Side dishes when you grill

[AFJF]

Alright grillers, what do you grill to top your steaks and burgers with?  I love mushroom, onion and blue cheese but looking for new ides for sides/toppings.

 

What are some of your favorites?

[Larz]

Smaller steaks 

[chirorob]

Grilled pineapple.

Core the pineapple, roll the outside in cinnamon sugar.  Slice, and grill at about 400 for 5 minutes a side, or until you get the nice grill Mark's.  The cinnamon sugar should caramelize on the outside of the pineapple, super tasty.

 

On the side, when you roll the pineapple in the cinnamon sugar, you get this left over cinnamon/pineapple slurry.  You can put that into the un cooked ground beef for your burgers, get a little Hawaiian feel.

[chirorob]

Bacon wrapped kielbasa.

Kielbasa comes in a U shaped piece.  Cut that in half, so you have two "J" shaped pieces.  Wrap them in bacon (not thick cut, it takes too long).  Cook that on the grill at 225-250, flipping about every 20 minutes.  Cook until the bacon is crispy.

Make sure you are either on indirect heat, or you have a collecting pan under the bacon, or the bacon grease will cause little grease fires that will burn the bacon.

If you want, at the end, bring the heat up a little and baste the bacon with some bbq sauce.  Cook another 5 minutes or so.

If you do it right, the bbq will caramelize, so you get the salty sweet bacon/bbq combo, plus the crispy bacon.

I cut into pieces about 1 to 1.5 inches long, and use as an appetizer.

[chirorob]

For a true side, my wife makes brussel sprouts that she cooks in bacon grease.  

When she makes bacon, we save the grease.  Put some of that in a pan, cut the sprouts in half and cook them in the grease.  Amazingly tasty.

[AFJF]

15 minutes ago, chirorob said:

Grilled pineapple.

Core the pineapple, roll the outside in cinnamon sugar.  Slice, and grill at about 400 for 5 minutes a side, or until you get the nice grill Mark's.  The cinnamon sugar should caramelize on the outside of the pineapple, super tasty.

 

On the side, when you roll the pineapple in the cinnamon sugar, you get this left over cinnamon/pineapple slurry.  You can put that into the un cooked ground beef for your burgers, get a little Hawaiian feel.

Oh damn, had that years ago at a brazillian steak house.  Gotta try to do that.  Thanks for the reminder.

[chirorob]

19 minutes ago, AFJF said:

Oh damn, had that years ago at a brazillian steak house.  Gotta try to do that.  Thanks for the reminder.

Get something like this, they are about 10-15 bucks.  You just cut the top off the pineapple and this perfectly cored it in literally 30 seconds.

[AFJF]

10 minutes ago, chirorob said:

Get something like this, they are about 10-15 bucks.  You just cut the top off the pineapple and this perfectly cored it in literally 30 seconds.

I had one of those a few years back and it got lost with all of the moving.  Need to reacquire one.

[chirorob]

1 hour ago, AFJF said:

I had one of those a few years back and it got lost with all of the moving.  Need to reacquire one.

Central market sells them, or just amazon.

That blade on the end is sharp as hell.  I may have cut myself once or twice cleaning it.

[jetstream23]

Grilled onions are the go-to.  On special occasions I'll try to do a steak oscar for the wife by putting lump crabmeat and a couple asparagus as accompaniments. Grilling some shrimp is also a nice, easy touch when you're already going to have the grill on anyway.

@chirorob - I like that approach on brussel sprouts.  Will definitely have to try it.  My wife will steam some brussel sprouts a little, then throw them in a bow with some light olive oil, garlic and pepper.  The olive oil obviously makes the garlic and pepper stick to the brussel sprouts.  She then brings them outside and I throw them on the grill for only about 5-6 minutes to give them a little tan or make them a bit crispy on the outside.  A little bit of a two-step process but it's worth it.  I think I'm going to try that bacon grease some time though.

And I'm surprised The Crusher hasn't made an appearance here yet.  Usually any mention of bacon is like the Bat signal for him.

 

[The Crusher]

3 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

Grilled onions are the go-to.  On special occasions I'll try to do a steak oscar for the wife by putting lump crabmeat and a couple asparagus as accompaniments. Grilling some shrimp is also a nice, easy touch when you're already going to have the grill on anyway.

@chirorob - I like that approach on brussel sprouts.  Will definitely have to try it.  My wife will steam some brussel sprouts a little, then throw them in a bow with some light olive oil, garlic and pepper.  The olive oil obviously makes the garlic and pepper stick to the brussel sprouts.  She then brings them outside and I throw them on the grill for only about 5-6 minutes to give them a little tan or make them a bit crispy on the outside.  A little bit of a two-step process but it's worth it.  I think I'm going to try that bacon grease some time though.

And I'm surprised The Crusher hasn't made an appearance here yet.  Usually any mention of bacon is like the Bat signal for him.

 

As I get older it’s become common that I fall asleep after pleasuring myself.  Dramatically lowering my Bacon Response Times (BRT) to less than half of what it was in my prime. 

[Larz]

But seriously, corn, corn, corn and sometimes potatoes and every now and then creamed spinach or my annual salad lol

[SAM SAM HE'S OUR MAN]

6 hours ago, chirorob said:

Bacon wrapped kielbasa.

Kielbasa comes in a U shaped piece.  Cut that in half, so you have two "J" shaped pieces.  Wrap them in bacon (not thick cut, it takes too long).  Cook that on the grill at 225-250, flipping about every 20 minutes.  Cook until the bacon is crispy.

Make sure you are either on indirect heat, or you have a collecting pan under the bacon, or the bacon grease will cause little grease fires that will burn the bacon.

If you want, at the end, bring the heat up a little and baste the bacon with some bbq sauce.  Cook another 5 minutes or so.

If you do it right, the bbq will caramelize, so you get the salty sweet bacon/bbq combo, plus the crispy bacon.

I cut into pieces about 1 to 1.5 inches long, and use as an appetizer.

[batman10023]

12 hours ago, chirorob said:

For a true side, my wife makes brussel sprouts that she cooks in bacon grease.  

When she makes bacon, we save the grease.  Put some of that in a pan, cut the sprouts in half and cook them in the grease.  Amazingly tasty.

Bacon juice makes many thinks yummie

[chirorob]

18 hours ago, Larz said:

But seriously, corn, corn, corn and sometimes potatoes and every now and then creamed spinach or my annual salad lol

Do you ever grill the corn on the cob?

I'll warp it in foil, with a couple pats of butter in there, cook on the grill on a lower temp, flipping every 10-15 minutes.   Let the butter really melt in.

[RutgersJetFan]

I like to let a good cut stand on its own. If I'm doing a grass-fed ribeye or tri-tip I like some fresh arugula with red onions on the side, but that's it. Rice or a sweet potato sometimes, but I don't like dressing up cuts that are $15-20 a pound. If I'm springing that high I want to enjoy it without watering it down with a ton of other stuff.

Bird or fish, or cheaper cuts like flat irons or picana, that's a different story. Slow cooked red onions with mushrooms in butter is super simple and amazing as a side if you cook it low and slow for 45 min to an hour. Polenta is a sleeper as well, especially with anything that has BBQ sauce on it. Almost satisfies that corn bread craving without having to put all the work in, and healthier too.

[Jet Nut]

On 7/20/2020 at 9:36 AM, chirorob said:

Do you ever grill the corn on the cob?

I'll warp it in foil, with a couple pats of butter in there, cook on the grill on a lower temp, flipping every 10-15 minutes.   Let the butter really melt in.

I also get fresh corn on the cob with the husks still on them.  Peel some of the husks off and soak the corn.  Toss them on the grill to cook in their own husks

[chirorob]

18 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I like to let a good cut stand on its own. If I'm doing a grass-fed ribeye or tri-tip I like some fresh arugula with red onions on the side, but that's it. Rice or a sweet potato sometimes, but I don't like dressing up cuts that are $15-20 a pound. If I'm springing that high I want to enjoy it without watering it down with a ton of other stuff.

Bird or fish, or cheaper cuts like flat irons or picana, that's a different story. Slow cooked red onions with mushrooms in butter is super simple and amazing as a side if you cook it low and slow for 45 min to an hour. Polenta is a sleeper as well, especially with anything that has BBQ sauce on it. Almost satisfies that corn bread craving without having to put all the work in, and healthier too.

We buy just about all of our meat from butcher box, online.  All the meat is 100 percent grass fed, grass finished.

It's nice.  Ships straight to your house on dry ice.  Prices are about the same as the super market next to my office.

[slowmoe57]

On 7/19/2020 at 8:49 AM, chirorob said:

For a true side, my wife makes brussel sprouts that she cooks in bacon grease.  

When she makes bacon, we save the grease.  Put some of that in a pan, cut the sprouts in half and cook them in the grease.  Amazingly tasty.

My wife does the same...also adds bits of bacon with it  good stuff

[RutgersJetFan]

5 hours ago, chirorob said:

We buy just about all of our meat from butcher box, online.  All the meat is 100 percent grass fed, grass finished.

It's nice.  Ships straight to your house on dry ice.  Prices are about the same as the super market next to my office.

BB is solid. I used Crowd Cow when CA was under stricter Stay at Home orders, but the markets here buy fresh from a lot of the North and Central California farms so that's preferable for me, and cheaper. Getting GF beef is a bit easier on the west coast, but I think that's changing rapidly due to national demand for healthier animals from meat eaters.

Bison, elk, or wild boar makes its way here and that's always a treat. I always feel charged up the next day after eating any of those. 

[chirorob]

7 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

BB is solid. I used Crowd Cow when CA was under stricter Stay at Home orders, but the markets here buy fresh from a lot of the North and Central California farms so that's preferable for me, and cheaper. Getting GF beef is a bit easier on the west coast, but I think that's changing rapidly due to national demand for healthier animals from meat eaters.

Bison, elk, or wild boar makes its way here and that's always a treat. I always feel charged up the next day after eating any of those. 

I like bison as steaks.  I've made bison burgers out of ground, and it is a bit too lean, they co e out drier.

Wild boar I want to try.  They hunt them all over in Texas because they are so massively over populated, and the wipe out every thing else.

[nj meadowlands]

Corn, grilled scallions, grilled zucchinis, homemade macaroni salad

[nycdan]

On 7/20/2020 at 9:36 AM, chirorob said:

Do you ever grill the corn on the cob?

I'll warp it in foil, with a couple pats of butter in there, cook on the grill on a lower temp, flipping every 10-15 minutes.   Let the butter really melt in.

Lately I just leave half the husk on and grill it husk side down.  If you get the timing right it comes out just perfect.  You can rub butter or olive oil on it first but don't even need to.  

[#27TheDominator]

You guys are grilling wild boar steaks?  I used to eat it (cinghiale) damn near every day when I would go through Umbria, but it was usually in a brown stew like sauce over pasta.

[Snell41]

Lately I just leave half the husk on and grill it husk side down.  If you get the timing right it comes out just perfect.  You can rub butter or olive oil on it first but don't even need to.  

Make sure you’re getting organic or else you’re steaming your corn in roundup.


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[munchmemory]

19 hours ago, #27TheDominator said:

You guys are grilling wild boar steaks?  I used to eat it (cinghiale) damn near every day when I would go through Umbria, but it was usually in a brown stew like sauce over pasta.

In my region, you'd most likely get the stufato or sugo over polenta.

[#27TheDominator]

2 hours ago, munchmemory said:

In my region, you'd most likely get the stufato or sugo over polenta.

Northern boy?  We were mostly terrone, but my great grandmother was from Bagnaria (Pavia) and they used a lot of polenta.  The two dishes my Dad talks about are polenta with a brown sauce and malfatti.  I guess I've strayed far enough because I don't think of either on the grill, but I think we've done polenta squares in the past.  They were fond of sticking the artichokes right into the burning embers to cook. 

[munchmemory]

13 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

Northern boy?  We were mostly terrone, but my great grandmother was from Bagnaria (Pavia) and they used a lot of polenta.  The two dishes my Dad talks about are polenta with a brown sauce malfatti.  I guess I've strayed far enough because I don't think of either on the grill, but I think we've done polenta squares in the past.  They were fond of sticking the artichokes right into the burning embers to cook. 

Emilia Romagna.   Not far from Parma.  My Mom was a champ at making pasta, but would also make risotto or polenta often depending on the dish.

I have never had the malfatti you describe (but I want some lol).  Only ones I can recall were more like a dumpling.  My Dad was an Alpino, so had my Mom learn to make canderli which he'd eaten during his tour in the Alto Adige.  Think they called them malfatti, too.

You would have gone off on my grandfather's salumi (from both hogs and boar) which he had made by local contadini.  I remember his cellar being lined with all the products just sitting there aging and ready for us to devour.

I've done polenta on the grill a bunch of times with mixed results.  You really need a hot grill and oil them liberally.  Not one of my favorite things to prepare.  My Mom would pan fry leftover polenta with whole garlic and olive oil.   I like that method so much better.  Gives a nice crust with plenty of taste.

[#27TheDominator]

a.

24 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Emilia Romagna.   Not far from Parma.  My Mom was a champ at making pasta, but would also make risotto or polenta often depending on the dish.

I have never had the malfatti you describe (but I want some lol).  Only ones I can recall were more like a dumpling.  My Dad was an Alpino, so had my Mom learn to make canderli which he'd eaten during his tour in the Alto Adige.  Think they called them malfatti, too.

You would have gone off on my grandfather's salumi (from both hogs and boar) which he had made by local contadini.  I remember his cellar being lined with all the products just sitting there aging and ready for us to devour.

I've done polenta on the grill a bunch of times with mixed results.  You really need a hot grill and oil them liberally.  Not one of my favorite things to prepare.  My Mom would pan fry leftover polenta with whole garlic and olive oil.   I like that method so much better.  Gives a nice crust with plenty of taste.

Ha.  You've probably had the same malfatti.  They are like spinach dumplings.  Sort of like gnocchi only spinach instead of potato.  You were just confused because I left the "and" out of my sentence.  I didn't recall canderli, but when I looked them up, I guess I had eaten them at some point.  When you mention your grandfather's cellar, it reminded me that in the Italian version of Costco they had full legs of boar complete with hair and hoof just hanging on hooks.  

Agree on the polenta.  I remember doing it, but it seemed like there were better things to grill and better ways to make polenta. 

[munchmemory]

5 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

a.

Ha.  You've probably had the same malfatti.  They are like spinach dumplings.  Sort of like gnocchi only spinach instead of potato.  You were just confused because I left the "and" out of my sentence.  I didn't recall canderli, but when I looked them up, I guess I had eaten them at some point.  When you mention your grandfather's cellar, it reminded me that in the Italian version of Costco they had full legs of boar complete with hair and hoof just hanging on hooks.  

Agree on the polenta.  I remember doing it, but it seemed like there were better things to grill and better ways to make polenta. 

You're talking about the gnocchi with the ricotta and spinach, right?  If so, yeah we had those.  

Talking about spinach reminded me of the tortelli my Mom used to make.  Homemade pasta stuffed with ricotta, spinach and Reggiano.   Once boiled, they're covered in melted butter and more Parmigiano.  Insanely good.  Image below is close.

Okay, no more food talk please.  lol