Conference turris::cooks

    We have cooked over mesquite chips (just for the smoke) on our gas
    grill.  Some of the best foods are beef.  Steaks, hamburgers (really
    good), etc.  I'm sure that pork chops would also be excellent. 
    
    Chris

        Chicken cooked over mesquite is good, we have also smoked
    a turkey  that turned out very well. Salmon seems
    to stand up to the flavor of the wood, especially silver salmon.
    If you want to avoid overpowering the flavor of the fish,
    put the chips on later in the cooking cycle.
    There is alot of seafood that works well with this wood, including
    shrimp, but I find that very little wood is needed to impart the flavor
    An interesting combination is to marinate chicken breasts in a
    blue cheese salad dressing, then grill over mesquite,
    just before you remove from grill put a slice of cheese on top,
    swiss works well.  
    
    Ange
             

At a restaurant on Martha's Vineyard, I had soft shell crab that was drizzled 
with butter and grilled over mesquite.  MMMMMMMM-mmmmmmm!!

						     
							- JP

    RE .1
    
    I use a gas grill and Mesquite or Hickory chips, but do not just
    lay them in the rock like you would in a charcoal barbaque.  You
    really don't want the ash accummulating in you grill.  I wrap the
    chips in aluminum foil (not tightly) and put it on the hot grill
    several minutes before I add the meat.  The chips will smoke and
    flavor the meat.  When the chips are exausted then throw them away.
    
    Steve
    

Marinate salmon steaks for at least four hours in the following:

     1/4 cup orange juice
     1 clove garlic, minced
     1/2 cup dry white wine
     1 tablespoon soy sauce

Place marinated fish in fish basket, and grill over mesquite coals
that have turned nice and white (med - hot).  Serve fish with
pasta salad and white wine.

     	Bon Apetit!    

    so where can i get somme mesquite chips... are there different
    grades????  they have the bricks/blocks at the mexican rest.  are
    they the same????
    
    
    			btw: i'm in nashua.
    
    and are the chips easier/better than the bricks?
    

    
    	We tried beef steaks grilled over mesquite and it was very nice.
    How about marinades? I like to marinade before I grill but I
    wasn't sure what kind of marinades would blend with the mesquite
    flavor. I wouln't think the oil and vinegar italian dressing type
    would work or teriyaki. Anybody had any luck using marinades before
    mesquite grilling?
    
    	We bought pieces of mesquite wood at a farm stand. The wood
    needs to be broken up into smaller pieces. The wood must be soaked
    in water to produce the smoke. We have a gas grill, we just shut
    off the grill when we are done. The next time we use it, whatever
    we barbeque still gets some mesquite flavor.

    The best kind of marinade for beef is a bottled marinade that we
    purchase locally (Los Angeles) at mexican markets.  It's similar
    to a fajita type marinade, though I don't know the entire
    ingredient listing.  This works bests with very thinly sliced beef
    steaks.  You place a layer of beef, pour on some of the marinade
    (brand name MOJO CRIOLLO, spanish style marinating sauce), then
    put on a layer of sliced onions, and a layer of sliced oranges.
    Repeat this process for as much meat as you want to barbeque.  For
    best results, refrigerate for a few hours.  Then cook over the
    mesquite, ( we use mesquite only, no gas) until it is done to your
    liking.
    
    This is very similar to Carne Asada and goes well with tortillas.
    We usually have a mexican barbeque, and serve guacamole, beans,
    and rice.  After the meat is done, the guests can all make their
    own soft tacos.

A good general purpose mixture to soak/baste meat with when going for a 
Southwestern/Mexican flavor is just lime juice (say two limes,) a 
tablespoon or two of cumin, a couple of crushed/minced garlic cloves and 
maybe a little chile powder and/or cayene.  A fifteen minute soak is 
good for beef or chicken, 3-5 minutes for fish.  The longer you soak, 
the more the lime juice works into the meat, carrying the other flavors
with it. (The cumin is the flavor <not the HOT>  that dominates most
mexican food -- adjust accordingly.)  For a switch, you can use orange
juice rather than lime, but OJ is a bit more assertive. 

The flavor imparted is much lighter than a soy-based marinade, and won't 
overpower the mesquite.
					>>>==>PStJTT

    What about using a barbeque sauce with mesquite?  We just got our
    gas grill and have been trying out different things.  One of the
    neighborhood kids sold us some mesquite charcoal and barbeque sauce
    as a kit (one of those money-making ideas for school, I guess).
    Of course, we wouldn't use the charcoal in the gas grill, but has
    anyone tried the combo?
    

    re: .9
    
    	I tried this marinade and it was great! It sounds kind of
    strange, I've never heard of this kind of a marinade. The flavor
    is wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.
    
    Linda
    

    I don't know the name of the sauce but I tried one last summer down
    the cape that had mesquit flavor IN IT.  Tasted to fine to me but
    I've never cooked over mesquit so I really can't compare but there
    was a sauce...

         Buy a bag of chips.  Take a 1 gallon plastic bucket
    and fill it with water.  Soak a bunch of chips overnight.
    On cooking day, stick your hand in and grab a handfull.
    Toss them on the white-hot coals.  There will be enough
    smoke for the cooking.
    
    Kev --