Grilling

Traditional buffalo wings are fattening, but sometimes you still crave that buffalo flavor. Instead of over-indulging, opt for this burger to get those visions of dripping wing sauce and tangy blue cheese out of your head and into your tummy. Look for preshaped patties (because they’re also preweighed) to save time. This burger can be cooked in a grill pan or on a nonstick grill, but I love outdoor grilling when possible for optimum flavor without added fat.

One of the keys to making great extra-lean turkey burgers is to add moisture. Here, I quickly throw some egg substitute and bread crumbs into the turkey. Another key is the extra kick of flavor from the fresh jalapeños.

Looking for a tasty, healthy variation of a beef or turkey burger? Skip those processed veggie burgers and go for this all-natural alternative, the portobello. A portobello mushroom smothered with reduced-fat blue cheese crumbles is just as healthy as it is mouthwatering, and it is hearty enough to serve to even a meat lover.

Buy preshaped burger patties to save time. If your favorite supermarket doesn’t stock the 96% lean patties in the fresh meat case, check the freezer section; they’re often found there. If you still can’t find them, don’t cheat—just shape the 96% lean beef yourself. You’ll save about 30 calories and 4 grams of fat per 4-ounce burger over 93% lean meat and even more over buying a fattier ground beef.

Yes, a bacon cheeseburger. If you buy 96% lean beef and reduced-fat bacon pieces, you’re good to go! Do note, if you’re a fan of BBQ bacon cheeseburgers, just swap out the ketchup in this recipe for your favorite barbecue sauce. It will add about 10 calories but save you around 15 mg sodium. Look for the bacon pieces near the croutons and other salad ingredients in your favorite grocery store. Or, if you love them as much as I do, head to Costco and buy them in a big bag. Just store them in your refrigerator and you’ll have them on hand to curb a bacon craving with less guilt.

Gina: This is Pat’s “feel like a king” dish, and if you are married to a meat-and-potatoes man like I am, this dish will make him feel—you guessed it, girl—like a king. The secret to this sauce is two ingredients: bacon and beer. There isn’t a man anywhere in Memphis who would turn up his nose at a steak lacquered with both of those. We like to serve this steak sliced on the diagonal, with plenty of extra sauce on the side. When Pat takes a bite of this and gives me one of his sly winks, honey, I know it’s a slam dunk!

Gina: Calling all ladies to the kitchen! This is my absolute fa-vo-rite!!! It’s a sour-cream pound cake, but, girl, here’s the surprise: After you bake it, you need to grill it. (That barbecue man got me crazy, huh?) Resist the temptation to use a box mix for this one, because a cake made from scratch will give you the best flavor. I’m all for mixes now and then, especially with everybody’s busy schedule, but, you know, sometimes we have to slow it down and enjoy the fruits (and warm fruit toppings) of our labor. So fire up that grill pan, slice that cake, and brush it with butter (no margarine!) on both sides. The cake, toasted, will take on those great grill marks and be ready to stand up to a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a generous drizzle of Warm Raspberry Syrup, and any other sundae-style toppings that grab you (pass the crumbled Oreos and M&M’s!). When you finally place that plate in front of your man, you can have anything you want afterward—anything! You can also dress this dessert in a fancy outfit by cubing the cake and layering it with ice cream and Warm Raspberry Syrup in a parfait glass.

Pat: You know I like my burgers, but who ever thought that a burger could taste this good and be so healthy? My turkey-burger recipe (a favorite with the ladies) is a mixture of ground turkey, fresh marjoram, crushed red-pepper flakes, and garlic. The key to making these burgers taste as good as the old reliable is to use ground turkey that is 85 percent lean. This will yield an incredibly satisfying (and still virtuous) patty. Grilled tomatoes, silky avocado, and a sunny lemon condiment help keep the burger moist.

Souvlaki (Greek-style kebabs) is our kind of food. Marinated meat and vegetables are grilled on a skewer. The skewers can be assembled in minutes, and the flavors are light, fresh, and satisfying. You can make souvlaki with any kind of meat, but we love the flavor of marinated lamb best. Grilled peppers and onions prove to be wonderful partners here, especially when they are served in warm pita bread with a generous dollop of mint-flavored yogurt sauce.

Pat: You can shape these burgers into four 1/4-pound patties, but in Memphis, we shape them into mini-burgers so each person gets to eat two (and kids love the easy-to-eat size). Drizzled with a spicy mustard sauce and topped with ripe tomatoes, pickles, and fresh lettuce, these juicy, satisfying burgers fly off the plate every time. Run out of these and you’ll be singing the Memphis blues.

This zippy Italian-style hero proves that a vegetable sandwich can be as hearty as one made with meat. We take colorful slices of grilled, lightly charred vegetables, an oil-and-vinegar dressing, tapenade (a pungent black-olive spread), fresh basil, and provolone cheese, and serve the whole things on a crackly seeded roll that will keep its texture while soaking up the delicious dressing. This satisfying sandwich is delicious with spiced Terra sweet-potato chips.

Pat: The sweet, tangy flavor of barbecued catfish is an itch that needs to be scratched fairly often in the Neely house. Like Tony, I usually prepare too much, but leftovers make great sandwiches the next day (especially on grilled white rolls). Be sure to serve this fish with a generous dollop of homemade tartar sauce, our Sweet and Spicy Slaw (page 90), and warm buttermilk biscuits on the side.

Tony: One of the most important skills for any grill master is knowing when a cut of meat is cooked to the desired temperature. This is particularly important when it comes to pork chops, because they can dry out quickly if they’re overcooked. Technology has made this easier, with the advent of instant-read meat thermometers, but Lord knows we’ve all been in situations where the thermometer has gone missing, and then what happened? Dad burned the chop! Which is why we recommend all cooks acquaint themselves with the Neely “feel test.” Gina: Tony’s just like Pat, always feelin’ things in the kitchen. I tease all the brothers about this, call them the “Feely Neelys.” And this is supposed to be a family cookbook! Tony: Most of us rely on sight and smell in the kitchen, Gina, but you gotta learn to feel as well, especially when grillin’. One surefire way of testing chops and steaks for doneness is our feel test, and it couldn’t be easier to master: All you need is a hand and a finger. Here’s what you do: Relax your left hand and turn it palm-side up. Now take the index finger of your right hand and poke at the soft area of flesh below the thumb on the left hand. Note the give in the flesh. That’s how a cut of meat with an internal temperature of rare (cool, red center) will feel. Now open up your palm, extending the fingers on your left hand. Again, take the index finger of your right hand and poke at the area of flesh below the thumb on the left hand. The flesh will be somewhat tauter, but it will still have some give. That’s how a cut of meat with an internal temperature of medium (warm, pink center) will feel. Now stretch the fingers on your left hand as far as they will go, tightening the hand and fingers as if they were a rubber band stretched to capacity. Again, take the index finger of your right hand and poke at the area of flesh below the thumb. See how tight that is, how little give there is. That’s a well-done steak. So there you have it: Rare feels fleshy, medium is taut but still has some give, and well done is tight as a drum. Next time your steak is on the grill, give it a poke. Gina: You can even poke at your gal, tell her you’re practicing (but make sure you say that her backside is tight as a drum)!

These sweet, tangy shrimp are served in the shell. You gotta peel them to get to the good stuff, so be sure to serve them with plenty of napkins.

What’s the secret to our barbecued chicken? We marinate it in Italian dressing! Then we cook it low and slow—that’s chicken with the Neely brothers’ touch. I love to cook chicken in two halves, because the bones and carcass help keep it moist. You can always cut it into individual pieces once it’s done. I can guarantee you a great bird if you use our dressing, but feel free to use bottled Italian dressing in a pinch.

Pat: One of the first lessons we learned in the restaurant business was to waste nothing. Gina: Use it or lose it. That’s the Neely motto. Pat: Take the brisket bone, or rib tip, for example. It’s normally discarded from the spare rib. At Neely’s, however, it has become another distinctive menu item. We call rib tips the “rich man’s neck bone,” because the gristle and fat make this cut of meat rich and flavorful. We cook ours slowly and gently—it keeps them moist and tender. Once cooked, rib tips can be chopped into bite-sized pieces and are often served as an appetizer. They can be found on restaurant menus all over the country, but they are particularly popular in Chicago, where they are served atop a basket of fries. These bite-sized chunks of tender meat can also be served as an entrée. I have been known to bring home a pound or two to eat with any leftover vegetable that Gina may have prepared the night before. Gina: Do you see why I married this man??? The things he can do with a rib tip!

Pat: Beef ribs are not nearly as common in Memphis as pork ribs, but they are still loved by many and always worth a slab. Because of their massive size—beef rib bones are twice the size of pork ribs—beef ribs are often referred to as the “Fred Flintstone bone.” This size scares a lot of novice grillers, but there’s no need to worry. Beef ribs have more bone than meat, so they will actually take less time to cook and prepare. As with other ribs, they must be slow-cooked at a low temperature for the tenderest results. Cooked for less than 3 hours over indirect heat, these ribs will add real Texas flavor to your backyard cookout.

Gina: This is an idea that Pat and I hatched when we were thinking of other ways to use our Neely’s Barbecue Seasoning. We were already sprinkling it over various meats, and I was using it to season catfish. So, one evening when I was having a cocktail (which is when I am most creative), I thought, why not combine the barbecue seasoning with butter?!? I checked with Pat, and he thought it was a great idea, and, voilà, barbecue butter was born. You know, some of our best dishes have come from just messing around, so you might want to do what we do and let yourself go in the kitchen! During warm weather, when we don’t have the time (or the desire) to stand over a hot stove, few meals are as enticing as a piece of grilled fish like halibut, tuna, or salmon alongside grilled spears of asparagus slathered with this lively butter. The addictive butter (flavored with fresh herbs, scallions, and orange zest) is also incredibly versatile. Try it tossed with pasta and grilled shrimp, or melted over a seared steak. Boiled creamy new potatoes or steamed rice is a great accompaniment to this simple, satisfying meal. Barbecue butter will keep in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.

Gina: If you’ve never spent a summer in the South, then you don’t know heat like we know heat! Baby, this dish is perfect for a sultry Memphis evening, because it requires very little cooking. The shrimp and zucchini are grilled briefly, and the rest of the ingredients are simply heated in olive oil for a few minutes, to coax out their flavor. Then everything is tossed with pasta shells, and you are done, sugar. We call for cherry tomatoes, but feel free to use Sweet 100, currant, or pear tomatoes, or any other small tomatoes available at your local farmers’ market. Best of all, you’ll walk away from the table feeling satisfied but not too full. Choose a nice Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, and you are set.

Pat: If you haven’t figured this out by now, in Memphis we find a way to barbecue everything. One day Tony and I turned our attention to flatbread and—surprise, surprise—we came up with a recipe for barbecue pizza! We make ours with a crispy grilled crust, sautéed onions and peppers, and barbecue sauce, and then top the whole thing with one of our favorite cooked meats. It’s a Neely game-time staple, because the dough and toppings can be made hours in advance, so the pizzas can be assembled in minutes and popped into the oven. Don’t be intimidated by the crust—our homemade dough is easy to make and a great project to work on with your kids. In our house, it’s not a pizza party until everyone is dusted with flour.