The best way to vary your grilled food is with spices, whether a dry rub before grilling, or a spice mix sprinkled after grilling – it is easy, and you can turn your grilled chicken into a smorgasbord!
We have been importing Himalayan mineral salts for several years – loving the tangy mineral taste it adds to food.
Now we have a trio of spice mixtures.
The best is: No preservatives – only natural herbs and salt – truly basic spice mixes – hand mixed in small batches in Vermont, each has an individual taste direction.
Vermont Maple Salt – Pure Vermont maple sugar, natural evaporated cane sugar, and mineral rich Himalayan salt crystals make this combination of sweet and savory essential in your kitchen! Use it grilling on your Salt Stone and taste the caramelized maple and the tangy salt. Unbelievable!
Catamount Country Grill Salt – The rich taste of Vermont–filled with savory herbs. Shake on meats, fish or greens, before or after grilling.
Maple Spicy Garlic Salt – This spiced salt has it all – sweet, garlic, spice – popcorn, steaks, fish – they all benefit from this mixture!
Locally sourced (caught by our good friend in Beaver Pond) Pike is wonderful tasty, firm, freshwater fish. After the first meal of poached Pike with fresh vegetables, we pick the rest of this delicious meat off the bones and make fish burgers on the Grillstone. The burgers are grilled on natural stone in a healthy non-direct flame heat. Here’s the recipe!
Ingredients: 2 – 4 cups flaked cooked fish – we used Pike, but it could be salmon, trout, etc. (recipe that follows is based on 2 cups fish)
2 eggs, 1 cup chopped onions, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1/2 cup chopped capers (optional but super!), 1/2 cup chopped colorful peppers (optional), 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, paprika & lemon juice to your taste. You can put 2 tablespoons mayonaise in for extra moist cakes.
Beat the eggs a bit, and put everything in a big mixing bowl and mix lightly. Put on your heated, oiled Grillstone and let them sizzle for about 6 minutes each side until browned.
Enjoy this light, summer burger!
Rack of pork ribs cut into sections that can be wrapped in Aluminum Foil
Onions, Green Peppers, Beer, BBQ Sauce
These are the best ribs I have ever eaten, we are sad that Kurt is back in Germany – but I am sure he is working up recipes for his next trip to Vermont!
How to: Get your grill hot and brown
Kurt brings special American style/German Beer inspired Grillstone recipes with him from Munich.
the ribs on both sides without the Grillstone (about 15 minutes total).
Put the Grillstone on top of the grates of your grill and turn the heat to low and lower the cover. Now take large squares of Aluminum Foil and put slices onions and peppers on them, put one section of rib in each square, pour some beer and BBQ sauce over the ribs; then seal the Aluminum Foil loosely around the mixture.
This packet then gets put on the Grillstone and steams for about ¾ hour – don’t turn or anything.
When they are done, the meat falls off the bones and the sauce is delicious – but I love the vegetables at the bottom soaked into the sauce and beer. Enjoy!
Grilling and stones have a history that goes back to Native American Indians, and likely it was and important way of cooking back to prehistoric times. The Native Americans used an open fire, the stones were heated in the coals, and dropped in pots of water, bringing the pot and its contents to a boil.
Although it isn’t documented, I am sure that flat stones were also placed in the coals, or over the coals, and used for grilling of strips of meats and wild vegetables. Natural sedimentary stone such as slate, or large flat river rocks would have been perfect tools.
Grilling on Stone Today:
We have the benefit of manipulating natural stone with stone saws – blocks of solid stone are quarried and sliced like bread into the perfect thickness. Not every stone can withstand the heat of an open fire – it is important to find a stone geologically formed tens of thousands of years ago under intense heat and pressure – so that it can withstand that heat today. Igneous stone is the best choice; among those are granite, basalt, and andesite porphyry. In addition, the stone should be homogenous, and with few inclusions, so that it stays whole as long as possible. Testing many natural stones, we have found Basalt to be the most durable and best suited for grilling.
Grilling on Basalt:
Basalt is a dark, heavy volcanic rock that makes up most of the world’s oceanic crust. Formed as volcanic magma, tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide and water vapor formed in the molten rock as it approached the surface.
The spaces formed by the bubbles in the stone make it perfect for grilling, distributing and intensifying the heat evenly, and capturing fats from the grill surface so that your meat doesn’t sit in fats.
How to grill on flat surface stone?
1. Start your gas grill, charcoal grill or open fire.
2. Unless you are working with a campfire, you don’t have to wait until the fire is really hot, just make sure it is burning well. Lay your Grillstones on top of your grate (for gas or charcoal), with an open fire, wait until you have some glowing coals, then pull them out of the fire into a low pile and lay your Grillstone direct on the coals.
3. Now you have to wait until the Grillstone gets really HOT.
But in the meantime:
If your Grillstone is new, begin pouring a bit of your preferred oil onto the Grillstones (grape seed is great because it withstands high heat without smoking); spread this with a spatula or silicone brush.
If your Grillstone is older, scrape any residue off the stone into the fire, and oil the surface again as above. You can scrape and oil lightly a few times if you like, you will see that moisture will come out of the stone as it heats, and you may want to scrape this away with the residue.
4. When the Grillstone is hot so that drops of water or sauce sizzle, it is ready for your meat or vegetables. Place them on the Stone and let them sizzle in one place for about 5 minutes (you can cover if you wish). When they are evenly browned, they will be easy to flip with a spatula.
5. At this point you can add other vegetables to grill in with your meat if doing a stir fry, or on the side. You can also turn your flame off, if using a gas grill.
6. A few minutes before finishing, pour any marinade or sauce on the Grillstone, this adds flavor to the grill item, and flavor to the marinade or sauce.
7. Remove your grill items, scrape the sauce over them, and cover the grill (this will help burn off any remaining food or sauce on the Stone).
Now you have perfect meat, fish, chicken, or vegetables, and a perfect sauce. Enjoy!
Care and Cleanup:
Do not wash or soap the Grillstone, burning the residue is enough to remove residual flavors and sterilize the Stone. So just scrape and oil after and before each use!
We recommend not putting really cold liquids direct on a hot Stone; let them reach room temperature if possible. Also, if you live in a freezing climate, we recommend that once you start using your Stones, you store them in a temperate place such as your garage.
IF your stone cracks or breaks (this WILL happen eventually), you can decide to push it together and continue using it because it does NOT affect the use of the Stone!
The Last Word:
Healthy Grilling? Grilling is a wonderful, communal, ancient way to cook, eat and socialize – what makes it unhealthy are the fats dripping off the meats and into the fire and combusting – this produces carcinogens. Grilling on a flat surface stone eliminates this effect, as the surface catches the fats – the food doesn’t sit in the fat as on a griddle, but it doesn’t drip through as with a grate.
If you still want grill marks on your food – leave a space open on your grill, and grill the food quickly over the grate when it is done.
The following websites are interested, and were helpful in the above article:
Milk? Steak?! Believe it – that not-so-tender Flank steak changed! No resistance as I cut a delicious piece.
Flank Steak from the Vermont Country Grillstone
When it was first suggested to use milk as a tenderizer, I was skeptical – the image of meat and milk didn’t inspire me.
But, as I have faith -
We put our two flank steaks in a shallow container, covered it with 2% milk, and left it in a cool place overnight.
The next day, after taking the meat out of the milk, and drying it off, I laid the meat in a marinade made from:
2 cloves chopped or diced garlic
2 tbsp Soy sauce
1tbsp honey
3 tbsp Whiskey
½ tsp red pepper flakes
We left the meat in the marinade for the day, but try for at least a few hours.
We heated the Grillstone on high heat on our gas grill, but if you are using charcoal or an open fire, get it as hot as possible. Then pour some oil on the Grillstone (Grapeseed or Coconut oil hold up well in high heat, but any vegetable oil will work) and distribute it with a spatula, scraping any burnt on residue off the Grillstone.
When hot, scraped and oiled, put the Flank Steaks on the grill – save the marinade for later. The Grillstone will sear the total surface of the Steak, not letting any of those meat juices escape and drip into the fire! After 5 minutes (for med. rare), or 7 minutes (for med. well), turn the Steak over, pour a bit of the whiskey marinade over the steak, and turn your grill off (saves gas!) – leave the Steak on the 5 or 7 minutes as you wish. Put the steak on a heated plate and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting across the grain for tasty, perfectly grilled Flank Steak strips.
It was delicious, and tender! We used the extra Whiskey marinade as a dipping sauce for the steak strips.
Grillstone advantage: Sears in the flavor on the COMPLETE surface of the meat – no uneven grilling, no unhealthy burnt spots; and always pour some marinade or sauce on the stone while cooking, it will reduce and thicken – sopp it up with bread or scrape it onto your grilled meat.
Maple season is underway, and we have a new batch of Maple Salt ready. So – roll your grill out of the garage and fire it up (if you even put it away), we have a new Maple Salt recipe for your Grillstone.
Our Vermont Maple Salt is a delicious aromatic blend of natural Himalayan salt, Vermont maple sugar and natural unbleached sugar. The delicate taste and aroma on the grill are unique and found only at Vermont Country Grillstone.
This is also the last opportunity to get your Grillstones at our special early season price of $15 each AND we will include a free sample of our Maple Salt along with two new recipes for the Grillstone.
Order online – forget the pricing of 1 for $24.95, etc. – in the cart it is the SUPER price of $15 each!
We are raising the prices to $24.95 on Friday April 1 (no joke!) – so order NOW for delicious and easy grilled fish during Lent, or for grilling those ribs on Father’s Day. NOW OR NEVER – $15 Grillstones, a free sample of Vermont Maple Salt AND two new recipes to try!
Maple Sugaring in Vermont - sun, warmth, grilling time!
Here’s a healthy alternative to a regular hamburger—try Grilled Chicken Burgers. Our version has a hint of spiciness, and is delicious when topped with peanut sauce (make your own or buy it in the Thai section of your grocery store). Our kids even love these chicken burgers!
Preheat your grill, topped with your Vermont Country Grillstones.
Start with two pounds chicken breast. Chop it up in your Cuisinart, use your Slap-Chop, or– like I do– use an old-fashioned meat grinder until it is coarsely chopped.
Put the ground chicken in a bowl. Add 1/3 cup chopped onion, 2 t. diced ginger root, 2 T. chili sauce, 2 t. soy sauce, and 1/2 t. salt.
Stir together and form into patties. Grill the patties on your Grillstones, 5 minutes each side. Serve with peanut sauce, lettuce and/or your favorite burger fixings on hamburger rolls.
Over the weekend, the temperatures hovered in the teens in Vermont…but that did not stop us from enjoying delicious grilled burgers for our Saturday night meal. Once the deck and the grill were cleared of snow, we lit the gas grill, which was topped with three Vermont Country Grillstones on the grill rack. Since it was about 16 degree outside, the grill took a little longer to heat up, but once it was heated, the grillstones performed their magic and held a nice, even high heat. On went the burgers, we cooked them for about 5 minutes per side.
Burger Perfection in mid-January!
A Vermont-style burger--Rob topped it with maple baked beans, cheese and lettuce.
The Grillstones hold the heat on a cold Vermont night.
One of the best ways to get a crispy pizza crust is to grill it on a HOT natural stone surface – gas grill or coals, the open fire gives a smokey taste (especially if you use hardwood smoke chips). This is so easy and using your outdoor grill allows easy access for toppings and an extra element of fun. Also, don’t buy the dough if you want a thin pizza – the prepared dough has too much yeast – and dough is so easy to make.
My favorite recipe:
1 cup flour, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
Sprinkle yeast on flour in a bowl, add the warm water and mix it with a fork, when it holds together knead it until smooth. I just put it in a warm place while I get the toppings together (it doesn’t really have to rise much. When ready, take a bit of the pizza (or all of it if you want a big one, but I prefer smaller individual pizzas), roll it really thin on a floured surface (best on marble).
The grillstone:
Light your gas grill and put 2 or three grillstones tight together on the grate. After about 10 minutes of heating, when the grillstone is hot, brush a bit of oil on the stones with a silicone brush.
The pizza:
Put the rolled out dough on the Grillstone, close the cover to brown it (just takes a few minutes), flip the dough over and add all the ingredients (you can remove the pizza dough from the grill to add the ingredients on the browned side, then return it to the grill).
Turn the flame on the Grillstone down, close the cover and let all your ingredients bake until done. If you do individual pizzas, you can grill several at the same time. They can also be grilled ahead of time and kept warm on the Grillstones.
This is my favorite appetizer – or light dinner when my wife and I want to enjoy a glass of wine and “create ” our pizzas together.
