Many ovens also have a summer vacation. Meat, whatever the cut, is prepared on the barbecue grill. It couldn’t be simpler. Paint on the “basic red” (as Craig Claiborne calls it), let it sizzle until you finish your gin and tonic, and serve. If the results are disappointing, do not blame the chef (particularly if of the week end variety), criticize the shopper.
Grilling over wood or charcoal does not tenderize. Furthermore, if the supermarket special is soaked in red wine long enough to tenderize, it will taste funny. Grilling is broiling. The meat is not exposed to heat long enough to break down the fibers.
When buying beef for the grill, steak or hamburgers are the proper candidates. Alternatives to prime sirloin? Flank steak medium rare and sliced on an angle is about the best bet, or perhaps a piece of round steak from a butcher you can really trust. Most people would prefer to eat ham burgers “a point” to hunks of marinated chuck prettily strung up on skewers but impossible to chew.
Likewise lamb. Chops; rib or loin (but not shoulder) are good. Riblets are another possibility, but not recommended for a ravenous crowd. For shish kebab, use uniform cubes cut from the leg. Or have the butcher “butterfly” bone the whole leg.
You can then spread it on the grill like a big steak and serve it medium rare to six or eight lucky diners. A marinade consisting of three parts red wine to one part olive oil, with salt, pepper, parsley, chopped onion, crushed garlic, and a sprig of thyme added to it will flavor lamb nicely. To avoid utterly masking the flavor of the meat, limit the marinating session to about four hours.
As Charles Lamb so cleverly de scribed, outdoor cooking does wonders for pork. Spareribs (an hour in a 400-degree oven first will nicely render the fat) and sausage (sim mered for 20 minutes beforehand) are excellent. Cubes cut from the loin (and marinated in a mixture of honey and orange juice with soy sauce added to taste), can be skewered for pork satay.
Pork seems to be one of the few meats suitable for grilling which the consumer can buy “off the rack” at the supermarkets with any de gree of reliability and economy. This is particularly true of the pork chops around town. The center cut, thin numbers turn out very well on the grill, regardless of market of origin. But hold the “basic red.” Try them with fresh thyme.
Herbed Pork Chops
12 center cut pork chops, each 1/2 inch thick
4 bay leaves
12 sprigs fresh thyme, each 2-3 inches
Salt and pepper
Crumble bay leaves. Chop thyme.
Mix herbs together and sprinkle on both sides of pork chops. Let stand at room temperature about one hour. Over very hot fire of charcoal grill, brown chops, turning frequently and moving them around to prevent excessive charring.
Total cooking time should be about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves four.
