Recipes from House of BBQ Experts

Recipes from House of BBQ Experts

by | Jun 3, 2019 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

House of BBQ Experts is a Montreal, Quebec-based company that offers BBQ products, knowledge, support and more. Max and JP Lavoie, two young visionaries from the Quebec City area, cofounded the company.

Their motto? Changing the world, one barbecue at a time.

They generously shared three recipes with HPBAC to demonstrate how best to use their ingenious, hand-crafted All-In-1 tool.

The All-in-1 merges every type of cooking into one. The door will let you get a real flame over your cheese, melting it to perfection on your pizza, or have a quick look at your ribs on the first shelf of your smoker. Nothing is better than 2 chickens slowly grilled over live fire… with or without the lid. Made from 100% 304 stainless steel, you can use it like a tandoor grill and cook your Naan directly on the inside walls. It’s perfect for churrasco, asado and santa style BBQ.

Rotisserie Chickens

Servings: 8-12Prep time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 1 hour
Barbecue Temp: 200°C (400°F)

Ingredients
Preparation

Preheat the grill using only the back burner. Rub the inside and outside of the chickens with the spices. Skewer the chickens back to back and tightly squeeze them together.  Tie the end of the legs using stainless steel pins. Set a drip pan under the chickens. Cook for approximately one hour, until the meat easily comes off the bone. Note for cooking with coals: put the coals under the chickens. Make sure that the rod turns constantly so the chickens do not burn. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, baste the chickens with the preferred sauce

Cold-Smoked Salmon

Prep time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 36 hours
Max smoker temp: 30°C (85°F)
Smoking time: 4-12 hrs

Ingredients
  • Maple wood pellets
  • 2 fresh salmon fillets with skin 675 g (1-1/2 lb) each
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp bourbon
  • 300 g (1 cup) coarse salt
  • 75 g (1/2 cup) maple sugar
  • 110 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
  • 40 g (1/2 cup) Montreal spice
Preparation

Put the fillets in a large pyrex plate, skin side down. Prepare the dry rub: mix all ingredients in a bowl. Coat the fillets evenly with the mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove excess spice rub with your fingers then put the fillets in a resealable large bag. Drizzle with maple syrup and bourbon. Refrigerate for 12 hours. Fill half the smoker box with the pellets. Burn the pellets for 2 minutes before extinguishing the flame. Set the box as far as possible from where the fillets will go. Set the salmon on the grill then quickly close the lid. Cold smoke the salmon for 4 to 12 hours. Let the salmon rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours before. Cut in slices and serve.

Nana Cécile’s Pizza

Servings: 2 x 20 cm (8”) pizzas
Prep time: 5 minutes
Barbecue temp: max
Cooking time: 6 mins/pizza

Ingredients
  • 1 pizza dough recipe
  • 180 ml (3/4 cup) pizza sauce
  • 4 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 buffalo mozzarella ball, sliced
Preparation

Set a pizza pan on the grill. Preheat for indirect cooking method. Cut the dough in half and roll out the dough into 2 rounds of 20cm (8”) diameter. Cook the dough.Spread the tomato sauce on the crust. Sprinkle with cheese and herbs. Season to taste with pepper. Cook the pizza for 1 to 2 minutes rotating it once so cheese melts uniformly. Cut the pizza in slices and serve.

Being Thankful For Your Barbecue

Being Thankful For Your Barbecue

by | Nov 6, 2018 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection and being grateful. It’s the one holiday we gather and celebrate exclusively with food, with the turkey as the main attraction. Nothing is more important than how the turkey turns out at a Thanksgiving dinner, so the pressure is on to live up to everyone’s expectations. So instead of preparing a turkey the traditional way (in the oven) like everyone else, consider using your trusted barbecue for a guaranteed positive impression on your guests.

The stove, oven and microwave are generally the go-to appliances for preparing a Thanksgiving dinner; however, they can make your kitchen feel like a sauna once your oven is cranked to 475 degrees and all burners on the stove are raging. But by cooking the turkey outside and letting your grill do the heavy lifting, it frees up your oven for other tasks and provides a tasty alternative to the traditional oven-roasted turkey, much to the delight of your guests.

There are countless recipes to prepare a scrumptious turkey on a gas, charcoal or pellet barbecue, and you can achieve terrific results with a ceramic (or Kamado) grill or a smoker.  Each method will give your turkey a distinct, delicious flavour, making it a meal to remember. Check out the following links to recipes and cooking instructions on how to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey outside.

 

Kamado
Gas
Charcoal
Smoker
Grilling Beyond the Main Course

Grilling Beyond the Main Course

by | May 31, 2018 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

With spring here andsummer around the corner, we begin to enjoy the pleasures that come with enjoying more of our outdoor spaces for the season. Whether quietly enjoying breakfast with a view, soaking up some sun over lunch, or hosting friends and family evening apps, outdoor entertaining is made simpler and more creative by exploring how to use our grill for beyond the main course!

Internationally acclaimed chef Andreas Rummel’s recent book Finger Food From The BBQ and Grill is the place to start! Published in collaboration with Napoleon Grills, and with chapter titles such as With Your Hands, On a Stick, On a Spoon, In a Roll, and With Your Fingers, you can start to guess how diverse the recipes in this book are. These amazingly creative finger food recipes take their inspiration from the vibrant street food scene and present ideas for rolls, wraps, waffles, gyros, quesadilla, hotdogs, ribs, kebabs, gyozas, tataki, wings, pancakes, pulled meats, toasted sandwiches and bruschetta, as well as salads, sauces and dips to accompany these dishes.

The recipes can make ideal starters, small snacks or form part of a multi-course menu. Each one shows how long it takes to prepare and there is a star system indicating the level of difficulty. Many recipes are easy, some are more sophisticated, but with the help of numerous tips and a little practice you will turn out success every time.

Chef Rummel, a celebrity speaker and guest chef at the 2018 Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo in Nashville Tennessee, graciously provided two recipes, as a preview of those available in his book.

 

Coppa Baskets with Melon

Makes 12
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Difficulty: 1 of 3 stars

Ingredients
  • 12 thin slices coppa
  • 1 cantaloupe melon
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 8 mint leaves
Preparation

Make 12 balls out of aluminum foil with a diameter of about 4 cm. Cover with a coppa to create the shape of a small bowl. Place the balls with the coppa in the barbecue and cook indirectly for 45 minutes at about 150°C (preferably on the warming rack). This will dry out the coppa and make it crispy. In the meantime, peel and de-seed the mellon. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the flesh into fine strips. Mix the honey with the lemon juice and marinate the melon in mixture for 20 minutes. Cut the mint leaves into fine strips. Take the coppa out of the barbecue and leave it to cool. Arrange uniform amounts of melon strips inside the coppa bowls and sprinkle with the mint.­­­­

Mozzarella Sticks

Makes 8-12
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: 1 of 3 stars

Ingredients
  • 4 slices toasting bread
  • 1-2 mozzarella cylinders, very cold
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper ­­­­(or Thai Seven Spice seasoning)
  • 4 bacon slices
  • 100ml barbecue sauce
Preparation

Cut the crust off the bread and roll the bread slices out flat with a rolling pin. Cut the cheese into four strips, lightly season with the cayenne pepper and roll tightly inside the bread. Gently flatten the bacon strips on a chopping board and wind one tightly around each of the bread and cheese rolls. Cook the sticks indirectly o­­­­n the barbecue with medium heat, turning several times, until the bacon is crispy. Finally, glaze the bacon with the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes with the lid open. Cut the mozzarella sticks into bite-sized pieces and serve.

Winter Grilling

Winter Grilling

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Heating Your Home, HPBAC Blog

Barbecue season doesn’t end when there is snow on the ground. It not only takes us back to our roots as Canadians but can be a nice treat when you’re feeling those winter blues.

Winter grilling works best on two types of barbecues. The first is a gas grill that has a cook box made of double-walled steel or cast aluminum. The other is a ceramic charcoal barbecue. They are great at holding in the heat in cold temperatures.

Infrared barbecues are a growing trend. They can be especially good in winter when propane doesn’t flow well, natural gas doesn’t heat up fast enough, and charcoal is too much work. They use burning gas to heat ceramic burners through thousands of microscopic flame ports. The ceramic burners absorb the heat, then glow and emit infrared energy, which cooks food with the same intense, dry heat that charcoal does. But unlike charcoal, an infrared model heats up fast, doesn’t add ash to your food and distributes its heat with absolute regularity.

10 Tips For Winter Grilling
  • Invest in a grill cover if you don’t already have one. This will keep snow and ice off the barbecue and allow you to get grilling with the least amount of hassle. When possible, make sure your barbecue is shielded from the wind to help it heat up quickly and to maintain the desired cooking temperature. However, you should always keep the barbecue 10 feet away from your house or any flammable structure or overhang.
  • Never barbecue in your garage or any enclosed space. This is a fire hazard, and there is also the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless and tasteless by-product of burning fuel incompletely and can build up quickly in an enclosed area without your knowledge.
  • Take time to put on boots, a coat and a toque. If you’re underdressed, chances are you’re going to rush and be careless. Snow gloves are designed for cold, not heat, and can melt if brought too close to a hot barbecue. Many types of snow parkas are also not meant for exposure to extreme heat or open flames, so be very careful not to get too close and keep sleeves away. Don’t wear anything that could dangle into or over the grill – that means scarves are out.
  • Have lots of fuel. There’s nothing worse than running out of fuel halfway through grilling. In cooler temperatures, you lose heat more quickly and use more fuel to keep your grill hot. Your barbecue may use an extra 20-30% of fuel to help get up to and maintain temperatures.
  • Watch for critters. Some animals will crawl into barbecues in the winter and hole up. Give your grill an inspection before you start.
  • Some electronic igniters do not perform well in cold weather. Keep a barbecue lighter handy just in case. If the control knobs are stiff or difficult to turn, do not force them because it is much easier to break off the knob or damage the valve stem in freezing temperatures. Light only the burners for which you can freely turn the control knobs and preheat the grill with a closed lid until the rest of the control knobs turn freely. If you can’t turn any of the control knobs, position the grill away from the wind in a sunlit area to help them free up.
  • Make sure all your tools are in place before lighting the grill. A grill light, clip-on light or headlamp can be one of the most useful barbecue accessories in winter. It will definitely help to make sure your medium-rare steak doesn’t end up charred beyond recognition. Get your tongs, a bottle of water and you might want to have a fire extinguisher ready. In cool weather grease can pool on the bottom of your grill and catch fire. Be prepared for flare-ups.
  • Preheat the grill at a higher setting than you normally would. Your gas grill will need to be on a higher setting to reach the same cooking temperature under more moderate conditions. Preheat your serving platter as well so when you’re ready to take your food off the grill you can bring out the warm plate and ensure your food doesn’t cool too quickly.
  • Keep the top lid closed as much as possible. Every time the lid is opened heat escapes and the grill has to heat up again, which will ultimately increase cooking time. Invest in a digital thermometer. Bluetooth-enabled thermometers that send the temperature measurements right to a phone or laptop give you the chance to take shelter inside and monitor your meat at the same time. Always keep an eye on the barbecue though because flare ups can still occur in cold weather.
  • To keep in the heat, the best foods for grilling in winter are either foods that grill really quickly or low and slow-cooking foods that require very little attention. This will reduce your need to lift the lid.
Flow Limiting Device

You’re more likely to accidentally activate the Flow Limiting Device (a safety feature that limits the flow of gas in the event of a leak) in cold temperatures.

Here’s how to avoid activating the Flow Limiting Device when grilling in the winter:

  • Slowly open the gas tank no more than half a turn.
  • Wait 30 seconds after opening the gas tank before opening the main control knob and lighting the grill. This will allow time for the gas pressure to equalize, thus reducing the likelihood of triggering the Flow Limiting Device (FLD).
  • If you’ve accidentally activated the FLD, you might experience low heat and/or low flames. If you think you may have accidentally tripped the FLD, read how  to reset it in the manual.
Recipe Ideas For Winter Grilling

Slow Cooking in the Winter
Gently smoked pork butt with a sweet/spicy rub, a classic beer-can chicken, juicy rib-eyes, a roast of pork or beef, or pulled pork or brisket.

Seafood Grilling
Clams and oysters are at their peak in the winter months and can be popped open on a hot, smoky grill. A generous spread of cilantro chili butter and a squeeze of lime is a taste of milder seasons. Dungeness crab is also at its best in winter. If you’re partial to chilled crabs, a quick toss into a handy snowbank after a turn on the grill is a quick and excellent way to cool them down.

Quicker Grill Options
Spatchcocked chicken (this method helps to cook the chicken faster and more evenly), kebobs, pizza, thin pork chops or steak, or butterflied chicken breast.

Be Prepared When the Power Goes Out

Be Prepared When the Power Goes Out

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Heating Your Home, HPBAC Blog

Living in Canada, we’ve all experienced a bad winter storm. Freezing temperatures, piles of snow and, every so often, the power goes out, sometimes for days. Is your home ready for a power outage?

Be Prepared

You want to be sure you can feed your family and heat your home, or at least zones within your home. Be sure to have enough water (2 litres per person, per day) and nonperishable food available for up to 72 hours.

Heating Your Home

Are you prepared for your furnace and stove to be turned off for an extended period of time? Luckily, there are many products available that don’t run on electricity. Gas fireplaces, stoves and inserts are great secondary heat sources, especially when the power is out. Gas hearth appliances are designed to operate during a power failure. Some generate their own electricity or have battery back-up systems. It’s important to know which system you have for circumstances such as this. If your gas appliance has a battery back-up, make sure you have installed new batteries before every heating season.

Wood fireplaces, stoves and inserts are also great alternative heat sources. Be sure to have an adequate supply of fuel on hand. The radiant heat these units produce can warm your living spaces for days when necessary. There are fans available for freestanding woodstoves that help distribute heat through the room and require no electricity. They use the heat of the wood stove to power the fan.

Cooking Without Electricity

Some wood or gas burning stoves can also be used for heating food and water on top of the stove. Some wood and gas models have a second top layer. To improve the heat conductivity on these stoves, place your cook pot directly on the inner top. If your model is equipped with a trivet, remove it to access the inner top and maximize the heat conducted from the stove top. Some cook stoves even include an oven or a water reservoir for cooking and washing. Ovens or Dutch ovens can also be purchased separately to allow for even cooking on a stove. Take care to ensure there is no risk of the pot tipping over. It’s a good idea to purchase a thermometer with these units to maintain the heat more easily while cooking.

Cooking on your wood stove does require some forethought to allow the stove to function properly. Unlike an electric stove top there is no dial to regulate the temperature.  You control the heat by the amount of wood you place in the stove and attention is required to manage the heat properly. For high heat, it’s important to establish a good, large fire. For slow cooking food such as chili, soup or leftovers, the fire should burn low and steady for a long time by adding only one or two pieces of wood at more frequent intervals. You can also let the fire die down to a bed of coals and cook foods in a small Dutch oven or a foil packet directly on the hot bed of coals. Practice cooking on your wood stove before a power outage occurs to give yourself a better idea of how your wood stove will heat and cook foods!

Use Your Barbecue (But Never Inside the Home!)

Another great appliance to use during a power outage is your barbecue. Although this may seem like a surprise to some, many grill owners continue to grill all year long. Although winter grilling takes a bit more time compared to grilling in the summer months, it is still a great way to prepare food – even when the power isn’t out. Check out our article on Winter Grilling.