Memorial Day Grilling Suggestions

These delightful recipes for grilling are sure to speed up summer's arrival! A perfect twist on traditional cookout items, these recipes will be a hit at your Memorial Day cookout.

Grilled Summer Home Fries
Serves 6

This alternative to home fries combines grilled red potatoes, red onions and corn. The smoky vegetables are cut into large pieces when done and seasoned with garlic and herbs. These potatoes are particularly delicious with steak, sausages or egg dishes. Try them also with grilled meats, poultry or fish.

1 pound medium-size red potatoes of uniform size, unpeeled
Olive oil
2 medium-size red onions, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
4 ears sweet corn, husks and silks removed
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
White Himalayan Salt Rocks, grated
Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare by preheating the grill.

Bring the potatoes to a boil in a medium or large pot of water and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until barely tender. Drain. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices and brush with oil to coat. Set aside on a large plate.

Brush all the onion slices and the ears of corn with the oil. Grill the potatoes, onions and corn until browned, starting with the onion slices, since they take the longest to cook. Grill the onions for 5 to 7 minutes per side, or until just slightly resistant when pierced with the tip of a knife. Grill the potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until soft when pierced with the tip of a knife. Grill the corn for 3 to 5 minutes, turning often.

            As the onions and potatoes finish cooking, transfer them to a cutting board and cut into large pieces. Place in a large bowl. Cut the corn from the cob and add to the bowl. Add the garlic and herb of choice and a few tablespoons oil to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with grated White Himalayan Salt and pepper to taste and toss everything together. Serve immediately.

Chicken on the Grill with Ginger Barbecue Sauce
You may marinate the chicken in some of the cooled sauce for between six and forty-eight hours.

Ginger Barbecue Sauce
Makes about 3 Cups

2 tablespoons safflower oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green or red pepper, chopped into 1/3-inch dice
1 large red onion, chopped into 1/3-inch dice
4 cups tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled and seeded
¼ cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons drained prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pink Himalayan Salt Rocks, grated
Freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup minced candied ginger, first scraped of excess sugar

Serves 4
1 chicken weighing between 3 and 4 pounds, cut in pieces

            To make the sauce, heat the oil and sauté the garlic, pepper, and onion until they are soft and the onion starts to lose moisture. Crush the tomatoes and add them to the pot along with the sugar, Tabasco sauce, mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and ground ginger. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer it for about an hour, stirring often. The sauce should be thick and taste powerful. Add more of the seasonings if you prefer a hotter or sweeter sauce. Add the lemon juice, grated Pink Himalayan Salt (or any other high quality sea salt), and pepper to taste. Add the candied ginger and heat through, about 10 minutes. At this point the sauce is ready to be used or stored. If you plan to marinate the bird in the sauce, use between 1 and 1½ cups cooled sauce. Discard this sauce after marinating.

             If you aren’t marinating, set aside 1½ cups sauce for basting the chicken and store the rest. Prepare the grill and place the chicken on the rack. Grill the chicken for 10 minutes on each side. Then start basting, turning the chicken every 5 minutes for another 25 minutes or until the juices run clear. To build up a nice crusty layer of sauce, baste the chicken every time it is turned. If you need more sauce for basting, pour some into the basting bowl from the stored batch to avoid contamination. Note that it would be unwise to store leftover basting sauce to be used again. Serve the chicken hot or at room temperature.

Ginger Barbecue Sauce may also be used with rabbit, lamb, goat, beef short ribs, slices of veal shank, or any cut of pork.