Grill It - Roast It

Jetta in the herb garden waiting for meat

I have been grilling meat all my life, which is to say that I slap the meat on the grill and cook it until done. There are nuances to this process to be sure, but that’s really all there is. The problem with this approach is that you typically end up with a charred exterior and a dry interior unless you hit just the right combination of grill heat and time on the grill. The image is of a man before a grill, with a water squirt bottle in his hand, waiting to put out flare-ups. Experience counts, but the odds aren't great.

Roasting on the other hand is a more forgiving method. Whether you are roasting a seven pound capon for 90 minutes, or slow cooking pork shoulder for three hours, the process allows some margin for error. Usually you sear the meat briefly before roasting, so the exterior has a passing reference to its grilled cousins.

Recently a Costco label on a package of St. Louis dry rubbed spicy ribs caused me to combine the two. I know – what a come down – taking cooking lessons from a computer-generated Big Box label. But what did I have to lose - $10?

The label called for grilling the ribs for 8-10 minutes a side, and then roasting them over indirect heat for another hour and a half. Simple enough. So instead of trying to second guess these instructions with my 20 years of cooking experience, I just did it. I directly grilled the ribs and then onto a rack in a roasting pan they went over indirect 500-degree heat. Unbelievable! The ribs were fantastic!

The short grill time seared the juices inside and developed just enough ‘char’ or ‘umami’ to satisfy the taste buds. The roasting produced moist succulent meat that stayed on the bones with a slight tenacity to satisfy our carnivorous urge to rip them apart.

Next I tried chicken breasts on the bone, skin on, as an acid test. This is a grilling oxymoron, as we want crisp crinkly skin, but moist succulent meat. On a grill you usually get one or the other. I seared the chicken breasts for five minutes a side on a very hot open grill. Then I put the breasts, meat side up, in a heavy cast iron pan and roasted them in the covered grill at the same temperature over indirect heat for another 20 minutes. Nirvana! Browned flavorful crispy chicken skin and the moistest chicken breast you could ever want.

One last tip. I put in a potted herb garden right next to my grill every year – 38 pots this year – but that’s me. All you really need is rosemary, basil and parsley - and maybe oregano if you know what's good for you. When grilling I throw several rosemary branches onto the grill and cover it. In a few moments they ignite into an aromatic smoke that perfumes whatever meat you are cooking – it’s heaven. In the fall I cut the dead rosemary branches off and stuff them in a terra cotta pot and leave them until the next summer. The dead branches achieve the exact same result on the grill.

So next time – grill it – roast it.