Date: 2009-03-30 22:42 Subject: Things You Can Cook On A George Foreman Grill Security: Public Location: Cleaning out the Garlic Drawer... Mood: hungry Music: "Starvation Waltz" by The Horse Flies

Steaks, chops, zuchini, hamburgers, chicken fillets, etc. etc. Yes, yes, so the ads tell us.  Old news.  Whoopee.

Here are a few other things I've had luck with.

--Yam Fries.  Since they're braised in oil at the factory prior to being frozen, most types of frozen french fries will cook on the Foreman grill nicely.  Lay a few handfuls out on the surface of the grill, spread evenly, and shut the grill.  Takes about 3 minutes.  I prefer yam fries even though they're a bit more expensive in terms of getting half as much for the same money as in a bag of potato fries, because they don't require salting after they're cooked.  The yam's natural flavor comes through absent of seasoning, unlike the potato.

--Oranges.  What, you mean you've never cut a large orange into half-inch slices and thrown them on the grill?  Brings out the flavor nicely.  Also works well with other large, cohesive fruits.  Melon slices, tomatoes, mangoes, pineapple rings or spears.  I wouldn't recommend bananas, though.  They tend to liquify.  Very messy.

--Canned Veggies.  Green beans, carrots, succotash, sliced irish potatoes.  Again, about 3-5 minutes.  The trick is to keep them from ending up in the drip try.  Keep them bunched up toward the back, and spray them with garlic juice or salad spritzers while cooking.  3-5 minutes.

--Corned Beef Hash.  Come on, now.  This is what the thing was invented for.  The hash cooks while the grease dribbles away.   After about 2 minutes, turn the seared hash patties so as to get them browned evenly.  (The grill plate on the underside of the lid does get hot, but never quite as much so as the bottom plate, so you have to turn your food or it will be brown on top and black on the bottom.)  Another 2 minutes and breakfast is ready.

--Omelets.  I use egg substitute myself, but to each his own.  If you want to use real egg, knock yourself out.  Personally, I feel there's little point to fat-free cooking if you're going to go swimming in a pool of cholesterol instead, but whatever....  The discerning reader, being aware that the George Forman grill is inclined foreward to allow fat to drip away as it cooks out of the food, may wonder how one may keep his omelet from draining into the drip tray before it has a chance to cook.  My first try yielded a plate of paper-thin egg scrambles and scrapings. I tried shimming the front feet up for egg recipes, but then, after washing the detachable grill plates, I enjoyed a bit of serendipity.  Set the bottom cooking plate aside, invert the top plate, and attach it to the bottom heating element.  The downward lip at the front of the top plate becomes a dam which keeps the eggs on the grill until the heat can thicken them.  (The lid will not close over the dam; it will be necessary to leave it up to cook your eggs.) Done this way, an omelet will take about 10 minutes* and turn out as thick as you like.  Lift it at one end and fold it over itself in sections the width of the spatula.  Salt if desired.

(*= The top cooking rack does not transfer heat from the heating element as efficiently as the bottom rack does.  If you are in a hurry, use the bottom rack, but spread half a can of corned beef hash along the front edge.  The hash will trap the egg and keep it from draining away, allowing it to cook.  Since the bottom rack contacts the heating element more solidly, and does not prevent the grill from being closed, the cooking will go faster.  Omelet and hash will both be ready in approx. 4 minutes time.

--Biscuits.  Pillsbury (or low-cost alternative brand) premade biscuits, 10 to a tube, arranged across the grill.  They spread and cook together as they warm.  When you can smell them on the other side of the apartment, they're ready.  (Typically about 3 minutes.)  The result will be a sort of thick flatbread, browned on top and bottom, which will seperate with light effort into 10 biscuits and eaten with butter or jelly, or can be left together, spread with tomato sauce, crumbled meat, sliced veggies, and shredded mozzarella, and thrown into the microwave oven for approx. 1 minute to make pizza.

(Alternately, if one is a bisquick afficionado, one could mix up a sheet of biscuit dough and then cook it on the grill without cutting it.  (Pan Biscuits, as the recipe on the side of the box calls it.)  I have a small kitchen with limited prep space, so I lean toward the prefab stuff.)

--Meat loaf.  Mix your favorite meat loaf recipe (using 98% lean ground meat -- the drip tray will only hold so much grease before overflowing) and work it into a ball about the size of a grapefruit.  Plop it down on the grill and work it out to the dimensions of the cooking surface, then close the lid over it.  Takes about 10 minutes to cook fully.  The finished product is a half-inch thick sheet that can be subdivided into 2 or 3 sandwich-sized portions, or sliced into several 1-inch wide spears.  Repeat the process for about an hour (to the limit of available ingredients) to make as much meat loaf as you could by baking for an hour, coating the oven with grease splatters, and setting off the smoke alarm 5 or 6 times.

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I find that the process of cleaning the grill plates is much easier if I undertake what chefs refer to as "deglazing the pan".  After the food is removed, pour about an ounce of wine across the grill and use the spatula to guide the sizzles toward the drip tray.  (One day, I may even be brave enough to complete the other half of the process, which is to collect the residue and use it to make a sauce with which to garnish the food.)