0 comment Friday, April 4, 2014 | admin
I don't think you can ever learn enough, get enough tips about grilling and/or barbecuing on a gas grill, or any kind of a grill. There are tons of recipes out there with different grilling and barbecuing methods all designed to prepare the perfect meal for you and your family.
I attended a class on grilling and barbecuing at Bauman Farms in Gervais, Oregon. It is about 35 minutes south of my home in Oregon City.
It's a huge complex that caters to families, has a first-class old fashioned general store, nursery, world-class landscaping display, and all kinds of fun things for the kids to do.
The class was conducted by Chef Dana Giardina (See above photo), a Portland chef who works for Whole Foods Grocery. Previously, she owned and operated a restaurant in the Pearl District in Portland, "Vitis Enoteca".
The class was two hours long and there were approximately 30 folks in attendance.
I thought it would be distracting to take photos during the session even though I had permission to do so.
I had the privilege of sitting at a table with some super, super nice folks�.Pete and Nancy and Dublin (Just like Ireland), she hasn't arrived yet when this shot was taken.
Chef Dana started the session with a "Grilled Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Panzanella". One of the best salads I have ever eaten in my life. No joke! I wasn't alone in my analysis either.
I'm thinking, "How come I can't get a salad like this when I go out to eat"?
Basically, you prepare a dressing in a food processor that consists of white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, Kosher Salt and black pepper�.set aside.
Next, you grill thick Italian Bread, then cube, grill asparagus, and snap peas.
Other ingredients include: diced tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onion, capers, pine nuts and fresh basil. Toss everything together. I will prepare it in a modified version and let you know how it turns out in a future post.
I didn't count heads but, eighty percent, or even more, of the class were females.
Now, I didn't think much of this until I got home and by accident turned on the "Food Channel" and the "Grillin' Girls" were on. A fact: the gals are much more into the total meal experience than the guys are. And, it's ironic..... but, this was what my class was all about�."the total meal experience".
Back in the late eighties( or early 90's), there was a grilling show on public TV put on by Chef George Hirsch. He was way ahead of his time. He still is...check him out!
He had an inexpensive gas grill with a heavy and custom-made cast iron grill. His show was based out of Florida (I think), and although he grilled meats and fish, there was a lot of emphasis on the right way to grill fruits and vegetables. And, he always combined everything making it into "the total meal experience". And, I might add, "healthy meals"!
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the first course was the "Grilled Asparagus and Sugar Snap Pea Panzanella".
The second was a "Grilled Romaine Salad with Spicy Caesar Dressing". Romaine lettuce, besides Iceberg, is one of the few types of lettuce that won't evaporate, or wilt completely before your eyes on the grill. I have a Marine Corps buddy that fixes this salad on his BBQ grill all the time, and everyone just loves it.
The hard part is the dressing that you have to prepare in a food processor which includes chipotle peppers and anchovies, among other things. A hard cheese should be added to the finished salad.
A little history lesson: Chef Dana told us that the advent of Caesar Salad took place in Mexico.
We then devoured courses of barbecued turkey breast served with a white sauce, beef brisket and Asian baby back ribs. The finale consisted of Roasted Stone Fruit and Vanilla Ice Cream with Berry Compote.
She told us about using a good quality, aged balsamic vinegar on fruit when grilling. Wow, talk about learning new things! It interacts with fruit to bring out the natural sugars.
All the barbecuing of meats were prepared using gas grills. She used two of them, plus a warming platform. In earlier posts I talked about using indirect heat on your gas grill turned to a moderate temperature, or low temperature.
I also mentioned using wood chips in a smoker box, mopping, or misting, and the using dry rubs. You might want to read my post again, because this is exactly what she did except for the misting part.
Yes, you can have genuine barbecue using a gas grill, you just have to use exact methods in preparing things right way which includes slow-cooking. All of Chef Dana's BBQ recipes turned out super excellent, but with one exception, the brisket was a little on the tough side because she didn't have the time to cook it as long as she would have liked.
Basically, in the old nutshell, the synopsis, all things rolled into a ball, all recipes that you can prepare in your kitchen can also be prepared on your gas, charcoal, wood pellet grill. There is something about cooking things outside that cannot be duplicated. For now, ten four
Labels: Barbecue Grills, Bauman Farms, BBQ, Dana Giardina, Gas Grill Recipes, Gas Grill Tips, George Hirsch, Grilled Vegetables, Recipes For Gas Grill Cooking, Vitis Enoteca