Being an apartment dweller comes with plenty of perks: no need to shovel your way out after each snow storm, fix the burner on the stove or pay big bucks to have an outsider diagnose your refrigerator’s funny noise. The superintendent takes care of it. But these conveniences come with one big downside for those of us with no patio or rooftop, either: no outdoor grill.
The saving grace? You don’t really need a grill to grill. With the right equipment, ingredients and seasonings, you can execute a full-fledged cookout without ever leaving your kitchen. Here’s how:
1. Buy a grill pan.
Specifically, get yourself a cast-iron grill pan. Grill pans sit on top of the stove; some models have a handle and others are flat pans that sit over two burners to give you more surface area. Grill pans have ridges on the bottom, which allows the fat to drip off the food so the meat doesn’t sit and boil in its juices.
[See: Bachelor Pad Kitchen Must-Haves.]
The flavor of grilled foods comes from many factors, including the contrast in taste between the charred portions of food and the browned parts. This contrast requires very high heat. Cast-iron grill pans get hot and distribute the heat evenly, so you get great-looking grill marks and a rich brown sear on the outside of your meat that mimics the char from a grill.
Grill pans are fairly inexpensive; you can find a good quality one for less than $30. Unfortunately, grill pans won’t give food that smoky flavor like you’d get from a grill, and they do tend to be bulky and somewhat difficult to store in a small kitchen. One more word of caution: If you heat your grill pan for too long, you run the risk of smoking out your apartment. Speaking from experience: Make sure you know how to turn your smoke detectors off.
2. Heat up the broiler.
It’s time to rediscover one of the most underappreciated gadgets in your kitchen: the broiler. A broiler is like an upside-down grill. Both broilers and grills use direct heat and high temperatures to cook the food. You won’t get any grill marks or smoky flavor from a broiler, but you will end up with a good char and a juicy piece of meat or fish. A broiler works well for quick-cooking grill recipes that need direct heat. If your oven doesn’t have a broiler drawer, place the oven rack so that your food will be 3 to 6 inches away from the heat, depending on how quickly you want it to cook.
[See: Your Healthy (but Still Tasty) Cookout Menu.]
Place your food either on a broiling pan or in a hot, cast-iron pan (here’s another use for your grill pan!). Leave the oven door slightly open while broiling to ensure that the heating element will stay on continuously and you’ll get a nice, even temperature. Flip the food once halfway through cooking. Most steaks or chops cook in about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your desired level of doneness. Fish steaks and fillets, chicken and even vegetables all cook well under the broiler.
3. Use smoky ingredients.
While the grill pan and broiler recreate the texture that comes from grilling, neither lend that smoky taste that you find in foods right off the grill. The easiest way to mimic that outdoor grill flavor? Make use of smoky ingredients. These spices and flavorings can be used with both of the methods described above. Some spices taste smoky on their own, while others are smoked before being ground.
[See: The Best Spices for Your Health.]
Try making a spice rub with smoked salt, cumin, smoked paprika or chipotle powder and put it on meat, chicken or fish. Toss vegetables with smoked olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper and hickory smoked salt or fresh or dried chipotle chilies. Another option: liquid smoke. It sounds chemical-like, but it’s an all-natural product made by burning hickory wood, collecting the smoke and cooling it until it forms water. These droplets are then filtered and bottled. The liquid smoke flavor is very concentrated, so a little goes a long way.
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3 Ways to Grill Without a Grill originally appeared on usnews.com
