It’s summertime and everything from fresh shrimp to spare ribs tastes better on the grill.

Fire her up
A guide to summer grilling
by Heidi Edidin

For many, gas grills are the way to go. Most gas grills come with an electronic ignition, making lighting as simple as turning a knob. When the ignition rusts or wears out, the grill is still operable – just light it with a match.
When lighting a gas grill, light the match first and hold it near the gas jets at the bottom of the grill. Then turn on the gas. As soon as the gas gets to the flame, the grill will gently ignite. If you turn the gas on first and then strike the match, you run the risk of singed eyebrows.
With charcoal, the initial fire takes longer to start and longer to extinguish, but many prefer the taste it provides. For easy cleanup, line the basin of the charcoal grill with heavy-duty foil. Next, pile the charcoal in a pyramid stack in the center of the grill or use a commercially produced charcoal starter – a round, open-ended can of sorts designed to keep the charcoal in a neat stack until it is heated through.
Open grills or cookers will require a bit more charcoal than covered grills, but a good rule of thumb is to use enough charcoal to cover the bottom of the grill in a tightly packed single layer. Stack hot coals to increase the heat; spread them to reduce the heat.
Use lighter fluid for a quick start, making sure to put it on the charcoal before lighting. Do not add it to the grill as you cook.
Once you’ve prepared the coals, light them with a match. Treated coals will flame up at first and then take some time to turn ashen gray. Do not mistake the absence of flame for the absence of heat. The charcoal process takes time. Once all of the coals are ash white, carefully spread them out to control the heat level. The distance between the hot coals and the grilling rack will also determine the heat’s intensity.

Safety first
No matter your choice of flame, a few simple grilling precautions always apply:
• Never use a grill in an enclosed area, unless it is a grill specifically meant for cooking indoors.
• Locate the grill away from shrubbery, plants, dry wood and wooden structures.
• Finally, after cooking, stick around until the fire is completely out. Closing the lid and air vents will help – fire can’t burn without a supply of oxygen. Turn the gas grill off and be sure that food and fat that may have dropped down into the grill stops burning as well. A thick stack of wet newspaper will help to smother the hot charcoal. Just make sure all the papers are wet.

Fiery Fare
Certain cooking rules apply for perfectly grilled foods on both gas and charcoal. First and foremost, forget marinating food in too much oil. Oil burns as does the sugar found in many basting sauces. Marinate if you would like, but then pat the food dry before you grill. Cook steak, chicken or fish on both sides for the designated period of time and then brush on sauces to baste in flavor during the last few minutes of the grilling process. Vegetables and fruits grill perfectly fine without the addition of any oil.
Grill pieces of skin-on chicken with the skin side up and bony side down at first to help render the fat. The fat will cook down, affording less opportunity to flame up. If a piece does start to flame, take it off the grill and get it out of the way. Do not douse it with water.
Grill fish 10 minutes for every inch of thickness. To determine thickness, measure the thickest part of the seafood steak or fillet. Make sure the fish is not frozen. Turn the seafood once during the cooking process.
As for beef, pork and other meats, seasoning with a coarse-grind sea salt or kosher salt will help add flavor but will not dry out the meat like finer ground salts tend to do. Flipping burgers and steaks with a spatula or tongs instead of a fork will help to keep a moist, juicy texture as well.
Pat marinated beef, chicken or fish dry before grilling for the best browning. Continue to baste with the marinade as you cook, but do not put finished meat back into the marinade to serve like a sauce. The result will be a bacteria heyday and possible food poisoning. Likewise for putting the cooked product on the same serving platter that once held raw meat or fish.
As far as recipes go, many families have standard favorites, but if you are looking for something new, try one of these two award-winning recipes. Both are the result of a grilling contest held the weekend before Father’s Day at the SouthPark location of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant. Five local dads, whose recipes were selected from all the entries, competed for the top prize – a $500 gas grill compliments of Barbecues Galore, a recipe listing on McCormick & Schmick’s menu during the week of Father’s Day and bragging rights to the title “King of the Grill.”
When the smoke cleared it was Paul McInnis’ sesame maple salmon recipe that tickled the judges’ taste buds. Second place went to Cliff Sweet, who prepared his famous Cabo Wabo Shrimp.
Other competitors included Shawn Gordon, who grilled his favorite rib-eye recipe, Maurice Waddell, who prepared his famous grilled salmon dish, and Staten Wilcox, who grilled “Staten’s Ribs.”

Sesame Maple Salmon
1 full fillet of wild sockeye salmon
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup chives
1/4 cup tamari
For the butter:
1 lb. butter
1/2 tsp. VegiSal
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
1 Tbsp. maple syrup

Lightly salt salmon; set aside. Toast sesame seeds in a small skillet: remove from heat and stir in chives, maple syrup and tamari. Pour over salmon, cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Grill on wood plank over low flame until salmon flakes. While fish is cooking, combine butter ingredients. Chill before serving with hot grilled fish.

Cliff’s Cabo Wabo Shrimp with Roasted Corn Relish
For the marinade:
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. tequila
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 small jalapeno chili
Salt and pepper
For the relish:
5 ears of fresh corn, husked, grilled for
2-3 minutes and then cut from cob
1 red bell pepper, grilled
1 green bell pepper, grilled
1 red onion, sliced and grilled
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
Chili powder, salt and pepper to taste
Combine marinade ingredients. Pour over peeled jumbo shrimp and refrigerate two hours before grilling. Skewer shrimp and grill 2-3 minutes per side, basting frequently with leftover marinade.
Chop grilled vegetables and combine with cilantro, lime juice and chili powder for the relish. Season to taste. Place grilled shrimp over rice pilaf and top with relish.

Contestants (from back) Shawn Gordon, Paul McInnis, Cliff Sweet, Maurice Waddell and Staten Wilcox line up prior to starting their grills during the “King of the Grill” contest.