NIGHTS have been so chilly this month that I’ve held off planting heat-lovers like tomatoes and peppers. But I started them from seed two months ago in the greenhouse and now they’re pawing at the door. They’re starting to flower. They’re too big for their pots.

So when Memorial Day rolled in, I wished my babies good luck and planted my salsa garden: three kinds of chilies, or hot peppers; two sweet-pepper varieties; two paste tomatoes, and one big juicy heirloom.

I’m growing about a dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes this year, but my favorites for salsa are San Marzano, an Italian plum tomato that ripens to a brilliant red with clusters of five or six fruits on a vine, and Amish Paste, a large oblong tomato with a deep, sweet flavor. Both are meaty types that don’t turn to pulp when chopped, and are delicious cooked or raw. For contrasting color, I’m growing Yellow Brandywine, a juicy tomato with a rich flavor often lacking in yellow varieties.

Must-haves for chilies include jalapeño, a blunt three-inch pepper that can be harvested any time as it ripens from green to red; habanero, a wrinkled little fruit that can cause serious pain, so beware; and ancho-poblano, a heart-shaped flattened four-incher that is relatively cool for a hot chili. (When green, it is known as poblano; as it ripens to red, it is called ancho and can be dried for storage and used in smoky moles.)

Sometimes I also add a sweet pepper, Corno di Toro, to my salsa. This Italian frying pepper, which turns a gorgeous yellow, orange and red, is as sweet as the bell varieties but far easier to grow.

(White onions and garlic are key to a good salsa as well, but this isn’t the time to plant them: I started my onion seeds indoors in February, and set them out in mid-April, to give them time to grow sturdy green leaves before warmer temperatures and longer days trigger bulb growth. Garlic does best planted in the fall, when the cool soil encourages root growth.)

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The Washington Post's Tony Rosenfeld recommends nine affordable cuts of beef for summer grilling.

Yesterday we told  you about Chef Gene's Killer Griller Kit. Today Chef Blair gives us the Ten Commandments of Perfect Grilling!

Photo by FotoosVanRobin.

1. Be organized. Have everything you need for grilling: the food seasonings, basting sauces,and tools at hand before you start grilling

2. Gauge your fuel. There’s nothing worse than running out of charcoal or gas in the middle of grilling. A 22.5 “ grill needs one chimney’s worth of coals. With gas make sure you have at least 1/3 of a tank

3. Preheat grill to the right temperature. Grilling is a high heat method of cooking. How high? When holding your hand 6-inches from the grill grates the force of the heat will have you pulling your hand away in three seconds. That’s about 500 degrees. This is how you achieve those beautiful grill marks. For indirect grilling go with 350 degrees or about 5 seconds by hand. I like to have two heat zone set up on my gas grill: one for searing under high heat and another to finish cooking to the perfect doneness. That’s why I recommend a three burner gas grill like the Weber Genesis. This is especially important when cooking thick steaks and chops and almost always for chicken breasts and legs with the skin on. You can easily achieve this on a charcoal grill by creating an area with little or no coals.

4. Keep the grates clean. I don’t know where the myth started about leaving your grill grates all gunked up for flavor, that’s a sure way to ruin your Certified Angus Steaks! Instead, clean it twice: once after preheating and again after you’ve finished cooking. Use a good stiff brass brush for best results.

5. Keep it lubricated. Oil the grates just before placing the food on top. I like to oil a folded  paper towel soaked in oil and apply it with the end of a long-handled tong. You can also use cooking oil spray but be careful to spray from the sides.

6. Turn don’t stab. Use tongs or a spatula, save the forks for the table, unless you want to drain that chicken breast of all of it’s flavor!

7. Know when to baste. Oil and vinegar, citrus and other unsweetened marinates and bastes, can be brushed on the meat throughout the cooking time. (If you baste with a marinade that you used for raw meat or seafood, do not apply it during the last 3-minutes of cooking. When using a sugar-based barbeque sauce, apply it toward the end of the cooking time after moving your meat to a cooler zone of the grill to avoid burning the sugars.

8. Keep it covered. When cooking larger cuts of meat and poultry, such as a whole chicken, leg of lamb or prime rib, use the indirect method of grilling.  Keep it covered! Remember, every time you peek at your food you add 5-10 minutes to your cooking time.

9. Give it a rest. Beef, steaks, chicken—almost everything, will taste better if you let it stand on the cutting board for a few minutes before serving. This allows the meat juices to redistribute evenly, resulting in a more succulent piece of meat.

10. Grilling is an easy cooking method but demands your constant attention. At the kitchen we never leave the grill station until the job is done. This is especially true for the direct, high-heat method. This is not the time to answer the phone, whip up a salad or make a batch of mojitos.

Above all have a Safe and Fun Memorial Day Weekend!

We hope these tips will make you the hero of your next cookout!

Please take a moment this weekend as you enjoy your weekend to reflect the ultimate sacrifices made so that we can enjoy this precious and rare gift we call the United States of America

God Bless

The best certified cuts of lean and natural beef, pork, and chicken, rubbed and marinated with the Chef Gene's special seasonings and marinades. Best of all they are ready for the grill! Simply fire up the gas or coals, follow the above tips, are you're ready feed a crowd.

All Griller Kits come with appropriate side dishes fully-cooked and ready to pop in the microwave.

This is what you'll receive:

1.  Mini beef tenderloins

2.  Lean center cut pork chops

3. Hand trimmed boneless skinless chicken breast

4. Jumbo Shrimp Skewers ready for the grill w/side dish 

The entire kit will feed 8 to 12 people and comes with heating and serving instructions.

Side Dishes include:

Garlic smashed potatoes
Whole grain rice and hearty beans
Chef’s seasonal mixed vegetables
Gourmet killer griller cole slaw

Great for the beach or simply your back deck! With this kit there is something for everyone!

Keep fresh in fridge or freeze for a later date!! 

Order a Killer Griller Kit now through Memorial Day with coupon code "Griller" and Save $10.00!

Source: Tobacco Avenue

What was to be an enjoyable family meal at the Olive Garden restaurant took a turn for the worse last night after SaveRichmond.com writer and editor Don Harrison verbally assaulted a waiter, line cook, and store manager over the temperature and taste of his chicken Alfredo, sources said.

In addition to listing numerous “almost criminal” problems with the pasta dish – which was, by most accounts, perfectly fine – the highly cynical Richmond blogger also managed to also rattle off several conspiracy theories that, he believed, were perpetuated upon his $9.95 Italian dinner.

“You know what the best thing about this meal is?  The fact that I’m out of dog food,” said Harrison, whose acerbic tone is typically reserved for criticism and pot shots of city officials, downtown planning, transportation and government spending.

Also: people, things, materialism, consumerism, grocery stores, animals, the media, bloggers, movies, the arts, corporations, Don Harrison, coffee, children, sports, picture frames and, in an isolated case, the Reeds, his elderly neighbors who in July 2007 forgot to mow their lawn for an entire week.

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