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You are here: Home / Archives for summer grilling recipe

summer grilling recipe

10 Summer Grilling Tips + Zesty BBQ Ribs Recipe

10 Summer Grilling Tips + Zesty BBQ Ribs Recipe

by liz · Jun 15, 2018

Zesty BBQ Ribs recipe
Zesty BBQ Ribs recipe – photo courtesy of Meals.com

Summer is grilling time! If you aren’t as familiar with grills and how to use them to their full, delicious advantage, you can be out in the cold this time of year. Well, we’ve got 10 summer grilling tips to get you heated up and in the swing of summer.

  1. Gas grills burn cleaner than charcoal grills, but give food a less smoky taste.
  2. Grilling is a great way to eat healthy (because grilled vegetables taste so good!) as long as you pick lean meats to grill.
  3. Make sure to preheat your grill 10-15 minutes before cooking, to get it to the right temperature and clean the grill.
  4. Cooking on high heat caramelizes the food on the outside, boosting flavors on the inside.
  5. Wet & dry rubs are a quick way to season meat and vegetables; marinades can be done the night before.
  6. Apply BBQ sauce after grilling or near the end of the grilling time. The sugar in the sauce can burn more quickly, charring the meat on the outside too soon.
  7. Try to turn the food as little as possible; keep the food on one side to get seared, turning it only once. If the outside is seared well and the inside isn’t done, consider lowering the heat or moving the food to the top shelf.
  8. Follow the FDA’s guidelines to safe cooking temperatures for meats.
  9. Pull food off the grill just before it’s done and let it rest for 5-10 minutes under foil; it will continue cooking and marinate in its own juices.
  10. If you want to cut fat off the meat, do it after cooking. Fat helps the meat retain juices during cooking and it will taste better.

Zesty BBQ Ribs (recipe courtesy of Meals.com)

Ingredients for 8 servings:

RIBS

  • 2 racks (about 4 pounds total) baby back ribs
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons instant coffee
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 bottle (12 fluid ounces) amber ale or 1 1/2 cups dry red wine

BBQ SAUCE

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons chipotle adobo sauce

Directions:

FOR RIBS: FIT rack inside large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Using knife, remove membranes from bone side of ribs (this step is very important for tender ribs). Pat ribs dry with paper towel; place on rack with meat side up.

COMBINE sugar, coffee granules, salt, garlic powder, coriander, pepper and cocoa in coffee or spice grinder; cover. Process until smooth. Lightly rub ribs with oil. Sprinkle with rub mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere to the ribs. Let stand at room temperature for no more than 1 hour.

PREHEAT oven to 250° F. Pour beer into bottom of roasting pan. Cover pan with foil; bake for 4 to 5 hours (this will be long enough for the meat to be very tender, but not falling off the bones). Prepare sauce during the last 30 minutes of baking.

PREHEAT grill. Grill ribs over medium flame, turning once, for 5 minutes. Brush with sauce during grilling. Let ribs rest for 10 minutes before serving.

FOR BBQ SAUCE: HEAT oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Add ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and bouillon. Stir until sugar and bouillon are dissolved. Stir in mustard, chili powder and adobo sauce. Cover; cook for 30 minutes. The sauce will thicken as it simmers.

Cook’s Tip: Double or triple the spice rub and store in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place. It will remain fresh for up to 1 month. Use 2 to 3 teaspoons rub per pound of meat. Rub is also great on pork chops, pork tenderloin, skinless chicken breasts and salmon fillets!

Print
Zesty BBQ Ribs Recipe
Author: Meals.com
Recipe type: Main
Prep time:  15 mins
Cook time:  5 hours
Total time:  5 hours 15 mins
Serves: 8 servings
 
Summer is grilling time! If you aren't as familiar with grills and how to use them to their full, delicious advantage, you can be out in the cold this time of year.
Ingredients
  • RIBS
  • 2 racks (about 4 pounds total) baby back ribs
  • 2½ teaspoons packed brown sugar
  • 1¼ teaspoons instant coffee
  • 1¼ teaspoons sea or kosher salt
  • 1¼ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1¼ teaspoons ground coriander
  • ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon baking cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1 bottle (12 fluid ounces) amber ale or 1½ cups dry red wine
  • BBQ SAUCE
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1½ cups apple cider vinegar
  • ¾ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons chicken bouillon
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons chipotle adobo sauce
Instructions
  1. FOR RIBS:
  2. FIT rack inside large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet. Using knife, remove membranes from bone side of ribs (this step is very important for tender ribs). Pat ribs dry with paper towel; place on rack with meat side up.
  3. COMBINE sugar, coffee granules, salt, garlic powder, coriander, pepper and cocoa in coffee or spice grinder; cover. Process until smooth. Lightly rub ribs with oil. Sprinkle with rub mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere to the ribs. Let stand at room temperature for no more than 1 hour.
  4. PREHEAT oven to 250° F. Pour beer into bottom of roasting pan. Cover pan with foil; bake for 4 to 5 hours (this will be long enough for the meat to be very tender, but not falling off the bones). Prepare sauce during the last 30 minutes of baking.
  5. PREHEAT grill. Grill ribs over medium flame, turning once, for 5 minutes. Brush with sauce during grilling. Let ribs rest for 10 minutes before serving.
  6. FOR BBQ SAUCE:
  7. HEAT oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Add ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and bouillon. Stir until sugar and bouillon are dissolved. Stir in mustard, chili powder and adobo sauce. Cover; cook for 30 minutes. The sauce will thicken as it simmers.
  8. Cook’s Tip: Double or triple the spice rub and store in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place. It will remain fresh for up to 1 month. Use 2 to 3 teaspoons rub per pound of meat. Rub is also great on pork chops, pork tenderloin, skinless chicken breasts and salmon fillets!
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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Outdoor, Recipes, Summer Tagged With: barbecue, Barbecue grill, Barbecue ribs, Barbecue sauce, BBQ ribs, BBQ sauce, grilling, Pork ribs, Spice rub, summer, summer grilling recipe

Fishin’ in the Garden: Marinated Swordfish with Avocado Butter

Fishin’ in the Garden: Marinated Swordfish with Avocado Butter

by liz · May 5, 2018

 

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs with Avocado Butter recipe
Photo by Meals.com

 

I had just spent some time in Spain, Basque country to be exact, where I’d eaten so much amazing seafood. Octopus charcoal-grilled or swimming in fragrant broth, fish caught that day then wood-oven fired with wine and garlic and zesty, salty sardines to start every meal.

When I returned, I decided to make this Grilled Swordfish Kabobs with Avocado Butter recipe for my Easter guests in the garden. Spring is my favorite time to eat in the garden, when it’s just coming to life and things are beginning to bloom. And if you’re eating fish on Friday, this is a great fish recipe.

As usual, I made a few changes to the recipe:

  • I used basic whitefish instead of swordfish. It has a similar taste to swordfish or tuna, but a more buttery texture.
  • I used fresh squeezed orange juice and orange zest instead of lemon. This gave it a more mellow, sweet-citrus flavor.
  • I broiled the fish whole instead of cubing it for kabobs (but limited serving sizes to less than 6 ounces). This kept it tender on the inside and perfectly broiled on the outside.

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs with Avocado Butter recipe

The dish was a hit! My guests said they would have been impressed with any chef that made this (perhaps at an outdoor restaurant in Spain?) along with the side of blanched asparagus with a farm egg, dressed with the same marinade. And I just might be a little impressed myself.

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs with Avocado Butter, from Meals.com

Ingredients:

AVOCADO BUTTER

  • 1/2 avocado, peeled and mashed until smooth
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon MAGGI Seasoning Sauce
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, tops included

SWORDFISH KABOBS

  • 1/4 cup MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Cooking Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 cup canola or olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 (about 1 1/2 pounds total) small swordfish or tuna steaks, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
  • 4 skewers

Directions:

FOR AVOCADO BUTTER:

COMBINE avocado, butter, lemon juice, seasoning sauce and garlic powder in a small bowl; fold in sliced green onions. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

FOR SWORDFISH KABOBS:

COMBINE soy sauce, oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic and mustard in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag; blend mixture with fingers.

ADD fish cubes to bag. Seal bag and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 3 hours.

THREAD fish onto skewers. Discard marinade.

PREHEAT grill or broiler.

GRILL or broil fish, turning over halfway through cooktime, for 4 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with Avocado Butter.

Note: If you are using wooden skewers, soak in water for 30 minutes before threading.

Print
Marinated Swordfish with Avocado Butter
Author: Meals.com
Recipe type: Main
Prep time:  20 mins
Cook time:  4 mins
Total time:  24 mins
Serves: 4 servings
 
I decided to make this Grilled Swordfish Kabobs with Avocado Butter recipe for my Easter guests in the garden. Spring is my favorite time to eat in the garden, when it's just coming to life and things are beginning to bloom. And if you're eating fish on Friday, this is a great fish recipe.
Ingredients
  • AVOCADO BUTTER
  • ½ avocado, peeled and mashed until smooth
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon MAGGI Seasoning Sauce
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced green onions, tops included
  • SWORDFISH KABOBS
  • ¼ cup MAGGI TASTE OF ASIA Cooking Soy Sauce
  • ¼ cup canola or olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 (about 1½ pounds total) small swordfish or tuna steaks, cut into 1½-inch cubes
  • 4 skewers
Instructions
  1. FOR AVOCADO BUTTER:
  2. COMBINE avocado, butter, lemon juice, seasoning sauce and garlic powder in a small bowl; fold in sliced green onions. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  3. FOR SWORDFISH KABOBS:
  4. COMBINE soy sauce, oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic and mustard in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag; blend mixture with fingers.
  5. ADD fish cubes to bag. Seal bag and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 3 hours.
  6. THREAD fish onto skewers. Discard marinade.
  7. PREHEAT grill or broiler.
  8. GRILL or broil fish, turning over halfway through cooktime, for 4 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with Avocado Butter.
  9. Note: If you are using wooden skewers, soak in water for 30 minutes before threading.
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Filed Under: Healthy Stuff, Main Dishes, Recipes, Summer Tagged With: baked fish, barbecue, best fish recipe, fish on friday, grilled fish, lent recipe, summer, summer grilling recipe, white fish

Summer Grilling Recipes: Ribs, Rubs & Chicken Galore

Summer Grilling Recipes: Ribs, Rubs & Chicken Galore

by liz · Jun 2, 2011

Coffee-Spice Rubbed Ribs recipe

When the weather gets warm, I head outside to cook. Grilling season is here! Recently I’d eaten an entire meal of grilled food in Spain. And Memorial Day is a good time to pull off the cover and blow the dust away. The grill is your new best friend.

Grilling meat may seem daunting if you’ve never done it, so rest assured you can use a grill almost the same as you would an oven. Many recipes have directions for both an oven and a grill, and you can also use rubs, sauces and marinades to season any type of meat: beef, poultry, pork, lamb and more. All it takes is a little research and recipe hunting.

I started my summer grilling by using this Coffee-Spiced Rub recipe, which is perfect on ribs as shown in the recipe. But I wanted to grill a whole chicken using this rub, so I modified the cooking time since chicken has a lot less fat than ribs.

Coffee-Spiced Rub

(covers 4 pounds meat, shown on ribs at top)

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons NESCAFÉ TASTER’S CHOICE House Blend 100% Pure Instant Coffee Granules or NESCAFÉ CLÁSICO Pure Instant Coffee Granules
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa

Directions:

COMBINE sugar, coffee granules, salt, garlic powder, coriander, pepper and cocoa in coffee or spice grinder; cover. Process until smooth. Lightly rub meat with oil. Sprinkle with rub mixture, pressing gently to help it adhere to the meat.

To learn how to grill a whole chicken, I turned to YouTube; it looked so easy! I had a whole chicken and some beef brisket as well, and I still wanted to use this recipe’s method of first slow cooking the meat over beer or wine, then grilling it to perfection at the end. Plus, I was dying to use a handcrafted pecan beer I got at the local beer festival – in the South – to perform this duty.

Coffee-Spice Rubbed Ribs or Chicken recipe

Since I was cooking chicken and brisket, the meat only needed about an hour in the oven at 250 (it made the house smell so good!) then I put it on the grill to finish the cooking and crisp up the outside. The leftover beer plus drippings in the bottom of the oven pan smelled so good, I used it to make a sauce.

Coffee-Spice Rubbed Ribs or Chicken recipe

For the sauce:

Pour the liquid from the pan under the meat through a sieve into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and add a bit of butter. Cook until it reduces by about half and serve alongside the meat.

For my next backyard dinner, I decided to marinate and grill a whole chicken. The marinade in this Chardonnay Marinated Chicken recipe captured my heart and I set to work. I doubled the amount of chardonnay to almost cover the chicken, and created a custom herb mix made from every herb growing in the garden around my house, including rosemary, thyme, parsley, lavender and mint. I also used good, local olive oil and large sea salt. Turning the chicken in the marinade a few times during the evening made me lick my fingers! I couldn’t wait to eat it.

Chardonnay Marinated & Grilled Chicken recipe

To grill, I followed my handy YouTube instructions, and it turned out perfectly cooked. 15 minutes before the chicken was done, I added zucchini, asparagus and broccolini to the grill. I also made a warm spicy-vinegar potato salad and mini lemon tartlets to fill every last bit of space in my guests’ tummies.

My grill is now the most popular kid in town.

Links:

  • Coffee-Spiced Ribs
  • Get a Taster’s Choice coupon
  • Get a Toll House coupon

Related Grilling Recipes:

Skewered Sesame Chicken recipe
Skewered Sesame Chicken (oven or grill)
Grilled Pound Cake with Seasonal Berries and Apple-Ginger Syrup recipe
Grilled Pound Cake with Berries & Apple-Ginger Syrup

Filed Under: Healthy Stuff, Main Dishes, Recipes, Summer Tagged With: barbecue, Beef, Chicken, Father's Day, grilling, spicy, summer, summer grilling recipe, Vegetable

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