I love me some smoked meats! Beef, pork, chicken, you name it! One of my favorites is smoked chicken thighs. For me thighs are the way to go when it comes to smoking chicken. They’re more tender, juicier, and definitely more flavorful than white meat (even if you take the time to brine it). Smoked thighs shred easily, making for the perfect smoked BBQ chicken sandwiches.
Add Crunch For A Great Contrast
I like to top all of my pulled meat sandwiches with slaw. And specially my Delta slaw. It adds a great crunch and a little vinegary tang to offset the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. If I don’t have any slaw on hand then I go with my second choice: dill pickle slices. I love a little crunch with my smoked BBQ chicken sandwiches!
These grilled open-faced beef, cheese and gravy sandwiches just blew us away. Cooked over charcoal, the sandwiches take on a lovely light smoky flavor. The beef is tender, juicy and packed with flavor. Covered in a tasty beef gravy, every bite is just fantastic. Served over thick, hearty grilled bread, it’s the sandwich you’ve been looking for.
Burgers With A Big Twist
There’s nothing I would really change about this recipe for Grilled Open-Faced Beef, Cheese and Gravy sandwiches. It’s a great alternative to cooking your usual burgers on the grill. You could make this with ground turkey, I would think, though you might have to add a little fat (vegetable oil) to keep the turkey from getting too tough when seared. You might want to grab a bottle of pre-made turkey gravy instead of making the beef version in the recipe below.
Nothing Fancy Here, Folks
The gravy on these sandwiches isn’t anything fancy or fru-fru. It’s simple and beefy and that’s it. It gets just the right thickness to pour over your sandwiches. You’ll get plenty of everything in each and every bite. No need to worry about those dreaded ‘no gravy’ bites.
Grilled Open-Faced Beef, Cheese and Gravy Sandwiches
These grilled open-faced beef, cheese and gravy sandwiches just blew us away. Cooked over charcoal, the sandwiches take on a lovely light smoky flavor.
Fire up your grill for direct and indirect cooking. Charcoal is definitely best for this recipe.
Form the beef into equal-sized patties.
Sear over direct heat on both sides, but do not cook all the way. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
Add the onion, tomatoes, chiles, Italian seasoning and rub. Use a potato masher or fork to combine all ingredients and break the ground beef into chunks.
Place a large cast iron pan on your grill over indirect heat.
Add the meat mixture and spread out evenly. Use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to lightly compact the meat into the pan.
Cook for 20 minutes or until the beef is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Top mixture with the cheese slices, cover and cook another 2-3 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Remove the pan from the grill. Lightly toast the bread slices on the grill.
Serve meat over the bread topped with the beef gravy.
For the beef gravy
Add a small skillet to the grill over direct heat. Add the butter and melt.
Add the beef broth. Bring to a boil.
Add the butter to the skillet and melt.
Add 1 1/2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil.
Combine the flour and water in a cup and whisk into the beef broth.
Continue stirring until the gravy is thickened. Remove from heat.
Notes
You’ll need a large cast iron skillet. Remember to not grab the skillet handle without a heat-proof glove once you’ve placed it onto the grill.
*poof* And just like that, all of the grilled (I used my trusty Weber grill) marinated mushrooms I had just made disappeared. No, it’s not because I’ve changed my name to Houdini. It’s these fantastic mushrooms that did it. Each bite is a wonderful combination of meaty mushroom, salty soy sauce, a few spices and a nice balsamic vinegar kick. To cool all that down I served the mushrooms with a homemade blue cheese dressing for dipping. I didn’t do a whole lot of dipping, but I sure did a whole lot of eating.
Epic Mushrooms
This is just one of many, many great recipe ideas I found in Brother Jimmy’s BBQ: More Than 100 Recipes. Heck, the book was worth it just for these grilled marinated mushrooms. They are a common sight (for the minutes that they last) around here. You can’t go wrong with these yummy morsels.
I always use a grill basket when I make these mushrooms or just about any other dish like it. It sure makes for easy cooking. I don’t have to worry about anything falling through the grates. A basket also makes for super-easy cleanup!
Create food never thought possible in a grill with…
Designed to perfectly roast small, delicate food…
I prefer to use a basket with holes in it. That way I get more of that great grill smoke and flavor. Especially if I’m using my charcoal grill. And really, these mushrooms are best cooked over charcoal. If you don’t have a charcoal grill look into getting a pellet smoker tube for your gas grill. You just fill it (you don’t have to fill it all the way) with wood pellets and let the grill light it. Or light it by hand. After it smolders a bit add your mushrooms and start cooking. The smoke will add a nice flavor without being too strong.
I recently purchased a new gas grill. My old one was almost 20 years old and has seen almost 4,000 cookouts. Parts for my old gal were hard to find. I knew it was time to upgrade. One of the things I absolutely wanted was a rotisserie, something I did not have on my other grill. I was excited to fire up and make an easy rotisserie chicken for one of my first cooks on the new grill. The process was simple, quick, and the end result was absolutely delicious. I was so very, very glad I got a rotisserie!
Gas Or Charcoal, It’s A Win
Of course, you don’t need a gas grill to make this easy rotisserie chicken. Charcoal is even better if you want that great smoky flavor. Either way, you’ll love this. The chicken turns out incredibly moist, much better than I ever expected. And the flavor. My goodness. The rub has the perfect amount of sweetness.
Sauce Is Optional
If you decide you want to sauce your chicken before removing it from the grill, just grab a nice long-handled brush and gently brush the sauce on 5-10 minutes before the bird is done.
I was excited to fire up and make an easy rotisserie chicken for one of my first cooks on the new grill. The process was simple, quick, and the end result was absolutely delicious. I was so very, very glad I got a rotisserie!
Because of the brown sugar in the seasoning I turned my temperature to medium-high otherwise you can cook on high.
Rinse the chicken and pat dry.
Thread onto your rotisserie. I like to season my bird on the rotisserie, but you can do it off the rotisserie if you prefer.
Combine the brown sugar, paprika and salt and pepper to taste.
Rub the chicken with the oil.
Apply the seasoning mix. Get it everywhere.
Turn on the rotisserie and let the chicken cook for approximately 1 hour 45 minutes or until the temperature reaches 165 F as measured in several places.
Let rest 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Be careful removing the chicken from the rotisserie. Both the chicken and the metal bar are hot!
Why is the sky blue? Do fish wait to swim after they eat? Why would you add butter to a hamburger patty? I can answer the last question, at least. Because it’s good! Butter adds fat and we all know that a juicy burger is a great burger. But why stop there? You need a tasty beer sauce. And some crunchy smoked bacon too. And a slice of American cheese too, just in case.
No Wimpy Buns!
You’ll need a bun that can hold up to these butter burgers. One of those wimpy little el-cheapo buns isn’t going to get it. Grab some hearty pretzel buns and you won’t get soggy, fall-apart sad burgers. You’ll have happy burgers!
I like to use a burger press when I make burgers. It, in combination with some patty papers, enables me to crank out a whole bunch of equally-sized burger patties in no time at all with little cleanup.
Place the bacon on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake until lightly brown but not completely crisp, 15-20 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and keep warm (I put an upside down plate over the top of the bacon).
For the beer cheese sauce
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onions and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in the beer until smooth.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the beer is cooked out and the sauce is reduced, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the cream and garlic. Stir continuously and cook until the sauce has thickened, 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper.
Slowly add the cheeses and stir until melted.
Keep warm over low heat.
For the burgers
Cut butter into small pats.
Form beef into 4 balls, Press butter into centers then form into patties Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a grill or grill pan over medium high heat.
Add patties and cook on one side until browned.
Flip and cook until done.
Top with cheese slices (see my note below) and remove to a plate.
Butter both sides of the pretzel buns and place on the grill, cut-side down. Grill until golden brown and toasted.
For the burgers
Top buns with cheese, bacon, burgers, and cheese sauce.
Serve with plenty of napkins!
Notes
I like to put the cheese on my bottom bun instead of on the grilled patties. It helps form a barrier between the juicy meat and the bun, preventing it from getting soggy.
You gotta eat your veggies. You can’t just slap a few burgers onto the grill (love my Weber grills!) and call it dinner. Or so I’ve been told. So, why not make those veggies yummy! These grilled ginger-orange carrots definitely don’t taste like boring carrots. They pack a little sweet, and a little heat. Often carrots are too sweet for my taste. The spiciness in these little delicious bites definitely offsets that sweetness.
Carrots With A Twist
I’m a big fan of Sambal Oelek, an Asian chili garlic sauce. It’s nice and thick and spicy. You might not like that heat in your grilled ginger-orange carrots as much as I do. So I’d start with a little less than I state in the recipe and taste it. If you like it, stop. If you want more kick, add more! No one wants boring carrots and the sauce is definitely what makes these carrots special!
You gotta eat your veggies. You can’t just slap a few burgers onto the grill and call it dinner. Or so I’ve been told. So, why not make those veggies yummy!
I’ll put just about anything on a hot dog. As long as it’s good. But this Home Run hot dog chili? It’s not just good. No, it’s totally amazing. It’s like the most unbelievable meat sauce I’ve ever had or made. You’ll think you’re at the ballpark for sure, and you’ll be wanting more as soon as you take that first bite. Just make sure that you have extra napkins, because things are about to get (good and) messy!
The Best Hot Dog Chili
No matter what else you want to put on your dogs, you have to start with this first. Not only does Home Run hot dog chili taste great, but it is also (very importantly) the perfect consistency. You don’t want it too thick. You definitely don’t want it too thin. This is spot-on right what it should be. No big meaty chunks to bite into. Perfect!
I like to put chopped onions on my hot dogs. I soak them in cold water for a little bit before I put them on there to take a bit of the bite out of them.
Add the tomato paste, chili powder, salt, pepper and cumin.
Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients. Stir.
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture just until the largest pieces of meat are blended. Do not over blend. You can also transfer the mixture to a blender and pulse until the chunks are gone.
Serve warm over hot dogs.
Notes
If you cut a shallow slit down the lengths of your hot dogs before cooking they will open up slightly, giving the chili a little ‘trough’ to go to.
Making St Louis-style ribs on a gas grill is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. Yes, I have charcoal grills and I have a smoker, but not everyone else does. Which made me wonder… can it be done? Will they be as good as the ribs I cook on my other grills? Well, once I get something in my head, it’s not going away until I do it. And so I did. And you know what? These ribs were AMAZING!
Tremendous Ribs
Yes, I said it. Ribs cooked on a gas grill are fantastic. No, you can’t get that deep smoky flavor that you get from smoking them for 5 hours. But you get close. And you still get terrific, tender, moist ribs. I thought they were great.
I used my Weber Summit S-670 grill. It’s a large grill, to say the least. You don’t need to have such a big gas grill to make these ribs, but you do need one that’s big enough to hold the ribs and one that you can over indirect heat on. That means that the ribs need to sit away from the heat source. You want the spot where the ribs are to be around 250 F. And not much more. That’s essentially the same temperature as most people smoke ribs so you’re halfway there.
My Setup
Above you can see my initial setup. I had three burners lit: the two furthest to the right that you can see and the one under my smoke box. I filled the smoke box with apple wood pellets. If you don’t have a smoke box you can use a foil packet filled with wood chips. Just poke a few holes in it and put it over a lit burner. You’re not going to get a lot of smoke flavor, but a bit. Be happy with it. You can make up for it quite a bit by using a BBQ sauce that has a bit of smoke flavor to it.
Oven Thermometers Make This Even Easier
I found that my St Louis-style ribs on a gas grill were a bit too far away from my heat source (I was running around 200 F), so I moved them one burner to the right. I still only had the three rightmost burners lit. You can see my trusty oven thermometer in the picture. Get one (or two) and you’ll never regret it.
Take Notes
Once you get your gas adjusted so your temperature is 225-250 F you don’t really have to mess with it any more. This was my first time doing this, so I had to tweak where I had the ribs and my burner settings. After that I nailed 250 F for hours without any adjustments. Now that I know the right placement and gas knob settings, I’ll be able to make these ribs again and again without any fuss at all. Fortunately, I have this post to come back to. It acts as my notes. You may want to make your own notes so that your next rib cook is as easy as can be!
Rib Happiness
You will be totally happy with these St Louis-style ribs. I sure was. You might have to adjust the process a bit for your grill to get the right temps but once you do you’ll be making great ribs time-and-time again. I recommend taking notes on your setup so you can use the same process the next time.
The rib tips from St Louis-cut ribs make for amazing Buffalo rib tips. Try them! Instead of smoking them, put them on your gas grill along with your rack of ribs, then follow the easy steps to make them into wonderful Buffalo rib tips.
Yes, I said it. Ribs cooked on a gas grill are fantastic. No, you can’t get that deep smoky flavor that you get from smoking them for 5 hours. But you get close. And you still get terrific, tender, moist ribs. I thought they were great.
Fire up your gas grill for cooking at 250 F. You will need to cook the ribs over indirect heat, so only light some of the burners. Place the ribs away from the direct fire. Add wood chips or pellets to a smoke box. If you don't have one, just place the wood on a piece of foil. Fold up and seal, then poke a few holes in the foil. Place over the direct heat to smolder and create smoke.
Season the ribs with the rub, on both sides.
Transfer to the grill over indirect heat.
Close the lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
Check the temperature regularly to make sure you maintain 250 F.
Remove the ribs to a large piece of aluminum foil, bone-side up.
Fold up the edges of the foil to create a 'bowl' around the ribs.
Add the vinegar to the 'bowl'.
Sprinkle the ribs with the brown sugar and top with pats of the butter.
Fold the foil around the ribs and seal tightly.
Return to the grill and continue to cook for 1 hour 15 minutes at 250 F.
Carefully open the foil (steam will escape and it will be HOT!). Poke the meat between the bones. It should be tender. Also, the meat should be pulled back about 1" from the ends of the bones. If not, cook another 15 minutes and check again.
Remove ribs from the foil and place directly onto the grill, but still over indirect heat.
Brush the tops with the sauce.
Close the lid and cook another 15 minutes to set the sauce.
Remove, let cool 10 minutes, slice and serve!
Notes
I like to use a hickory smoke-flavored sauce to give these ribs even more of that ‘hot off the smoker’ flavor.
I’ve roasted good ole purple beets a few times, either in the oven or on a grill or even on a smoker and they came out great. When I came across golden beets, which I’d never had before, I had to grab a few to see how they would hold up on the grill. The grilled golden beets weren’t quite as sweet as their purple cousins, but they are a lot less earthy, which I really enjoyed a lot. I was pleasantly surprised as to how great they were. I’m more of a beet lover than I was before!
Keep It Simple
I opted for a very simple cooking method. Just oil, salt and pepper and onto the grill. I didn’t want anything to mask the great flavors of the beets.
I make a fantastic roasted beet salad that has feta and reduced balsamic vinegar, among other things. It’s a big favorite of ours. Next time I find some more golden beets I’ll make that same salad using them instead.
I use a grill basket to cook these beets. It makes life much easier. Clean up is easier. And I don’t have to worry about things falling thru the grill grates!
When I came across golden beets, which I’d never had before, I had to grab a few to see how they would hold up on the grill. The grilled golden beets weren’t quite as sweet as their purple cousins, but they are a lot less earthy, which I really enjoyed a lot.
For almost 20 years I wondered why I didn’t get a rotisserie when I bought my first grill. Well, I solved that problem when I bought a Weber Summit S-670, which comes with a rotisserie. I didn’t even have to ponder getting one as it was already there. I never knew how much I needed a rotisserie until I got one. Besides the ‘usual’ stuff like rotisserie chicken, ribs, ham and even wings, I also get to make delicious dishes like this Brazilian rotisserie pineapple. The pineapple is brushed with coconut milk then coated in cinnamon sugar. Onto the grill for a while and then sliced and served with whipped cream, it’s one delicious dessert!
You Learn Something New Every Day
One of the things I learned while making Brazilian rotisserie pineapple is that the eyes on a pineapple grow up the sides at an angle. You get a really great presentation when you remove them in a spiral pattern. And it gives the coconut milk and cinnamon sugar more places to stick to. Win!
You don’t need a massive Weber S-670 grill to make this. Any grill, gas or charcoal (Weber makes a rotisserie that works with their charcoal grill too!), with a rotisserie will do just fine. Just remember that you skewer the pineapple from the side and not lengthwise thru the core (which would be pretty hard to do!). And remember to be very careful inserting the skewer. Whatever you do, DO NOT put your hand anywhere near where the point in is headed. Trust me on this. You really, really do not want to be stabbed by the sharp end of a rotisserie spit.
One of the things I learned while making Brazilian rotisserie pineapple is that the eyes on a pineapple grow up the sides at an angle. You get a really great presentation when you remove them in a spiral pattern. And it gives the coconut milk and cinnamon sugar more places to stick to.
Twist off the crown of the pineapple and cut off the ends. Cut down the sides to remove the rind. Then, using a sharp knife, cut spiral cuts up the sides of the pineapple to remove the eyes.
Place the sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a bowl and stir to mix.
Fire up your Big Easy. Get that rotisserie ready!
Skewer the pineapple crosswise with the rotisserie and NOT thru the length of the core.
Brush the pineapple with the coconut milk. Dust heavily with the cinnamon sugar mix.
Roast until the pineapple starts to turn golden brown.
Remove and let cool 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Serve with whipped cream.
Notes
Depending on the size of your pineapple and how heavy handed you are with the spices, you might have enough of the cinnamon sugar mix to make 2 pineapples.
