Summer days mean sizzling grills all over the country, and that time is now! Our friends at Sunset Magazine have some fabulous grilling recipes that will have your mouth watering in no time at all. Enjoy these global grilling party menus from four master grillers who generously shared their favorite family recipes for chicken, beef, lamb, and fish.
Peaches’ Jerk Chicken
For a tantalizing taste of Jamaica, try this medium-hot recipe by Shani Jones. If you like your chicken extra hot, marinate longer for spicier flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 3 Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, coarsely chopped (wear gloves to protect hands)
- 4 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 chicken (about 4 lbs.), quartered and rinsed; or use chicken pieces
- Lime wedges
How to Make It:
In a food processor, whirl yellow and green onions, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, chiles, allspice, thyme, pepper, salt, and nutmeg into a paste. With motor running, add soy sauce and oil. Put chicken in a deep bowl, add marinade, and turn to coat. Chill, covered, turning occasionally, at least 4 hours or until next day.
About 30 minutes before cooking, remove chicken from refrigerator. Heat a charcoal, gas, or stove-top grill to medium (about 375°). Lift chicken from marinade and grill, turning every 5 minutes, until well browned and cooked through, about 35 minutes (20 to 35 for individual pieces). Serve with lime wedges.
From Vidal Mozqueda of San Francisco comes this favorite recipe for Carne Asada that’s quick and flavorful, even without a marinade.
Carne Asada with Nopales and Green Onions
SEASONING BLEND
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (a blend of ground chiles and other seasonings)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground chipotle chile
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
MEAT AND VEGETABLES
- 3 pounds very thinly sliced skirt steak or flap meat* (sliced horizontally by a butcher into sheets about 1/8 in. thick), or unsliced skirt steak
- 1 can (12 oz.) Mexican lager beer, such as Modelo or Corona
- 2 pounds cactus pads (nopales), cleaned*, sliced lengthwise almost to base
- 2 pounds green onions or spring onions*, roots and scraggly tops trimmed, large bulbs split in half
SERVING
Corn tortillas (7 to 8 in. wide)
How to Make It
- Make seasoning blend: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Prepare meat: Working over a large bowl, sprinkle a piece of meat on both sides with seasoning blend. Set in bowl and repeat, layering seasoned meat. Add beer and mix with hands until evenly moistened. Let stand while you prepare the fire.
- For charcoal, ignite a very full chimney of half mesquite lump charcoal and half mesquite charcoal briquets on fire grate of a charcoal grill. When lit, 20 to 25 minutes, dump coals onto fire grate and add 1/2 chimney more lump charcoal; let burn 5 minutes to ignite. Arrange coals in a slope from one side of fire grate to the other. Set cooking grate in place. For gas, heat grill to very high (550° to 650°), then lower heat for one burner to medium-high.
- If needed, cut meat in pieces to fit grill. A portion at a time, start grilling cactus and onions over cooler part of fire, covered and turning occasionally, until cactus is olive green and onions are just tender (4 to 8 minutes total, up to 15 minutes for spring onions). If needed, drape onion tops over cactus to keep from blackening before bulbs are done. Transfer to a board. Cook meat a portion at a time over hottest part of fire, turning once, until medium-rare, 1 to 4 minutes total (3 to 8 minutes for unsliced skirt steak). Add meat to board and let rest about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm a few tortillas at a time over cooler side of grill, turning once, 30 to 60 seconds total; as warmed, stack and wrap in a towel.
- Thinly slice meat across the grain into strips, saving any juices to pour on top. Cut cactus into strips. Set out meat and vegetables with tortillas and salsas, for making tacos.
- *Find thinly sliced skirt steak or flap meat at a Latino meat market or supermarket (it may be called arrachera or ranchera). Find whole cactus pads and spring onions (cebollitas, which have large bulbs) at Latino markets and well-stocked grocery stores. To remove spines and fuzzy dots from cactus, wear gloves and scrape a knife down flat sides; also pare rims. Don’t rinse, or cactus will get sticky.
- Make ahead: Through step 2, up to 1 day, chilled.
If you’ve never tried food from Ghana, this dish from Robert Edwards is a great place to start. Ghanaian Peanut and Spice Lamb Skewers (Yaazzi)
Ingredients:
SEASONING PASTE AND MEAT
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 piece fresh ginger (1 by 1 1/2 in.), peeled and chopped
- 6 tablespoons peanut oil or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or beef rib-eye (2 1/2 lbs. if it has a lot of fat), fat and silver skin trimmed, meat cut into 1-in. cubes
DRY RUB
- 1 cup powdered peanut butter (or use almond meal and toast it)*
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
SERVING
- Spiced Yogurt Sauce
- Smoked paprika
- Fresh herb sprigs such as lemon thyme or Mexican oregano
How to Make It
- Make seasoning: In a blender, whirl onion, ginger, and oil until smooth. Add salt and pepper. Pour mixture into a resealable plastic bag and add meat. Seal bag, turn to coat meat, and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Make dry rub: Whisk all ingredients in a bowl and set aside. (Save 1 tsp. for Spiced Yogurt Sauce.)
- About 1 hour before cooking, let meat come to room temperature. Soak 8 (12 in.) bamboo skewers in water at least 30 minutes, or use metal skewers. Thread about 6 chunks of meat (with seasoning paste) onto each skewer.
- For charcoal, ignite a full chimney of half mesquite lump charcoal and half mesquite charcoal briquets on firegrate of a charcoal grill. When lit, 20 to 25 minutes, arrange coals in an even layer and set cooking grate in place (fire should be 400° to 450°). For gas, heat a grill to medium (400°).
- Oil cooking grate, using a wad of oiled paper towels and tongs. Grill meat, covered and turning once, until medium-rare, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle meat heavily on all sides with dry rub (you may have some left over). Let meat rest 2 to 3 minutes.
- Set skewers on a platter and drizzle with some yogurt sauce. Scatter with smoked paprika and herb sprigs. Serve more sauce on the side.
- *In Ghana, cooks pound and then sift peanuts. Here, powdered peanut butter such as PB2 is widely available at well-stocked grocery stores. Find almond meal in the baking aisle; toast in a 350° oven until light golden, 12 minutes.
Our last recipe is perfect for backyard parties or campground get togethers. You can make this dish ahead and store in the fridge until it’s time to eat. If you can’t find banana leaves, aluminum foil can be used.
Whole Roasted Sea Bass with Chile Garlic Vinegar
Ingredients:
CHILE GARLIC VINEGAR
- 3 Thai bird chiles, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 cups calamansi vinegar, or 1 1⁄2 cups white vinegar mixed with 1⁄2 cup lemon juice
SEA BASS
- 2 whole sea bass (about 3 lbs. each), such as striped sea bass, black bass, or branzino, cleaned and gutted
- 4 tbsp shrimp paste
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into 3-in. sections
- 1 thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, sliced into 1⁄4-inch rounds
- 1 lime, sliced into 1⁄4-in. rounds
- 2 Thai bird chiles, chopped
- 2 sprigs cilantro
- Kosher salt
- 6 fresh or frozen banana leaves
How to Make It:
- In a small bowl, combine chiles, garlic, vinegar, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high (about 450°) heat.
- Cut three 2-in. diagonal slashes in the fish, approximately 2 in. apart. Using a spoon, spread shrimp paste evenly on each side of the fish, taking care to spread the paste into the slashes. Dividing equally, place lemongrass, ginger, lime, chiles, salt, and one sprig of cilantro in the cavity of each fish.
- Cut banana leaves into 10- by 16-in. rectangles. Make a rectangle out of two layers of banana leaves and place 1 fish in the middle of the rectangle. Wrap the fish as you would wrap a burrito. Using kitchen twine, tie into a tight bundle. Repeat for the second fish.
- Place banana leaf-wrapped fish on cooking grate. Cook until banana leaf is charred on one side, about 15 minutes. Turn fish over and cook 5 to 10 minutes more. Unwrap fish. The flesh should no longer be translucent, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145°. Serve fish at the table on banana leaves with chile vinegar on the side.
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