Grilling In April: Five Recipes to Savor Those Sunny Days

2. Honey Soy Chicken Wings

These wings take on a distinctly Asian flavor profile thanks to a marinade featuring honey, soy sauce, ginger, and Chinese 5-spice powder, likely one of the most aromatic spices in your pantry. (Be sure to pick up a fresh jar if you suspect yours is more than 6 months old. The spice mixture is widely available in supermarkets.) I like to use whole wings for this recipe, stretching them out on skewers to maximize their surface area. But feel free to substitute drumettes and flats, if desired. Provide plenty of napkins! These wings are sticky. But oh-so-good.

Get The Recipe »

3. Barbecued Pork Belly

Bacon is about smoke and salt. Barbecue is about smoke and spice. They join forces in this barbecued pork belly—inspired by a new-school barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, called Q39, run by an old-school chef and pit master named Rob Magee. What is most remarkable about this sizzling, spice-crusted barbecued belly is how it retains the sweet, meaty taste of fresh pork. You’d never mistake it for bacon.

Get The Recipe »

5. Smoked Cheesecake with Burnt Sugar Cream Sauce

By now you probably realize you can smoke just about anything. But should you? Only if smoking adds something to a food or dish that makes it better or more interesting than it would be in its natural state.

Which brings us to cheesecake. This is another dessert that you usually bake in a pan of simmering water, which cooks the filling while preventing it from cracking or curdling. In other words, low, slow, and moist. Sounds like a session in a water smoker to Steven. The smoke gives the cheesecake a haunting flavor—familiar yet exotic. This may just be the most interesting cheesecake you’ll ever set fork to.

Get The Recipe »