One of the best smells of the summer is a barbecue dinner. Whether you’re an expert or beginner, this book gives you everything you need to serve a great meal from the grill.
Grill centers around cooking on a natural gas, propane or charcoal barbecue. Oliver gives easy-to-understand instructions about tools, cleaning the grill, how to use charcoal, what heat works best on the grill and then adds enticing recipes, with great photos of each, along with some charming Oliver family shots, for more inspiration. Chapters include Fast & Impressive; Skewer Party; Salads with Attitude and Veg Galore; Brunch Bits; Epic Feasts; Burgers and Patties; and Things that Make the Grill Rock (mostly sauces and spices). Jamie Oliver is as much about healthy cooking as he is about flavour, and he concludes Grill with tips on cooking sustainably and notes on nutrition. For those who want or need more information, Oliver also includes a detailed table of nutrition stats for each recipe, including energy (calories), fat, saturated fat, protein, carbs, sugars, salt and fibre.
I chose the following recipes and cooked them on our propane gas grill. I did everything except for clean up, and for those families where indoor and outdoor cooking is designated by gender or some other criteria, I was reminded that most of the work happens during prep in the kitchen. Time on the grill is usually far shorter and less labour intensive!
I chose three recipes. Of course, I wanted something from the “Fast and Impressive” chapter! The Perfect Steak and Chargrilled Salad made a picture-perfect summer dinner with fresh, in-season vegetables. This was a great example of Oliver putting common spices, herbs and sauces together to make a tasty meal of easy-to-get ingredients feel special. The honey, ginger and garlic flavours and the herbs thyme, marjoram and rosemary proved a delightful mixture. Next time, I’ll do some of the prep the day before to make this meal even easier.
The joy of getting outdoors, in every season, in any weather, and lighting that grill and cooking in the open air is something I’d love everyone to experience. So, with this book, I want to empower you with the confidence, skills and recipes to do just that. ~ JAMIE OLIVER
A number of Grill recipes pair well together, and I served the Grilled Chilli and Lemon Chicken with the Sriracha Corn, and that meal went just as well. This recipe serves up a spicy yet moist chicken, and once the mixture of herbs and spices was charred, muddled and stirred into a sauce, there was some time for relaxation as the chicken cooked over the next hour or so. Prep for the chicken itself was simple enough and effective, without actually butterflying the bird, but cutting it so that it lay flat on the grill.
A simple Ontario corn boil is one of my favourites, but Oliver’s Sriracha Corn was sweet, and the dressing made for a slightly spicy twist on summer corn. More prep than just shucking the cobs, but the eating was almost too easy!
Grill is a great reference for summer, but I know that Jamie Oliver will approve when I break it open for inspiration at other times of the year. I know my friends and family will appreciate that.
Perfect Steak & Chargrilled Salad
Serves 2 | 20 minutes
1 x 1-inch-thick boneless strip steak (about 12 oz)
1 bunch of mixed woody herbs (about 2/3 oz),
such as thyme, marjoram, rosemary
2-inch piece of ginger
1 clove of garlic
½ to 1 fresh red chilli
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 lime
1 small bunch of broccolini (6 oz)
6 oz asparagus (about 1/3 of a bunch)
1 bunch of scallions
8 to 12 small radishes (about 31/2 oz)
6 oz sugar snap peas
2 sprigs of mint
1 Get the steak out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Light the grill. Make a herb brush by tying the woody herbs to the end of a wooden spoon with a piece of string. Peel and finely grate the ginger and garlic into a large bowl, then finely grate in the chili. Add the soy and honey and squeeze in the lime juice. Set aside.
2 Remove the fat from the steak, discarding the sinew, then thinly slice the fat and add it to a small cast-iron frying pan. Put it in the cool zone to render and crisp up. Season the steak all over with sea salt. Place it on the hot zone, turning with tongs to cook gently on all sides, or until gnarly, using the herb brush to baste it with the rendered fat as you go — you’ll need 2 minutes for rare (or until 115°F), 3 minutes for medium-rare (or until 125°F) and 4 minutes for medium (or until 135°F). Transfer to a plate to rest — if you’re using a thermometer, the temperature should go up about 5 degrees as it rests.
3 Trim the broccolini, asparagus and scallions and place on the hot zone along with the radishes. Cook for 5 minutes, or until tender and charred, turning regularly with tongs and transferring to the bowl of dressing once done. Trim the sugar snaps, pile into a metal sieve and place on the medium zone for 2 minutes, tossing occasionally, then add to the bowl, along with the crispy bits of steak fat, if you like. Toss well and transfer to a serving platter.
4 Slice the steaks and arrange on top, drizzling with any resting juices, then pick and sprinkle on the mint leaves, to serve.
Grilled Chilli & Lemon Chicken
Serves 6 | Prep 30 Minutes | Cook 1 hour, plus resting
9 mixed colour chilies
1 long sweet red pepper
1 bulb of garlic
4 fresh bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes
1 bunch of thyme (about 2/3 oz)
1 lemon
1 x 31/2-lb whole chicken
optional: sprigs of bay, thyme, rosemary
1 Bringing piri piri vibes, here we’re making an incredible sauce to use as both a marinade for cooking and a salsa to serve, meaning double flavour impact.
2 Light the grill. Prick the chillies and red pepper and, as the barbecue heats up, char the chillies, red pepper and whole garlic bulb over the hot zone with the lid on, vents open.
3 Use tongs to toast the bay leaves on the grill for 30 seconds, then tear into a mortar and pestle, discarding the stems. Add the chilli flakes and a pinch of sea salt, strip in the thyme and pound well. Use a vegetable peeler to strip the lemon peel and pound again into a rough paste (you can use a small food processor for this step, if you prefer). Remove the thick white pith from the lemon, then finely chop the flesh. Muddle into the mortar and pestle with 2 tablespoons each of red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
4 Scrape off the larger bits of charred skin from the chillies and red pepper, discarding the seeds and stems, peel the garlic, then finely chop it all. Scrape into the mortar and pestle, mix and season to perfection.
5 Use a large, sharp knife to carefully cut down one side of the chicken’s backbone, so you can open it out flat like a book, then score the legs. Reserve half the sauce in a small bowl for serving, then rub the rest over the chicken, getting into all the nooks and crannies. Place on the cool zone, skin side up, tucking extra woody herb sprigs around the edges to protect the chicken as it cooks, if you like, and cook with the lid on, vents open, for 1 hour, or until juicy and cooked through and the internal temperature of the breast is at least 160°F. Transfer to a clean board to rest for 30 minutes (the internal temp needs to reach 165°F in the breast and 175°F in the thigh).
6 Spoon on the remaining sauce and carve up the chicken. Great with Grilled Fries (page 222) or sweet potato wedges, or my Sriracha Corn.
Sriracha Corn
Serves 4-6 | 15 Minute
4 ears of corn, husked
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
1 to 2 limes
2 scallions
1 Light the grill (pages 16-19). Place the corn on the hot zone for 10 minutes, or until softened and nicely charred, using tongs to roll the ears back and forth to medium and cool zones as needed so you can control how quickly they colour, then transfer to a board.
2 Mix the mayo and sriracha, then finely grate in the zest of 1 lime and squeeze in the juice to make a dressing. Trim and thinly slice the scallions.
3 Slice the corn off the cobs and mix with the dressing. Season to perfection, tweak with more lime juice if needed, then scatter on the scallions. Great as part of a bigger spread, paired with grilled steak, or with my Chicken & Chorizo Skewers (Page 60) or Paprika Pulled Pork (page 178).
