ISO delicious, creative recipes for the grill

So I'm having some wonderful friends over for Easter dinner and this year I'd like to prepare the majority of the food on the grill!

Do you have any favorite dishes to prepare on the grill that would be "Easter-dinner-ish?"

My friend is bringing a frozen honey ham...anyone know if I can I throw that on the grill?

My friend is bringing a frozen honey ham...anyone know if I can I throw that on the grill? Originally Posted by LynetteMarie

Yep. Cut into thick entree sized slices, toss on the grill and you have "ham steak" -- you can coat in any number of sweet glazes and the salt from the curing process (already in the ham) combines for a great flavor.

You can throw just about anything on a grill (including seafood). In fact for many bachelors it represents the core of their kitchen.

Often overlooked are fresh veggies. Kabobs are a sure winner.

You can throw just about anything on a grill (including seafood). In fact for many bachelors it represents the core of their kitchen. Originally Posted by atlcomedy

AND bachelorettes..! However, it wasn't until last summer that I started using my grill. Great in 110 degree heat.
Before that, it was daily take out dinners from Whole Foods eaten over the sink, cold, with a glass of wine! I owned one pot, one pan but a slew of wine glasses lol. I am finally "growing up" and bought another pot and pan and learned how to use the broiler.

Thank you for the tip on the "ham steak!" That will be delicious but I'd still love more input for any of you grill masters.

Grilled Eggplant marinated in some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, Red and Orange Peppers -same, and although they are not your typical Easter fare, they taste wonderful off of the grill. Oh to be grilling at Easter :-). I hope to be doing the same, weather permitting.

BBQ’d lamb is my favourite. Just add a liberal amount of garlic and grill, serve with mint sauce.

For a veg brush asparagus with oil and grill as well.

Martha Stewart..eat your heart out.....lol

Asparagus is elegant, flavorful, and very easy. Take some good fresh asparagus and wash. You can peel, but it's easier to just take the head in one end, and the stalk in the other and break the stalk. It will naturally break where it's tender. Discard the tougher stem end. Coat lightly with a good flavorful EVO and grill. After it's a tad charred, salt lightly with a good salt and serve.

You need to be careful keep the asparagus perpendicular to the grill, else you'll loose some. Also note that you don't have to do it at the last minute. Get it ready and set aside under foil. Then when your meat is done, take up the meat and allow it to sit for a minute or two (which you should do in any event to let the juices settle). Put the asparagus back on the grill just long enough to get it to serving temp and you're ready to go.

Aparagus, egg plant etc . . . you cooking for Big Jake's goats?

Easter, huh!!?? Go to your local store. Buy a passle of peeps. Any color will do...or you can mix the colors. Spear them delicately on a spit, and lightly heat over the grill. Serve on the spit, or on graham crackers with Hershey bars.

Easter cooking, Big Easy style

From gumbo to dessert, New Orleans holiday brings a family feast.

By C.W. Cameron

For the AJC
In New Orleans, much is centered around the table. “Food is everything,” said Lisa Rochon, a native of the city.

Elissa Eubanks, eeubanks@ajc.com Traditional New Orleans cuisine Cod Fish Cakes simmer on the cook top and can be eaten on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday or Easter.



Elissa Eubanks, eeubanks@ajc.com Gumbo z’herbes (pronounced “zab”) is the traditional main course for Holy Thursday.




“Even today, post-Katrina, if you go into somebody’s house in New Orleans, one of the first questions you’re going to be asked is, ‘Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?’ Everything is still focused around food and family and friends,” she said.
Rochon’s family traces its roots back to the settling of New Orleans in the 1600s. Her mother’s family has owned restaurants or cooked privately for people for years.
Rochon ran the Riverside Cafe in New Orleans’ Riverwalk Marketplace for 11 years. She now lives in Atlanta but maintains her connection to her hometown’s food culture through her catering and event planning business.
New Orleans residents have food traditions for all occasions — weddings, funerals and even football. The meals served during Holy Week, the days leading up to Easter Sunday, follow their own rituals influenced by the city’s largely Catholic traditions.
Gumbo z’herbes (pronounced “zab”) is the traditional main course for Holy Thursday.
“This is the last chance to eat meat of any kind before Easter Sunday,” Rochon said.
This gumbo is traditionally made from at least five, and often many more, greens slowly simmered in a broth of chicken and beef stock flavored with ham and pork sausages.
“The core greens of mustard, collards, kale, spinach and turnips are always used,” Rochon said. Other greens such as cabbage and watercress are optional. The gumbo is seasoned with bay leaf and thyme.
Good Friday is a day of reflection and often includes fasting. Only the most necessary work is done, and the meal that breaks the fast is seafood.
Dinner for some families might be shrimp creole, but the traditional main course for the Rochons is cod fish cakes, made from soaked salt cod. Salt cod might seem like an odd choice for a city surrounded by Gulf waters and easy access to fresh seafood, but cod is an easily stored staple that adapts itself to a variety of recipes.
The cod fish cakes are served with potato salad made with celery, green onions, boiled eggs and homemade Creole-style mayonnaise prepared from boiled egg yolks rather than raw. Served with green peas or buttered green beans, that’s the meal. There is no dessert because it’s still Lent.
On the Saturday before Easter, the family matriarchs gather in the kitchen to begin preparations for Sunday’s meal. The children will also be in the kitchen, busy dyeing Easter eggs. While this work is going on, the family will enjoy oyster and artichoke soup or fried speckled trout.
“Easter usually signals the last chance to really enjoy oysters. Most New Orleanans don’t eat oysters without the month containing an R in the spelling. At the seafood market, oysters are obtained by the gallon, making sure to request extra oyster liquor, the liquid in the shell with the oyster. This is a prized ingredient for gumbo, and especially oyster dressing,” Rochon said.
Easter dinner could feature any number of dishes. Rochon rattled off just a few.
“There might be crawfish bisque, stuffed crab, smothered turtle or Court Bouillon [pronounced “coo-bee-yon”] made with redfish, or maybe a cold salad of poached redfish with marinated onions and celery, topped with homemade mayonnaise.
“Stewed rabbit might be on the table, or a veal dish called a ‘pocket,’ a thigh of veal stuffed with a dressing made of ground sirloin and oysters, garlic and seasoning, then rubbed with salt, black pepper and Creole seasoning, and cooked a bed of onions, thyme and garlic.”
A ham or a beef roast or even some quail might also be served. All these dishes are accompanied again with potato salad, green beans and peas.
No matter the entree, gumbo is always the first course. And now that Lent is over, the desserts roll out: bread pudding with whiskey sauce, with or without a meringue topping; pecan pie or pecan cake; and homemade pralines and homemade fudge to have with coffee and chicory.
In Rochon’s home, Easter dinner will be served at 3 p.m. “My father was one of nine children, and my mother was one of 11. Easter could be anywhere from a dozen to three dozen people at the table.
“When people arrive for Easter Sunday, there will be an area set up for drinks, a glass of punch or lemonade or wine, and something to nosh on — hogshead cheese with crackers, deviled eggs, a hot crab dip or boiled shrimp,” she said.
With all that bounty, it’s no surprise when Rochon says that no one in New Orleans eats a meal in under an hour, especially when it’s a holiday.
And if you’re from New Orleans, you’re likely to judge people by how quickly they eat. “Someone will say, ‘They can’t possibly be from here, they got up in an hour,’” she said with a laugh.

we are lucky in Austin, Texas to grill practically year round. Add a pork tenderloin to your Holiday ham. Marinate in your favorite vinagrette or go crazy and try something new, anywhere from 4 to 6 hours before grilling. grill off center ( not under direct heat) until done to your taste, hold for about 10 minutes before slicing to hold the juices. Squash, zuchinnis, aspargus, are all great on the grill. Slice them thick, brush with olive oil, when finished, dust with sea salt. Damn, now I'm hungry; time to fire up the grill...........

for a quick spring or summer meal after Easter, try my favorite. Half a large avacado, brush the halves with olive oil, grill to get the grill marks and no longer; at the same time, grill some marinated shrimp. Combine the shimp (medium size) over the avacado halves, top with a salsa of your choice, and a crisp white wine, either pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. Enjoy.......

Thank you, everybody, for your grilling suggestions! Seems asparagus is a favorite for Easter anyway, so I'm going to be throwing those on the grill for sure.

I'm also doing the ham on the grill, and making apple, cranberry, and brie stuffed pork tenderloin (found that recipe on my own!) I'm preparing the pork both in the oven (as the recipe calls for), as well as attempting it on the grill. Wish me luck on that one as I've never cooked pork before.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the PEEPS idea! Even though there will be no youngsters attending, this is sure to be a hit. I also love the avocado--who knew an avocado could be grilled? Seriously, I'm excited to try that one.

Thanks again and of course if y'all have any more suggestions, keep them coming!