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Three Spring & Summer Grilled Fruit Hacks!

By Kent Whitaker - Three Amazing Grilled Fruit Hacks for Spring and Summer Nothing seems to beat the wide variety of fruit that comes into markets during Spring. Everything from fresh picked strawberries to apricots and even Kiwi! Then, the flavors keep coming as peaches, oranges and even bananas at their peak flood into grocery stores and produce stands. So, it stands to reason that grilling gurus across the land should add some of these tasty fruit flavors to our recipe collection! It could be a simple as a quick-and-easy fruit flavored infused sauce to grilling a couple of slices of your favorite fruit. Here’s three spring & summer grilled fruit hacks~ Grilled Coconut Rum Bananas I have a buddy that’s a rum expert!  He knows classic rums, white, dark, brands, history and even enjoys the new fruit flavored rums that are gaining in popularity. He suggested using some coconut flavored rum for a Caribbean inspired recipe! This recipe hack is inspired from Cuban and Caribbean style grilled plantains. Slice the banana lengthwise and keep them in their peals, brush with melted butter or use butter flavored non-stick spray. In a small bowl, combine some coconut rum, melted butter and little bit of honey. Grill the sliced banana – in their peels – over medium high heat. Fee free to use foil or a grilling griddle. The banana will start to cook and pull away from the peel around the edges. Baste evenly with your rum mixture. Remove from the peel and serve with your favorite ice cream topped with toasted coconut shavings. Grilled Fruit Cobbler Chances are that you probably have a favorite cobbler recipe. Don’t worry if it’s a quick-and-easy recipe or one that requires more than just dumping a few ingredients in a baking dish. Both will work on a covered grill. Basically, all you’re doing is using your covered grill like an oven. You can use foil pans, cake pans or even cast iron – but, I would avoid using glass baking dishes! Make your recipe, cover with foil, cook on an upper rack in a covered grill, and rotate the pan as needed to ensure even cooking. The last few minutes you can uncover, baste the crust with butter and sprinkle with sugar and allow the edges to become golden brown. Grilled Peaches and Cream I live in East Tennessee just a few feet away from Georgia, Alabama and a day drive through the mountains to South Carolina. Why am I telling [...]

By |2024-01-12T00:17:55+00:00March 11th, 2018|Fruits, Fruit, Grilling|0 Comments
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Artificial Intelligence on Farms

Artificial Intelligence on Farms, Now it’s making practical Advances A long time ago, back in kindergarten or grade one, each student might have been given a tiny little flower pot, a tablespoon or so of soil, and a seed of some description.  It became their job to grow a plant. The teacher helped them put soil in the pot, put the seed at the right depth, and then they would put their names of the pots and water them each day until something grew.  Bean sprouts are fast, edible, and give satisfaction to kids.  Most people experienced something like this at some point and it dwells in their mind as “how food is grown”.  That is changing now. The World By the year 2050 our population might be over 9 billion people.  Back in the year 1600 C.E. the population of the entire world was just a little over 0.5 billion.  It wasn’t until 1800 C.E. that we probably broke through the billion barrier.  That was the first time we probably heard the cry “Earth cannot sustain any more people.  We can’t grow food for a billion mouths!” Obviously that was not true, since we have continued to grow to our current 7.6 billion—and there has never been a shortage of food.  Yes, people have starved to death all over our planet, but never because there wasn’t enough food—we have always had a problem of distribution, getting excess production in one area to somewhere else with a severe lack. At every turn where we thought we had reached a limit, we found new ways of growing more food, with fewer resources, and even less human-powered interaction.  We are unlikely to ever be defeated on that front.  Long before we run out of the capability to produce sufficient food we will become smart enough to reduce our population to appropriate levels. Artificial Intelligence on Farms When people think of artificial intelligence nowadays they probably imagine C3PO and R2D2.  Those movie creations were portrayed as considerably more advanced than what we have currently achieved.  Nevertheless we’ve made some terrific progress. A company called BOWERY has moved farming indoors.  Their crops are stacked one atop the other, lighted, fed, monitored, and diagnosed by sophisticated computer programs.  Their crops are largely grown hydroponically, without soil, in trays that travel throughout the complex by conveyor.  The sterile facility requires no pesticides to maintain the health of their plants. Faster than a human could ever do so, the Artificial Intelligence program is learning [...]

By |2024-03-04T03:50:21+00:00October 21st, 2017|Artificial Intelligence, Cattle, Cows, Farm, Food, Garden|0 Comments
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Spooky Halloween Shrunken Head Sliders

By Kent Whitaker - How to Grill Shrunken Head Sliders for Halloween Have you ever eaten a shrunken head with melted Colby and Pepper Jack cheese? Who says that Halloween is just for handing out candy and popcorn balls to neighborhood kids? It’s time to toss in some fun foodie ideas that are well suited for the kitchen or grill. And, why not make it fun, kind of gross… and yet packed with flavor? For any other article this recipe would simply be for a burger with some spicy seasoning, steamed onions, a tangy jalapeno mustard BBQ sauce and gherkin pickle wedges. For Halloween, this recipe transforms into something a bit more fun. Tell your family, or guests, you’re serving up Shrunken Head Sliders with tape worms, zombie sauce and alien fingers… with cheese! Remember, you’re having fun and getting into the Halloween spirit, pun intended, but that’s no reason to forget about making a great tasting dish. I suggest that you make a blended burger for extra flavor. I suggest combining ground beef with ground Italian sausage. Or, ground turkey and black bean burgers. If you break up the beans your ground turkey will have a creepy purple tint to them – perfect for Halloween! The “zombie sauce” mentioned above is one of my standard quick and easy “cheater junk sauces.” That’s where you have some sauce in the fridge and you add some extra “junk” to it for bonus flavor. For this I combined a mustard based barbecue sauce with a splash of honey and store bought chopped jalapenos. Use these recipe as a starting point for your creative ideas and have fun! Easy Beef & Italian Sausage Burgers 1 pound lean ground beef, 80/20 1/2 pound Italian sausage, ground Salt and pepper to taste Steak sauce Cajun seasoning Cheese Combine the beef and ground Italian sausage in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Form into equally sized meatballs about the size of a golf ball. Next, flatten each ball while pinching one side into a thinner piece forming a skeleton head type of shape. Next, season each side with a light brushing of steak sauce and a few dashes of Cajun seasoning. Grill, bake or broil as you normally would. Use tiny slices of cheese for x’s representing stitched eyes and for the mouth. I used pepper jack. Serve hot on toasted slider buns covered in cheese with zombie sauce, steamed onion slices and gherkin pickle wedges. Serve open faced. Kent “The [...]

By |2024-01-12T01:18:09+00:00October 4th, 2017|BBQ, BBQ Recipes, Halloween|1 Comment
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Oklahoma State Fair 2017

The Oklahoma State Fair is about to open on September 14th, with all kinds of new and exciting things. There is a lot of stuff to do here for the ten dollar admission costs. This is an interview with Scott Munz , Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations about all the new and great things at this years event. Listening to this for a few minutes will give you a great overview of the fair and all the fancy new fair foods they have. Come hungry and come rested and be prepared to have a great time.!!! Oklahoma State Fair - Frequently Asked Questions!    

By |2019-03-14T23:39:11+00:00September 7th, 2017|State Fair, Bull Rider, Bulls, Fair Food, Food, Gary Allan, Josh Turner, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Fair, Podcast|0 Comments
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Bratwursts – Just in Time for Football Tailgates!

By Kent Whitaker Fall is coming which means more tailgates centered around football tailgates! And that means more and more people are going to toss bratwursts on the grill! And, at the same time – some people shy away from grilling brats because of the perceived mystique of the stuffed link! Have no fear – grilling Brats – aka Bratwursts – is as easy as grilling a batch of hotdogs. Here’s a couple of tips that you can use for serving up some perfect brats every you toss some on the grill. Beer Bath or Veggie Boil Yes, you can use a beer bath to add some bonus flavor to your brats. However, most brats are sealed in a casing which limits the transfer of juices. So, that beer bath may not add as much flavor as you think to your finished bratwursts. On the other hand, most people toss a whole bunch of veggies in with the beer. The veggies, most often onions and pepper slices, cook in the beer mixture, along with drippings from the bratwursts, and whatever added spices you toss in. Before serving up the bratwurst simply toss some of the bath boiled veggies onto the hot grates to add some grill marks. Serve those tasty slices of flavor on the finished bratwurst. Some people use a beer bath, some use a fruit juice bath, some use a light marinade bath, and some just toss the things on the grill and go for it. All the above are fine. Method for Bath Grilling a Bratwursts My personal preference for grilling bratwurst with a beer, or fruit juice, bath is to rotate the bratwurst from bath to grill grate and back. Then, finish off with a quick roll across the hot grates. I start the bath first in a foil pan. This gives a chance for the liquid to heat up. Then, place the bratwurst on the grill grates to add some marks before moving them to the bath. Toss your sliced veggies, if using any, into the bath as well. Let the bratwursts simmer a bit and then move them back to the grill, then back to the bath. Keep them warm in the hot bath until someone walks up with a plate and bun. Roll the bratwurst across the grates to let any excess bath burn off before placing on the bun. What’s up with the No Fork Rule? I’ve had several people question me over the years about why people say [...]

By |2024-01-12T01:31:44+00:00August 12th, 2017|BBQ, Beer, Bratwursts|0 Comments
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Three Grilled Fruit Desserts You Must Try… with Ice Cream!

By Kent Whitaker - Grilled Fruit Desserts with Ice Cream: A Guide for Grillers Summer grilling is a fantastic opportunity to expand your grilling repartee beyond traditional meats, veggies, and hotdogs. Why not look towards the fruit bowl in your kitchen for some inspiration. There are a bunch of fruits suited for great grilling that can be used as a side dish, a garnish as well as an ingredient in a recipe such as grilled mango salsa or pineapple with a nice hamburger! Then there’s always the dessert consideration. Fruit is naturally sweet, so why not take that attribute and put it towards good use when you’re thinking about your after-dinner dessert? Here’s my top-three pieces of fruit that I love to grill and serve with ice cream. Consider these starting points for your next family favorite recipe. Make these starting points your own with your own flavor additions. Grilled Peaches and Cream Something about a grilled peach says summertime! Just like a grilled apple reminds me of fall! Select several nice peaches that are not too soft. You’re looking for something that will hold up well when on the grates and when turned. Rinse the peaches off, slice them in half, remove pits, brush the tops with soften butter, and grill butter side down over medium high heat. Allow them to cook for a few minutes, then turn, and continue to grill for only a few minutes more. Brush with additional butter if desired, sprinkle with brown sugar, and serve hot with cinnamon crisps from the deli if available and a scoop of ice cream. NOTE: You can use peach slices as well with a grilling basket! And, why not grill up some peaches for your next peach cobbler? Give it a try. Grilled Honey Coconut Rum Bananas Here’s an idea that’s steeped in one of my friends Cuban background. They loved using traditional plantains but turned towards the banana as the main ingredient because bananas were easier to find. This is probably one of the easiest grilling recipes around when it comes to fruit. Slice the banana lengthwise, keep them in their peals, brush with butter or use butter flavored non-stick spray. You can use a griddle, on prepared grates, in a grilling basket, and even on foil. Grill the bananas with the peel over medium high heat just long enough to add grill marks and brown the edges slightly. The banana will start to cook and pull away from the peel slightly. Drizzle with [...]

By |2024-01-12T11:51:20+00:00July 20th, 2017|BBQ, BBQ Recipes, Fruits|0 Comments
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The Summer Grilling Checklist

Summer Grilling Checklist - Summer is here! Grills and smokers will be fired up for holidays, family meals, and outdoor dinner parties. Now’s the time to check your outdoor cooking items to make sure they’re in good shape fair. And, it’s perfect time to a few grilling safety tips into consideration. After all, you don’t want you grill breaking before the steaks are done. And, as I say during my book signings and chef demo’s; when it comes to food safety you want your guests to remember the wonderful time and tasty meal. Not a trip to the emergency room due to food poisoning. Here’s a brief Summer Grilling Checklist! The Summer Grilling Checklist GRILL CHECK: Before using a gas grill after it’s been sitting dormant for a while you should check the lines for damage. Replace any worn burners, tighten loose bolts and nuts, clean any rusted areas and clean out debris from the last grilling session! Perform similar maintenance on gas grills and smokers. PREHEAT: Pre-heat your gas grill before using to burn off any residue from cleaners. When you light the charcoal, or fire up the gas for the first time, you might run off a few insects that have made your grill their home. CHECK YOUR FUEL: Before the neighbors come over for your cookout you should double check your fuel. There’s nothing wrong with an extra bag of charcoal or making sure you have enough fuel. CHEF TOOL SPRING CLEANING: Throw away and replace any damaged or rusted utensils, sharpen knifes, and check the batteries in your instant read thermometer. WASH YOUR HANDS AND SURFACES: This act cuts down on cross contamination. If you don’t have an outdoor sink at your grilling area then simply place several handy wipe containers around for you, and your guests, to use freely. Constantly clean around your cooking area as well. ICE FOR DRINKS & ICE FOR EVERYTHING ELSE: If you’re having more people over than you would for a normal family cookout then plan on having two containers for ice. One container The Summer Grilling Checklist holds cans and bottles of beverages that are covered in ice while a separate container holds clean ice for consumption. An ice scoop should be used as well. Any ice used for keeping food chilled should be separate. TEMPS: I’m not going to go over all of rules for keeping foods at the proper temperature. What I’ll do instead is give you a rule of thumb that I mention [...]

By |2024-03-04T06:22:05+00:00June 28th, 2017|BBQ, Raspberry BBQ Sauce|0 Comments
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