Grilling

My aunt Martha swears that this smoky, sweet, tropical salsa takes her back to Yucatán no matter where she is when she makes it. It works especially well with Cilantro Tandoori Chicken, but it will enhance any grilled fish or meat. If the grill's fired up, throw the pineapple right on it; a grill pan will do just fine if you're cooking indoors.

You’ll find many recipes for swordfish in Sicily, where it is plentiful, often combined with citrus to give the meaty fish a bit of pizzazz. Here the citrus flavors come from the pesto; it’s great over grilled chicken or a steak, too.

Men sometimes complain that pasta salads aren’t a “real” meal because they’re so light. This one will make a believer out of anyone who has turned his nose up at pasta salad in the past. Meaty eggplant chunks, cannellini beans, plus lots of grilled seafood make this as filling and robust as it is attractive on the plate.

This native American fish—a relative of Pacific salmon and Arctic char—is prized for its delicate flavor. While fishing is the only way to obtain wild rainbow trout in this country, supermarkets carry stock from U.S. farms. Fortunately, rainbow trout farms are generally well managed and sustainable, with a low risk of pollution.

A papaya salsa with fiery Scotch bonnet chiles makes a colorful—and spicy—condiment for grilled steak. The salsa also goes well with grilled fish, particularly snapper. For less heat, seed the chiles before slicing them.

This salad features Madras curry powder—a blend of spices that includes turmeric, coriander, cumin, and cinnamon, all of which are antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and detoxifiers. Watercress is also a potent detoxifier.

Avocados in the salsa supply a generous portion of monounsaturated fat and fiber. If fresh corn is not in season, opt for frozen; it will taste better and have more nutrients than any “fresh” corn in the grocery store.

Fresh herbs are a healthy way to season fish and other lean proteins. Here, pungent oregano and bright lemon juice balance the richness of the trout. The whole trout are grilled in this recipe, but you can use the broiler instead; lightly coat the broiler pan or a rimmed baking sheet with oil before heating, and cook the fish for the same amount of time.

A mortar and pestle make easy work of crushing whole spices and peppercorns, but you can also use the bottom of a skillet or even the flat side of a chef ’s knife, pressing down firmly and working on a cutting board. Choose apricots that are ripe but still firm so they can hold up under the heat of the grill; brush the apricots and pork with the glaze as soon as they come off the heat. The glaze also tastes great on other grilled meats.

Portobello mushrooms are a nutritious and satisfying alternative to burgers made with beef or turkey. Here they are accompanied by a spread of pureed cannellini beans for added protein—and flavor. To clean the mushroom caps, wipe them with a damp paper towel; do not rinse or soak, or they will remain soggy even after cooking.

Fresh, clean flavors define these grilled fish tacos. The cabbage is also a potent cancer fighter. Set out the fish and toppings (use a melon baller to scoop avocado into neat balls), and let guests assemble their own tacos.

The “aha!” moment when I thought to combine porcini and grilled beef with chiles came to me in Argentina, home of the world’s best grilled beef. Specifically, I was in Mendoza, the capital of Argentina’s wine country and settled by Italian immigrants in the nineteenth century—probably why beef with porcinis is such a common pairing there. This dish is delicious prepared outdoors over a wood-fired grill, but you can also cook it stovetop on a cast-iron griddle or ridged grill pan. Look for porcini powder at specialty food stores or buy dried porcinis and grind them yourself in a spice grinder.

Skirt steak (carne de falda) is a terrific and inexpensive cut for grilling, probably the best for quickly cooked, juicy steaks. For breakfast and lunch all over Mexico, you see them as huge, thin steaks that practically cover the whole plate, but they’re really only about six to eight ounces of beef. It’s called skirt steak because it’s from an area along the outside of the belly of the cow—where a skirt would sit (if cows wore skirts). It’s a perfect cut for tacos and fajitas, but be sure to slice against the grain for juicier pieces. The fat on skirt steak is what makes it so tasty, but the meat should not be too fatty—no more than one-quarter covered with a thin layer of fat. Remove any excess. Note that the meat must marinate overnight. You can also cook the meat indoors on a ridged stovetop grill over very high heat, 2 minutes per side.

Unlike Baja fish tacos, which are deep-fried in batter, those made Maui-style are grilled. In all my travels, whenever I’m near the ocean—whether it’s in Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska, Thailand, or Australia—there has always been a small stand somewhere that serves the local catch in an affordable, portable (usually grilled) form. One of my funniest fish taco experiences occurred in a small town in Alaska where we had stopped for supplies during a sailing trip through Prince William Sound. There in front of us was an old school bus painted in bright, tropical colors now converted to a walk-up kitchen selling, of all things—Maui tacos! We were a long way from Hawaii, but the methods were the same—the local catch (salmon and crab, in this case), simply grilled and served with salsa on fresh tortillas. To reduce the heat of this dish, you can substitute Tabasco for the habanero hot sauce. If necessary, to prevent the pieces of snapper from falling through the grill grate into the fire, use a seafood grilling screen. The pineapple can be grilled ahead, if you prefer, and held at room temperature. Both the pineapple and snapper can also be grilled indoors on a nonstick ridged grill pan. For the pineapple use medium heat, 5 minutes per side; for the fish, very high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

As its name implies, this sauce is extremely versatile—you can brush it on chicken (whole or parts), ribs, steak, even vegetables. A small amount of butter is added at the end for a smooth finish; feel free to leave it out, especially if you’re using the sauce with a particularly fatty piece of meat.

Grilling baby back ribs is an exercise in patience, requiring low and slow heat to break down the tough connective tissue for a tender result (similar to what happens for braising; see pages 180–181). This method is called barbecuing, created by maintaining a constant stream of hot smoke over, rather than directly under, the ribs. To do this, the coals are heaped on one side and the ribs placed on the other; the opened vents, positioned over the ribs, draw the heat from the coals to the ribs. The temperature of the grill should be carefully monitored so that it never gets higher than 300°F; a basic oven thermometer set near the ribs will prove indispensable here. To cool it down quickly, open the lid.

Many cooks prefer to grill larger cuts of fish rather than smaller fillets, since the extra heft helps to trap in moisture and flavor. This recipe calls for a large piece from a side of salmon to be grilled on a bed of citrus and herbs, which helps keeps the fish from sticking to the grate. Instead of a crisp skin, you’ll get plenty of bright flavors from the aromatics. Use this method to grill other types of fish, too, whether whole sides or smaller fillets (even skinless ones). The herbs can vary; dill, marjoram, parsley, and thyme are all particularly lovely with fish.

Butterflying a leg of lamb produces a more uniform thickness, furthered by pounding, so the meat cooks evenly from end to end. It also creates more surface area for grilling, so that more of the meat takes on a charred taste. In this recipe, the lamb is marinated to infuse it with herbal flavors, but you could simply season it with no more than salt and pepper before grilling.

A flattened, or spatchcocked, chicken will cook more quickly and evenly than when left intact. The parts that take the longest to cook (legs and wings) are conveniently on the edges (meaning they are exposed to more heat), while the quicker-cooking breast is in the center (where it is insulated a bit from the heat). The origin of the term spatchcock is debatable, but one theory has it that it derives from “dispatch the cock,” apparently shorthand for “prepare the chicken for roasting over a spit.” No matter its past, cooks today understand that to spatchcock a chicken is to remove the backbone and open it like a book. While most commonly used for chicken that will be grilled or broiled, the method also works well for roasting. To further promote even cooking, the flattened chicken is weighted with a foil-wrapped brick while it grills, a technique borrowed from an Italian dish known as pollo al mattone (“chicken under a brick”). Brining helps keep the meat tender and juicy, and glazing adds another layer of flavor and promotes browning. In this recipe, citrus marries the brine and glaze, but you can forgo the glaze and make a brine solution of only salt, sugar, and water. A good ratio is 1 cup of coarse salt (never table salt, which will cause the meat to taste too salty) and 1/2 cup sugar to 1 gallon of water. For best results, brine the chicken for at least 1 hour and no more than 3 hours (any longer and the meat can develop an unpleasant texture).