I decided to do a grilling event at our church recently. Call it something like a tailgate party, though I really just grilled a bunch of food for eating inside.

Like any other use of a grill, you should always preheat it. I also used a pan spray to oil up the grates. If you are using a gas grill, be aware that spraying a pan spray over the open flame will give you a nice flare-up of flames. Conduct yourself carefully if spraying when the grill is lit. Since I was grilling zucchini and then some meat products, preheating the grill allowed the grates to get very hot, which left nice grill marks on the vegetable.

I had a bunch of beef franks, which really don’t need any recipe to cook. I placed them cross-wise on the grill, allowing them to get grill marks before turning them 45 degrees and continuing to grill. I turned them two more times until I had grill marks all the way around. Knowing that some folks would prefer slightly browned (or even blackened franks), I cooked some in the hot and slightly cooler zones of my grill. The cooler section only lightly browned the frank, while the hot section put on a pretty good char.

I did have to work a little harder with the beef patties I was cooking, as I wanted to cook a bunch of them, but had to work the hotter and cooler sections together to have a bunch finish cooking about the same time. What I did was start some of the patties in the cooler section first, then laying out some in the hotter section. When it came time to flip them, those on the cooler side went to the hotter side and vice versa. This flip is when I seasoned this patties with a seasoning blend and fresh ground pepper. When the patties were nearly done, I put on a slice of medium cheddar cheese, as it would handle the heat a bit better than an American cheese slice.

I chose to not grill the buns this time, but looking back it would have been a great flavor enhancer. I would have had to do it before I cooked the patties, as the grill marks on the bread would have been more defined.

GRILLED ZUCCHINI

4 to 6 small zucchini, cleaned and cut in half lengthwise

Italian dressing

Brush each piece of zucchini with dressing and grill or broil until tender.