CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Father’s Day is coming up soon! Grillmaster Ernie Adler has these tips for cooking steak.
To cook the perfect steak you need to start with good beef. The USDA grades beef as prime, choice, and select. Prime is the best based on marbling (fat content spread throughout the meat) and age/tenderness, followed by choice and then select. Grocery stores and wholesale clubs generally carry one or all of these grades along with Angus beef which is a specific breed of cattle known for flavor and consistency. Prime and choice cuts will have more marbling which means they’ll have more flavor and juiciness, and most are more tender cuts than select. A good gift is to buy Dad the Everyday Meat Guide which details different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal, and lamb. It even covers grilling, cutting and trimming, tying a roast, and carving, and there are also a lot of grilling cookbooks.
Next up we have the perfect beer can chicken. Today we are doing a Caribbean flavor chicken with a mojo marinade which is very flavorful and not hot spicy. You can find it in the Hispanic aisle of any grocery store including comparefoodsclt.com. The day before trim any visible excess fat and put the chicken in a container and pour over the mojo, cover, and refrigerate. About 12 hours before grilling take out of the marinade and let air dry in the refrigerator. Preheat the grill to 325 degrees, place the chicken on the holder, rub olive oil over the surface, and place on the grill. Insert a probe into the thickest part and when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees it’s done and safe to eat. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Finally, we will do some potato boats. Bake your favorite potato and when just about done cut into quarters, let cool, then scoop out the flesh to make a canoe. You can put in any ingredients you like and today I’m making them with a shot of BBQ sauce, then some pulled pork, topped with some cheddar cheese. Place on the grill until the cheese is melted, then top with sour cream and fried onion strips.
If you want to get Dad the ultimate gift at Ernie’s we offer in-home outdoor grilling and cooking classes for groups of 6-30 people. You can find more information on classes, catering, and our weekly food pickup locations at www.erniesbbq.com. Happy Father’s Day!