There aren’t a lot of grilled sides that I prefer just as much as the grilled main dish at a meal. The mustard-garlic dressing on these grilled potatoes really hit a note for me. Tender, buttery potatoes contrasted with tangy mustard and vinegar. I found the combination to be perfect, and easy to make to boot.
Anita and I recently ran across The Mustard Man at an event at the Jungle Jim’s market in Fairfield, OH. After sampling each of the mustards I instantly picked up a bottle of each one. They are truly fantastic. Instead of whole grain mustard, I used The Mustard Man’s Simply Peppered mustard in the dressing for these grilled potatoes with mustard-garlic dressing. The light peppery flavor brought a nice little bite.
There aren’t a lot of grilled sides that I prefer just as much as the grilled main dish at a meal. The mustard-garlic dressing on these grilled potatoes really hit a note for me.
Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water until just tender. Alternatively, steam the potatoes using a steamer. Drain and let cool slightly.
Whisk together the vinegar, mustard and garlic. While still whisking, add the oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
Fire up your grill for medium-high cooking.
Toss the potatoes with a little oil. Season with salt and pepper and add to a grill basket. Note: I put the grill basket over a sheet pan so that any excess oil drips off.
Place the basket onto the grill and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring gently, or until the potatoes are done and have a light char.
Transfer potatoes to a large bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Toss to coat.
Boy, where have I been that I haven’t grilled cornbread with jalapeno honey butter until now? I gotta get out more! Grilling adds a nice lightly smoky flavor, but more importantly it adds a terrific crunch. Add in spicy and sweet jalapeno honey butter and you have some fantastic tasting cornbread. I’m not sure I’ll ever eat ‘normal’ cornbread again.
I started with a big pan of already-baked thick (I used two packages of Jiffy) cornbread. You can also make muffins. You do have to be careful handling the cornbread on the grill since it will want to fall apart on you. The moister and thicker your cornbread is, the less problems you’ll have when you make this grilled cornbread with jalapeno honey butter.
You can make extra of the jalapeno honey butter and keep it on hand for more than just cornbread (I recommend it on biscuits, and it’s also fantastic on English muffins!). It’s delicious and not overwhelmingly hot. For a little more mellow pepper flavor, try my grilled cornbread with Hatch chili honey butter. My chipotle cornbread recipe also works well on the grill.
Boy, where have I been that I haven’t grilled cornbread with jalapeno honey butter until now? Grilling adds a nice lightly smoky flavor, but more importantly it adds a terrific crunch.
Grilled Twinkies are a great thing. Cedar planked Twinkies are a wonderful thing. Just a light hint of cedar takes a simple dessert to a new place. You can top them with whatever you have on hand. For me that meant Nutella (a good thing no matter what, but also good to keep your other toppings from falling off of the Twinkies), ooey-gooey marshmallows, crunchy toffee and of course, whipped cream.
Ice cream, toasted nuts, cherries, anything you can find while be good on cedar planked Twinkies. Just don’t leave the Twinkies on the grill too long or the cedar flavor might get too strong. You want that hint of cedar to kind of be lurking in the background and not jumping right out at you. You can also skip the cedar plank and grill the Twinkies directly on your grill.
Cooking on cedar planks can really change the ordinary into something special, which is why I do it often. For an appetizer, you’ll love my plank-smoked Camembert.
I am kind of addicted to these grilled potato skins. I’ve always loved potato skins, but I admit, I don’t think about them enough to really make them that often. Until now, when I decided to start making them on the grill. They’re one of the easiest appetizers (or side dishes) you can make, and they’re super tasty when made on a grill. These chipotle pulled pork grilled potato skins are seriously loaded with chipotle smokiness and heat along with one of my favorite things of all time, pulled pork.
There’s no such thing as a bad bite when you dig into these chipotle pulled pork grilled potato skins. You can also substitute pulled BBQ chicken or chopped smoked brisket, but make sure you keep that chipotle theme going by using a chipotle-infused BBQ sauce.
The bigger your grill, the more of these you can make!
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
These chipotle pulled pork grilled potato skins are seriously loaded with chipotle smokiness and heat along with one of my favorite things of all time, pulled pork.
¼cupchipotle BBQ saucedon’t have any? Add chipotles in adobi, to taste, to your favorite BBQ sauce and mix, or make my strawberry chipotle BBQ sauce, leaving out the strawberries (or leave them in, they’re actually quite good!)
3strips baconcooked, crumbled
2green onionschopped
sour cream
Instructions
Cut each potato lengthwise into four wedges. Don’t make the wedges too thick. If you are using very large potatoes you might have a center portion leftover for other uses.
Using a spoon or melon baller, scrape out the potato insides, leaving 1/4″ or so left.
Place on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 6-10 minutes or until tender.
Fire up your grill for direct and indirect cooking.
Combine the butter and chipotle powder and brush on all sides of the potatoes.
Grill the potatoes, cut side down, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until they start to char.
Turn potatoes over and top with cheese. Grill another 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Combine the pulled pork and BBQ sauce.
Serve topped with the warmed pulled pork, bacon, green onions, and sour cream as desired.
I’m almost too giddy to even write this post. Every time I look at the picture of grilled buffalo mac-and-cheese I flash back to the first time (of many) that I made it. Oooey gooey creaminess with a slight char, drizzled with a spicy homemade Buffalo wing sauce. Make no mistake about it, this is some fantastic macaroni-and-cheese.
There are two things you have to be mindful of when grilling Buffalo mac-and-cheese. First, make sure your mac is set up good before cutting it. You want it a little solid, a little thick. Second, you want to be careful flipping it on the grill. When the cold mac gets hot it’ll want to return to it’s original creamy state, and fast. Don’t mess around, flip it, char it, and get it on a plate. Time’s a wastin’!
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
Oooey gooey creaminess with a slight char, drizzled with a spicy homemade Buffalo wing sauce. Make no mistake about it, this is some fantastic macaroni-and-cheese.
Course Side
Cuisine American
Keyword Buffalo, grilled, mac and cheese, macaroni and cheese
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour45 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Calories 654kcal
Author Mike
Ingredients
For the macaroni-and-cheese (or substitute the stuff from the box)
For the macaroni-and-cheese (if using made-from-the-box mac, make it per package instructions and skip to step 6)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat cream in a large skillet.
Add cream cheese and salt and stir until cheese is melted.
Add cheddar and American cheeses and stir until melted.
Add cooked pasta and stir to coat well.
Transfer to a container lined with wax paper. Use a container that is small enough that your mac-and-cheese ends up being at least 1″ thick (thicker is better here).
Place in the fridge and refrigerate at least an hour. You can also place it into the freezer. You want the mac-and-cheese to set up so it can be sliced.
Fire up your grill for direct cooking.
Carefully remove the mac-and-cheese from the container and slice thick.
Transfer to a grill over high heat and grill for just a minute per side, long enough to get grill marks and a bit of a crunch. Do not play with the mac-and-cheese while it’s on the grill or it will crumble. Be careful flipping it. If you lose some, you lose some.
Transfer to a plate and drizzle with plenty of the Buffalo wing sauce.
For the Buffalo wing sauce
Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Once the butter is melted add the remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and continue simmering for 5 minutes, stirring often.
I wanted to seriously up my cooking game. I figured (correctly) that a stop at our local fish mongers, Caplinger’s, would inspire me even more. And so I set off to make crab-stuffed shrimp on the grill. Large shrimp are butterflied, the meat separated from the shells but still connected, and then stuffed with an absolutely delightful mixture of crab and seasonings that reminds me very much of crab cake. I cooked the shrimp over charcoal in a cast-iron skillet, giving the shrimp a light smoky flavor. The end result was out-of-this-world delicious.
For appetizer-sized crab-stuffed shrimp use smaller shrimp, like the 16 count shrimp I used. For main dishes, get some 6-8 count shrimp. The larger the shrimp the easier they are to butterfly and the easier it is to separate the meat from the shell, which is definitely the most difficult part of making these shrimp. The rest is easy peasy.
As I sit here and remember just how fantastic the crab stuffing was in these shrimp, I recall back to the best crabcakes I’ve ever had, at Timbuktu’s in Hanover, Maryland. Their crabcakes have the largest and most delicious chunks of crab in them… mmmmmm….
Large shrimp are butterflied, the meat separated from the shells but still connected, and then stuffed with an absolutely delightful mixture of crab and seasonings that reminds me very much of crab cake.
Fire up your grill for two zone (direct and indirect cooking). Alternatively, you can cook these shrimp in the oven at 350 F.
Cut a slit down the backs of the shrimp. Do not cut all the way thru.
Butterfly the shrimp and remove the vein.
Separate the shell from the meat but do not remove it. The shell will still be attached at the tail, but the meat will not be attached to the shell.
Lightly butter a 7″ cast iron skillet. Add the shrimp, butterflied side up.
Melt 1/2 pound of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
Crumble the crackers into a large bowl. Add the bread, Old Bay seasoning, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Add most of the melted butter. Do not add any of the onion or garlic, you just want to add the liquid.
Mix and add the mayonnaise. Try to squeeze the mixture together. If it holds together, it’s ready. If it’s too dry add more of the melted butter and a little bit of mayonnaise and mix and try again. Keep adding more butter/mayonnaise until the mixture holds together.
Lightly chop the crab and fold into the cracker mixture.
Working in batches, squeeze a tablespoon or two of the stuffing into a small log shape and place inside the butterflied shrimp. Don’t be shy with the stuffing, you’ll have plenty.
Place over indirect heat or in the oven and cook 20 minutes or until the shrimp is done. The shrimp will be pink in color on the outside and the flesh is opaque. If cooking on the grill rotate your skillet once to achieve consistent cooking.
Place the lemon halves over direct heat on the grill and grill until seared. If cooking in the oven, just use the halves as is – don’t cook them.
It’s bordering on crazy just how many times I made these grilled Brussels sprouts this week. They instantly became a favorite in our household. They take no time at all to make and make for the perfect very-flavorful side dish for a meal of grilled anything! If I’m grilling my main dish, I’d prefer to grill my sides too!
The original recipe calls for skewering the sprouts. I find it easier to just dump (I mean, place) the sprouts into a stainless steel vegetable grill basket. Skewering a raw sprout is borderline impossible in my opinion. I don’t have to worry about them spinning around or falling off.
You can use the same approach for grilling other vegetables, such as small red or yellow potatoes or asparagus. Just partially cook (microwave) them first until slightly tender, add the seasonings, and grill until lightly charred and tender. Done!
I recommend that you use a grill basket when making this dish. It makes cooking easier and you don’t have to worry about anything falling through the grates. And cleanup is easier too!
It’s bordering on crazy just how many times I made these grilled Brussels sprouts this week. They instantly became a favorite in our household. They take no time at all to make and make for the perfect very-flavorful side dish for a meal of grilled anything!
Not many folks think about grilling radishes. But, the radishes have a certain ‘wow’ factor when you serve them. They look like baby beets or turnips. Grilling them mellows them a bit, making them nice and sweet and really quite addicting. Grilled radishes are a nice change from the way radishes are normally served: cold on top of a green salad. Do not expect the heat and bite and crunch of raw radishes, you won’t be getting that. You’ll be getting better!
You can also serve grilled radishes cold. Just cook them them put them into a container in the fridge for a few hours to cool. They’re great on salads and they’re great just to snack on. You expect that cold, almost spicy, radish flavor but instead get something much more mellow and totally different. It’s a welcome change. Once you do this you’ll want to serve your radishes like this forever.
I recommend that you use a grill basket when making this dish. It makes cooking easier and you don’t have to worry about anything falling through the grates. And cleanup is easier too!
For something even more different that these, try the exact same technique using black radishes.
Wow. I grew up eating a lot of canned cream corn. This isn’t that cream corn. This is something completely special and beyond delicious. From the first bite Anita and I just looked at each other. It was the ‘oh my goodness this is fantastic’ look. Grilled cream corn with a creamy Gorgonzola cheese sauce that is incredible. I can’t say enough just how much we enjoyed this dish.
If you can’t get fresh corn-on-the-cob you can substitute canned corn. You can still make a delicious grilled cream corn with Gorgonzola cheese. Just drain it well first and spread it out on a baking dish and place under the broiler until it starts to char just a bit. Or you can actually skip the roasting and just use the corn right out of the can (after draining).
I like to use my good ole trusty Dutch oven to make this corn and pretty much darned near anything like it on my stovetop. It’s nice and big and sturdy. That extra weight helps it maintain and distribute heat perfectly. As an added bonus, it’s actually pretty easy to clean up too!
his is something completely special and beyond delicious. From the first bite Anita and I just looked at each other. It was the ‘oh my goodness this is fantastic’ look.
Want to surprise everyone at your next picnic or get-together? Bring jarred grilled pickles. Everyone will want to know how you did it. You don’t have to admit how easy it was, unless you really want to. The pickles do get a little char flavor, but not much. They still taste like, well, dill pickles, but when you bite into them they have just slightly less crunch. The grilled red onions do add a nice light onion flavor and bite.
These jarred grilled pickles are good for 5 days. My guess is that you won’t have to worry about rushing to eat them on the last day that they’re good. And don’t feel like you have to grill only spears. Sliced pickles or even whole pickles can be grilled just as well. If you don’t want to grill the pickles but still want a hint of grilled flavor, just grill some red onion and then add that to a jar of pickles and refrigerate overnight. You’ll get that hint of smoke but the pickles themselves will be totally crispy.
If you can’t fit all of the pickles back into the original jar just grab some Mason jars instead.
If that’s enough, try pickling hot dogs too. They’re definitely different. And good!
