Issue Date: May 24, 2009
Grills gone wild
Summer unofficially kicks off this weekend. To see what's smoking hot, we track down the nation's top grill hounds.
By Brian Truitt
LOS ANGELES
Who: Kyle Chandler, plays a high school football coach on NBC's "Friday Night Lights"
What's on his grill this summer: Marinated skirt steak
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Kyle Chandler cooks up a winning recipe as the high school football coach on the critically acclaimed drama "Friday Night Lights," but it may come as a surprise that the actor is also an A-list grillmeister.
As we scoured the country talking to grill hounds, his name popped up as someone who takes cooking seriously. Chandler, 43, who lives in L.A. but plans a move to Austin, where "Lights" films, is proudest of his grandmother's secret recipe for barbecue sauce. "The kids in the neighborhood ask for my sauce around the holidays because I hand it out as Christmas gifts," says Chandler, who often cooks for his wife, Kathryn, and their daughters, Sydney, 13, and Sawyer, 7.
The actor, who grew up in Illinois and Georgia, comes from a long line of grillers. His dad marinated skirt steaks in honey, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sherry for a day before throwing them on the grill for their shared birthday dinner. Now Chandler cooks those steaks for his children.
He'll play coach Eric Taylor for a while longer -- "Lights" has been renewed for two seasons. His character has been known to fire up the grill, and Chandler has even cooked for the cast and crew. The main course? Lamb burgers with feta and basil. "They were fantastic!" Chandler raves. "I'm making myself hungry."
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MEMPHIS
Who: Pat and Gina Neely, owners of Neely's Bar-B-Que; hosts of the Food Network's "Down Home With the Neelys," heading into its sixth season; and authors of a new cookbook by the same title.
What's on their grill this summer: "Gina and I grill everything," Pat says. "Memorial Day, obviously, you've got your traditional ribs and your pork shoulder and your chicken. Gina has labeled me 'Barbecue King,' so I have to pull out all the stops."
Oddest thing ever grilled: "People cannot believe that we grilled lettuce," Pat says. "We take a head of romaine, cut it down the center, drizzle it with olive oil and put it on the grill on direct heat for no more than five or 10 minutes."
Rookie tip: "Get a fire extinguisher!" Pat jokes. "One of the biggest slogans I have about grilling and barbecuing is 'low and slow.' You've got to take your time. Get a relaxing chair on your patio, because that's where you need to be. You can't go in the house and float around with Mama and then come back out and flames are jumping all over the place. You've got to stay out there and keep an eye on it."
Dream guest: "He's supposed to be so damn good, and I don't know if I'm ready to square off with him, but I'd like to grill for my dear, dear friend Bobby Flay," Pat says of the Food Network personality.
On their iPod: John Legend and Aretha Franklin. "We put it on, mix it up and get the drinks going on the patio," Gina says.
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MIAMI
Who: Steven Raichlen, author of 28 books, including "The Barbecue! Bible," and host of Primal Grill With Steven Raichlen (new episodes debut this month; check listings).
What's on HIS grill this summer: "Something I call Caveman Steak: a T-bone that you lay right on the embers. It looks really cool, and you get this unbelievable charred, smoky flavor."
Oddest thing ever grilled: "Grilled ice cream, which is first dipped in egg and coconut. It's totally outrageous, but it's amazingly clever. Also, grilled gazpacho. You grill the vegetables you normally make gazpacho with, but you give them a smoky flavor."
On his iPod: Born in the USA. "It'd be hard to imagine better grilling music than that. I'm a super-big Bruce Springsteen fan."
Gas or charcoal? Neither. "I love to grill directly over wood. You get not only heat, but you also get a smoky flavor."
Rookie tip: "The art of grilling is controlling the fire, seasoning the food and cooking to the degree that you want, not what the fire wants."
Dream guest: "I've always wanted to do a barbecue for Bob Dylan: a beef brisket, Catalan grilled tomato bread, grilled gazpacho, Caveman Sweet Potatoes."
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NEW YORK
Who: Adam Perry Lang, classically trained chef (Manhattan's Daniel, Le Cirque), author of "Serious Barbecue" and owner of Daisy May's BBQ USA in Manhattan.
What's on his grill this summer: "If I'm grilling for a large volume of people, I'm cooking steaks that are typically thinner. But when I'm hanging out with eight or 10 people, you can get those 1 1/2-inch New York strip steaks and give them so much love."
Oddest thing ever grilled: "Alligator ribs, because the texture was so different. You had to do a combination of direct and indirect grilling."
Gas or charcoal? Charcoal. "I enjoy the whole ritual of getting the fire going, jockeying the coals. Turning a knob and all of a sudden having heat takes a lot of the love out of it."
Rookie tip: "The most important things are a really clean grill and not moving the food until it sets on the grill -- otherwise, it sticks. Look for ways to add more flavor. Put olive oil, squeezed lemon or fresh herbs on your cutting board, so that when you place [cooked] meat onto that board, it's going into a pool of flavor."
Must-have accessory: A pair of long-handled, spring-loaded tongs. "When you're flipping multiple steaks, you want something that can spring back and be responsive."
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SAN FRANCISCO
Who: Jamie Purviance, author of five grilling cookbooks, including the newly released "Weber's Way to Grill."
What's on HIS grill this summer: "We're going to be doing a lot of Korean beef barbecue and piadini, grilled Italian sandwiches that are like a pizza but folded over. And my wife also likes grilled shrimp po' boys with a spicy rémoulade."
Gas or charcoal? Charcoal, mostly. "Because I just really like the flavor, and, frankly, I also just like to play with fire."
Oddest thing ever grilled: "I did a chocolate soufflé on a gas grill. It's a more even heat, and a soufflé requires evenness of heat. It came out beautifully."
Rookie tip: "Just close the lid and stop fiddling with the food. It defeats the purpose."
Pro tip: "Try roasting hard vegetables right on the embers -- corn in their husks and onions in their skins. Peel off that blackened outer surface, and what you get is this incredibly tender, super-sweet, fairly smoky vegetable."
Overrated accessory: Lighter fluid. "It's completely unnecessary and is really kind of nasty. I don't think a hamburger should taste like gasoline." Try a chimney starter instead.
Dream guest: Anthony Bourdain. "I really like his Travel Channel show [No Reservations]. He reveals a culture through food, and that's an important perspective that I have, too."
Cover and cover story photographs of Kyle Chandler by Robert Sebree for USA WEEKEND
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