Italian Grill - Mario Batali [4]
Some of the recipes in this book tell you to oil the grill before putting the food on it. You can use a long-handled basting brush or a clean rag dipped in oil to do this (you may want to hold the rag with tongs). Lightly oil the grate just before putting the food on it. In some cases, you may need to brush the food with oil too—or oil the food instead of the grate.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT GRILLING
Although a hot fire is essential for many recipes, not everything should be grilled over high heat. And some foods, such as big cuts of meat and whole birds, should be grilled over indirect heat so they can cook to the desired doneness without incinerating the outside. Some recipes use both direct and indirect heat: a piece of meat may be seared over the hottest part of the grill, for example, then moved to the cooler part to cook through.
Grilling over direct heat means cooking the food over the hottest part of the fire. It’s what you want for thinner cuts, for fish and shell-fish, cut-up chicken, sliced vegetables—i.e., food that cooks quickly. Cook over direct heat when you want to sear the food, giving it great color and a delicious flavor. For direct cooking on a gas grill, after preheating the grill, leave all the burners on high, put the food on the grill, and cook as directed. For a charcoal grill, leave the coals in a mound for very intense heat, or spread them out a bit if you need a larger cooking area. Have all the vents open so there is plenty of oxygen to feed the flames.
For indirect cooking on a gas grill, preheat all the burners on high, then turn off the center burner if you have three, or one of the burners if you have two. If the recipe calls for it, turn the other burner(s) down. Put the food over the cooler part of the grill to cook—and be sure to cover the grill. There are various options for cooking over indirect heat in a charcoal grill. The simplest is to move all the hot coals to one side of the grill and cook the food on the other, cooler side. Or divide the coals and mound them on two opposite sides of the grill, leaving the center bare, and cook over the center part. In either case, it’s a good idea to put a drip pan filled with a little water under the cooler part of the grill to prevent the drippings from burning. A third option, if you are cooking something like chicken thighs (such as Chicken Thighs with Snap Peas and Agliata, page 141), is to leave the hot coals in the center of the grill and arrange the food around the cooler perimeter.
CROSSHATCHING
If you’ve ever wondered how chefs make those beautiful patterns of grill marks that adorn grilled salmon fillets and fish steaks, chicken breasts, and other cuts, it’s actually really easy. Put the food on the grill and let it sear or cook long enough to get well-charred grill marks. Rotate it 90 degrees and cook a few minutes longer, and you will have that distinctive crosshatch pattern. Turn the food over and continue cooking as directed.
SPIT-ROASTING
If you have never tried spit-roasting because you think it is difficult, expensive, and/or intimidating, you will be surprised to find that it’s none of these: it’s really easy, a rotisserie attachment is by no means a huge investment, and spit-roasting is lots of fun! The results are delicious, and the technique—and delicious results—will amaze and impress your guests. Some high-end gas grills come with a rotis-serie attachment, and many manufacturers offer an attachment as an option. Relatively inexpensive models that fit most grills (charcoal as well as gas) can be purchased online or at some hardware stores. In any case, you’ll want to buy a well-constructed model with a sturdy spit that can support big birds and roasts. Fortunately we no longer have to turn the spit