thePULSEA college student’s guide to barbecuing
May is finally here! Finals are starting and the semester is almost over. Just think, no more research papers, books, monotone professors, or homework. Free at last! (Until the fall semester, anyway.) Before school comes to a close and you and your friends go home for the break, pull out that grill, light it up with some good eats, drinks, and games and kick the summer off by celebrating the end of another semester. Whether you own a propane grill or a charcoal grill, gather a group of friends and toast to making it through, until you meet again. (For those of you who don’t have a grill, now is the time to pick up an inexpensive one from Walgreen’s, CVS, or Wal-mart. Their prices are perfect for student budgets.
Now that you have your grill, you need some food. Head out to the local grocery store, meat market, or warehouse to pick up the basic essentials such as, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, and vegetables, at reasonable prices to fit your budget. All of the above can be cooked on the grill, and if you use the right seasons, marinades, sauces, and a quick, easy recipe, your friends will praise your ability to throw down.
Grilling chicken is not a difficult process. Choosing one of the many easy recipes is a little more challenging. One trick is to pick up you favorite marinade, from the grocery store and use the recipe they provide on the bottle, or use your own concoction, such as salad dressing and lemon juice or olive oil. Here are some recipes to help make each cookout a success!
Chicken Kabobs:
(serves 10)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 pint of whole white mushrooms
5 tbs. Greek vinaigrette salad dressing
6 tbs. olive oil
1tbs. fresh oregano (optional)
1tbs. salt
1tbs. pepper
Skewers
Soak skewers in water for at least an hour before grilling. Chop chicken breasts into one-inch chunks. Marinate in a bowl with the four tablespoons Greek dressing, two tablespoons of olive oil, fresh oregano, and half the salt and pepper called for in the recipe. Mix the ingredients and set aside. Chop the peppers into one-inch pieces. Combine the peppers and mushrooms with four tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of Greek dressing, and the rest of the salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients and set aside. To create the kabobs, start by skewering a piece of chicken, then pepper, then mushroom. Repeat one more time and finish the kabob off with a piece of chicken. Cook on a HOT grill for 10 – 15 minutes. Turn every few minutes to make sure chicken cooks evenly on all sides.
Barbeque Chicken:
(serves 10)
10 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
barbeque sauce
Italian dressing
Wash chicken and marinate in Italian dressing for a few hours or overnight. Grill for twenty minutes, turning every ten minutes until cooked thoroughly. Once done, baste with barbeque for an additional ten minutes while constantly turning to avoid burning the sauce.
Grilled Vegetables:
(individual servings)
1 cup any vegetables you’d like to cook
1 clove fresh garlic
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. dill sprinkle
1 tsp. olive oil
Wash and cut vegetables into bite size pieces and place them in aluminum foil. Add garlic, basil, dill sprinkle and olive oil then wrap it up. Grill for 30 minutes.
Once the grill warms up and the food is ready to be cooked, how about some appetizers?
For starters, you should have something for everybody to eat while they wait. Classic appetizers are salads, chips and dips. With a little bit of extra time and creativity, you can expand the selection to fruit, potato, and garden salads, nachos and salsa dip, or even pita bread and humus. Take your favorite tastes and include them for everyone to try.
Salsa Dip:
8 oz. cream cheese or sour cream
1 can chili with or without beans (hot or mild)
1 jar salsa (hot or medium)
8 oz. shredded taco cheese
Layer all ingredients in a pie dish. Layer cream cheese or sour cream, then add can of chili. Next add a jar of salsa (drain some of the liquid first). Sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave on high for 10 – 15 minutes or until cheese is melted, or bake in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes until cheese turns dark gold. Let dish cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with nacho chips.
Potato Salad:
6 – 10 boiled potatoes
1/2 doz. hard boiled eggs
2 – 3 celery, diced
mayonnaise
vinegar
mustard
season salt
pepper
1 diced onion
Combine diced potatoes and eggs with celery, onion. Add vinegar, mustard, season salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and add mayonnaise to desired consistency. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Another way to keep everyone occupied is with games and music. Turn up the radio, play your favorite CD, have a party! Pull out the cards, play a game of “spades”, or “bullshit”, whatever suits your taste. If you are in an area where the cards will fly everywhere, bring sporting equipment. Almost every park in Worcester has a basketball court, take turns at bat in a park, or set up volleyball to work up an appetite.
Everyone knows a barbeque would not be complete without drinks. If you need a cost-efficient way to quench everyone’s thirst, run to the nearest BJ’s or Sam’s Club to buy soda in bulk, and to the package store to stock the cooler with cans of beer. But, why not create your own drinks? All you need is a blender, some ice, the right ingredients, and you’ll have enough to go around. Mixed drinks can add to the ambiance of the summertime cookout, making it a memorable event.
Margaritas:
Broken cubed ice
Lime wedges
Tequilla Oro & Blanco
Roses Lime Juice
Triple Sec, Orange Curacao.
Fill shaker with ice. Squeeze in lime wedges. Add 2 oz. of Tequilla Oro, 1/2 oz. of Tequilla Blanco,1 1/4 oz. Lime Juice, 1/2 oz. of Triple Sec and a splash of Curacao. Cover & shake hard. Rim glass with lime peel, salt. Add fresh ice; strain over ice. Enjoy!
Time to check the grill. Each method of preparation determines your barbeque cooking time. Most foods served up over the charcoal grill can take a long time to cook thoroughly and to ensure the food cooks properly. Many problems associated with grilling are over or undercooked burgers or too-tough chicken. To avoid these bad reviews, take a look at these pointers for making each grilled item and delicious success!
- Distribute all items evenly over the grill.
- Cut large pieces of chicken into smaller sections to reduce the cooking time and to ensure each item is cooked throughout.
- Hamburgers should be no more than half an inch thick when grilling to avoid a red center.
Grilling takes some practice and patience, but the end result will be worthwhile.
After any great dinner, there’s always room for a great dessert, even if it’s to go! Summertime is a great time to use fresh fruit, such as strawberries. Make strawberry shortcake, cut up some watermelon, or take it back with roasted marshmallows, Hershey chocolate, and graham crackers to make smores.
It is possible to create a fantastic cookout with easy recipes and a little bit of time! Happy grilling!
