Main dishes for grilling at get together

The summer months are upon us. This is the time when many break out the grill. It’s good to start grilling before it really starts to get hot out there. Grilling is a perfect way to cook for family and friends. The options are limitless for what you can cook. I also enjoy having people around when I cook, which is perfect at a BBQ.

With so many options, the hardest part of the gathering is deciding what you want to cook. Since I shared some side dishes last time, here comes the main dish of the get together. The first offering is a Grilled Chicken. It uses the second recipe, which is a Brine for Chicken or Pork. The last dish today is a Grilled Shrimp Scampi, which is presented by the individual portion. So light up the grill and Let’s head to the back yard!

Grilled Chicken

It’s not often that I think about brining chicken. The brine recipe that follows this recipe is great for any “white meat” you wish to cook. I guarantee that this will be some of the juiciest chicken you will ever cook.

6 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken pieces

Brine for Chicken or Pork (recipe follows)

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup cilantro

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

Rinse chicken pieces; place in a large stock pot and cover with Brine for Chicken or Pork. Keep submerged with a salad plate weighted down with something heavy if necessary; refrigerate for 24 hours.

Whisk together butter, lime juice, cilantro, Italian seasoning, granulated onion and garlic, and Creole seasoning. Place chicken pieces in a single layer on large rimmed baking sheets; pour butter mixture over, turning to coat. Allow to sit at room temperature, turning occasionally, for 45 minutes.

Heat a grill to medium heat ( 350-400℉). Cook chicken, covered, until a meat thermometer registers 165℉ at the thickest part, 45 to 50 minutes, turn chicken once.

Brine for Chicken or Pork

2 quarts water

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup cane syrup

1/2 cup Ponzu sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 tablespoons granulated onion

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until salt and sugar dissolve. Cool to room temperature before beginning the brining process.

Grilled Shrimp Scampi

This past Memorial Day weekend, my wife’s nephew and I were manning the griddle cooking BBQ shrimp. If I would have known about the shrimp in advance (we had a crawfish boil and the shrimp were lagniappe), I would have cooked some of them with this recipe. They both would have made excellent additions to the crawfish.

This recipe is per serving.

1 tablespoon butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced parsley

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Pinch of cayenne pepper

6 jumbo unshelled, head-on shrimp

Combine butter, Parmesan, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, and cayenne pepper.

Rinse shrimp; using kitchen shears, make a small snip crosswise just where the head meets the body, the snip through shell down the length of the back. Devein shrimp, then carefully peel shells partially off body of shrimp; you're making pockets to load up with butter.

Divide butter mixture among shrimp, packing it down between shrimp shell and body. Skewer shrimp from tail to head. Prepare a hot grill, allowing cooking grates to heat for at 15 minutes before grilling shrimp.

To finish, place skewered shrimp, feet down, directly over heat, cover, and grill until shrimp are pink and just cooked through. If desired, snip off and discard heads before serving. Have extra melted butter loaded with garlic and minced parsley, lemon wedges, and plenty of napkins on hand before serving.

The grill is so versatile with what you can cook on it. Next time, I want to share with you another staple of the back yard grill, hamburgers. They are excellent for a group gathering and there are so many ways you can prepare and top them. Until next time, Good Cooking! Good Eating! Good Living!