by Arlos » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:24 pm
Ick, you got a gas grill. WTF even bother then, you might as well be cooking it on the stove inside, or in the broiler in your oven. Charcoal is the only way to go. Especially if you get a couple types of charcoal: Complete mesquite if you're going for that flavor, or a neutral ordinary briquette to which you add wood chips of various types to get specific flavors. (applewood is great with chicken, for example, etc)
That said, there's a couple ways you can do corn on the grill: 1 leave it in its husk, soak the whole thing in water, and just roast it all. The way I do it is to strip it down to the cob, then wrap it in a single paper towel square. Then, you run the whole thing under the faucet to get the entire paper towel soaking wet, and then wrap that whole thing in aluminum foil. Depending on how hot the fire is, takes 30-45 minutes to get done, but effectively what you're doing is steaming it in the foil, but since it's not airtight, the smoke gets in there and flavors it too. Just turn it every 5-10 minutes or so, so it doesn't dry out on that side and let the paper towl go brown.
For Asparagus, the way my friend does it is about the only way I like it: He rubs the asparagus all over with olive oil, and then sprinkles on garlic salt. He then puts them on the grill until they get cooked and dark, then takes them off and drizzles on a bit of red wine vinegar.
One big advantage to a grill (yes, even gas) is that it makes it a lot easier to cook food that's been marinated, especially if there's any sugar in the marinade (which there most certainly is for things like teryaki, etc.) Try that on the stove, you'll get a blackened mess in your pan as the sugar caramelizes and burns. So, with the grill, you can start experimenting with a bunch of different marinades for whatever meat you're cooking. There are way too many possible marinades to list here, look at just about any cooking website. There's also a bunch of at least semi-decent ones you can get premade in a jar at the supermarket. Hell, a grill lets you use a BBQ sauce easier, just use a spoon or a brush to get it onto the meat, and you can not worry about when it runs down and drops off.
Anyway, while you certainly won't get anywhere near the flavor from a gas grill that you can get from charcoal, it does make certain things easier. So, play around with it, don't get too disappointed when your first few attempts come out as solid lumps of carbon, and try not to burn the house down.
-Arlos