Tips for great summer grilling
Chef Ilona Daniel shares some tips and tricks for perfect steak and burgers
How often do you say, “I’m going to barbecue up some steaks for dinner tonight!”
Are you sure that’s what you mean? The term barbecue has two definitions: the first one is in reference to the piece of equipment itself, which we use to cook food outdoors. The second is in reference to a process of cooking, which involves slow, low, indirect heat circulating around the ingredient with the lid down.
For some reason, in Canada, we quite often use the term barbecue when what we are really referring to is grilling. Grilling is when we cook an ingredient over direct heat with a high temperature for a shorter period with the lid up.
My favourite cut is a ribeye steak; it has the perfect ratio of protein and fat.
I’m a purist when it comes to grilling a piece of P.E.I. ribeye — all I add is freshlycracked black pepper, sea salt and a tiny dribble of goodquality extra virgin olive oil.
There are two steps that are paramount in achieving the perfect steak. First, make sure your cleaned grill is at max heat. Second, once you put the steak on the grill, leave it alone for a couple of minutes to allow the steak to caramelize — you know, those awesome grill marks really add to the visual appeal to the presentation to the steak. Your steak will easily lift off of the grilling racks when the meat has formed a proper crust; listen to your food.
CHEF ILONA’S STEAK 101
1. Room temperature:
Take steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to grill them
2. Season: Rub freshly cracked pepper, sea salt and olive oil all over your steaks.
3. Keep it clean: Remove all debris and lightly wipe the grilling grates with oil for a perfect non-stick surface
4. Bring the heat: 450 C is the ideal temperature for grilling the perfect steak. 5. Let the magic happen:
Avoid constant poking and prodding. Flip every oneand-a-half minutes. Four flips equals medium rare steak.
6. Let it rest: Before tucking in, give your steaks a 10-minute rest; now you’re ready to enjoy the juiciest summertime grilled steak.
BURGER TIME
When it comes to burgers, I typically season local beef with salt and pepper, but I do switch up my routine every so often, and this is when I like to incorporate my all-purpose rub into the grilling routine. My spice rub works well in burgers, kebabs, ribs, brisket, pork chops or even shrimp.
Bun: I like an old-fashioned brioche-style bun. I like to brush butter on cut sides of bun and grill them for extra flavour; butter is always a good thing!
Burger: For every pound of ground beef, I use 1.5 tbsp of my spice rub. I like to portion each of my burgers to weigh six ounces. I press the burgers out into a circle just wider than the circumference of the bun.
Grill the burger on medium-high heat for three minutes, then flip to the other side, and grill for another three minutes. Flip the burger again, and this time brush some of your favourite barbecue sauce atop the patty; grill for another two-and-a-half minutes. Repeat on the other side.
Top with bacon jam. Close the lid of the grill for two minutes
Slather bun with mayo or your favourite dressed up mayo and top burger with lettuce, tomato and onion or whatever you love on your burger.