Heating Things Up With Chef Curtis Stone

While summer is heating up, so are our grills. With July comes National Grilling Month, but it also welcomes the summer showers that sometimes threaten to rain on our parades. Whether you live in an apartment without a yard, or you fret the summer showers, no need to cancel your summer barbecue just yet – we have you covered.

Below are some of HSN’s Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone’s top tips to bring your barbecue inside, and still have a fun summer day none of your friends or family will forget.

• Use the right pan. This might be obvious, but a good indoor grill pan is essential. One with substantial ridges will give those delicious char marks and flavor you get from a BBQ. The grill pan I always turn to at home is nonstick as well – it makes grilling super easy…fish won’t stick, meats retain a super flavorful caramelization, sticky sauces wipe right out, and I can cut down on the amount of oil I need to cook with, plus nothing beats the easy cleanup – key when I’m in my home kitchen. Here’s a link to some of my favorite indoor grill pans: https://www.hsn.com/search?query=curtis+grill+pan
• Use the right tools. I’ve spent years cooking in other peoples’ homes and creating products that help solve their cooking dilemmas, like my burger press to form perfect burger patties, and my heavy-duty grill press to ensure even browning, and my bamboo grilling tongs and spatulas. Here’s a link to some of my must-have grilling tools: https://www.hsn.com/search?query=curtis+grilling+tool ; https://www.hsn.com/products/curtis-stone-set-of-2-tiger-bamboo-tongs/8585969?query=8585969&isSuggested=true
• Add smoky flavor to simulate cooking on a charcoal grill. I do love the smoky flavor imparted from cooking over charcoal – it’s just one of my favorite features of my restaurant, Gwen. But when grilling indoors, this smoky addition can come in a variety of other ways. Use a smoky seasoning, like smoked paprika, chipotle chiles, or smoked salt in a marinade, spice rub, or sauce, or try a smoked gouda or cheddar on your burgers.
• Select the best ingredients for grilling. When grilling indoors (or outdoors), cook foods that are naturally tender and take only minutes to cook. These include burgers, steaks, boneless chicken breasts and thighs, pork chops, fish, shellfish, and summer produce such as eggplant, peppers/chilies, zucchini/summer squash, tomatoes, onions, corn, peaches, plums, apricots, figs, pineapple, melons, and bananas. Here’s a link to my choice meats to grill: https://www.hsn.com/search?query=curtis%20meat&store=qc0037
• Crank up the heat and adjust. Preheat your pan until droplets of water sizzle up instantly. The high heat will create tasty golden brown grill marks (“sear”) on your food, which equates to flavor. Then, adjust the heat as you cook to ensure your food browns nicely on the outside while cooking to the ideal doneness within. Use a meat thermometer, like my kinetic meat thermometer that takes the internal temp of your meats so you’ll know when they’re cooked to perfect doneness (my thermometer doesn’t use any batteries either!). Check it out here: https://www.hsn.com/search?query=curtis+kinetic
• Keep the kitchen well ventilated. Turn on the range hood to suck up all the heat and fumes, which will keep your room cooler and eliminate any lingering smells well after your indoor que session. No range hood? Point a fan towards an open window to help draw out all the heat, fumes, and any smoke.

In order to kick off National Grilling Month, HSN and Curtis Stone hosted our own indoor summer barbecue for editors in New York City. At the event, Stone presented some delicious ways to spice up your summer BBQ using his new line of grill meats and sides that just launched with HSN.  Curtis presented a three-course menu, showing guests how to elevate the common BBQ menu with items from his new collection such as Citrus Peppercorn Pork Chops, Pimento Cheeseburgers, Coulotte Steaks and more.

Start firing up the indoor or outdoor grills in preparation for your next summer barbecue. Shop Curtis Stone’s food and cookware line exclusively on HSN.