Cook With San Diego County Library: Grill Everything!

Do you like grilling? So does Librarian Janet Gastil, who prepared an entire meal using only her grill!

“I used Mark Bittman's How to Grill Everything. I recently got a charcoal grill as an early Christmas gift and wanted to learn to use it.

How to Grill Everything was great for a beginner because it gave me good instructions on how to grill, what equipment I'd need, and how to pick my charcoal, along with lots of great recipes. Most are very simple, with some more challenging ones thrown in for more expert grillers.

Our first attempt was grilled pizza, which was really easy and fun to make. It was also delicious, and only a little bit burnt!

For the full meal, I invited over friends and family for a sort of bonus Thanksgiving meal, a cookout on Thanksgiving weekend. We had a fun and relaxed get-together in my backyard. From Mark Bittman's book we had:

Grilled corn with butter and lime - so easy, so good. We loved the way the corn picked up the smoky flavor from the coals.

Seafood skewers - tuna, crusty bread, and oranges. This was also easy to make and delicious to eat!

Grilled watermelon and pineapple slices with honey, butter, and lime - I never would have thought of this, but it was amazing! The heat transformed the texture of the fruit, making the watermelon more dense, almost chewy, and softening the pineapple.

We had Blueberry Cornmeal cake for dessert, but I confess that I cheated and did not follow Bittman's instructions to cook it on the grill. I baked it in my oven instead. It was excellent - everybody had seconds!”

Check out the all the recipes Janet used.