The Sandpoint Eater: Grill talk

By Marcia Pilgeram
Reader Columnis

Did you know Father’s Day was established by Sonora Smart Dodd, a Spokane woman? The first celebration commemorating fathers in the U.S. was held June 19, 1910, right in Spokane. Sonora wanted to honor her Civil War veteran father and she worked hard to have the holiday recognized. At one point, a joint Parents Day was discussed, but defiant women everywhere rebelled against sharing their holiday and the ill-conceived notion was abandoned. 

While Mother’s Day feels synonymous with brunch, handmade cards and the first color of flowers popping forth in the gardens, Father’s Day just seems to scream: Hello barbecue season! 

There is no shortage of grills for dad: electric, gas, charcoal and pellet are all popular choices. But I just discovered on a recent trip to Spokane that there’s also a plethora of gadgets for the grill of your choice. For instance, you can clean up your outdoor cooking efforts with a Grillbot. That’s right, folks — it’s a Roomba for your barbecue and moves around the grill, scraping off all the scorched bits you left behind when you forgot to brush down the hot grates. 

My Roomba days were short-lived due to my three-legged cat, who was unnerved every time Roomba rounded a corner. These days, I’m kept company by Crowbie, a spoiled and well-fed crow, and I’m not about to jeopardize that relationship with a spaceship-looking grill apparatus, so I’ll continue to scrape my grates by hand. 

I spied battery-operated gravity salt and pepper shakers that automatically grind as you tilt them. For a couple of bucks more, you can purchase a set with LED lights for those nights when the cocktail hour never ends, and you find yourself cooking in the pitch dark.

Burger accessories abound as well; and, thanks to our friends at Cuisinart, you can snag a press for stuffed burgers, a wide spatula for smashing burgers and a melting dome for cheeseburgers. 

Should you need to shred smoked pork or brisket, fear not — let a set of meat claws handle the heavy work of shredding for you. These “bear claws” are necessary — I was shocked to find more than a half dozen brands on Amazon. 

Take note: If your crew is starving and becoming impatient for those pulled pork po’ boys, there’s yet another tool for you. Meat, meet “the Porkinator.” It’s a drill attachment, delivering (they promise) tender shredded meat in mere seconds. 

Still, there are even more gift options for you to consider for your well-loved grill master that won’t break the bank: specialty condiment dispensers for when the standard store condiment holders aren’t worthy of your setup. 

You can even buy a holster for them, which looks a bit like North Idaho, to be honest. 

Better yet, sturdy industrial aprons with condiment belts are available. These serious aprons remind me of the ones the farriers used to wear when they showed up at our ranch to shoe the horses. It seems they’re making a comeback. 

While there’s a seemingly limitless number of tools for burgers and smoked meats, I didn’t see a lot of gear for steaks, and that made me happy. I’m pretty fussy about my steaks, and they require little else than tempering the meat and a healthy shake of sea salt and coarse ground black pepper. Sometimes, I’ll add a sliver of creamy blue cheese if I feel adventurous.  

The best steak I ever ate was one I cooked on a simple hibachi on the rear platform of a luxury rail car. After 10 days of preparing meals for 16 guests aboard a private charter, I was exhausted. The guests disembarked in Seattle, and another crew member and I were deadheading to Whitefish to reset for the next clients. 

When we departed in the late afternoon, I began my inventory, discovering a nice thick steak in the cooler. I remembered we had a hibachi onboard in a storage compartment. I have no idea where it came from, but I am still grateful to that genius crew member. The sun was warm and the steak was hot and deliciously unforgettable. Talk about a moveable feast.

Whether you have all the trappings to turn your backyard into a smoking meat mecca or, like me, a little salt and pepper will do you, there’s something real satisfying about a backyard barbecue. 

Don’t forget you’ll need a side dish or two. This week’s zesty pasta salad can hold its own on any occasion.

Zesty Mediterranean pasta salad

Capers add a tangy and slightly lemony flavor profile to this salad. It’s a perfect summery side dish. With a little bread and wine, it can be served as a light supper entrée, too. Use a hollow pasta, like penne, to give the dressing more coverage for a bolder flavor. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Ingredients:

• (16 oz) short pasta, preferably penne

• 1½ cups pesto (homemade or a good-quality, store-bought)

• ⅓ cup good olive oil

• 3 tbsp capers in brine, drain, rinse and shake off water

• 1½ cups shredded carrots

• Bell peppers, 1 each red, yellow and orange, diced small

• 1 6.5-oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped

• ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Fresh basil, chopped