Bangor - The American Red Cross needs lot of blood donors this summer, Saturday it will host a super blood drive at the Bangor Civic Center and there will lot of great food at the annual Chill 'N Grill.

Lisa Frazell of the Red Cross joined us on TV5 News at 5 to talk about it and John Hafford of Texas Roadhouse joined us to share some grilling tips and a recipe he'll share with blood donors at the event.

Chill 'N Grill
Saturday, June 11th
Bangor Civic Center from 9-3pm
Freihofer's Breakfast at 9
Texas Roadhouse Grilling at 11
1-800-RED-CROSS

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Kabob Preparation

Equipment: Two cutting boards (one for veggies & one for meat), storage container, metal skewers, knife, latex gloves

Ingredient Amount

Step 1
Mushroom Caps 1 oz
Step 2
Sirloin or Chicken (1 ½" X 1 1/2" Cubes) 6 oz
Yellow Onion (1 ¼" X 1 ¼" Slices) 1 oz
Green Pepper (1 ¼" X 1 ¼" Slices) 1 oz
Tomato (1 ¼" X 1 ¼" Slices) 1 oz
Step 3
Marinade or Seasoning As Desired

Important to know:
· Cutting your veggies slightly smaller than the sirloin or chicken cubes should keep them from burning.
· Metal skewers helps ensure complete cooking of the meat, including the center.

Step 1
· Trim stem of mushrooms even with cap
· Place in appropriate container and hold for later use

Step 2
· Cut remaining ingredients and reserve
· Each kabob contains: 5 sirloin or chicken pieces, 2 mushroom caps, 2 tomato slices, 2 onion slices, and 3 green pepper slices.
· With the point of the skewer up slide on one piece of sirloin or chicken.
· Place the rest of the ingredients on in this order: green pepper, onion, sirloin cube, tomato, sirloin/chicken cube.
· Repeat

Step 3
· Place all kabobs into a container.
· Season or marinate the kabobs to you desired taste and let sit in refrigerator for later cooking on the grill.

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Outdoor Grilling Tips

Safety Tips
To prevent flame flare-ups on the grill, trim excess fat from steaks and chops, leaving only a scant 1/4-inch of fat. This is sufficient to flavor the meat and makes cleanup easier, too.
Keep a lid on it! Keeping the lid on the grill allows heat to circulate, cooking food evenly and without flare-ups. Every time you lift/open the lid, you add extra cooking time
If a flare-up should occur, turn all burners to OFF and move food to another area of the cooking grate. Any flames will quickly subside. Then, light the grill again. NEVER USE WATER TO EXTINGUISH FLAMES ON A GAS GRILL.
Always keep the bottom tray and grease catch pan of your gas grill clean and free of debris. This not only prevents dangerous grease fires, it deters visits from unwanted critters. A sprinkle of red pepper is another safe way to discourage animals.
Use the right utensils. Long-handled tools and long barbecue mitts protect you from the heat.
Take the guesswork out of grilling. Use a thermometer and a timer that lets you know when the food is fully cooked and when it's time to take it off the grill.
When you're using a recipe, remember that cooking times in charts and recipes are approximate and based on 70°F (20°C) weather with little or no wind. Cooking times for meat, poultry, and fish have been tested with the foods at refrigerator temperature. Allow more cooking time on cold or windy days, or at higher altitudes, and less in extremely hot weather.

Cooking Tips
Warm your favorite barbque sauce before slathering it on your ribs. Cold sauce makes for cold food.
When dry coating a piece of meat, make sure to cover it thoroughly. You want it to look like a sandy beach.
Use hardwood chunks, chips or briquettes whether using a gas or charcoal grill to give food a smoky flavor.
Use forks only to lift fully cooked foods from the grill and tongs or turners to turn them over -- forks pierce food and flavorful juices are lost.
It's a good idea to follow recipes carefully at least the first time you try them to learn how a food should be grilled, how it should taste, etc. Then, if you want, you can customize the dish to your own unique tastes.
Let food sit before serving. A few minutes for small cuts and up to 15 minutes for larger steaks and roasts.

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