Steven Raichlen - Indoor! Grilling

Cooks are made, but grill masters are born.

BRILLAT-SAVARIN

If something tastes good baked, fried, or sauted, it probably tastes better grilled.

STEVEN RAICHLEN

by Steven Raichlen

Photography by Susan Goldman
Illustrations by Ron Tanovitz

workman publishing new york

to suzanne rafer, editor and friend extraordinaire

This book began with a simple idea, but it took the hard work of a small army to march it into print. Id like to salute the troops who helped make it possible:

ON THE HOME FRONT: Barbara Raichlen (chief of staff, pit mistress, best friend, second in command, and second to none) and Jake and Betsy Klein (grill soldiers and super step-kids).

AT WORKMAN PUBLISHING: Peter Workman (commander in chief); Suzanne Rafer (commanding editorial general); Barbara Mateer (sharpshooter and copy editor); Beth Doty (assistant editor); Robyn Schwartz (editorial assistant); Lisa Hollander and Paul Hanson (art directors); Lori Malkin (layout); Barbara Peragine (pre-press); Carolan Workman (international sales); Katie Workman (associate publisher and marketing); and Kate Tyler (publicity).

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ILLUSTRATION: Susan Goldman (photographer extraordinaire); Andrea Carson (technology expert); Linda Romero (photographers assistant); Grady Best and Marianne Sauvion (food styling), and Rebecca Adams (assistant food stylist). Ron Tanovitz (illustrator extraordinaire).

For sharing their lovely showroom, Sol Kassorla, Sol Drimmer, and Fran Asaro of the Manhattan Center for Kitchen & Bath.

For sharing her home and lovely fireplace, Julie Killian. For sharing her sister, Sarah Powers; and for providing the fireplace rotisserie, Bruce Frankel.

For recipe testing (done at Barbecue University at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia) Eve Cohen (cooking school director) and Sue Moats and Stacy Adwell (recipe testing).

GRILL MANUFACTURERS: Camerons Smoker Cooker; Jenn-Air; Le Creuset; Ronco (manufacturers of the Showtime Rotisserie); Salton (manufacturers of the George Foreman grill); T-Fal; Thermidor; Viking; and VillaWare.

And thanks, too, to Chuck Adams (logistics), Allan Dresner (information technology), Mark Fischer (legal eagle), Fred Plotkin (Italian food mavin), and Bepi Pucciarella (who introduced me to the fogolar).

The machines and the mechanics: How to make the most of contact grills, grill pans, built-in grills, freestanding grills, the fireplace, the countertop rotisserie, and the stove-top smoker.

Heat up the grill and start the meal off right: Serve Artichoke Sunflowers, Ginger and Sesame Stuffed Mushrooms, Prosciutto Grilled Figs, three different kinds of chicken wings, or a Smoked Shrimp Cocktail.

Whats more natural than beef on the grill? Sizzle steak au poivre or Filipino-Style London Broil in the grill pan or on a built-in grill. Spit-roast prime ribs and beef ribs in the rotisserie and smoke pastrami on top of the stove. Indoor grilling gives beef an invigorating new spin.

Outdoor favorites come indoors with flavorful results: Cases in point are the Garlicky Spit-Roasted Pork, Kansas City Barbecue Ribs, and Chinatown Barbecued Pork Tenderloins. And for something really different, a Cyprus Souvlaki, redolent of cinnamon and fresh mint.

Beef and pork move over and make room on the grill for lamb. Shish kebabs and more: Lamb Steaks with Mint Chimichurri, lamb with a Berber spice paste, Espresso-Crusted Lamb Shanks, and Lamb Chops with Lavender and Cardamom. Exotic and delicious.

A burger on any indoor grill is a hit, and wait till you taste these: Spice up your repertory with hamburgers stuffed with bacon and cheese; New Mexican Green Chile Burgers; Barbecue Pork Burgers with Honey Mustard Sauce; Oaxacan-Spiced Turkey Burgers; and Thai Tuna Burgers.

The Perfect Roast Chickencrisp-skinned and succulent. Chicken breasts, cumin-crusted or pounded thin and grilled Central Americanstyle. Rum-Brined Turkey Breast, Spit-Roasted Duck, Piri-Piri Game Hens. Plus beer-can chicken in a stove-top smoker. Birds have never been better.

Fire up the Foreman for Moroccan Salmon, Grilled Tuna with Green Peppercorn Sauce, and Ginger Lime Halibut. Barbecue shrimp in a stove-top smoker. Blacken tuna on the built-in and grill swordfish in the fireplace. Seafood grilled indoors is seafood at its best.

The Real Bruschetta. Parmesan and Rosemary Lavash. A New Panini Caprese. Plus a Cuban Roast Pork Sandwich, Lobster Reubens, five variations on the croque monsieur, and more. Step aside, toastersandwiches demand an indoor grill.

Potatoes and onions and bell peppers roasted in the fireplace. Tomatoes flavored with sage and garlic prepared in a Foreman, a built-in grill, or a grill pan. Artichoke quarters singed crisp and waferlike in the rotisserie. Plus Portobello Bool Kogi, Grilled Squash with Herbes de Provence, and Grilled Corn with Soy Butter and Sesame.

Rubs, compound butters, and sauceswhether youre grilling indoors or out, these essential seasonings add character, even soul, to your food.

The Ultimate Smores. Grilled Pound Cake. Banana Tostones with Cinnamon Rum Whipped Cream, Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Caramel Sauce, and Pears Belle Hlne on the Grillnow these are desserts!

Q So why did a guy whos spent nearly a decade celebrating the glory of smoke and fire that is barbecue decide to write a book on indoor grilling?

A The short answer is easy. Because my editor, Suzanne Rafer, asked me to. Suzanne is an apartment dweller in Manhattan. Like millions of Americans, she lives in a major metropolitan area, where condominium regulations, municipal fire codes, or a simple lack of space make grilling outdoors illegal or impossible.

But apartment living isnt the only reason a book on grilling indoors makes sense.

Elsewhere in the country, arctic winter temperatures or grill-burying snowfall render wintertime grilling unfeasible, or at least unpleasantalthough many diehard que heads dont let a little rain, snow, sleet, hail, or ice deter them from their appointed rounds at the grill.

Yet steaks still need to be grilled, salmon requires smoking, and chickens beg to be spit-roastedeven if you cant cook outdoors. Almost from the dawn of civilization, human ingenuity has contrived to bring the techniques of outdoor live-fire cooking indoors.

Which brings me to the third reason I wrote this book: because indoor grilling belongs to a barbecue tradition that began with our earliest cave-dwelling ancestors. If its likely that the first barbecue was accidental (a forest fire cooked a bison on the hoof and some prehistoric man or woman tasted and liked it), its equally likely that the first deliberate act of grilling probably took place indoors. After all, archeologists have discovered Paleolithic cave sites containing the remains of flame-charred animal bones and cooking pits.