To Grill or Not To Grill

Its’ Burger time! How to grill a juicy burger!

So it’s no secret that you can round any corner and find a fast-food burger joint. Fast-food? Are you kidding me? Okay, so I realize that sometimes we give in and grab a quick burger but are we ever satisfied? High end burger joints are proliferating with way too many places charging $10, $12, even $15 or more for a self-proclaimed masterpiece. But let’s get real…is there anything better than a fresh and hot burger off your own grill? Sadly the answer to that appears to be that you would rather go find a gourmet slab of meat somewhere else than your own backyard because of your own failed attempts to re-create the Magic Burger around the corner.

A few little tips might just sway your opinions and others of your own grilling attempts, so why not get started now! Prime grilling season will be here fast, and with Memorial Day coming up, Burgers, Dogs, and Brats will be sizzling across the land. Why not make yours the best possible!

First order of business is to ignore the pre-packaged meat and instead either grind your own, or have your butcher grind it up fresh for you. Cuts like chuck, sirloin, and round yield fat percentages of about 20%, 15%, and 11% respectively which translates to moisture and flavor. Those trying to cut down on the fat may wish to blend the chuck and sirloin which will retain most of the flavor and most of the moisture. Anything beyond a 90%/10% blend generally becomes very dry upon grilling, and that means bland and boring. Hate to say it but you just can’t beat a little fat finding its’ way into your burgers. Now I know lots of you like to add goodies to the burger mix which can be delicious if you don’t end up over-stuffing and/or overworking your mix. Handling the final mix too much will lead to tougher burgers, so thats’ a no-no. Sometimes onions, or cheese or seasonings will find their way in, but ultimately you need to let the charred meat itself shine. Try forming a lightly worked ball of meat, and then placing a pat of butter inside the ball, forming a patty around the butter, and then take your thumb and press a divot into the patty. This will prevent your burger from “crowning” which makes for a more evenly cooked burger. Before you pop that beautiful slab on the fire though you need to add some coarsely ground black pepper and some sea salt to the outside. Now here is the difference between gourmet burgers and dried out hockey pucks! Sear those slabs for a few minutes on each side over high heat, and then…..back it off the heat to finish cooking with indirect heat! How do you know when it’s done? (And don’t forget that all meats continue to cook well after they are removed from the heat….) Use your thumb! Best tester possible is to touch your thumb to the top…if the meat is tight…guess what..you have hockey pucks and better luck next time. But if the meat yields nicely to the touch then you are in business. It will take a little practice to perfect your skills but I guarantee those charred little meaties will become the hit of the party. Now if you overcooked the pattys then maybe you could create a makeshift Bocce court and use those charred rounds as Bocce balls. Let hope it doesn’t get to that point!

I think it’s time you got outside and made sure your grill is clean, and the grates are oiled up (safflower oil works great before you fire it up), and get your grill on!

Bon Apetit! Chef Craiger

Tags: Burgers Summer grills grilling how to grill burgers

Grilled Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Salad!

Seed to Feed

It is certainly no secret that this wonderful nation of ours is producing more than its’ unfair share of “fat” or “obese” or “unhealthy” cittizens. What is really alarming is the astonishing rate at which our children are showing tendencies toward obesity. Take a look around you today, and you wiil see an alarming number of obese adults, myself included! Thing is, we didn’t start that way! I was a skinny kid that could and would eat almost anything put in front of him and never gain weight! That is the same story for an overwhelming number of us. We didn’t spend our childhood over weight. it is a fact that over time, poor eating habits and lack of activity have turned a great many of us into sedentary overeaters. The scary fact now is that far more children are starting their young lives overweight and sedentary. So what does that hold for their future? We are learning so much about the science of weight control. We have learned that processed fast foods have turned us into a nation of impatient fat and sugar overconsumers. Now we are discovering that the artificial versions of sugar and fat are probably responsible for tricking our bodies into storing even more fat and improperly burning the sugars. I have watched myself turn from a skinny teen into a chubby adult and the doctors say all of that isn’t good for us including the lack of activity. At what point do we get away from what is good for us, and start embracing the bad?

This all leads me to a simple concept I have called “Seed to Feed”. In it’s purest form this is a concept that takes food all the way back to the seed. I would like to introduce programs in our elementary schools that would call for individual schools to have a space set aside for a garden. I don’t care if it is outdoors or indoors, although out would be healthier for the kids. This effort would involve the talents and skills of a great many individuals to assist with the start-up and maintenance of the garden. A local nursery or hardware store could donate the seeds, tools, soil, fertilzers and if necessary irrigation equipment to start a small garden. Local chapters of Master Gardeners could be called upon to donate time to educate the children in the whole process of planting, nurturing, and harvesting a garden. In extreme examples if enough produce was harvested, perhaps a purveyor could be called upon to certify the results as organic, and possibly used for consumption. I see this starting in kindergarten (I know there are already many pre-schools doing this as well as Montessoris) and continuing as far as a system is willing to take it.

This process, I believe will restore an understanding and appreciation of whole foods, and the “slow food” concept. It would teach the children so much more than just how to plant a seed. By following through on the process they discover the science, the mathematics, the patience, the nurturing, the loving, and after the harvest, the business end of bringing food to the table. I could go on and on about how much a child could learn from all of this, and this is the type of thing they could carry with them forever. The saying goes “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life”. Through this whole process, i can see our future generations gaining a greater understanding of what it takes to eat healthy and continue to do so for the rest of our lives.

The side benefit to all of this is the involvement of adults. Whether it is the teachers, or those who donate time, services, or products, good is to be gained from and for all. Can you imagine the school lunch program at a school that has learned to emphasize and expect healthy? Perhaps it could have a trickle back effect to all of the overweight parents which have developed such bad habits and ever-expanding waistlines. I have already approached our local school system in Fountain Hills, Az. I have been met with two different viewpoints already. First was that our current program is excellent (offered by the existing food service provider for the district)! And the other by the administration of the district acknowledging that changes need to be made. I have received their blessings…now I need their backs!

I invite you to respond with your thoughts on this! For now, Bon Appetite and Ciao!

June Cleaver wouldn’t make this!

There it sat in all its mystifying glory. “What is it?” we all asked each other. After lots of poking and prodding, and absolutely no taste attempts, we all came to the conclusion that it was a sweet potato with a scoop of cottage cheese and a cherry on top. “What is this, some kind of April Fools joke? Wait, it’s only February!”

Such was the legendary tale of the totally inedible meal in the cafeteria of Mt. Pleasant Jr. High School. Problem is, dishes like that were an everyday occurrence, as day after day full trays of food went into the garbage while we hurried to the local market to buy pocketfuls of penny candies. Iowa being the breadbasket of America should probably have the greatest food in the world on its’ school menus, (and today may very well have). However, no matter how nutritious the individual items were on the plate that day, the way they were assembled was nothing short of repulsive. No one would even touch it let alone eat it!

Well it’s no surprise, but sad none-the-less, that the situation hasn’t changed as much as you might think. I now have daughters of my own in High School (where they refuse to eat at the cafeteria, and wouldn’t be caught dead bringing a sack lunch), one in Jr. High where the aforementioned habits are now forming, and one in grade school, where whatever they are given (sack lunch or school lunch) is largely ignored because they are too busy playing. I hate to think how much of this food ends up in landfills due to horrible taste, embarassement, or brevity of allowed time. I have attended lunch with all of my girls on several academic levels, and witnessed kids scraping enormous amounts of un-eaten food into the trash. We are surely missing something here. We are told that our school districts have certified nutritionists on staff, yet when queried as to why a healthy item like Hummus was not made available, our local ‘Nutritionist” said “What’s Hummus’?

As a chef, I find myself faced with many challenges. However, none are so challenging as finding healthy foods that kids will actually eat. Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles to overcome is that regardless of how healthy the meal may be at school, many kids are still eating crap at home. Granted we all lead frantic lives and have little time to prepare wholesome foods, but a little creativity and some foresight could remedy that. Parents simply must stop relying on fast food as a constant crutch. The fatty, high calorie foods they eat at home create cravings that are difficult to overcome with the one meal a day a school has.

I have turned our family into my test subjects to see what effects a healthier diet will have on their grades and concentration levels. I am trying to get them to eat a light healthy snack in-between meals, which studies have proven can stabilize blood sugars and lessen the insulin spikes. My problem now is to convince every one of my girls to suffer the slings and arrows, and take a lunch to school. I don’t see much help from the school systems as first of all so many don’t know what they are doing, and second; budgets have been cut so drastically that we may have to take what we get for a while.

In my next post, I am going to outline a concept that I have developed that I would like to see flourish across the nation. Perhaps obesity could become a bad memory, just like that Sweet Potato & Cottage Cheese. Ciao, & Bon Appetite Craiger

Tags: school lunches June Cleaver cooking healthy school lunches healthy
1 note

Who gives a Crepe!?

Hello everyone and thanks again for attending and even enjoying our hands on Crepe Fest! I know you got a bit more than you bargained for, since most of you had no idea you would be getting your hands dirty! As you can tell, Doug and I really love to teach. Food is our passion, and the smiles on your faces are our reward! I know I stood in front of you all at the end and said that you would have recipes by next week, but there is a push on to get them sooner, so I am pulling together the key pieces. As you know, we grilled all of the ingredients for the stuffing of the crepes. First lets talk the chicken, which was smoked over Pecan wood. Do you need smoked Chicken? No! Go to your local market that puts out a roasted chicken, and let it cool so you can work w/ it. Pull all of the meat off the bones (save that carcass and make a great chicken stock!), mix w/ the grilled Asparagus (remember to listen to the tips as they pop and tell you its time to turn them), and the Mushrooms (any blend of savory Mushrooms will work), and then toss w/ Chef Dougs’ Sauce which is…….

Juice of 2 lemons

1Cup of Honey Mustard

1Cup Apple juice

2Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar

2Cups Heavy Cream

2Tbl butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Simmer all ingredients together….

And discover how versatile this simple sauce is! Put it over Pasta w/ Veggies if you like!

I know how much everyone enjoyed the Salad, so here is the Dressing Recipe

1C of concentrated Syrup (Choose your fave!)

3 tbl ginger (minced)

3 tbl garlic (minced)

3 tbl dijon mustard

1/4 C honey

1C white grape juice

1 1/2 C rice wine vin.

1C vegetable oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. of hot sauce (I love Cholula!)

This recipe will make 1Quart of dressing, which is enough for you to cover a couple of dozen salads or more!

Doug and I hope that you will try a few of these, and take price in your results! Have the greatest of times on the rest of your stay here in the Valley, and the rest of your Journey on this fabulous planet!

Bon Apetit from the “To Grill or Not to Grill” Team!

Chef Craiger!

Tags: crepe team building chef craiger togrillornottogril togrillornot groupon

Grilled Fish to Perfection!

Just made the hair come up on the back of your neck didn’t I? One ton of remnants from past failed attempts sitting at the bottom of your grill say “Are you crazy”? Perfect grilled fish is an urban myth. Right up there with perfectly grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts! People tell stories around campfires about the “fish that fell through the grill”. I’m sticking with steaks! At least with them all I do is over cook them!

Well let’s shatter some myths and start to enjoy what the perfect bodies of the world tell us is the perfect food! No, not Twinkies! Fish! And I don’t mean fish sticks; I’m talking about luscious chunks of Halibut and Sea Bass and Grouper!

Why does fish stick to the grill? Same reason everything else does….grill neglect! Most of you are guilty of simply lighting the fire and plopping whatever down to blaze away again and again…without ever cleaning! And you thought layers of Burgers and Salmon and Chicken just made whatever is on there now taste more complex! I cover thorough cleaning and grill prep in another post totally dedicated to just that, so refer to that post before wasting your hard earned coin on another $25 chunk of Halibut!

Let’s assume that you did the responsible thing and followed all the steps to a clean grill, and your personal inferno is now heating up to the right temperature. Remove those luscious translucent filets of (fill in with your favorite fish) from the refrigerator, and let’s keep it simple until you start to earn your “Golden Spatula’ award. Assuming that you have oiled your grates prior to heat-up, and the grill is now at the ideal medium high temp, gently place the gilled gold on the grill. If you watch the side of the chunky swimmer, you will notice that as the heat penetrates the flesh it starts to turn from translucent to opaque. Once that visible line approaches the halfway point, take your spatula and gently nudge the filet over. If it doesn’t release from the grates, it’s not quite ready…wait 30 seconds and try again. Once you have flipped the flipper stay with it till the end, just a few more minutes. Use your spatula to remove your fish from the grill, and don’t forget that it is still cooking for a couple of minutes after you remove it.

Now comes the hard part…with a steady hand, twist a little Sea Salt, and Cracked Black Pepper on with a follow-up of fresh squeezed lemon. And…….serve! Doesn’t need to be any more complex than that! Raise a glass of Wine, toast your friends; and they in turn will toast your new-found confidence in all things grilled. Bon Apetit! Chef Craiger

Tags: grill griling fish togrillornottogrill chef craiger

Swai Fish Tacos! What’s a Swai??

Does the word Taco conjure images of foods better left consumed after a bender? You know that moment in time where all taste and discretion has completely left you? Well let me offer up to you the Fish Taco! Now at this point, you know I am not talking about hard shells in a package with crumbled fish sticks… I am talking about fresh corn tortillas lightly grilled, and then stuffed with all things fresh and wonderful. I have been experimenting with several different denizens of the deep lately, and my most recent was Swai, which is a Vietnamese river fish similar to Catfish. So why Swai and not Catfish? Why not? Always looking for something new to try. Swai is a sweet whitefish that does a decent job of taking on marinades and rubs, and therefore transfers the savory goodies onto you in the form of a reasonably healthy and inexpensive meal. Once off the grill and nestled in Corn tortilla land, top it with some fresh Cilantro, a little tangy slaw, some Cotija cheese and a little spicy jalapeno yogurt drizzle, and you will find yourself eating way more than you expected. Now just add a nice warm glass of Milk, and ……whoops I was thinking ahead to the Toll House cookies……. okay so just add a nice chilled Corona, and make sure to use the lime on the beer AND the taco! Bon Apetit!

Tags: swap fish tacos togrillornottogril chef craiger togrillornot grilling tacos

Alison, has that Janice Joplin raspiness, and only 17? Eve is done and so is my wine. time to toddle off to La La Land. Night peeps!

Whew! this social networking thing is exhausting to set up for someone so technically challenged! But I’m getting it

To Grill is hot and ready, are you ready for us? We’re coming into your home! Soon! togrillornottogrill.com

The new Web site

It is up and running!