Grilling season doesn’t have to be about burgers, ribs and steaks. Almost anything can be cooked outdoors, so jump on the opportunity to cook outside again, especially since the weather ought to be getting better and better as summer progresses. Cooking outdoors is fun, and is extremely easy when you are prepared.

And one of the very easiest foods to grill is, believe it or not, whole fish. Whether the fish comes from the fishmonger or the end of your fishing pole, follow a couple of simple preparatory suggestions and you’ll be grilling whole fish anytime the sun comes out. So get ready to put a fresh fish twist on the old 4th of July cookout.

If you’re not too comfortable with a boning knife, have no fear. Grilling whole fish requires minimal carving.

My favorite fish to grill include trout, snapper, bass, sea bream, just about any medium-sized whitefish will do, as well as some smaller fish like mullet, bluefish, mackerel, and butterfish.

Salmon is also a great choice.Avoid flounder, sole, fluke, cod and similar fishes because they can be too delicate.

When selecting your dinner, select a fish with clear eyes, shiny scales and a non-fishy smell. Once you’ve got your hands on a fresh whole fish, here are the 10 easy steps to grill it:

1. Clean the fish: de-scale it by scraping the dull side of a knife against the grain of the scales until it’s smooth. Cut off the fins with a pair of kitchen shears and discard. Then cut along the entire bottom of the fish, remove the guts and discard. Rinse the fish clean.
2. Score the fish with 1/2 inch-deep cuts on both sides, about 1-2 inches apart. This helps the flavors of the marinade (and smoke if applicable) to better penetrate the meat of the fish.
3. Marinate the fish for 1-3 hours in your choice of marinade. If you are using a marinade that is acidic (i.e. with lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) only marinade for 1 hour to avoid “cooking” the fish (as in ceviche).
4. Preheat the grill, or let charcoal ember to flame-less white briquettes.
5. Brush the clean grill and fish with a thin layer of canola oil, peanut oil or any other neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point, to prevent the fish from sticking.
6. Remove the fish from the marinade and wipe it clean to prevent the fish from sticking (save the marinade). Salt and pepper both sides. Optionally, you can stuff the inner cavity of the fish with herbs and pieces of lemon).
7. Grill the fish for 7-12 minutes (depending on the size) in the hottest part of the grill (unless serving salmon rare – 4-5 minutes). Optionally, you can also dip some rosemary or dill sprigs in oil and use them as a bed to grill the fish on if sticking is a concern.
8. Turn the fish over gently with one or two large spatulas. Optionally, you can turn it over onto a large piece of aluminum foil and then slide it onto the grill.
9. Baste the fish with the leftover marinade, and let it grill about as long as the first side.
10. Carefully remove the fish from the grill and place it onto a serving platter. Serve with grilled lemon and enjoy!

Once the fish is cooked it will flake easily away from the spine (again, rare salmon is a special case), and it should be simple enough to avoid any of the smaller bones. You can run a knife along either side of the spine, and then you should be able to slide the knife under the cooked fillets with no problem.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact one of us on the cooking hotline!

Have fun grilling!

Deep Frying Turkey allows the skin to be cooked to a delectable crispiness, while the inside is still moist and juicy.

Equipment Needed:
Turkey Deep Fryer Pot Set
Turkey Injection and Injector
Meat Thermometer
Peanut/vegetable oil
Oven mitts

Do’s:

1. The first thing you should do is determine how much oil you need to heat up. To do this, place your turkey in the cold pot. Fill the pot with water to cover the turkey allow for it to cover 2 inch above the turkey. Take the turkey out. Mark where the water level is…..this is how much oil you will need. This is an important step because if you do not determine how much oil you need and just fill the pot with oil, heat the oil then place the bird in…..chances are you have too much oil and it will spill over the pot roll down the sides to the open flame and catch on fire.
2. Dry your turkey off completely.
3. Fill pot with oil to the determined level.
4. Heat your oil outside to 350°-375° F.

Don’ts

1. Do not set up Deep Fryer indoors, or under an overhang. Never place close to the house, allow to be about 4 feet away from any structures.
2. Do not leave hot oil unattended.
3. Do not allow children and pets to be around your hot oil.
4. Do not Place hot oil on any surface that is not flat.
5. Do not use olive oil.
6. Do not brine your turkey. Make sure your turkey is completely dry.
7. Do not stuff your turkey.
8. Do not forget to remove giblets in the cavity of your turkey.
9. Do not try to fry a frozen turkey, the turkey should be completely defrosted.

Use a butter based turkey injection:
Melt 1 cup of whole butter and cool, add your dry seasonings. Suggestions are: cajun seasonings, or poultry seasoning, granulated garlic, salt and pepper. To inject the bird, fill injector with butter & seasonings. Inject each breast 6-8 times and inject each thigh 4-5 times. Pressing down on as you slowly pull injector out.

Use an egg white wash and season:
Smear 2 egg whites all over the outside of the turkey. Egg whites will help the seasonings stick to the outside and make the outside crispier. Season the outside of the turkey with Salt and White Pepper, you can also sprinkle with poultry seasoning, or if you used cajun seasoning in the butter, you can also sprinkle the outside with this seasoning.

Select the right oil:
Peanut is most popular, but you can use canola, or any other vegetable oil. Rice or rice bran oil is also a great oil to use because it has a high temperature before it starts smoking.

Cooking the deep fried turkey:
If your turkey pot comes with a basket, place your prepared turkey in the basket, using your oven mitts; gently and SLOWLY lower the turkey into the hot oil. DO NOT JUST DROP THE TURKEY IN THE OIL, it will boil up and hot oil could fling up at you. Or worse yet, the oil could boil over the pot and go down the outside of the pot, and fall into the open flame which would catch on fire.

Turkey will take 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours to cook depending on size. Ideally you will use a leave in meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature. Remove the turkey when it reaches and internal temperature of 165° F.

Using your oven mitts, pull the basket out of the hot oil. If you are cooking more than one turkey, you may place the next turkey in the fryer. If not, turn off the hot oil.

Allow the deep fryer to fully cool before discarding the oil.

Allow turkey to rest 15 minutes before carving.

Fall and winter’s saving grace in the vegetable department are the brassicas. This family of vegetables includes broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli raab, turnips, kale, mustard, and collards.

It’s great claim to fame is that almost all are cold tolerant. And although it’s true you won’t find someone harvesting them with a foot of snow on the ground, their tolerance for cold means that in many areas of the country they can be grown in cold frames even in the dead of winter. This is great because otherwise we’d be limited to winter squash or tubers like potatoes and sweet potatoes for fresh winter produce.

In addition to the expected complements of vitamins and minerals, these vegetables contain glucosinolate, which is an anti-oxidant and may reduce the risk of cancer, improve the lung function of people with COPD, and even undo diabetes damage. In other words they’re as healthy as all get-out.

But this family has a drawback, it tends to be bitter (and some folks are sensitive to this bitterness) and if not cooked properly (for the particular vegetable) they produce sulfur compounds. These compounds are particularly apt to show up by over-cooking broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, which explains why so many people dislike these veggies. Nevertheless, done well they’re all delicious, they complement well the heartier flavors of cold-weather dishes such as beef stew and braised lamb shanks, and their fresh flavor is a welcome addition to winter meals.

Roasted Cauliflower has a wonderfully nutty, almost pecan-like, flavor. If you’ve never had roasted cauliflower prepare yourself for a treat, it becomes a totally different vegetable and one that even cauliflowers haters have come to love.

When I was a kid I loved Brussels sprouts – baby cabbages. Like cabbage itself, over-cooking results in particularly distinctive sulphur compounds – not happy-making. But cooked well as in this recipe for Braised Brussel Sprouts they’re incredibly good.

Broccoli is one of my go-to weeknight veggies. It’s steams in 15 minutes and is wonderful topped with butter and lemon juice, mayonnaise, or even store-bought blue cheese or Italian dressing. Just cook it and pour something on top – it’s great!

And let’s not forget brassica roots – specifically ruatabaga. Slightlu bitter but also sweet sweet, it’s wonderful paired with almost any winter dish, but I think especially good with roast birds: chicken, turkey, or duck. This recipe for Rutabaga with Maple Syrup and Bourbon is particularly good.

When I bake the chicken breasts they always come out dry. Help!

Instead of par-cooking shrimp and then leaving it in the lime & lemon juices for an hour, can I just clean the shrimp & put them in the lime/lemon juices overnight? And, any recipe suggestions? Thanks.