Hot Off the Grill - August, 2006

Friends, customers and grilling enthusiasts,

Welcome to the August, 2006 issue of Hot Off the Grill! This installment marks the first anniversary of Hot Off the Grill!, which debuted in August of 2005.

As the weather heats up around the country, running your indoor kitchen appliances — and raising the temperature in part of your house — isn't a very appealing idea. Whether you are entertaining friends, feeding your family, or just making dinner for yourself, cooking outdoors is a great alternative.

Thank you for your warm response to our previous year of issues; please keep your stories, suggestions, and comments coming to hotg@kalamazoogourmet.com.

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August, 2006
Inside This Issue...

Announcements

Traverse Epicurean Classic

Summer Barbecue Menu

Big Bold Blue Barbecue Burger

Grilled Potato Salad

Grilled Peach, Dried Cherry and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Martini Bar Recipe

Refreshing Mint Grapefruit Margarita

Grilling Tips

Cajun-style Blackening on a Kalamazoo Fish Surface

We Want To Hear From You

About Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Contact Us

1-800-868-1699

Hot Off The Grill! Email

Customer Service Email

Sales Email

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet at the Traverse Epicurean Classic

At this year's annual "Celebration of Food and Wine Artisanship," in Traverse City, Michigan, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet grills will be cooked on by notable food artisans, including Michigan's own Eric Villegas.

The festival is known for attracting some of the fastest-rising chefs and vintners in the country, and for its accessibility and friendly attitude. In addition to the tasting pavilion, the festival features a variety of classes, receptions and dinners. Information is available at www.epicureanclassic.com. Please join us there September 14, 15 and 16.

Summer Casual Grill Menu

This grill menu is easy to prepare and full of bold flavor. The grilled peach bruschettas are a particular favorite at staff barbecues and can quickly serve dozens of people if you are grilling for a large crowd.

Big Bold Blue Barbecue Burger
Grilled Potato Salad
Grilled Peach, Goat Cheese and Dried Cherry Bruschetta

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Big Bold Blue Barbecue Burger

These original burgers are full of bold flavors your friends and family will love. The blending of our sweet and tangy Motor City Barbecue Rub with the peppery zest of our Big Boris Pepper Rub results in a sophisticated barbecue taste with a little bit of kick.

Use hickory smoke or grill the burgers over an open hickory flame for the ultimate experience.

NOTE: You can substitute your favorite bold barbecue rub for the combination of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Grilling Rubs in this recipe.

Servings:	4 large burgers
Ingredients:	2 pounds lean ground sirloin
	1 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
	2 slices (1/2" thick) from one large red onion
	2 tablespoons Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Motor City Barbecue Rub
	2 tablespoons Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Big Boris Pepper Rub
	8 slices marble rye or pumpernickel bread
	Olive oil
	Sea salt
	Hickory chips, chunks or limbs

Directions:
Preheat the grill to 500 degrees. You will need a direct grilling zone for the burgers and an indirect zone for toasting the bread. Use hickory smoke or flame to enhance the flavor of the burgers.

Lightly brush the red onion slices with olive oil and grill over direct heat for about 4 minutes per side or until each side is nicely charred. Remove from the grill and coarsely chop into pieces no larger than 1/2".

Use your hands to thoroughly mix the ground beef, crumbled blue cheese and chopped red onion together. The more you work the mixture together, the easier it will be to form the burgers. Divide the burger mixture into four equal parts and form into patties about 1" thick. Be sure to tightly press the patties into shape so they are less likely to fall apart on the grill.

Mix the Big Boris Pepper Rub and Motor City Barbecue Rub together in a small dish and then coat the burger patties thoroughly on all sides.

Lightly brush the bread slices on both sides with olive oil and then sprinkle with sea salt.

Grill the burgers over direct heat for about 4 minutes per side. Please note these burgers should be cooked to at least medium or medium-well because of the other ingredients mixed into the beef.

When the burgers are turned to the second side, add the bread to the grill in an indirect cooking zone. Turn the slices of bread after two minutes. As the burgers near completion, you may wish to move the bread over direct heat for no more than about a minute, but be careful not to burn it.

Serve the burgers on the grilled bread. Most people do not need condiments with these flavorful burgers.

Grilled Potato Salad

Servings:	8 to 10
Ingredients:	4 pounds red potatoes (size B), scrubbed, eyes removed, and quartered with the skin on
	1 pound lean bacon
	3 to 4 green onions
	1 packet (powder) Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk ranch dressing
	1 cup mayonnaise (for the ranch dressing)
	3/4 cup buttermilk (for the ranch dressing)
	1 teaspoon mustard powder
	1/2 teaspoon paprika
	1/4 teaspoon jalapeno powder (optional)
	Olive oil
	Skewers

Directions:
Mix together the Hidden Valley Ranch powder with the buttermilk and mayonnaise. The instructions will call for a full cup of buttermilk, but this can make the dressing a little too runny for the potato salad. Mix in the mustard powder, paprika and optional jalapeno powder. Cover and refrigerate to thicken.

Cook the bacon until crisp and set aside.

Discard most or all of the white portion of the green onions and slice the green portions very thinly. You should have about 1/2 cup of sliced green onion. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (keep the heat out of the kitchen by using the side burner on your grill if you have one). Add the potatoes and cook for ten minutes. The water may not return to a boil within the 10 minutes. This is not a problem. Remove the potatoes and strain. Let cool for about 5 minutes.

As the potatoes are cooling, preheat the grill to 500 degrees for direct grilling.

Toss the potato pieces in a large bowl with a small amount of olive oil to lightly coat. Put the potato pieces onto skewers for grilling.

Grill the potato skewers over direct heat, turning every two minutes until nicely browned. This should not take more than 6 minutes of total grilling time. Remove the potatoes from the grill.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skewers and put the potatoes into a large bowl. Add the green onion slices and crumble the bacon into the bowl. Stir in the ranch dressing mixture.

The potato salad can be served immediately, warm or at room temperature, or it can be served chilled. It will keep overnight tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Grilled Peach, Goat Cheese and Dried Cherry Bruschetta

This is a perfect finger-food appetizer or desert recipe when serving large groups. Each batch only takes a few minutes to cook and to serve.

Select firm peaches that are not overly ripe. White peaches are particularly good for this recipe.

Servings:	4 to 6
Ingredients:	Two peaches, sliced in twelve pieces each
	10 ounces fresh goat cheese
	4 ounces dried cherries
	24 slices of sourdough baguette, about 1/4" thick

Directions:

Let the goat cheese rise to room temperature and become soft. Mix the dried cherries into the goat cheese.

Preheat grill to 500 degrees with a direct grilling zone and an indirect zone.

Place the bread slices on the grill in the indirect cooking zone, well away from the heat. Top each slice of bread with a generous tablespoon of goat cheese and cherry mixture.

With the grill hood open, grill one side of the peach slices over direct heat for two minutes, or until grill marks appear.

Use grilling tongs to transfer the peach slices onto the bread slices, inserting the peach into the cheese with the grilled side of each peach slice facing upward.

With the assembled bruschettas still in the indirect cooking zone, close the grill hood and cook for about two minutes more.

Remove bruschettas from the grill and serve immediately.

Martini Bar Recipe

Refreshing Mint Grapefruit Margarita

Perfect for a hot day spent relaxing with friends, this margarita includes a hint of mint.

Servings:	4
Ingredients:	4 ounces premium tequila
	1 ounce orange liqueur
	8 ounces red or pink grapefruit juice
	4 sprigs fresh mint
	4 tablespoons sugar
	1 tablespoon water
	4 slices lime for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Muddle the mint sprigs with the sugar and water. Discard any large pieces of stem.

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Serve over ice in highball glasses. Garnish with lime (optional)

Grilling Tip

Use Your Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Laser-Cut Fish Pattern Surface for Cajun Blackening

Kalamazoo Grilling Surface Patterns

Cajun-style blackening is traditionally done in a heavy iron or steel skillet indoors. While this fantastic cooking method produces great flavor, the smoke produced is more than many kitchen range hoods can handle. If you have one of our fish-patterned grilling surfaces for your grill (or a solid surface), you can take this favorite technique outdoors.

The heavy stainless steel of the Kalamazoo laser-cut grilling surfaces holds a great deal of heat, and the near-solid pattern of our fish surface provides the proper surface area for blackening. The small openings let enough of the fat and juices drain off that you can also achieve the slightly dry "crust" crucial to great blackening more easily than in a pan.

To try blackening on your grill, lightly brush almost any kind of meat or fish with olive oil and then heavily coat with blackening spices. Let the meat rise to room temperature as you preheat the grill to about 600 degrees, with a direct grilling zone ready for the fish surface area, and an indirect grilling zone away from the fish surface area.

Blacken the meat on the fish surface for about 2 minutes on each side, then move to the indirect cooking zone to finish cooking. At the end of cooking in the indirect zone, you may wish to place the meat back on the hot fish surface for another 30 seconds per side.

Blackened Jumbo Scallops

Servings:	4
Ingredients:	16 jumbo scallops
	16 slices lean bacon
	Olive oil
	Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning
	Skewers

Select very large scallops, sized at about 6 per pound. Rinse and dry with paper towels.

Preheat the grill with the burner control zone on high below the fish surface. You need the fish surface very hot, and you also need an indirect cooking zone (ideally with a meat or vegetable surface pattern).

Wrap each scallop with a slice of bacon, leaving the flat ends of each scallop completely exposed.

Thread the bacon-wrapped scallop on skewers (3 or 4 scallops per skewer). Flat-style skewers help keep the scallops from rotating on the skewer. The skewers should run through the round sides of the scallops, and all the flat sides of the scallops on each skewer must be aligned.

Lightly brush the exposed portions of each scallop with olive oil, then coat generously with Chef Paul Prudhomme's "Blackened Redfish Magic."

Place the scallop skewers on the hot fish surface and blacken for about 2 minutes on each side.

Move the scallop skewers to the indirect cooking zone and continue cooking with the hood closed for about 12 to 15 minutes more, turning every 4 to 5 minutes until done.

For additional flair, serve with a mango salsa.

We Want to Hear from You

As we continue our efforts to help our readers maximize the joy and satisfaction of their outdoor grilling and entertaining experience, we would love to know what you think:

Share with us your favorite grilling recipes or outdoor gourmet entertaining tips.
Provide us with pictures of your grill or grill setting.
Tell us what you like most about your Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet product.
Tell us which product features you would like to see added to or improved on our products.
Let us know if there are any services Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet should offer.

Feel free to drop us a line at hotg@kalamazoogourmet.com with your thoughts on any of the above, or just to say hello.

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About Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet™ stainless steel grills and outdoor kitchens are hand crafted in Kalamazoo, Michigan by fourth generation stainless steel fabricators. We build an array of freestanding grills, grill islands, built-in grills and custom outdoor kitchens to meet the needs of the most demanding outdoor gourmet entertaining enthusiasts. The entire line is designed and built from the ground up for outdoor gourmet cooking and entertaining. You can learn more at www.KalamazooGourmet.com.