AZ Griller's House Seasoning

Building upon the most basic rub of equal parts kosher salt and ground black pepper I have added a twist which contains just one additional ingredient. My wife Kristina, pictured above loves this rub and uses it frequently. She has advised me it is my responsibility to keep the shaker full and refers to this recipe as our house seasoning. I hope your family appreciates this simple blend as much as we do.

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Coarse kosher salt
1 Tablespoon Ground black pepper
1 tsp Granulated garlic

AZ Griller's Wedge Salad

Although I love grilled food it is important to balance out items from the grill or smoker with healthy side dishes. I have included a salad recipe for this purpose. This salad reminds me of the type of side dish served by a steakhouse. As a result this salad would pair well with a grilled steak and baked potato.

Ingredients:

Iceberg lettuce

Crumbled blue cheese

Chopped bacon bits

Sliced tomato

Choice of salad dressing

Slice a wedge of lettuce from the full head of iceberg lettuce. Place wedge in a salad bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese and chopped bacon bits. Add two sliced tomato wedges and dress with your favorite dressing. Italian dressing is a nice choice but the final decision is up to you. The only way you can mess up this dish is to use artifical bacon bits. Don't make this mistake just stick to the real stuff.

Salt and Pepper the Original Rub and AZ Griller's All Purpose Seasoning

Rubs can contain long lists of ingredients. However, it doesn't have to be complicated. Using a dry seasoning mix to add flavor to food is as simple as combining equal parts coarse kosher salt and ground black pepper. This deceptively basic recipe is a potent flavor enhancer. As a matter of fact it is my "go to" seasoning when grilling veggies. All the produce I grill is lightly brushed with olive oil and then sprinkled with this seasoning mixture. It is easy to mix up a single use batch or a larger amount to keep on hand. This recipe calls for black pepper but feel free to experiment with white and green pepper too. The only rule with this rub is to use kosher salt. Traditional table salt is too "salty." Also for a stronger pepper flavor freshly grind the pepper using whole peppercorns.

Ingredients:

1 Part Coarse kosher salt
1 Part Ground black pepper

Rub Me Tender

Rubs are a mixture of dry seasonings and spices used to bring flavor and even color to food. The most simple rub is made by combining equal parts coarse kosher salt and ground black pepper. Below is a recipe for a rub with a few more ingredients; most of which are probably already in your cupboards. To add a little heat I added some ground ancho chile pepper. If you would like to kick up the intensity try substituting ground chipolte chile pepper for the ancho. The chipolte is a dried jalapeno and has more heat than the milder poblano pepper from which the ancho chile is made. Sprinkle the rub on you meat or veggies prior to cooking.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon Season salt
1 tablespoon Garlic salt
3 tablespoons Fresh ground black pepper
4 tablespoons Natural cane sugar
4 tablespoons Paprika
2 tsp Granulated garlic
2 tsp Ground ancho chile pepper
2 tsp Ground cumin

Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. Make sure to break up any clumps. This seasoning mixture will keep for approximately six months if stored properly away from heat and light.

Fajita's and Family Fun

My BBQ assistant and sister-in-law Taryn showing off the grilled treats

A couple of weeks ago some of the family gathered to have dinner and try out a few marinades I'd whipped up. I decided fajitas would be a good way to test the various flavorings. I purchased boneless skinless chicken thighs and flank steak to use for the meat. The beef was marinated in a Mexican pesto, and I divided the thighs marinating half with jerk paste and the rest in an intense citrus marinade called a recado. The recipes for the different marinades can be found in previous blog posts. Needless to say it was a great evening of food and fun with the family. The memories created by sharing good food last a lifetime. So get outside, fire up your grill, and spend some time with those you love.

"Bush Daddy's" BBQ Sauce

Joe "Bush Daddy" is my father-in-law. The nickname originated from his days playing paintball. However, since hanging up his jersey and paintball marker, Joe has turned his attention to more leisurely pursuits like grilling. Joe is known within our family for his BBQ sauce. He graciously agreed to share the recipe and I have included it below for your enjoyment. If you enjoy a sweet BBQ sauce this may soon be a family favorite in your home too. Happy grilling!

Bush Daddy's Sweet BBQ Sauce:

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

1 6oz can of tomato paste

1 cup honey

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix

4 cloves of fresh garlic diced

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp Sea salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried onion

Bush Daddy's Spicy BBQ Sauce:

If you like your sauce hot try modifying the above recipe by adding a few additional ingredients.

2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 tsp Tabasco sauce

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

In a large bowl add the tomato sauce, paste, honey, and brown sugar. Mix these items until they are well incorporated and the sugar has dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. The finished sauce should be refrigerated and can even be frozen for use later. This sauce contains a significant amount of sugar and should not be used as a marinade. The sauce should only applied during the last few minutes of cooking. If applied sooner there is the possibility the high heat of the grill will cause the sauce to burn.

Pesto with Attitude

Pesto Marinated Flank Steak

This pesto will have your taste buds standing at attention. This recipe comes from Jim Tarantino's wonderful book Marinades Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes. It's a great guide to exploring how various seasonings are used around the world to add flavor. I recently tried this marinade on flank steak for fajitas. The result was tender and flavorful. The steak was marinated for 8 hours. Total time on the grill to reach medium rare was 10 minutes.

up to 10 cloves of garlic, chopped (I used six)

3 bay leaves broken into pieces

3 jalapenos seeded and chopped

1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt

1 tablespoon chile powder (ancho, chipotle, or even plain chile powder is ok. The ancho or chipotle are smoked peppers which add an even deeper flavor).

1/2 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped

3/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh oregano (use the leaves only discard the stems)

4 tablespoons white vinegar (feel free to try red wine vinegar as a substitute)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (olive oil is preferred but safflower or canola would also work)

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until well mixed. The finished marinade should form a paste and if not used right away can be stored in the refrigerator for approx one week.

Citrus and Spice Makes Everything Nice

The marinade listed below comes from a book written by Jim Tarantino entitled Marinades Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes. This is a valuable resource if you're interested in learning how to increase the flavor of your food cooked outdoors. The flavors in this marinade are intense and would be effective when paired with fish, seafood, chicken, or pork. Although I encourage you to experiment with marinating times I have included some guidelines as a starting point. I recently used this marinade to flavor chicken breasts. The citrus flavor in the finished product grabs you first and then is followed by spice from the chipolte powder and diced jalapeno.

Approximate marinating times:

Fish and seafood: 1-2 hours

Chicken and pork: 2-3 hours

There is a lot of citrus in this marinade so I would recommend only using fish which has a firm texture. More delicate fish would not hold up to the high acid content in this recipe and would have the tendency to become mushy. Also as a note marinades with a high acid content can chemically alter your food if left too long. This is the basic principle with a seviche where the acid in the marinade actually "cooks" the seafood in the dish.

Ingredients:

Grated zest and juice of 2 oranges, 2 lemons, and 2 limes

1 tsp chile powder (I used chipolte powder which comes from smoked jalapenos)

1 tsp oregano

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon of diced jalapeno with seeds removed

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil (recommend olive or safflower oil)

Add all the ingredients in a blender and mix until everything is well incorporated. It is best to make this marinade a day a head to let the flavor develop. The finished marinade should be refrigerated and will last approx 1 week.

Jerk Seasoning: Turning up the heat and flavor

When grilling chicken breasts I will usually marinate them for a few hours in Italian dressing and then season them with a rub prior to cooking. This is a fairly straight forward practice and helps add moisture and flavor to an otherwise bland piece of meat. However, the other day I worked up the courage to use a jerk marinade. Jerk is a potent spice paste which adds a tremendous amount of flavor to chicken, pork, or fish. It originated in Jamaica during the 1700's. The spice comes from scotch bonnet/habanero chilies. If you can take the heat this marinade will rock your taste buds. The combination of ingredients creates a flavor profile which is earthy, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. I found myself sweating with a smile on my face.

The recipe below was adapted from The Barbecue Bible: Sauces Rubs and Marinades by Steven Raichlen. This is a very informative book focused on how to add flavor to food cooked outdoors.

2 habanero chilies
1 medium onion
1/2 cup shallots
2 bunches of green onions
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
water as needed to create consistency of paste

Chop all the ingredients and place in a blender. Add the remaining spices/seasonings. Add water slowly and blend until a paste like consistency is achieved. The finished paste should be stored in the refrigerator. For the best results make the seasoning the day before. This will allow time for the flavors to develop.

Approximate marinating times: Fish: 1 hour, Chicken: 2-8 hours , and Pork loin overnight.

The original recipe called for 4 to 12 scotch bonnet chilies. I only used two habanero peppers (this is what was available at my grocery store) with the seeds removed and it was still pretty hot. If you have a sensitive palate I would recommend starting with one pepper and see how you respond. Another possible option would be to substitute serrano chilies which have more heat than a jalapeno but significantly less than the habanero.

A word of caution: Be careful when handling hot peppers. The oils in the pepper can irritate your skin or nasal tissues. Do not touch your face with your hands until after you've washed them thoroughly. Be sure to completely wash and rinse cutting boards or utensils which come into contact with the pepper. While cutting up the habanero I wore disposable latex gloves.

If I haven't scared you away yet I would encourage you to venture outside your comfort zone and try this seasoning. The flavors are amazing. My niece Kylie described the marinade as the most flavorful, spicy seasoning she ever tasted.