Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of grill season, a time when a simply seared protein can transform a weeknight meal into something celebratory and gatherings around charcoal revolve around handhelds eaten straight off the grates.
“If you don't have a smear of salt and fat on the side of a can of beer or whatever you're drinking at your backyard BBQ, you're doing something wrong,” says chef Noah Galuten. The James Beard Award-winning author is preparing to release his newest cookbook, Grill Time!, just as outdoor cooking season begins.
Having spent years manning the smoker and cooking “a terrifying amount of meat” at Bludso’s BBQ in Los Angeles, Galuten appreciates the back-to-the-basics opportunity to host friends for a patio party centered around interactive, crowd-pleasing food.
“I just love the balance of a vegetable, a fun finger food and then something filling and satisfying to make sure nobody goes hungry,” he says, noting that his suggested menu of charred cauliflower, grilled clams, and cheeseburgers are all technically finger foods.
“It’s all about fun and balance,” he says. The clams, Galuten’s favorite seafood, are grilled whole until they begin to open slightly. Then, they’re removed from the grill, topped with cocktail sauce and butter, and returned to the heat until bubbling and lightly charred around the edges. “It’s one of those dishes that people just get totally surprised by and then flip out over,” he says.
As for the cauliflower, “I love the trick of using tahini to bring a nutty flavor that also thickens plain yogurt,” he says. Even though it’s prepared as a side, Galuten says it often turns into an appetizer anyway, “since everyone keeps walking by and swiping bite after bite with their hands.”
When it comes to the burger, Galuten says the thick patty slathered with special sauce and bacon “is exactly what I want out of eating a hamburger in the sun.” With quicker-cooking ingredients like burger patties, Galuten emphasizes the importance of developing a good char on at least one side. “I like to let that first side cook the longest, to make sure you get that flavor and texture, even if it means that you're only going to cook the other side for 30 seconds or so,” he says. Let it sit any longer, and you risk overcooking it.
Another tip: prep is key. Make the cocktail sauce and burger sauce ahead of time. You can also prepare the tahini yogurt sauce, roast bacon in advance, it reheats perfectly on the grill, and patty out the burgers before laying them on a sheet tray covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. “Then when it's party time, you're just grilling and hanging out,” says Galuten, who also recommends serving a chilled lambrusco as an unexpectedly refreshing, effervescent welcome drink.
He also recommends a light, mineral-forward white wine or a vodka soda as an easy pairing throughout the meal. “I often just use a lime Spindrift and vodka (and I'm not just saying this because Spindrift is sponsoring my book tour) I have been legit drinking these for years,” he says. Of course, you can’t go wrong pairing backyard food with a light, crisp, ice-cold beer.
