Ultimate Backyard Barbecue with Broil King Ben!

I may or may not have spent the month of August... and most of September enjoying rather than writing about enjoying the wonders of summer. Luckily I've been keeping notes with the hope of putting up some new and interesting recipes and findings here. 

I had the opportunity to be the chef for the Ultimate Backyard Barbecue event presented by Molson, Shoeless Joe's and oh yeah Broil King, that grill company I work for. A challenging and fun way to show off some of the things you can cook on the grill. Here's the menu and how you go about cooking these dishes. It may seem lengthy, it is, but it’s not as hard to cook as it seems. Try breaking it into pieces. 

Ultimate Rickard’s Backyard Barbecue Menu 

Appetizers 

Rickard’s Dark soy maple glazed cedar plank salmon 

A truly Canadian start, Jail Island Atlantic salmon lightly glazed with a mixture of Rickard’s Dark, Ontario maple syrup and soy, aromatically grilled on Canadian red cedar. Served with French bread crisps, cream cheese, and capers. 

Buy: 

Salmon, portions or a whole side, portions cook faster; don't buy cheap fish because it tastes like cheap fish. Discount stickers may indicate a deal on lamb or beef but you can't cut corners with fish. 

Soy Sauce - Kikkoman 

Maple Syrup - The real stuff 

Rickard's Dark beer 

Sesame seeds 

Ground pepper 

1 cedar plank 

Soak the Cedar plank in water for up to 20 minutes, it's not an exact science, the goal is to create wet wood because wet wood doesn't burst into flames! Once your plank is soaked pat the outside dry with a towel and lightly coat one side in olive oil. Place your salmon portion(s) on the plank without letting them overhang, trim if necessary, most sides of salmon are larger than the available planks. Preheat your grill to 250°F - 300°F. Mix 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 1/4 cup Rickard's Dark beer in a saucepan or pot and put it on high to bring it to a boil. Reduce the liquid until it thickens enough to stick to the salmon as you baste it on. Put your planked salmon on the grill and baste a little of the maple soy glaze atop. As the salmon cooks over the following 20 to 30 minutes baste it a few more times then sprinkle on some sesame seeds and give it a grind of fresh pepper. Good salmon is edible raw, if you don’t like it raw cook it until the white ribbons of fat start to melt and it flakes easily with a fork.

Cut a French bread stick into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices, drizzle on a little olive oil and a grind of pepper. Toast them right on the grill around the salmon, the bread crisps will cook fast and nobody likes burnt toast so don’t leave them unattended. Serve it up with a side dish of capers and cream cheese.

Roasted brie cheese with Rickard’s White marmalade 

Creamy brie with an orange marmalade Rickard’s white reduction accompanied by whole roasted garlic cloves, French bread crisps and spicy salami. 

Take a wheel of Brie and scrape the waxy coating from the outside, don’t cut it off it wastes a lot of cheese unnecessarily. Place the brie in a brie baker or equivalent small baking dish, bake in the grill until the cheese is melted, not too much heat otherwise you’ll end up with greasy pools in your cheese. Take an entire bulb of garlic and cut the top off, you want to expose the tops of each bud, drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap in tin foil, toss it on the grill to bake, depending on the temperature this could take a while. The garlic is cooked when it’s soft to the squeeze. In a pot add a good portion of orange marmalade and a generous pour of Rickard’s White beer. Stir the combination until the marmalade completely dissolves then reduce for 15 minutes. Pour into a ramekin and let stand, it will go back to being a jelly very quickly. Toast more of the same bread crisps as above and serve with a spicy salami, perhaps some slices of parmesan cheese.

Ultimate Backyard barbecue - Mains

Rickard’s Perfect Steak 

Juicy 10 oz. Perfect Steak 28 day aged New York Strips marinated in The Perfect Steak marinade and Rickard’s Red topped with grilled button mushrooms. 

10 oz. New York Strips, or my favourite 6 oz. top sirloin 

Perfect Steak Marinade 

Rickard’s Red beer 

Button mushrooms 

Garlic 

Soy Sauce 

Olive Oil 

Black Pepper 

Toss the mushrooms in a roasting pan with a splash of soy sauce, olive oil, a couple minced garlic cloves, and Rickard’s red beer. Put the pan right on the main grill surface and cook the mushrooms down until they are soft. Separate the mushrooms and their liquids. Keeps the mushrooms in the roasting pan to brown them, put the liquid in a sauce pan and reduce it into a glaze for the steak and mushrooms, aka heat it until there is very little and it’s very rich and thick, season as necessary. Marinade the steaks, defrosted, for 30 minutes at room temperature in a mixture of Perfect Steak Marinade and Rickard’s Red, equal parts. Grill following the Perfect Steak Grilling Guide. Serve mushrooms atop steak, with a drizzle of the glaze reduction. Possibly with a blue cheese butter medallion instead of glaze. 

A what? Partially melt butter so that you can work with it, add blue cheese and mix them together. Spread it onto wax paper and roll into a tube, put it in the freezer for a few minutes then take it out and cut into medallions. Butter loves steak, so does blue cheese, mmmmm steak love. 

Rickard’s White lemon chicken 

Seasoned boneless chicken breasts grilled then braised in Rickard’s White accompanied by grilled lemons, arugula and cranberries. 

Boneless Chicken breasts 

Lemons 

Rickard’s White beer 

Arugula 

Cranberries 

Pecans 

Honey 

Apple cider vinegar 

Olive oil 

Garlic 

Course pepper 

Coriander 

Caraway 

Cumin 

Paprika 

Cayenne pepper 

Course salt 

Take a generous amount of salt and some caraway seeds and heat them in a pan essentially infusing the caraway taste into the salt. Add water, 8 parts water to 1 part salt, dissolve the salt into the water, let cool. This first part is the brine, you’ll want to do this several hours before or even the night before you cook this meal. Once the brine has cooled add it to a re-sealable container with your chicken breasts. It will tenderize and moisturize your chicken, that’s good! 

Next day, remove your chicken breasts from the brine and pat dry. Lightly coat them with olive oil then season with the following spice mix: 

2 tablespoons cumin 

2 tablespoons paprika 

1 tablespoon coriander 

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

1 teaspoon caraway 

1 teaspoon pepper 

1 teaspoon salt 

2 cloves of minced garlic 

Rub the chicken thoroughly and generously with this spice mix. Grill the chicken breasts so that you have the perfect sear marks on them then like braising in the oven add the chicken breasts to a roasting pan in your grill with a little Rickard’s White that you’ve already pre heated. 

Take your pecans and coat them in honey then a little of the same spice as above, toast them in a pan, set aside, or not, I just like seasoned nuts. Cut your lemons in half and grill them for ten minutes face down. 

Finish cooking the chicken breasts in beer, total cook time between grilling and braising should be at max 30 minutes, use a thermometer if you are unsure. Take the braising liquid and reduce it in a pan to a thick glaze. If you’re pressed for time the chicken can spend some time on the warming rack while you prepare the glaze. Make the following vinaigrette: 

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 

2 tablespoons of olive oil 

A squeeze of honey 

Grind of pepper 

Toss the arugula, cranberries, and pecans in the vinaigrette and place it as the base for your chicken. Slice the chicken breasts and serve a few slices atop the arugula with a drizzle of the glaze on the chicken, serve a grilled lemon half on the side. Give the lemon a squeeze over everything above. Enjoy. 

Ultimate Backyard Barbecue - Sides

Roasted rustic red potatoes with fresh Rosemary and thyme. 

Course pepper 

Course salt 

Fresh Rosemary 

Fresh Thyme 

Simply cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces, toss them in a roasting pan, coat them with a generous drizzle of olive oil, diced fresh rosemary, thyme, lots of course pepper and some course salt. Cover over with aluminum foil and roast them on the warming rack for up to an hour, taste test for doneness. Don’t be afraid of salt or rosemary in this recipe. 

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus spears with a creamy Rickard’s White sauce. 

Prosciutto 

Asparagus 

Mayonnaise 

1 Orange 

Rickard’s White 

Paprika 

Wrap the asparagus, bundles of 3 or 4 in prosciutto, grill the asparagus, if it starts to wrinkle and wilt you’ve grilled it too long. The sauce whisk ¼ cup of mayonnaise, orange zest, 2 tablespoons of Rickard’s White, 1 tablespoon of juice from the orange, 1 tablespoon of paprika, it should be slightly bitter but accompanies the asparagus well, serve atop like a glaze in other words sparingly. 

Ultimate Backyard Barbecue - Dessert

Grilled pineapple with white wine soaked raisins atop vanilla ice cream rolled in toasted coconut served with a special ingredient. 

EASY ALERT: Take raisins, soak them in white wine overnight in the fridge in a re-sealable container, don’t go crazy on the wine you just want to saturate them. The next day take some unsweetened coconut and toast it in a pan, let cool in the fridge. Cut a pineapple into spears and grill them with a little maple syrup and paprika until they are soft. Cut them into pieces but present them beside the ice cream like a spear. Take your very cold super creamy vanilla ice cream from the freezer, using a good ice cream scoop form it into balls and roll them in your coconut. Sprinkle on some wine soaked raisins… Oh yeah and pour in some Rickard’s Dark beer, like a float, of beer, a beer float. It’s crazy but people do like it because it’s great.