck and/or body cavity of the turkey and set aside for another use.  If your turkey has a metal trussing clamp, leave it in place if possible.  Remove and discard the fat just inside the body cavities of the turkey.  Rinse the bird, inside and out, under cold running water and then drain and blot dry.  If the turkey does not have a metal clamp, truss the bird with butcher’s string.

    Using a kitchen syringe, inject the Injector Sauce into the turkey.
    Brush the outside of the turkey all over with the melted butter; season with salt and pepper.

    Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-low.  If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center.  If using a gas grill, place all the wood chips in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and preheat on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-low.

    When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate.  If using a charcoal grill, toss 1 cup of wood chips on the coals.  Place the turkey in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat, and cover the grill.  Grill the turkey until cooked through, 3 to 4 hours.  To test for doneness, insert an instant-read meat thermometer into the thickest part of a thigh, but do not touch the bone.  The internal temperature should be between 160 and 170 degrees F.  If using charcoal, you’ll need to add 12 fresh coals and 1/2 cup wood chips per side every hour.  If the turkey starts to brown too much, cover it with aluminum foil.

    Transfer the turkey to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes, then untruss.  Carve and serve.

    Sub-Recipe 1:
    INJECTOR SAUCE

    Makes 3/4 cup

    1/2 cup chicken broth
    3 tablespoons butter
    2 teaspoons lemon juice
    1 teaspoon Cajun Rub (recipe follows)

    let’s use commercial

    Coarse salt, if needed

    Combine the chicken broth, butter, lemon juice, and rub in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat and cook just until the butter melts.  Taste for seasoning, adding salt if necessary.  Let the mixture cool to room temperature (or slightly warmer than room temperature—the butter should remain liquid), then put it in the kitchen syringe.

     

    Sub-Recipe 2:
    CAJUN RUB

    Use commercial.

    Makes about 3/4 cup

    1/4 cup coarse salt
    1/4 cup paprika
    1 tablespoon garlic flakes
    1 tablespoon onion flakes
    1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
    1 tablespoon dried oregano
    1 tablespoon black pepper
    2 teaspoons white pepper
    1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon ground bay leaf

    Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir to mix.  Store in an airtight jar away from heat or light; the rub will keep for at least 6 months.

       
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