"grillingmeat" news and stories

I'm not gonna pretend that this picture is pretty, or in the least bit appetizing, but I will note that the results are disturbingly delicious. The heart of the matter is that I went to a cookout a few weekends ago and was offered a grilled chicken heart by a friend who has yet to serve me anything that is less than madly tasty. Emboldened by this, I picked up a package of chicken hearts on a shopping jaunt this week, and started perusing my favorite recipe sites for marinades. It didn't take me long to find a 1956 James Beard recipe suggesting that these would make a dandy appetizer for a group of 25. Twenty-five of whom, I'm not entirely sure, 'cause even as staunchly carnivorous as my pals tend to be, few of 'em dig getting their offal on as much as I do, and I wouldn't subject them to it. There are exceptions, though.

Some friends came over this afternoon to serve as panel members for AOL Food's upcoming Hot Dog Taste Test. As I tended the grill between rounds, one of them began holding forth about how methods of barbecuing and grilling really were born of the necessity to bring greater flavor to cheap and previously discarded cuts of meat, and how folks were getting way too fancy-schmancy with the whole thing these days. I left my post at the flames, walked him to the fridge, pulled out the plastic container full of marinating hearts and started putting them on bamboo skewers.

He shut up and started eating.

James Beard's 1956 Grilled Chicken Hearts Recipe on Epicurious

(Note: In the above pic, I was out of sherry and subbed in brandy, which proved perfectly yummy.)

We're on the home stretch for Mother's Day, which means that times a-ticking to get the perfect card and gift before the big day. There might be only a handful of days left, but there is still time to get a gift that looks full of thought and effort. And if you've got a mom who loves meals made of beef and other tasty forms of meat, this guide is for you.

What follows is list for creating the ultimate indoor grilling gift for your carnivorous mom. It's all the pieces you need for one perfectly grilled piece of meat. But the kicker is: with just a little finagling, you can take this list and make it work for mom's preferred cooking method -- barbecuing, roasting, stewing, what-have-you.

The pages that follow are each piece of the puzzle, from prep to plate. If you're thinking big, grab them all. If you're on a budget, pick up a few. Check the list out, and please comment if you have any ideas or pieces to add to the mix.