Grill

If you've ever nuked a casserole or roasted a Thanksgiving turkey with plastic-bagged giblets inside, take heart from the tale Michael Mayfield tells on himself. Mayfield, the boss with the Dijon sauce at Fireworks in the Reading Terminal, once hosted a party for 53 people at his Lansdowne apartment - and couldn't get the charcoal grill started. "People were looking at me, like, 'You do what for a living?"' Mayfield recalled humbly. See, it happens to everybody. The grill eventually did start, and Mayfield dished up the same chicken and Brie sandwiches, Italian sausage and thick sirloin burgers that Fireworks serves to as many as 175 customers every day. The ever-cheerful Mayfield, 29, grills at home only when he's entertaining.

Q: I would like to try to grill fish whole. I've heard it is pretty easy, but I have never done it before and I'm a little nervous. Do you have a foolproof method or recipe for cooking whole fish? Regards. - Harry S. A: The good news for you, Harry, is that when you grill fish you are in control, and it truly is very easy. Some people may wonder, why bother to cook a whole fish? We do it for the same reason that we cook a whole chicken or any other piece of meat on the bone; the final product is much juicier and more flavorful.

What would we have done in this summer of our discontent without the outdoor grill? And because we've expanded our barbecuing horizons in recent years, we can cook with enough variety on the grill to keep us out of the oven until at least World Series time. The Express Check-Out Diner bought his usual 10 items (actually a few less). I used sesame seeds, soy sauce and sherry from my pantry and whizzed through the local Super Fresh in a mere 17 minutes. Two large chicken breasts ($5.08)

Many home-grown vegetables are ideal for the barbecue . . . especially those prize-winning giant zucchini the size of baseball bats. Zucchini, yellow summer squash and large eggplant can be sliced into thick "steaks. " But first rub the slices lightly with herbs and olive oil and a cut clove of garlic, then barbecue just like fish fillets or hamburgers. Here's another idea: First marinate the fresh vegetable slices in a little light Italian-seasoned salad dressing. Do the same with halved brightly-colored sweet red, yellow and green bell pepper halves (membranes and seeds removed)

Once upon a time, most food was thrown on the grill naked and served unadorned. Unbelievable, I know, but true. Now, of course, "building" or "layering" flavor with marinades, rubs, brines, smoke, sauces, chutneys, and more is where it's at, even for home cooks. But how much is too much? Are there rules that will decrease the number of times this grilling season that you will have to order pizza because of the misapplication of enhancements to expensive cuts of beef? With Memorial Day and grilling season upon us, there's nobody better to answer such pressing questions than two Philadelphia-area food professionals, Andrew Schloss and David Joachim.

From the authors of Fish on the Grill (Contemporary Books), a popular cookbook of two summers ago, comes this season's logical sequel: Shellfish on the Grill (Contemporary Books, $7.95). For this sea adventure, food writers Phyllis Magida and Barbara Grunes again have joined in preparing a straightforward, sensible and easy-to-follow guide to preparing everything from barnacles (a growing West Coast trend) to squid. Magida and Grunes have included recipes for the imitation crab and lobster products that are becoming increasingly available in supermarkets.

I have this great idea for a TV sitcom. There's this handsome ex-mayor of a big old East Coast city, and he fancies he'd like to own an old-fashioned bar and grill. He finds one in a section of town that's rapidly moving from shabby to chic, and he spruces it up. One night a local restaurant critic slips in, unnoticed. Hizzoner smiles at her, and she thinks she's been spotted. But no, he's a politician, remember, and these guys smile at everything that moves. So she relaxes, eats her dinner, pays the check and gets ready to leave when someone tells the manager that she's The Critic, and suddenly the place is buzzing.

This light dish, from Williams-Sonoma's Cooking From the Farmers' Market , is a perfect summer supper on the grill. It's quick and easy enough for a weeknight, yet elegant enough for company.   Grilled Black Cod With Cucumbers and Ginger 1. Prepare a grill for direct grilling over high heat, or use a stovetop grill pan. Oil the grill rack. 2. In a bowl, combine the cucumbers and onion and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let stand for 15 mintues. Stir in the ginger, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Set aside.

One needn't subscribe to a vegetarian diet to find pleasure in lightly smoky, caramelized vegetables prepared on the grill. Numerous varieties - squash, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, eggplant, and fennel, to name a few - take extraordinarily well to this method of cooking. Vegetables are largely ignored once they hit the grates, when in fact they require, and sometimes deserve, the most attention. With the right treatment, they can easily be the star of the meal. And, because their time on the grill is short - most need just about 10 minutes' cooking time - even a last-minute barbecue can come together quickly.

1 cup light miso * 1 cup mirin (sweet Japanese wine) * 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped 2 teaspoons sambal (Vietnamese hot chili paste) 4 pieces of boneless, skinless cod, about 1 1/2 pounds 1. Combine all ingredients except the fish, and stir to blend in a nonreactive container. 2. Place cod in a 9-by-13 Pyrex dish, spoon the marinade on top, and turn fish to coat on both sides. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least two hours, or overnight.

Today, the City Council budget hearing for the school district starts at 10 a.m. Given what's at stake and the complexity of the changes the district is proposing, by our reckoning, the hearing should end ... sometime next month. The district recently announced a massive restructuring plan that will close schools, create "achievement networks," push more students into charters, and rely on major concessions from the unions to get $156 million in savings, while coping with a deficit of more than $200 million for next year.

Chillin' Wit' is a regular feature of the Daily News spotlighting a name in the news away from the job. AS LATE-afternoon sun breaks through the clouds and residents enjoy a warm Sunday afternoon on their patios on Tudor Street off Frankford Avenue, Mayfair Town Watch President Milt Martelack kicks back with Vice President Anna Stacey as her husband prepares a barbecued feast on his double grill. "If you go through the neighborhood, you'll see everyone else doing the same thing," Martelack says with a grin.

Much as I love a big, beefy steak on the grill, sometimes I need something lighter. My new favorite is cauliflower — sliced into two thick "steaks. " In this recipe, I've topped them with poached eggs and truffle oil, creating a delicious sauce. Grilled Cauliflower Steaks With Poached Eggs and Truffle Oil Makes 2 servings 1 large head cauliflower Olive oil Salt, ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tablespoon vinegar 2 eggs Truffle oil (or truffle-flavored olive oil)

An excerpt from the blog "My Daughter's Kitchen. " I have long wished for a good marinade for chicken on the grill. My requirements: that it be not too sweet, not too gloppy, not too complicated, not too expensive. I wanted a flavor profile that would appeal to adults and children, that could easily be expanded to feed a crowd, and would be an easy go-to, that could be thrown together with little effort, with ingredients already in the pantry. With this recipe, from Nina Simonds new cookbook, Simple Asian Meals , I have found the winner.

Benny Lai was already deep into the research for Grill Fish Cafe in West Philly, grazing the coast of Vietnam with his family, before he realized what his vision for the old Vietnam Cafe space was becoming: an Asian take on Greek Dmitri's, simple seafood plates with a light Vietnamese touch. There's grilled octopus and crispy shrimp (but not D's "pil-pil"-style; the garlicky pepper-and-lime dipping sauce here is cut, like Viet coffee, with a dash of sweet condensed milk.) My favorites, though, were the kind of affordable, straightforward entrees that make normally pricey seafood accessible for neighborhood regulars - crispy flounder streaked with spicy ginger and scallion oil; tilapia simmered in cilantro tomato sauce, and this generous slice of Scottish salmon, marked on the grill then splashed with gingered soy and fresh mint.

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed 1 (4-inch-long) serrano or 2 Thai  chiles, stemmed, half of the  seeds removed, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon smoked paprika Kosher salt and freshly ground  black pepper 2 (1-pound) rib-eye steaks, each about 1 inch thick 2 tablespoons olive oil 1. In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, capers, chilies, sugar, paprika, and 2 teaspoons salt.

Four men were stabbed early this morning during a brawl outside a Center City bar, police said. The victims, all in their 20s, were reported in stable condition after arriving at area hospitals in private vehicles following the melee at Big Bang's Bar and Grill at 1433 Arch St., police said. Police said a fight inside the bar spilled on to the street, where the four were stabbed, around 1:45 a.m. Two victims who had been stabbed in the back went to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania while two others went to Hahnemann University Hospital, one with a back wound and the other with a wound to the left hand, police said.

Company line: Three flour tortillas with grilled shrimp in a spicy chile-lime sauce topped with fresh cilantro-lime slaw, house-made pico de gallo and sliced avocados. Chain: Chili's. Location: 1239 Filbert St. Order time: 13 minutes. Price: $10.79 Calories: 1,010, with 40 grams of protein, 43 grams of fat and 3,040 mgs of sodium (less than 2,300 mgs of sodium per day is recommended). Review : Chains are supposed to be all about consistency, but you can never take out the human element.

IF THERE'S a silver lining to the sordid, expanding cloud that has cast a sickening pall over Happy Valley, it's that Penn State will emerge from this scandal a safer, more transparent university. That's the plan, anyway. Yesterday, a committee created by the Penn State Board of Trustees tapped former FBI Director Louis Freeh to lead an independent investigation into the Jerry Sandusky child-sexual-abuse allegations and into the sluggish response - or worse - by university officials.