How to Prepare a Full Meal on Your Louisiana Grill
Life is just better on those days when your dinner plans revolve around your Louisiana Grill. So, consider this guide for preparing a multi-course meal your sign to fire up the grill tonight.
Our executive chef has compiled some pro tips for preparing and pacing a multi-course meal on the grill, whether it’s for a dinner party, a date night in, or family fun any night of the week.
This is a great way to spend less time in the kitchen, and more time visiting with your friends and family, enjoying some great wood-fired BBQ. All it takes is a bit of preparation and remembering that timing is everything.
Plan Your Menu
When deciding on your menu, you should consider what foods pair well together, and take temperature and timing into account.
With a little a little pre-planning, you can really create a menu with any of your favorite mains, sides, or desserts that work well on a smoker. Start with whichever menu component that takes the longest to cook, then add the remaining dishes on at the appropriate time so they all finish right around the same time.
You should select items with complimentary flavors – sweet, salty, savory, etc. – and foods your guests will enjoy.
Work Out the Details
Another bonus when cooking on your Louisiana Grill is the addition of wood-fired flavor to each dish. That’s why it is important to pick the right pellets ahead of time.
Any flavor of Louisiana Grill pellets will work for a multi-course meal plan, but we suggest milder flavors for fish and chicken, and flavors like Cherry or Competition Blend for beef and pork.
Main Attraction
Two important components to getting your meal just right are timing and temperature. Always start with the items that will take the longest to cook and put them on the grill first. That will likely be whichever cut of meat you choose.
A good example here is tri tip. Most tri tips come in at about 2.5 lbs., which will take about 2.5 hours to cook at 250 degrees to reach an internal temperature of 135 to 140 degrees. (Pro tip: Rub your Tri Tip with Louisiana Grills Prime Steak House Rub before putting it on the grill.)
On the Side
Side dishes like fingerling potatoes or any small type of potato go well with tri tip and can cook right alongside it on the grill. This side dish will take about 2 hours at the 250-degree temperature.
Simply rub these potatoes with a little bit of lemon olive oil (We suggest We Olive Meyer Lemon Olive Oil), and sprinkle with some sea salt before placing on the grill.
To compliment your meat and potatoes, we suggest a simple grilled salad. Romaine lettuce is great base for a grilled salad and works well with a tangy vinaigrette dressing.
You can cut each head of romaine in half, brush them with olive oil, and place directly on the grill for 5-10 minutes to give them a light char. Serve them charred side up with heirloom cherry tomatoes, shaved parmesan, thin sliced red onion and cucumber, croutons, and of course the vinaigrette dressing.
Something Sweet
At this point, you’ll need to look at the temperature of your grill, since most desserts will cook at a higher temperature. We like to do Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Cheese and Balsamic Glaze.
Increase the temperature of your grill to 325 and place four peach halves – without the pits – brushed with olive oil directly on your grill. You can do this while your tri tip rests for cutting.
Enjoy dinner, and after 30 minutes check your peaches for a nice char. Once charred, remove the peaches, and top each with a tablespoon of softened Mascarpone cheese, and drizzle of balsamic glaze.
There you have it, an easy-to-follow timeline for a multi-course meal that’s sure to impress. Put your meat and potatoes on first, followed by the salad. When the tri tip and potatoes are finished and ready to rest, turn up the temp on your grill for the dessert, put it on the grill, and serve your guests while your dessert is cooking.
This is the perfect way to keep your kitchen clean, and your guests happy and entertained.
