Sophie's Foodie

Although this whole salmon was grilled on a Traeger Wood Pellet Grill, it could have just as easily been done on a gas, or any other kind of grill. It's a simple recipe and easy to grill.
Geez, I kinda lined up the grill marks on the salmon with the grill when I turned it over. Proud of myself because this was a big dude!
Most folks don't buy whole fish at the market. But, they are much cheaper than filets, although you may have to deal with a few bones.
The whole salmon I bought was twelve bucks and it wasn't a dinky one. It was cleaned, scaled and headless.
The first thing you have to do with a whole salmon is cut all the fins off. This can easily be done with a pair of kitchen shears. Piece of cake! Piece of salmon!
Also, you need to flay the salmon so that it will lay flat on the grill, which means you will have to continue the cut on the belly all the way through the tail. Don't remove the tail.
Prepare the grill for 375-400 degrees. Distribute a generous amount of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil on the meat side of the salmon. Next, apply a quality "Rub" like Paul Prudhomme's Seafood or Salmon Magic, or Traeger Grill Salmon Shaker (see below) over the meat side of the fish.
Another great Rub is "Old Bay Seasoning" (See Below) Sprinkle the seasoning on, along with a generous amount of "Simply Organic Dill". (Also Down Below)
I like to let the salmon sit out for about 30 minutes while the grill is warming up. This gives everything a little time to mingle.
Spray a little non-stick on the grill out of a "can". ( Ok! Chef Hirsch would probably recommend rubbing a quality EVOO on the grill, which is a 100 times better choice!) Put the salmon meat side down on the grill when it's up to temperature. Cook between 15 to 20 minutes.
A Traeger Grill (below) cooks on indirect heat. So, not a big problem burn-wise, but still monitor. If a gas grill, you may have to lower the temperature and really watch it or you will have blackened fish, but not the kind you are thinking about. On a charcoal grill, you want a two zone fire.
I use two spatulas to turn the salmon over onto the skin side. I have done this enough that it's not a hassle. But, if it is, involve a cool sexy hard-bodied partner to help turn that dude over.
Grill another fifteen to 20 minutes, meat side up. ( Again monitor!) Add lemon slices while it's grilling.
Once the salmon is cooked, I like to pull out as many of the bones as possible before it is served. I'll qualify this by saying, "starting at the head of the fish, find the main spine and pull backwards toward the tail." It will come out in one piece and you just removed hundreds of bones.
This is a simple recipe for grilled salmon. There is no need to make it complicated. The grilling of a whole salmon can very impressive for family and guests. Try it you'll like it!

Labels: George Hirsch, Grilled Salmon, Grilled Salmon Recipe, Grilled Salmon Recipes, How Long Do I Grill Salmon, How Long Do You Cook Salmon, Traeger Grill Recipes

The short answer to "how long do you grill asparagus for" is: not very long. You will absolutely destroy it if you grill it too long.
Set your grill on medium heat, 325 degrees or so. Shut the hood and let it heat up to temperature. I normally use only one burner...assuming you have a gas grill. On charcoal, use a real medium fire. On a Traeger Grill you can get away with high heat.
Multitasking time: While you are waiting for the grill to do its thing, remove the woody ends from the asparagus.
Pay attention! Remove the woody end from just one stalk. Now you have a measuring devise.
Line up that baby with as many other stalks as you think you can break or cut off at one time.
Repeat, and repeat until you have gone through the bunch. Now you're cookin!
You will find that all your asparagus stalks are uniform. I make them even more uniform by trimming the break points with a knife. Wash and pat dry.
You just became the next Chef George Hirsch. Well, may be not yet, but you're getting there.
Next in your quest for perfection on this recipe, you will want to drizzle a quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil onto the asparagus.
If you didn't use anything else, the olive oil would add a nice dimension to your asparagus. But, let's be creative, let's do a little marinating.
Get yourself a good marinating vessel. Glass is fine, don't use a metal container.
Back to "drizzle"! Drizzle the olive oil on the asparagus along with a quality, balsamic vinegar. (See Below)
Don't go overboard on pouring on either the olive oil or the balsamic. A tad goes a long way.
Sprinkle on cracked pepper and a Kosher Salt but, once again don't go ballistic.
Marinate for about an hour at room temperature. Just remember to co-ordinate this with getting the grill to the right temperature.
Once you have experienced grilled asparagus you will never want to prepare it any other way. It is super by itself, in a salad or in a soup.
Now, back to the question: "how long do you have to grill asparagus for?"�..ten minutes total time should suffice on the grill. Just remember to keep turning and turning to avoid burning. You can tell its getting grilled to completion by the deeper green color and grill marks.

Labels: George Hirsch, Grill Asparagus, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Asparagus Salad, How Long Do You Grill Asparagus, Nakano Rice Vinegar, Traeger Grills, Traeger Recipes, Zoe Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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