Friday night my youngest daughter had her first sleepover with a friend from her firstgrade class. When I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner with her friend, she immediately replied, “Filet Mignon with Demi Glace Sauce!”

This is her favorite meal of all time and it would be her friend’s first encounter with filet mignon. My daughter wanted to share her excitement over this meal so I went out and purchased a few steaks.

I was a little concerned because when her mother dropped off my daughters friend she said her daughter was a very picky eater and didn’t like much but she did love french fries so steak frites (steak and fries) it was. I did serve a salad and creamed spinach for my wife and I but the kids would have none of it.

First Grilling – Two Mistakes

Normally I grill all winter long and I’m sure I ventured out into the cold at some point this past one but it has been a while. Friday night was a gorgeous night to grill. Clear skies, warm weather and a glass of wine in hand but I made two big mistakes which I will share with you now.

First mistake this first night of grilling was not to clean the ashes from the bottom of the kettle before starting. Normally I give both my gas grill and charcoal grill a good cleaning at the end of the fall season but I didn’t clean the charcoal grill this time.

Normally it doesn’t matter that much but because the ashes got damp and wet over the winter they formed a solid mess at the bottom of the kettle. This mess covered up a couple of the air vents at the bottom and made it difficult to get enough air flow necessary to get the fire hot.

I should have realized this as soon as I noticed how long it was taking to get the coals hot. I ended up doing a lot of huffing and puffing to get the coals hot enough to grill the steaks. And speaking of coals, this leads me to my second mistake. Not enough coals.

Second Mistake – Not enough charcoal

I don’t know what I was thinking but I skimped on charcoal when I initially made the fire and ended up having to add more before I could even start grilling. This slowed down the whole process and the kids were getting antsy for dinner. 

I like using 100% lump hardwood charcoal. It costs a little more than the more common charcoal briquettes you find everywhere but the hard wood charcoal burns hotter, cleaner and with no chemicals.

So all I can say is, “Don’t skimp on a couple of dollars worth of charcoal and chance ruining $30 plus dollars worth of meat.”

I grilled the steaks like usual but served up the small pieces that cooked faster to the girls and let the bigger cuts cook a little longer. If you want to see my grilling tips, you can find them at http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/cooking-tips/grilling-tips/ 

I also have some more grilling tips on my web site at Grilling Techniques

If you are interested in making your own demi-glace sauce, check out my blog Demi-Glace For Great Steak Sauce.

Did you ever notice how many different ways there are to cook barbecue ribs? After doing a little research in my cookbook library, I was amazed at the number of techniques, marinades, mops, sops, bastes, brines you can use to prepare the perfect rib. Once again it shows me, there is no ONE perfect way to cook anything. It really depends on what you like and your personal tastes.

I picked up a package of ribs at Costco to split with my friend Barbecue Bob. Bob is a real grilling aficionado. In fact, it is because of him that I purchased my Weber Charcoal Grill and I love every minute of it.

Now Barbecue Bob likes to slow cook his ribs but like the rest of us, when in a hurry, he will take a shortcut or two. This barbecue baby back ribs recipe came from his wife Bert, (that’s right Robert and Roberta) who lets just say doesn’t enjoy spending too much time in the kitchen, but has mastered a quick and easy way to make barbecued ribs without a grill.

Now for all you barbecue purists out there, stop reading. You will be horrified, dismayed, upset, and maybe even angry at how Barbecue Bob’s wife, Bert, prepares her ribs. The bottom line is they taste fine and are ready in 70 minutes without any real fuss.

So the other day, Bert was dropping off the kids from camp and I wanted to give her Barbecue Bob’s half of the ribs. I asked her about her technique for preparing barbecued baby backed ribs and she said, “Let me just show you!”

So instead of giving her Barbecue Bob’s half of the ribs I said let’s just cook them all up and have you over for dinner. So that’s what we did and here is her recipe. By the way, she was given this recipe from her local butcher Rose.

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I mentioned a simple brine I made for some pork chops from my friend Jim Tarantino’s new cookbook, Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures & Glazes. Now I want to mention a few brining tips from his book that should be very helpful. By the way, this book is filled with tons of information and hundreds of recipes that will change the way you look at grilling and barbecuing.

1. When you make a brine, you typically bring it to a boil to combine ingredients so it is hot. When you start the process of brining you want the brine and the meat or chicken to be the same temperature between 35°F and 40°F. This means you need to plan ahead to let the brine cool down to room temperature before adding the meat or chicken and putting it into the refrigerator to cool. The first time I brined some pork chops, I didn’t let the brine cool down to the right temperature before adding the chops and they were a little salty.

2. A good way to counter meats and chicken that become to salty from brining is to use a glaze. The sweetness will balance the saltiness.

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