Grilled octopus

I haven't tried it yet, but grilled octopus sounds too interesting to leave unmentioned! I have had octopus prepared many ways in the past, but this salad sounds like it would be a lot of fun to serve at a backyard luncheon. It would be a great conversation topic anyway! Check it out and give it a shot!

Indian Spiced New York Strip

This spicy number is one of the best steaks I have made so far!

1.5” thick New York Strip

Per steak:

• 2 tsp Meat Masala
  
• ½ stick butter, clarified
• 1 oz olive oil
• 2 tsp ground kosher sea-salt

Allow steaks to warm to room temperature. Press steak together to make it thicker. Combine olive oil and clarified butter on a platter and roll steak through it. Allow the excess oil-butter mix to drip from steak to prevent flare-ups!

Combine sea-salt with Meat Masala. Coat each side of the steak with 1 tsp of the spice mix. Thoroughly rub spices into meat surface. Leave at room temperature while grill is warming up.

Heat grill to highest temperature to help create a crust that will seal the flavor into the steak. Brush the grill grate clean. When temperature is reached, place steak on grate above flame. Cook three minutes and turn. Cook for an additional three minutes and turn for another three minutes. Turn a final time and cook for a final three minutes (12 minutes total) for a rare steak.

It is important not to slide the steak over the grill or to flip them around too much. Always lift the steak and place it down gently with tongs. Control flare-ups with a spray bottle (I use my kids’ squirt guns!)

Fun things to do while you grill!

Grilling to me is more than a great way to cook dinner outside. Grilling is part of an outdoor lifestyle. One of the best parts of backyard barbecuing is, to me, the things you can do in your backyard while you barbecue. In the end, you can end up with both a great tasting grilled dinner and have a great time.

The things you can do while grilling depend largely on what you grill and the grill recipe you are following. If you are grilling a steak for example, you only have about 10 minutes and you will want to be able to divide your attention between your bar-b-q and whatever it is you decide to do. Some of the things I like to do are:

• Listen to my 8-year old daughter read me a story or sing a song; often one she has made up herself-she is very creative that way!
• Play trucks with my 4-year old son
• Share the days events with my wife
• Push my 2-year old girl in her swing

If I expect the grilling to be a little longer, like for barbecued chicken over a very low flame, I like to do things a little more involved, like:

• Play a few hands of cards outside by the grill, where I can keep an eye-out for flare-ups (bad for good grilling!)
• Draw or color pictures with the kids outside
• Water the plants on my patio-or watch the kids do it, if we plan on eating outside
• Play bocce ball with the family. We play from the edge of the patio into the grass so I can watch the barbecue, but away from the grill. It is important to grill safely!

The whole point, for me, is to capitalize on both the time I can share with my family and the time I get to spend outside while grilling. Of course, sometimes it is nice to just be alone outside. On those days some of the things I like to do are:

• Sit quietly outside enjoying a cold beverage and the outdoor sounds of my backyard
• Listen to music, either a favorite or, often enough, sample something new. Thank goodness for the wonders of wireless, the internet and streaming internet radio!
• Catch up on the news, preferably on the radio. It isn’t a good idea to try reading while you grill; too much of a chance you’ll burn dinner!

"Hopefully, you’ve realized that there can, and should be, more to a grilled dinner than just barbecued meat. You can use the time to do something truly special-relax and enjoy your family, friends or some time alone. Just be sure to appreciate the time spent-and don’t forget about your dinner on the grill!

Why I grill

I love the taste of fire roasted foods. There is nothing better than the taste of a quality meat that has been licked by the flames of the grill, searing the outside while leaving the inside moist and tender.

Additionally, my kids will generally eat anything that comes off the flames: from hamburgers to steaks to fish, they will eat it all. Even vegetables are well received if they are roasted on the grill!

But it's more than that.

I'm an engineer and I regularly work in excess of forty hours each week. I have an 80 mile-a-day commute on top of that. This means that I spend a great deal of my time inside and sitting down. I like to be outside. Hence, I grill.

I also get to enjoy my favorite frothy beverage while standing outside watching my dinner slowly reach perfection on the barbeque. Ah, perfection...