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You've Grilled It,
Now Serve It
My
family keeps serving food from the grill simple. We use mustard from a
squeeze bottle, hamburger and hot dog buns from a grocery shelf, and a
major brand of ketchup. Our fries are frozen french fries, oven-heated
so that they're crisp by the time the meat is done.
My wife claims
that I
like a few fries with my ketchup. I'll admit that I can go overboard on
ketchup, or mustard, but I'm learning to enjoy crisp, warm fries. A key
to getting the most out of grilled food is not to overwhelm the flavor
with mustard, ketchup, salt, or sauces.
This is the
basic outdoor grill food.
My family likes
whole
wheat buns, but hamburger patties can go between slices of bread,
bagels, or just about any bread product or pastry about the right size
and shape.
Ultimate Simple Burger
The
ultimate simple hamburger is a hamburger patty between the halves of a
bun. Unless you have an extremely juicy burger, this would be awfully
dry.
Weekend Lunch
We squeeze
a circle of mustard on the face of the top and bottom halves of a whole
wheat bun. Leaf lettuce goes on the bottom bun until there's what my
wife calls "a comfortable amount." For us, that's the point when the
hamburger patty will almost, but not quite, fall off: a little over a
quarter inch. The burger goes open-faced on a plate, next to fries.
Alpha Burger
This is the
same as our usual weekend lunch, with a pad of alfalfa sprouts on top
of the burger patty. We put about as much alfalfa over the patty as
there is lettuce under it.
Just Plain Hot Dog
Hot dog bun,
grilled hot dog with a line of mustard, fries: that's all it takes.
Chicken
Chicken 'N Spuds
This is a
major meal: one or two pieces of grilled chicken, unwrapped but still
hot, potato still foil-wrapped from the grill, and vegetable.
Baked Potatoes
Undercover Spuds
These stay
hot for a half-hour or more, especially if they're kept in the foil
they're grilled in. That's a good thing, since our grill is too small
to grill potatoes and meat at the same time. At least, for a family our
size. I grill potatoes first. Then they stay wrapped and sometimes
under a towel. Butter or sour cream, in moderation, top them off.
Steak
Easy Griller's Dinner
A slice of
steak, a grill-baked potato still wrapped in foil, and vegetables: one
meal with minimum fuss and good taste.
Next: Four-Season Grilling
Copyright © 2005 Brian H. Gill
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Easy Griller