Serious summer business

Now that summer is really here and the rain seems to have stopped for awhile, it is time to talk about one of the most important rituals of summer -- grilling. My husband is definitely the "Grill-Master" of our family. He grills almost anything I ask him to grill and that is really nice. Sometimes it works out and sometimes we say, "never again."

One of the most successful items he grills is not steak, hamburger or chicken but the lowly potato. My son (who is equally serious as my husband about grilling) actually introduced us to this method and it was a great hit and is a dish we often serve. I always hated to cook potatoes in the oven on hot days, so often we wouldn't bother with them, but grilling potatoes is easy and keeps things cool.


Anyway, the potatoes are easy. Just wash them well and dry them. Tear off heavy duty tin foil and tear those pieces in half, if needed, to fit the size of your potatoes.


Next, place them in a shallow dish and drizzle olive oil over the potatoes. Rub the oil on all the potatoes and then coat them with coarse salt. My husband doesn't use too much salt and likes to pour the salt on over the dish so that the salt falls on the other potates.


He then rolls them in tin foil and places them on the top rack of a preheated grill set on low. He usually cooks them for 15 to 30 minutes or until they are soft, when pressed. The time will vary, depending on your grill but the last 10 minutes or so of the cooking can be done while you are grilling other things, if your grill has a top rack.


If you don't have a top rack, place them on the regular grill rack, but you have to watch them more closely because they can become hard on the outside edges -- sort of like in restaurants. The salt on the outside of the potato skins is very good and these potatoes are really fluffy and creamy. You can use russet potatoes or red potatoes but remember that it doesn't take nearly as long as baking in the oven.