Take over cooking and take it outdoors. It’s better than brunch! Celebrate Mom by letting her put her feet up and enjoy your culinary creations. These outdoor dishes deliver intense flavor in every bite. Make sure to make dessert, too — fresh off the grill.
Oysters
For a luxurious, indulgent starter, it’s hard to beat grilled oysters. They offer enough splurgy satisfaction to stand on their own, slurped right out of the shell. A glass of sparkling wine matches up nicely — and it’s festive, too.
Chinese-style
ribs
Next up, make Mom a main dish treat. Do baby back ribs with a Chinese spin — including savory hoisin sauce, complex five-spice powder, salty soy sauce and sweet honey.
Baby back ribs fit easily into your hand and pack a lot of meat onto smaller bones. Adjust cooking time and marinade quantity if you decide on larger pork ribs.
Deliciously compatible side dishes are rice and Asian-style vegetables. Try the Asian grilled cabbage recipe here. Or do up your own salad with Asian notes like water chestnuts, pea pods, mushrooms, green onions and a sesame oil dressing. For Mom’s beverage, sweeter wines like crisp Riesling and charming Moscato complement Asian flavors.
Grilled pound cake with grilled peaches and cream
This grilled lemon pound cake is sure to please. You can bake the lemony pound cake yourself before grilling. Or skip that step and buy a store-bought version; you’ll bypass the extra-credit points for baking from scratch but you won’t be sacrificing the sweet satisfaction. Top it with grilled peaches for a gorgeous finish to your Mother’s Day cookout.
The best BBQ gifts take many forms—high-tech or homemade, sophisticated or simple. What they have in common is the ability to make a really delicious difference for the griller in your life. This holiday season, share the joy of BBQ with attitude.
Neatness counts: grill griddles, baskets and mats
Image: Williams Sonoma
The proficient griller knows all about the problem of food falling between the grates. You can buy several nifty, extremely helpful items to deal with this in style. One choice that’s a sure thing to get the job done right: stainless steel or non-stick grill baskets, griddles, and fry pans. They’re perforated to let smoke go up and drippings go down. But those holes are small enough to keep the food where it belongs—on the cooking surface. Many of the best quality grill griddles come from top cookware brands. Check out the selection from cookware and kitchen experts Williams Sonoma.
Or you can keep it clean with a simple but high-tech solution. Reusable, lifetime-guaranteed, and heat-resistant to 500 degrees, PTFE-fiberglass coated Grillaholics grill mats are a cost-effective way to cook without food sticking or slipping off the grill surface. The highly-rated mats can be cut to size and they’re dishwasher-safe.
Spice it up: a gift box of BBQ rubs and blends
Image: The Spice House
A custom barbecue spice gift set makes an impression for any occasion. Get the freshest spices and special blends from the culinary pros at The Spice House. Order from this 60+-year-old family-owned business that’s been featured on Food Network and in numerous publications; they collaborate with serious chefs and ship nationally.
Note these BBQ-friendly flavors and consider them for your custom set.
Caribbean jerk is a favorite form of outdoor cooking, and the Jamaican Jerk Seasoning blend features the flavor fundamentals, allspice and chile pepper.
The Brisket of Love BBQ rub is made to deliver sweet, tangy, slightly peppery slow-cooked smoked brisket.
Bavarian Seasoning doesn’t say ‘Barbecue’ in its name but The Spice House puts it in the category and recommends its rich, traditional sage-and-mustard flavors for slow-roasted meats and poultry.
Get sauced: BBQ brews for the home chef
Southern Living magazine’s BBQ sauce recipe feature offers up an All-American range of test kitchen-proven traditional recipes for the home cook. The editors say they’re good enough for gifts, and we absolutely believe them. Check out recipes from Alabama, South Carolina, Kansas City, Texas and more. Make a big batch, find some attractive jars or bottles, print up personalized labels–and be sure to keep some for yourself.
Get more gift-giving inspiration in our Bluetooth BBQ thermometer article. And don’t forget the season’s easiest gift idea: a pellet grilling starter set with a smoker tube and a bag of Griller’s Gold Premium BBQ Pellets.
There’s more than one way to enjoy Thanksgiving grilling. Free up oven space by moving your side dish preparation to your wood pellet grill. Outdoor cooking makes for great flavors in sides as well as the main dish.
The man behind the BBQ Bible, grilling expert Steven Raichlen, says it best:
“Supporting players make your bird look even better.”
This seasonally correct Cranberry-Walnut Planked Brie is an easy, delicious way Steve suggests you start the festivities and help move some of the crowd out of the kitchen and into the cool autumn air.
“A round of creamy French brie is topped with cranberry jelly or even prepared cranberry sauce, then studded with walnut halves. It combines two distinctly American live fire cooking techniques—planking and smoking. Serve with, what else, grilled bread.”
Sure, you can grill your turkey, too. If you’d rather cook your holiday bird outside this year, read more about our take on turkey grilling for Thanksgiving.
If there’s food involved in a holiday, that’s an opportunity to grill. On the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos), festivities revolve around ofrendas, colorful altars that honor the departed and include a spread of favorite foods. Let’s talk just a bit about the origins of the holiday, then dig into some delicious recipes.
A little history
Día de Los Muertos began with Aztecs around 3,000 years ago. After the arrival of the Catholic Church in the Americas, Day of the Dead celebrations coincided with the feasts of All Souls Day and All Saints Day. Then as now, generations come together and visit cemeteries to clean headstones, place decorations, and picnic to the accompaniment of mariachi bands.
In today’s Day of the Dead celebrations, sugar skulls, keepsakes, candles, photos of the departed, flowers and food all adorn the ofrendas. The aromas of mole and tamales waft through the air and mingle with the returning spirits. Scent is a traditional element of the celebrations, including pine incense and fresh marigolds in addition to food. The idea that the invisible spirits are real and present is what inspires all these good fragrant elements of the observances.
Inviting the spirits to dinner
The return of your ancestors from the afterlife qualifies as a special occasion, so somewhat fancy foods seem appropriate. Mole is a holiday favorite in Mexican cuisine; this mole sauce recipe would do justice to your Day of the Dead grilled meats. Tamales are another dish for celebrations; the meat in this red chile and pork tamale filling recipe could easily be prepared on your pellet grill rather than the braising method described here. Then you’d have that extra layer of smoky flavor–and smoke, like the spirits who come back to visit, is wondrous and just a bit mysterious.
Enjoy your festivities and remembrances.
Want more chile pepper flavors? Read about readymade and home-brewed chipotle sauces in the Griller’s Gold burger trends blog post.
The Grill Daddy Pro Grill Brush uses the power of steam to clean baked-on grease and food. And that lets the man relax on his big day. (Thanks to BuzzFeed for showing us those two fun items.)
And how about a couple hot-off-the-wood-grill gourmet treats that help Dad cook up the best burgers ever?
Does your family put a leg of lamb at the center of the Easter table every spring?
Keep up the tradition but update it, too, by grilling your leg of lamb.
Methods of cooking lamb
Many top chefs strongly encourage boning the leg before grilling. Butterflying is the most common suggestion. Leave it to your butcher to carefully separate the meat from the bone while keeping the main pieces connected. Then the meat is spread out in one piece, like a butterfly opens its wings. Try this recipe here.
Instead of butterflying a boned leg of lamb and cooking it whole, slightly more ambitious home cooks carefully cut along the four natural muscle separations, which are visible, and pull the four pieces apart. Grilling the lamb this way contributes to the most delicious crust, makes it easier to determine the doneness of pieces of different thickness, and simplifies carving. Try this recipe here.
For a simpler approach, grill the leg bone-in. Because this cut is so thick, it requires slow cooking over indirect heat – perfect for the wood pellet grill. Try this recipe here.
If your family typically cooks ham for the holiday, this year, try smoking one for yourself.
“You can indeed smoke a ham from scratch. It’s a pretty interesting process, involving brining for 12 to 14 days, among other things. If you want to save the time but want to add your own delicious smoked flavor in your own backyard, start with a pre-cooked ham.”
The site’s Malcolm Reed offers this great recipe (also shown here in video) to get the juices flowing. Malcolm combines a pre-cooked ham, a homemade sweet glaze, and an expedited smoking technique. Yum.
Malcolm adds this tip:
“Since we’re essentially “double-smoking” the ham, you should stay away from using stronger woods like Hickory or Oak. These will easily overpower the natural flavor of the ham. Place the ham on the smoker and check it every hour. If the outside starts to look a little dry, use some of the glaze for basting.”
The entire cooking time should take about 2 ½ – 3 hours.
Whether you choose lamb or ham, enjoy a great grilled holiday.
