I haven’t been dining out very often these days because this is the time of year when I like to cook at home. Most everything I make is done on the grill, and the ingredients are selected from various farmers’ markets.

Salmon, shrimp kebobs, tuna, mako, butterflied leg of lam, hamburgers and hot dogs sizzle away and are reasonably easy to do. Vegetables like asparagus or zucchini develop a wonderful burnished taste when grilled as do big chunks of red onion seared over an open fire.

I always use wood chips, like hickory or apple wood, for grilling. They give great flavor to everything. I generally cover the grill after searing whatever ingredient first and allow the smoke to permeate the food.

Two of my favorite dishes to cook on the grill are not often thought doable. I take small new potatoes, wrap them in heavy duty foil and moisten them with olive oil and add herbs and spices like rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. They’re placed on the rack to cook slowly in a covered grill.

Another vegetable that’s great to do this way is cabbage. Leaving it whole, take out the center core. Fill it with butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder, wrap it tightly with foil, cut core side up and grill slowly on a covered grill for several hours. When it’s time to add the main dish ingredient, just replenish the coals for a sizzling hot fire.

The other day I invited some friends over for dinner and served a grilled butterflied leg of lamb, which I slathered with barbecue sauce during the last 10 minutes of grilling. With it I served grilled asparagus and the potatoes and cabbage preparation.

I found perfectly ripe Georgia peaches at the Rosemont market to use in a peach cobbler for dessert. I baked this in the oven hours before and reheated the cobbler for a few moments in a covered grill. The hickory smoke added terrific flavor. I did this too with the corn bread that I had baked in a cast iron skillet (as was the peach cobbler) in the oven and then reheated it over the coals. It only takes a few moments to reheat these dishes so be careful not to burn the underside of the cobbler or cornbread. A waning coal fire is hotter than you think, and the cast iron pan is a natural conduit for heat.

Most cookbooks and instructions for grilling always call for a minimum amount of coals. I personally never see how this is enough. I use a big mixture of the hardwood and briquettes, putting the hardwood over the coals; these burn faster and hotter than the under layer and add high heat to the fire.

Don’t be afraid either to cook large roasts on the grill. It takes less time than you think. Whole chickens are delicious when cooked on a covered grill, as is pork or beef. Use an instant meat thermometer to judge when the meat is done. Butterflied legs cook very fast, usually in about 20 minutes for medium rare.

Of course the ingredients you use make all the difference too. I get my lamb from Sunrise Acres Farm in Cumberland, available at the Wednesday or Saturday Cumberland Farmer's market. The market specializes in whole ingredients rather than just vegetables.

From Spring Brook Farms I buy their pork and beef, which are terrific and have that old-fashioned rich flavor as opposed to the sanitized version you get elsewhere.

The market is a good place for fresh cream, milk and buttermilk. Try Spring Brook’s buttermilk, which is much richer (not more fatty or caloric) than the store bought variety. You’ll notice the difference in most any baked good made with it.

The market also has vendors selling cheese, breads, pies, cakes, muffins, jams and other prepared foods.

If you haven’t gone to this market, stop by. On Wednesdays it‘s at the parking lot next to Staples in Falmouth, and on Saturdays it assembles at the lot behind the Greely school in Cumberland Center.

Another market that’s worth the trip is the Camden Farmer’s Market held from 9 to 12 on Saturdays (as well as late Wednesday afternoons). This is an enormous market, with many organic farmers present and other vendors who sell farm raised beef, lamb, pork and poultry. You can also buy fresh milk, cream and butter from vendors and plenty of plants and cut flowers too. When you enter the village of Camden just follow the signs on Route 1 to the market.

One day this week I will go out to dinner and I have two places in mind: either the Robin Hood Free Meeting House in Georgetown or Pier 77 in Cape Porpoise. I’ll let you know.

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