I Love Grilling Meat May 2019

I Love Grilling Meat May 2019

MAY 2019

From the Sea to Your Smoker MEAT Insider SMOKED SEAFOOD Challenge

At first, seafood can be intimidating to grill or smoke. You really have to watch out for spoilage — everything from mahi-mahi to shrimp and sea urchin can spoil before you realize it. But when you take the right steps, you don’t have to worry at all! I keep my fresh seafood in cold ice water just prior to grilling or smoking. If it’s frozen, you just keep it on ice until you’re getting ready to cook your fish, lobster, shrimp, or whatever seafood you may be using. Once I am ready to smoke, I take my seafood out of the ice water, pat it dry, and let it sit out for about 10–15 minutes to air dry a little more. While it’s drying, I like to prepare any sauces I’m using. If I’m making shrimp, I may make a garlic butter sauce — see recipe on Page 3. This sauce goes well with smoked shrimp, and I’ll say that smoking shrimp is better than having them any other way. When it comes to making the garlic butter sauce, I may even add a bit of cheese. This adds a little extra creaminess and a great flavor. The sauce itself is pretty straightforward and nothing fancy, but it adds a lot when paired with the shrimp. To top it all off, I sprinkle some freshly chopped chives over the dish. As much as I love smoked shrimp, there are many other kinds of seafood that are also perfect for smoking. Crab legs, for instance, are great when prepared in a smoker. Shoot some butter into the legs and put them in the smoker, and you’ll be left with a real delicacy. I can say the same about any crustacean, as well as oysters, clams, and sea urchin — sea urchin already has a sweet taste that you can really set off with a good smoke. Back when I was serving in the military, I knew some officers who loved crab legs. They couldn’t get enough of them. We’d butter some legs, throw them on the grill or in the smoker, and let them get a nice smoky flavor. The mess chef always had a ton of good recipes, and I learned a lot from him. When I got out of the military, I lived in Louisiana for a while. We did a lot of our own crabbing down there, and I got a chance to try some of the recipes I learned from the mess chef. Long story short, we ate really well.

The thing about seafood is you need to think outside the box when it comes to grilling or smoking. Try different herbs and spices to find what you like. While there’s a lot of good recipes out there, seafood works with a surprising number of herbs and spices, and you can find great flavor combinations you might not have considered. I’ve reached the point where I mostly incorporate fresh herbs and seaweed. Prepping seaweed is very easy. You clean it off with fresh water and chop it up like lettuce. It even goes well in a fresh, crisp salad to complement your seafood main course, whether that’s fish, shrimp, or clams. When it comes to clams, I don’t eat a whole lot of them, but when I do, I put them in my smoker near the firebox with a wet piece of burlap. You want the flame to hit the wet burlap to create a good steam, which is what opens up the clams. All it takes is a minute or two, and they’re done. If you don’t have burlap handy, any heavy cloth that can soak up water will do. You can even use a pan of water. You just need to get a steam going in your grill or smoker.

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... continued from Cover You can even make a clam or oyster dressing in your smoker. Just pick out a type of bread, such as French bread or cornbread, and mix it with clams or oysters and a few chopped vegetables of your choice — carrots, celery, or any of your typical dressing vegetables will do. You can make a dressing you’re already familiar with and just add seafood instead of sausage or ham, for example. This makes another great side for a seafood dinner. Another great type of seafood to smoke is squid. It’s delicate, and it cooks quickly. All you have to do is get your smoker up to 190–200 F. Chop up your squid, wrap it in foil or put it a foil pan, and smoke it for 20–25 minutes. It’ll come out oh so tender. If you’re not sold on squid, you’re not alone. Many people struggle to enjoy this seafood, but not me. I first had squid in Baltimore, Maryland, when I was in the military. A reservist turned me onto it. It took one try, and I was hooked. Now squid isn’t the easiest to get hold of where I live in the central U.S., but when I see one, I’ll pick it up.

Squid makes a great addition to seafood paella. Come to think of it, paella is a great way to introduce many different types of seafood to your dinner table. Just about any seafood you can think of goes great in this dish, so I encourage you to experiment. If you find you don’t like something, that’s okay. The important thing is to know what you don’t like, so you can try something new next time. At the end of the day, that’s the great thing about grilling and smoking. These devices offer you a playground where you can try new flavors and make dishes that suit your tastes and those of your friends and family. I hope you enjoy this month’s recipes, and I’ll see you as we begin summer!

–Danny McTurnan

Dan’s Seafood Paella

Ingredients

Directions

Herb Blend: • 1 cup fresh

1. To prepare herb blend, combine parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. Set aside.

parsley, chopped 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 large garlic cloves, minced

2. In a large saucepan, combine water, saffron, and broth. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warmover low heat.

3. In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon oil, and bring to a sauteing temperature.

4. Add shrimp, and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove frompan. Add crabmeat and oysters, lightly sauté for 2 minutes, and then remove and set aside.

Paella: •

1 cup water

5. Bring your smoker temperature up to 280 F. Add a very small bit of your wood to your smoker (I like peach). Add onion, bell pepper, and corn to your skillet. Move skillet to smoker over indirect heat, close the smoker, and saute for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, add tomatoes, paprika, and 3 garlic cloves. Cook for 5 more minutes in smoker. 6. Next, open your smoker and add rice and seafood brothmixture, stirring constantly. Note: You can speed this up by precooking your rice the day before or use instant rice. But if you do, make sure to cut back on the seafood broth or it will be too watery. If you’re not precooking your rice, then cook rice mixture for about 10-15 minutes stirring every few minutes. 7. Next, when you are about 8 minutes from your rice being fully cooked, open your smoker and stir in herb blend and 1/4 cup lemon juice, shrimp, crabmeat, and oysters. Close your smoker and allow paella to cook for another 8 minutes or until water has steamed out and rice is flaky. Serve and enjoy!

• • • •

1 teaspoon saffron threads

3 (16-ounce) cans seafood broth 1 cup cubed ham (1/2-inch cubes)

1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 bag frozen cocktail shrimp (precooked is fine) • 2 cups crab meat • 2 cups shelled oysters • 2 cups onion, finely chopped • 1 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped • 1 can whole-kernel corn, drained • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika • 3 large garlic cloves, minced • 3 cups uncooked rice • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice • Wood: Peach (tad bit/small amount) or other fruit wood

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With Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce Dan ’ s Smoked Shrimp Ingredients

3 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons freshly minced garlic

• 1 pound jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/8 cup olive oil

• Wood: Peach (tad bit/small amount) or other fruit wood

Directions 1. In a large saucepan, combine butter, cream, basil, parsley, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and stir until mixture begins to thicken to a creamy sauce consistency. 2. If mixture doesn’t thicken as you would like, add 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch and whisk. You can add more cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon at a time until you’re happy with the cream consistency. 3. Next, brush a light coating of olive oil onto prepared shrimp, and place shrimp in smoker. Be careful with your temperature. Don’t go any higher than 190 F, and watch shrimp attentively. They should be done in 35 minutes, but they may be done sooner.

4. Once shrimp are smoked, remove from smoker and place on serving plate. Drizzle garlic butter sauce over shrimp and serve hot. 5. If you want to add a twist, before placing your shrimp in the smoker, add a few dashes of Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning. Enjoy!

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

1180 N. Town Center Dr. Suite 100 Las Vegas, NV 89144

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From the Sea to Your Smoker

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A Seafood Dish for theWhole Crowd

Nothing Goes Better With Shrimp Than Butter!

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Grill Giveaway and Live Session Dates

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GRILL Giveaway

SMOKED SEAFOOD Challenge

“Ask a PRO” LIVE Sessions • LIVE“Ask a PRO”SessionNo. 1 TOPIC: Smoked Seafood Paella Sunday, May 5, 2019 5 p.m. Central StandardTime • LIVE“Ask a PRO”SessionNo. 2 TOPIC: SmokedGarlic Butter Shrimp Sunday, May 19, 2019 5 p.m. Central StandardTime Go to gsa.life/2019may for instructions on how to access these LIVE sessions.

Are you ready to put your grilling and smoking skills to the test? Take the Smoked Seafood Challenge and you could WIN up to $500 in grilling and meat-smoking prizes! Wanna knowmore? Head over to gsa.life/2019may for all the details on how to enter. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing what you cook up!

Win a Dyna-Glo Charcoal Offset Smoker gsa.life/2019may

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