For many Americans, the minute it’s not
too painfully cold to huddle around a grill starts grill season.
However, it’s not until late April and early May that the
temperature gets warm enough to actually get together and eat
outside, but the minute it does… party on!
There’s only one problem. Grilling for
the family or close friends and grilling for a crowd are two wildly
different things. When you’ve got four or five steaks over a nice
roaring fire, you can stand with a beer in one hand, tongs in the
other and give each one tender loving care. If you have twenty or
two hundred hungry guests coming, that’s just not an option. But
it’s okay. This menu was designed to deliver big flavors to a big
party with lots of big appetites without a big headache.
Grilled Tomato Beers This is a grill party which means
everything should come from the grill…even the cocktails. Everyone
loves ice cold beer, but why not kick it up with some grilled tomato
juice and a few spices.
Ingredients 8 tomatoes (not romas)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 + 2 optional tablespoon chili powder
6 ale-style beers
(optional) 1 lime
Directions Bring the grill to heat, which means you
should have a three second fire. That means when you hold your hand
over the fire and you start counting, the fire becomes too hot to
bare right at three seconds. This is your temperature for all these
recipes.
Coat the tomatoes in olive oil.
Put them in the coals if using a
charcoal grill or in the back of grill, directly on the greased
grate if using a gas grill. Either way, close the grill. Cook
until the tomato skin is black. For a charcoal grill, this won’t
take long since all sides can be cooked simultaneously. For a gas
grill, this will take 2-3 minutes per side.
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Put the tomatoes in a blender with the
salt, black pepper, and chili powder and blend until smooth.
If you want, run a wedge of lime around
the lip of a mug and then dip it in the chili powder. Pour in 3/4
of the bottle of beer and enough tomato mixture to turn the beer
red. Conversely, you can make the tomato juice the night before and
freeze it in ice cube trays. Serve the juice in vodka for a
deconstructed Bloody Mary.
Grilled Fajitas Your fajitas are going to be the star of
the evening. Traditionally, these are made with skirt steak, which
can be difficult to find in many grocery stores, so this recipe
calls for flank steak instead. Flank steaks are flavorful and cheap
and you can cook several of them up before the party and keep them
warm in the oven.
Ingredients 1 pound flank steak
For the marinade: 1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper
Tortillas
Directions About two hours before you want to start
grilling, mix all the ingredients for the marinade except the lime
juice in a plastic bag large enough for the flank steak. Add the
steak and let it marinate in the refrigerator.
When it comes time to cook, remove the
steak from the refrigerator and add the lime juice.
Start a three second fire (see above)
and grease the grill with olive oil.
Right before putting the steak on the
grill, remove it form them marinade and sprinkle both sides with
salt and pepper. This will help form a nice crust.
Cook the steak 4-6 minutes per side. If
you are using a gas grill, close the lid. To get nice grill marks,
cook the steak 2-3 minutes, then turn 90 degrees and cook another
2-3 minutes before flipping the steak and repeating.
Remove the steak from the fire using
tongs. Never use a fork to turn a steak because juices will
seep out of the holes made by the forks. Let the steaks rest for
five minutes before cutting.
While the steak is resting, throw some
tortillas on the grill and cook them one minute per side. Serve
with rice, black beans, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. When you cut
the steaks, cut on a bias and go against the grain or else you will
have very chewy steak.
Note: one-half pound of meat should
easily serve one person. When planning your party, you should be
able to fit 2-4 1 pound flank steaks in one plastic bag so you will
only need to double your marinade recipe for every 2-4 flank steaks
you buy.
Grilled Veggies Your fajitas are going to need some
vegetables to give them color and flavor and, quite frankly, grilled
veggies make perfect side dishes. Just pick hearty vegetables that
can stand up to the heat.
Ingredients 4 carrots, peeled and halved
1 onion cut into rings
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1 green bell pepper cut into strips
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Directions Put all of the vegetables into a bag with
the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Shake to coat.
Start a three second fire (see above)
and grease the grill with olive oil.
Put the vegetables on the grill and cook
3-4 minutes per side. Do not move the vegetables if you want them
to have grill marks.
Grilled Shortcake Like it says above, everything is
happening on the grill, even dessert. Grilling a shortcake makes it
warm enough to melt ice cream or whipped cream and adds a nice
caramelized flavor. Top with something sweet and you have a dessert
everyone is sure to remember.
Ingredients 8 pre-made short cakes
8 scoops of ice cream
Chocolate sauce
Directions Start a three second fire (see above) and
grease the grill with olive oil or canola oil. Put the shortcakes
on the grill serving side up and cook for 2 minutes. Flip and close
the lid. Cook another 2 minutes. Immediately pull from the fire
and cover with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Garnish with mint or
strawberries.
Chris was
a featured guest on Eat, Drink & Be Merry! foodies radio on
May 11, 2009. To
meet the rest of the guests and listen to the entire show, please
click here. To
listen to Chris' interview, please double click on the Play Button
below.
Chris
Perrin ‘The Party FoodDude’ is part mad scientist, part
glutton, and part culinary adventurer who is always ready to hit the
kitchen to make something delicious. And if not delicious, then
certainly edible. Cooking, especially for friends, has always been one
of his deepest passions and explains why he enjoys making party food as
much as he does. You can always
taste his mad creations at
www.BlogWellDone.com
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