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Plan a gas-grill menu for Labor Day celebrations

August 25, 2017

As we count down the final weeks of summer and back-to-school shopping becomes a priority, it's also time to plan your Labor Day barbecue party. I'm not exactly sure why, but it seems most end-of-summer events center around cooking over an open fire. 

Our ancestors didn't have the convenience of indoor ovens and stoves; all their meals were cooked over a wood-burning fire. Over time, the cooking area moved into a separate building, called a kitchen, kept apart from the main dwelling area. By the 18th century, some houses were built to incorporate the hearth in the primary room of the house. 

Through the centuries, our fuel sources changed from wood to coal to gas and eventually electricity. Today, most homes incorporate gas stoves and electric ovens. This combination provides the immediacy and control of throttled flame for the burners on the cooktop and guaranteed, even temperature for baking in the oven. 

Despite all the indoor cooking conveniences, most households still have some sort of an outdoor grill. When we were kids, we had a round metal grill on a stand that used charcoal briquets and lots of lighter fluid (always a thrilling moment when the match touched the smelly fuel and flames shot into the air threatening tree branches and roof shingles). 

For our camping trips, we brought along a hibachi in case the campsite didn't have a decent cooking pit available. These are portable grills, usually rectangular in shape, based on the round Japanese vessels used as heaters. Our version was made of cast iron and not nearly as elegant as the antique porcelain examples from Japan. 

Most of the grills sold today are fueled by liquid propane, stored in portable metal tanks. We've adopted the practice of keeping a spare (full) tank on hand to have a back-up supply in the event the current tank empties and the grill sputters out (an unfortunate and embarrassing situation when your guests are waiting for dinner). 

This is the most convenient form of grilling, and it doesn't take into consideration all the contraptions available for smoking meats, which some purists consider the correct approach to barbecue. Originally, the term barbecue referred to the process of curing food with wood smoke and low heat over a long period of time. 

Today, we use the word to mean both the equipment and the process. And, in the southern and western united States, there are a number of different styles of preparing and serving barbecue. For a concise summary of the regional styles, the recent edition of Cowboys & Indians magazine does a good job. 

Back to our Labor Day plans and the gas-grill menu - how to have everything ready at the same time without too much hassle. The basic strategy is to consider the order of cooking: bone-in chicken parts take the longest, sausages are next (unless they've been precooked) followed by steaks, burgers and hot dogs. 

What about the vegetables? Here's where I like to use my friend Maggie Pate's campfire technique: chopped vegetables and herbs tightly wrapped in foil packets placed on the grill for about 25 minutes. This avoids the skewer challenges and fall-through-the grate problems, and gives you the flavorful combination seen in the photo. For this week's recipes I've included veggie options, since everyone knows how to grill a steak. Happy Labor Day!

Maggie's Campfire Potatoes 

4 new potatoes 
3 carrots 1 onion 
1 sprig fresh rosemary 
3 sprigs fresh oregano 
3 sprigs fresh parsley 
2 sprigs fresh thyme 
4 t butter 
1 T olive oil 
salt & pepper, to taste 

Preheat gas grill to medium high. Chop the potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Peel the carrots and cut into one-inch pieces. Coarsely chop the onions. Place 4 12-inch-square pieces of aluminum foil on a flat surface. Evenly distribute the potatoes, carrots and onion pieces across the 4 squares. Roughly chop the herbs and scatter evenly across the vegetables. Place 1 t butter on top of each vegetable portion and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the foil into square packets, tightly sealing the edges. Cook on grill until tender, approximately 25 minutes. Yield: 4 servings.

Ratatouille on the Grill 

1 small eggplant 
1 zucchini 
1 yellow summer squash 
2 tomatoes 
2 shallots 
2 gloves garlic 
3 sprigs fresh basil 
1 T olive oil 
salt & pepper, to taste 
1 T capers 

Preheat gas grill to medium high. Peel and cube the eggplant into a large bowl. Cut the zucchini and squash into 1-inch cubes; add to the bowl. Chop the tomatoes into 1-inch cubes; add to the bowl. Mince the shallots and garlic; add to the bowl. Strip the basil leaves from the stalks; roughly chop and add to the bowl. Pour olive oil into the bowl and toss to combine. Place 4 12-inch squares of aluminum foil on a flat surface and evenly distribute the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold up the foil into packets and tightly seal the edges. Cook on the grill until tender, about 25 minutes. Unfold the packets into a serving bowl and garnish with capers. Yield: 4 servings.

Maple Sweet Potato Packets 

2 sweet potatoes 
4 t maple syrup 
1/2 t cinnamon 
1/4 t nutmeg 
4 t butter 

Preheat gas grill to medium high. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop into uniform 1-inch pieces; place in a mixing bowl. Add maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg; toss to combine. Arrange 4 12-inch squares of aluminum foil on a flat surface and evenly distribute the potatoes. Place 1 t butter on each. Fold the foil into a packet and tightly seal the edges. Cook on the grill until tender, about 25 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings.

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