Have you ever needed to cook food on your grill for longer than expected? The problem may be that you’re overloading the cooking plates, which can cause longer cooking times – it may also affect the quality of your finished plates of food. In this post, we’ll be giving tips on loading your plates correctly to achieve more even results within the recommended cooking times found in your Use & Care manual.

The first key is not to overload the bottom plate – you can’t overstuff your grill with food and expect that it will cook with the same quality and quickness that it would for a regular load. If individual pieces are touching each other on the sides because there so much food on the grill, this will affect your results and take longer to cook because there is more food than the embedded heating element can handle.

A fixed plate grill with embedded heating elements

You also don’t want any edges or sides of the food hanging out beyond edge of the cooking plate. As we mentioned in our feature focus post, the embedded heating elements are designed to provide even heat from the center to the sides of the plate, but food that goes beyond this won’t cook correctly because it’s not coming into contact with the heating element.

The last key to correctly loading your cooking plates is to make sure that the food is all the same thickness – both on individual pieces and the plate as a whole. Since contact grills, by design, cook from both sides, the top plate needs to be touching the food to cook correctly in the time provided. If any piece or part of a piece isn’t touching the top plate, it won’t cook like everything else. For steaks in particular, you won’t get that steakhouse quality center of pinkness – the same issue you have if you don’t turn the meat often enough on a regular grill.

So how do you know how much food to put on the plate to have it cook correctly? A good rule of thumb is that an average serving size equals about 20 sq. in. of space on your grill. If you know the size of your grill, simply divide that number by 20; this will give you a rough estimate of your grill’s serving size. Obviously some foods, like flank or skirt steak for instance, will take up more space, but this formula works as a general rule for things like burgers, chicken breasts, chops and sausage patties.

From all of us on the George Foreman team, to all of you and yours, we’d like to wish you a good, happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day! We hope you get time to enjoy some great grilled food and your favorite green beverage with the ones you love.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from George Foreman!

For kids and college students, spring break is a whole week to just kick back and relax, but for moms it can mean a lot of extra meals and mouths to feed. College students come home, everyone has friends over and they’re (of course) all hungry for good home cooked food.

So how do you make everyone happy without spending your whole day cooking in the kitchen? It’s easy with your George Foreman grill! From crowd-pleasing burgers and hot dogs, to more interesting party fare, you can do a lot of meals on your George Foreman with minimal hassle and cleanup. That way, the kids and their friends get full and you still have time left in your day to do everything you need to get done.

Really, the nice thing about using your grill for spring break cooking is the minimal effort that it takes – one cooking surface to clean (even easier if you have removable plates that can be thrown in the dishwasher), minimal prep time to start and everything is typically done in under ten minutes. It’s just a matter of planning and buying ingredients for a few simple meals and you can be set for all those emergency Spring Break mealtimes that you know will pop up through the week.

For a regular George Foreman grill, here is a quick and easy top ten list of the best foods you can make to satisfy your Spring Break bunch:

1. Hamburgers / mini-burgers / sliders
2. Hot dogs
3. Grilled shrimp
4. Grilled chicken / steak sandwiches
5. BBQ steak bites
6. Kebabs
7. Bangers & mash / Bangers & mac (sausage and mashed potatoes, or substitute mac & cheese for a more kid-oriented meal)
8. Fajitas
9. Pork chops
10. Grilled cheese sandwiches  

Package brownies made in the Kitchen Bistro

If you have a multi-plate grill with a bake plate or other accessory plates, you have even more options to choose from. Here are some additional kid-friendly meals using some of the additional plates offered from George Foreman:

1. Pizza – classic pizza can be made using the pizza pan on your 360 Grill™
2. Quesadillas – used the 360 Grill™ quesadilla plates or the George Foreman Quesadilla Maker
3. Brownies – use the bake pan on the Kitchen Bistro™ Grill with a regular packaged brownie mix (may work with other bake plates, but you will need to adjust the size and cook time)
4. Lunch lasagna – you can make this with any George Foreman grill that has a deep-dish bake pan
5. Late breakfast – you can use the bake or griddle pan on any George Foreman grill to do sausage, eggs and pancakes; some grills also include waffle plates

No matter how many mouths you’ll have to feed, Spring Break cooking is just easier with a George Foreman grill. You can use the list provided and have the whole week’s worth of meals already planned, so you can make easy work of pleasing all the hungry kids at your house during their break.

It’s time for another look at how George Foreman grills are designed to help you cook healthier without a hassle. This month, our Feature Focus takes a closer look at the George Tough™ nonstick coating.

While almost any contact grill you buy nowadays will have a nonstick coating, the quality of the coating can be drastically different and can affect the performance and durability of your grill. A bad nonstick coating can peel after washing or scrubbing and a low-quality nonstick coating may still require oil or butter to prevent delicate foods from sticking to the plate during cooking. These two factors make getting a grill with a high-quality nonstick coating vital to grilling healthier and to extending the life of your grill.

Every George Foreman grill comes with our George Tough™ nonstick coating, which provides several benefits in the way it’s designed to work.

George Tough Nonstick Coating helps prevent sticking on delicate foods

First, the quality of our coating helps ensure you don’t need to season the cooking surface with oil or butter when cooking your foods – even for delicate foods like veggies and fish. You can simply put the food directly on the grill and avoid the added fat and calories of the oil or butter.

The second benefit comes in our multi-coat system. Our George Tough™ nonstick isn’t just applied once. Instead, it’s coated multiple times to help protect against cracking and peeling. This extends the life of your grill, plus allows you to wash the grill plates in the dishwasher if your grill has removable plates. In other words, you spend less time cleaning and get more uses out of your grill, overall.

We believe in our nonstick coating so much that we had it tested against a major competitor to see how the coatings stack up. The test was done using the Next Grilleration G5 with the George Tough™ triple nonstick versus a major competitor’s grill. Each grill plate was run through the same abrasion test that scrubs the plates back and forth to test the wear. The competitor’s coating wore out after 7000 scrubs, while the George Tough™ triple nonstick on the G5 was still good after 150,000 scrubs.

So, the George Tough™ nonstick coating is specifically designed to help you cook healthier without oil/butter, extend the life of your grill and minimize cleanup – it’s three benefits from one feature.

Some FaceBook fans have been searching for waffle recipes for their George Foreman waffle plate sets. Several of our removable plate grills actually come with a waffle plate set that lets you make waffles directly on your grill. The Next Grilleration™ G5 and the Kitchen Bistro™ G4 Waffle both come with waffle plates included; the 360 Grill™ has accessory waffle plates that are sold separately.

Heart-shaped waffle plates for the 360 Grill

360 Grill™: 1½ – 1¼ cups of batter; cook on High for about 8 minutes.

Kitchen Bistro™ G4: ⅔ – 1 cup of batter; cook at 425°F for about 6 – 8 minutes

Next Grilleration™ G5: ⅔ cup of batter; cook on HIGH for about 3 – 5 minutes

WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups buttermilk
• ½ cup butter, melted*

Preheat your grill with the waffle plates in place.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt; stir to blend. In a second bowl, beat eggs; blend in buttermilk and butter. Add to flour mixture all at once and blend until just smooth.

Pour 1¼ cups of batter onto the center of the waffle plates. Close the lid and bake about 8 minutes until the lid opens easily and waffles are golden.

Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve immediately with maple or boysenberry syrup, if desired.

Tip: This also makes a great dessert topped with vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream and caramel sauce.

*If desired, you can substitute margarine or canola oil for butter.

BANANA BACON WAFFLES

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tbsp. baking powder
• 1½ tbsp. sugar
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 5 large eggs
• 2¼ cups milk
• ¼ cup butter, melted*
• 2 tbsp. bacon drippings
• ½ cup crumbled cooked bacon or turkey bacon
• 1 large banana, finely chopped

Preheat your grill with waffle plates in place.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt; stir to blend. In a second bowl, beat eggs; blend in milk, butter and drippings. Add to flour mixture all at once and blend until just smooth. Stir in bacon and banana.

Pour 1½ cups batter onto the center of the waffle plates. Close the lid and bake about 8 minutes until the lid opens easily and waffles are golden.

Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve immediately with syrup, if desired.

*If desired, you can substitute margarine or canola oil for butter.

Due to the overwhelming requests we’ve had for Next Grilleration recipes on the blog and from our Facebook fans, we’re posting a selection of recipe classics for the Next Grilleration. This classic George Foreman grill comes in several different varieties with various selections of accessory plates – whether you have the G5 with the 5 plates, the G4 with 4 plates or the G3 with 3, at least some of these recipes will work on your grill.

Some of the recipes you’ll find here come from the Use & Care manual, although a few are new – done for either cooking shows or our newsletter. If you have the Use & Care, you may still want to look through these just in case there’s something new that you’d want to try.

A note on waffles & omelets: The G5 models include waffle plates and there was a special online promotion a few years ago that sold a Next Grilleration with an omelet plate set. We’re going to be doing some new waffle and omelet recipes over the coming weeks and should be posting them soon. Look forward to it!

Greek Oregano Chicken

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. dried Greek oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. salt
• 4 halves boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients except the chicken in a self-sealing plastic bag. Add the chicken breasts and turn to coat. Refrigerate 1 to 4 hours.

Place the steak plate in the top of the unit and the grill plate in the bottom. Set the lock lever to the front, locked position. Set the temperature to Medium and preheat. Close the lid.

Cook the chicken for 6 minutes. Discard the marinade. Check the chicken and continue grilling until no pink remains and the internal temperature of the meat reaches 180ºF (82ºC).

Serves 4.

Tenderloin Steaks with Grilled Mushrooms & Blue Cheese

• 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced (or 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms)
• 1 strip turkey bacon, cut into 4 pieces
• 4, 4 oz. beef tenderloin steaks
• salt and black pepper
• 4 tsp. blue cheese, crumbled (substitute gorgonzola cheese)

Place the steak plate in the top of the unit and the grill plate in the bottom. Set the lock lever to the front, locked position. Set the temperature to High and preheat.

Place the mushrooms on the grill plate and top with the bacon. Close the lid. Cook for 8 minutes. Cook until the bacon is crisp and mushrooms are browned. Discard the bacon. Remove the mushrooms and keep warm.

Dust the steaks with salt and pepper to taste. Close the lid. Grill the steaks for 4 minutes. Check the steaks and continue grilling if needed. To serve, top each steak with 1 teaspoon of the cheese and the mushrooms.

Serves 4.

Vegetable & Rice Bake

• 6 ounces mushrooms chopped
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. pepper
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and thickly sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, thickly sliced
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 can (16 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. jarred pesto sauce

In a skillet, brown mushrooms in 2 tbsp. olive oil on medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened. Stir in cooked rice.

Press into the bottom and up the sides of your baking dish (either the bake plate of your grill or your baking vessel if you will be using an oven).

Meanwhile, preheat your grill on High. Brush eggplant and zucchini with remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill vegetables till crisp tender – about 3 minutes for grills with variable temperature or less for grills without this feature. Turn off the grill and allow it to cool.

Remove from grill and cut into cubes. In bowl, combine with tomatoes, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and pesto. Spoon into center of rice mixture. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup Parmesan cheese over vegetable mixture.

Using the bake plate, place the plate onto bottom of grill. Close the lid. Set the baking time for 20 minutes and the temperature for Med-High. Bake until hot and cheese is melted.

Using pot holders, remove baking vessel and place on heat-resistant surface. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Lime & Chili Marinated Chicken Fajitas

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp.  ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 small white onion, peeled and sliced into rings
• ½ green bell pepper, cored and sliced
• ½ red bell pepper, cored and sliced
• 8 fajita-size low fat flour tortillas
• Nonfat cooking spray
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 cup nonfat sour cream
• ½ cup prepared mild salsa

In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, garlic and the cilantro.  Place chicken breasts in a glass pan and pour half of the marinade over the breasts.  Cover the chicken breasts and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

Place the sliced vegetables into a sealable plastic bag and pour in the remaining marinade to coat the vegetables.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Spray the grill with cooking spray and preheat for 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Place the breasts on the grill and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until no pink remains.

Remove the chicken and place the marinated vegetables on the grill.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Thinly slice the chicken breasts across the grain and place on a platter.  Top the chicken slices with the grilled vegetables.  Serve with warmed flour tortillas.  Provide avocado slices, sour cream and salsa as condiments.

Serves 4.

Salmon Fillets with Tarragon & Marjoram Marinade

• 6, 6 to 8 oz. salmon fillets
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup  vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. fresh tarragon, minced
• 2 tsp. fresh marjoram, minced
• ½ tsp.  fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• Nonfat cooking spray

Place the salmon fillets in a large glass pan.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the salmon fillets.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.  Turn the fillets once or twice while marinating.

Coat the grill with the cooking spray and preheat for 5 minutes.  Place the steaks in the grill and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily and is cooked through.

Serves 4.

Calypso Pork with Grilled Pepper & Onion

• 4, 6 oz. pork chops
• 1 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp.  ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch rings
• 1 purple onion, cut into ¼-inch rings
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Nonfat cooking spray

Remove any excess fat from the pork chops.  In a small bowl, combine the ginger, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic, cilantro, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and cumin into a thick rub.  Press the rub onto all sides of the pork chops.  Cover the chops tightly and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.  Place the pepper and onion rings in a bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and salt and pepper and toss. 

If desired, spray the grill with cooking spray; preheat for 5 minutes.  Place the vegetable rings on the grill and cook for 2 minutes.  Move the vegetables to the sides and place the pork chops on the grill and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.  Place the grilled pork chops on individual plates and garnish them with the grilled pepper and onion rings.

Serves 4.

 Grilled Halibut with Citrus-Caper Sauce

• 2 tbsp. low-fat margarine
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup fresh orange juice
• ¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp. capers, drained
• 4, 6 oz. halibut steaks
• 1 tsp. lemon pepper
• 2 tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the oil over low heat. Add the lemon juice, orange juice, mustard and capers. Blend and simmer 2-3 minutes. Place the steak plate in the top of the unit and the grill plate in the bottom. Set the lock lever to the front, locked position. Set the temperature to Medium and preheat.

Place the steaks on the grill plate and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Cook for 7 minutes. Check and continue grilling if necessary. To serve, top each steak with sauce and fresh parsley.

Fresh Home-Baked Biscuits

• 2 cup all-purpose white flour
• 2½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. low-fat margarine
• ¾ cup low-fat milk

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the margarine into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk. Stir with a fork until the dough forms a ball. Place on a floured surface. Knead the dough about 10 times.

Roll the dough into a circle about ¼-inch thick. Use a 2 to 3-inch round cutter to cut out circles.

Place the steak plate in the top of the unit and the baking pan in the bottom. Set the lock lever to the back, locked position. Set the temperature to Medium and preheat. Place the biscuits in the pan 1 inch apart. Close the lid. Bake 6-8 minutes.

Makes 8 to 12 biscuits.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup low-fat margarine, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 12 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips

Mix together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, mix the margarine and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla; stir again. Add the flour mixture and stir until a smooth batter forms. Fold in the chips. Place the steak plate in the top of the unit and the baking pan in the bottom. Set the lock lever to the back, locked position. Set the temperature to Medium and preheat.

Drop the cookies by teaspoons, 2 inches apart, in the baking pan. Flatten each cookie with the back of a spoon. Close the lid. Bake 6-8 minutes. Remove cookies with a plastic spatula and cool. Cookies will be soft until cooled. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Makes about 40 cookies.

We’ve had a number of requests from our blog readers and Facebook fans for Panini recipes. So, without further ado, here is the first in a selection of Panini recipes we’ll be posting over the coming months for your café dining pleasure.

The contact grill plates of your George Foreman are weighted to press Panini and create the signature grill marks you see on the top of the sandwich (picture to show pressing only; not intended to show actual recipe sandwich)

For the uninitiated, a Panini is a hot Italian sandwich which has the outside of the bread lightly brushed with olive oil before it’s cooked on a grill. They’re easy to make, can be filled with almost anything you want and cook in about 3-4 minutes on your George Foreman grill. The contact grill plates do most of the work for you, automatically pressing the bread and creating the café-style marks on the outside.

The recipe below is actually our meaty take on a classic Italian Panini called a caprese, which is made with only the mozzarella, basil and tomato.

• 2 ciabatta rolls, split lengthwise or 2-4” wide pieces
• 6 thin slices prosciutto
• 1 small fresh mozzarella ball, sliced
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 4 large fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Place bread, cut side up on cutting board.  Top each slice of bread with prosciutto, mozzarella slices, tomato, and basil. Cover with remaining slices of bread and brush outside of sandwich with olive oil.

Place on preheated grill (set at HIGH for variable temperature) and close lid. Grill about 3-4 minutes or until sandwich is golden and cheese is melted.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

We just wanted to give everyone a quick reminder to come see us at the Food Network South Beach Food & Wine Festival, in their Grand Tasting Tent from February 26^th to the 28^th.

We’ll have a tasting table that will offer a more spohisticated look at the food you can do on your George Foreman grill, beyond the standard burgers and chicken breasts. You’ll be able to meet some of the members of our team, see product demonstrations and learn how to do more with your George Foreman Grill.

This is a great event for all the foodies, grilling fanatics and George Foreman fans to come out and see what we’re all about.

You can find more details for the festival itself at www.sobefest.com, so come enjoy some sun, sand and sensational grilled food with the George Foreman team!

From all of us on the George Foreman team, to all of you and yours, we wish you a good, happy and healthy Valentine’s Day weekend! We hope you get some time to enjoy your valentine and your family, and maybe share some great grilled food with the ones you love.

Happy Valentine’s Day from George Foreman!

Attention all foodies and grill fanatics!

George Foreman Grills will be at the Food Network South Beach Food & Wine Festival, February 26^th – 28^th, 2010. We’ll be hosting an exhibit in the Grand Tasting Tent of the festival, directly on the beach.

We’ll be showcasing several of our grills, including the blog favorite Kitchen Bistro™ Grill. You can stop by to see demonstrations of our products in action, speak with one of our George Foreman experts or to get some cool George Foreman merchandise you can’t get anywhere else.

We’ll be providing more details each week leading up to the festival, so stay tuned for more details! You can also find more information on the festival itself at www.sobefest.com.