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Spit-roasting
If you have never tried spit-roasting because you think it is difficult, expensive, and/or intimidating, you will be surprised to find that it's none of these things: it's really easy, a rotisserie attachment is by no means a huge investment, and spit-roasting is lots of fun! The results are delicious, and the technique -- and delicious results -- will amaze and impress your guests. Some high-end gas grills come with a rotisserie attachment, and many manufacturers offer an attachment as an option. Relatively inexpensive models that fit most grills (charcoal as well as gas) can be purchased online or at some hardware stores. In any case, you'll want to buy a well-constructed model with a sturdy spit that can support big birds and roasts. Fortunately we no longer have to turn the spit by hand -- nowadays a small electric motor, attached to one side of the grill, does all the work. You simply skewer the food on the spit, securing it with the clams that are part of the setup, lay the spit over the grill, and insert the end of it into the motor housing. Cover the grill and turn on the motor -- that's all there is to it!
You'll need to review the specific instructions for the model you buy (and check your grill manual for additional information), but basically spit-roasted food is cooked over indirect heat in a covered grill. Generally the food should be brought to room temperature before it is grilled, since it will not be cooking at a high temperature. Be sure to set up a drip pan under the center of the rotisserie to catch the juices; you may need to pour a little water or other liquid, such as wine, into the pan to prevent the drippings from burning.
Cooking on a piastra
Cooking on a piastra is a time-honored technique throughout Italy, especially in Friuli and along the Adriatic Coast. Alla Piastra essentially means cooking on a flat griddle over a hot fire, and the same method is popular throughout the Mediterranean. Cooking a la plancha is a favorite way of preparing fish in Spain, and in Greece, cooking a satz, a sheet of metal, is centuries old. Today the free-form sheets of metal used in ancient times have mostly been replaced by griddles made of cast iron or another metal. You could use a regular stovetop griddle with a smooth surface as a piastra. These are readily available in housewares shops, some hardware stores, and online; a large rectangular griddle that fits over two burners is a good choice. An old-fashioned cast-iron pancake griddle would also work, although these are on the smaller side, or even a quarter-inch-thick slab of slate. But best of all is my piastra, which is made of thin but durable, and remarkably light, granite and, at 10 inches by 14 inches, gives you a generous cooking area.
The advantage of a piastra is that it gives you a very hot cooking surface -- hot enough to make mussels dance when they are tossed onto it. It's a fun and easy way to cook many foods from shrimp to calamari. I also use one to “grill-bake” flatbreads such as schiacciate. Just be sure to give the piastra enough time to get really hot -- let it preheat, covered, on the hot grill for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
From Italian Grill. Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Copyright © 2008 by Mario Batali. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. To purchase, visit amazon.ca.
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