Smoke Roasted Goodness!

This post is what I grilled the weekend of March 23rd. Last week at work was super busy and I worked for both companies every night almost. This weekend was my birthday and we had a lot going on. I hope everybody had a good week though. That Saturday, I made dinner for Isabella and I since Stacy had a Pampered Chef party. I had things that I didn't have to keep checking on. I decided to smoke roast everything on the propane side of my grill. Smoke roasting is a technique where you grill food at a higher temp than smoking and usually for a shorter period of time. Everything was done with the grill at medium high which was 400  to 450 degrees on my grill.
     For the meat, I made pork chops in my grill top infuser. I lined the infuser with foil and added a handful of apple wood chips to the bottom. Then, I added the rack and pork chops. The chops were seasoned with apple wood rub, salt, and pepper. The lid went on and I left them on the grill for about 45 minutes.

Pork Chops

   With the meat, I also put on some cabbage.The idea for this recipe came from a Facebook post that Steven Raichlen did with just a short description. He didn't have the full recipe on there, so I just took the idea and ran with it.  I lined a small square pan with foil and cut the core out of the cabbage. I put the cabbage in the pan with the bottom open end facing up. I seasoned the cabbage with salt, pepper, and apple wood rub. Next, I sauteed chopped onion in butter with apple wood rub. When the onions were almost done, I added some chopped cooked bacon to the onions. You certainly could cut raw bacon in pieces and saute the bacon and onion together, but I only had cooked bacon at the time. The onion and bacon mixture then was poured into the open part of the cabbage. The whole thing went on the grill with additional apple wood chips in my smoker box. I put the cabbage over my unlit center burner. I left it on the grill for almost an hour.

Cabbage

   For dessert, I also smoke roasted a grapefruit. To prep the grapefruit, I cut it in half and ran a knife around it to separate the segments. I sprinkled some sugar and coconut on top and put it on the grill with foil underneath to catch any leakage. I grilled it for about 25 minutes or so. As a kid growing up we used to make grapefruit that way under the broiler in the oven. 

Smoked Grapefruit

  I also made cheesy rice with some left over rice. I reheated the rice in the microwave with some butter to help it not be so dry. Then I melted some cheese in it and salt and peppered it. Lastly, I mixed a heaping spoonful of sour cream in it.

Everything on the grill. ( The lid was on infuser while cooking, I took it off for the pic.)

Everything plated!

    The whole dinner came out really good. We ate the pork with a little bit of bbq sauce. The cabbage was slightly crunchy in a few spots, but had a great flavor. The bacon  and onion complemented it well. Isabella ate all her cabbage and rice. She normally doesn't eat rice very well but devoured it this time. The cheesiness helped I think. The grapefruit was good. It had a nice sweetness to it.
   I hope everybody has a good week. I smoked a duck for my birthday dinner and will share it with you in my next post.  I am going to try to get my next post up soon. Until next time, happy grillin'.

Tweet

Smoked Corned Beef!

    I hope everybody had a good week. It is hard to believe that we are already halfway though March. Stacy had a Pampered Chef party Saturday night that she had to work, so I watched Isabella. While Isabella took her nap, I made crepes'. I used a simple recipe from Melissa d'Arabian of the Food Network. I just used the  crepe' part of the recipe and also didn't add the lemon zest. I also had to add a little more milk to make them spread in the pan easier. I cooked them all at nap time and put them in the fridge till dinner. I sprinkled cheese in a few of them and microwaved until the cheese melted. In one crepe' I put a filling of strawberries, whipped topping, and lemon curd that Stacy had left us. I also had a couple with jam and whipped topping. The crepes' were good with either a sweet or savory filling.
    Sunday was St. Patrick's day, so for dinner I smoked a corned beef and potatoes. Stacy made cabbage and onions. To prep the beef, I soaked it in ice water for two hours and changed the water after an hour. Soaking the beef helps draw out some of the excess salt. If you made your own corned beef you can skip this step. I put it in a shallow pan with the beef fat side up and peppered it. If you like the seasoning packet that comes with the meat you can use that as a rub. Stacy doesn't like it so I was stuck not using it. I set my charcoal grill up for indirect grilling and added a couple cherry wood pieces to get the smoke going. When the grill was warm and smoking nicely, I added the beef and some potatoes on a Pampered Chef  BBQ Vegetable Rack.
        I then smoked everything for two hours at 350 degrees until the meat was 165 internally. The meat had a nice crust. I covered it loosely with foil and let it rest for over half an hour. You only need to rest it 20 minutes, but it was done too early to eat dinner. The meat came out really good and had a very nice smokey flavor throughout. It also had a nice outer crust. I did find later when I was eating the leftovers that if I ate the fat it was too smokey. The meat itself was great. The potatoes were maybe a little too done, but were still good. Stacy made boiled cabbage and onions to go with it. Overall it was a nice St. Patrick's day treat. Isabella even let us eat our meat and didn't throw a fit that she couldn't have any since she is allergic to beef.

Smoked corned beef and taters.

MMM, Beef!

I hope everybody has a good week. I have some fun stuff coming for next week. I was hoping to get this post out sooner, but worked late almost all week. Happy grillin'!

Tweet

Smoked Brats!

I hope everybody had a good week. We had a busy weekend of errands, celebrating Stacy's birthday early and family. Saturday night, I grilled dinner. I smoked some brats and carrots in my Char-Broil Grill Top Infuser.
   To start, I lined the bottom of the infuser with foil. I had read some reviews from people suggesting that this makes cleanup easier. Then, I sprinkled some apple wood chips in and put the basket in. Next, I put sliced carrots in with salt and pepper. I put the rack and lid on and put it on a hot grill. I let the chips start smoking before I added the brats. I let the brats smoke for about 20 minutes before turning them over. I smoked them for another 25 minutes. I like my brats to be golden brown, so I put them on the grill at medium heat for a few minutes. I watched them closely and moved them off the heat if they flared up. We dipped them in bbq sauce and had buttered noodles with it. The brats were good. The carrots were a little crunchy still, but had a great flavor. For dessert, I made a chocolate chip skillet cookie. I made the cookie instead of a cake for Stacy's birthday. I didn't get a picture of it this time, but if you back to my blog post fire there is a picture there. We like the skillet cookie. It is a nice thick yummy cookie.

Brats and carrots in the infuser.

Yummy dinner

Isabella goofing off with a hat from Grandmama. (She did that herself to her shirt.)

        On Sunday, we had a nice lunch of chili pepper chicken strips at Stacy's parent's house. The strips are one of our favorite things that her mom makes. Maybe some day we will get the recipe.
        I have started volunteering my time on Thursday nights to the Talkeetna Build A Plane Project. This is a project where kids take an airplane and rebuild it. They are taught and tested on the basic skills of aircraft mechanics. They keep track of their hours and when they have enough and turn 18 they can take their tests to be an aircraft mechanic. They also earn an hour of flight instruction for every so many hours of work. I supervise to make sure the plane is airworthy when it is done and answer questions about things. It is a cool way to give back to the community and have an affect on the future of aviation. It also is fun to see and hear how many of the kids want to be aircraft mechanics.
      I hope everybody has a good week. This weekend is St. Patrick's day. I will be smoking a corned beef. Until next time, happy grilling.
 

Tweet

Ribs!

I hope everybody had a good week. I cooked breakfast and lunch a few times last weekend and grilled once. Saturday was Dr. Seuss's birthday. To celebrate, I made green eggs and ham. To make the eggs green, I added 3 drops of green food coloring to the eggs. Then, I scrambled them with salt and pepper before cooking. I also added some chopped green onion. In another pan, I heated up some smoked ham slices leftover from smoked ham on Christmas. It was a nice and fun start to the day. Isabella and I also read several Seuss books together.

Green eggs and ham.

      For dinner, I reheated the leftover smokey red pepper ribs I smoked with cherry wood in Ribs Two Ways. To start with, the ribs were thawed overnight in the fridge. Next, I opened up the foil and brushed bbq sauce on both sides of the ribs. The ribs went on a medium heat grill with foil loosely wrapped around them for about 20 to 30 minutes. I added more sauce a couple times. I took the ribs off when they were nice and steaming hot. One set got a little charred on the bottom, so make sure the heat isn't too hot or the foil too thin. The ribs turned out great. They were literally finger licking good. The sauce helped keep them from drying out as they were reheated. Also there was no telling that they had been frozen for several months. I encourage you to make extra ribs and freeze them for later. I also made a macaroni salad with frozen fire roasted peppers. I just take the block of peppers out of the freezer and cut off what I need and put the rest back. The peppers thaw quickly in the salad and add a great flavor. They taste like and better than the peppers in store bought macaroni salad.

Ribs

Look and that smokey goodness.

  That's it for this week. Not sure what will be on the grill this weekend. Have a great week and happy grillin'.

Tweet

Chops and Cheeks!

I hope everybody had a good week. Things are slowly starting to get busier again. Spring will be here soon! I had a really good pulled pork sandwich last week. We had  engine rep up helping us with an issue on one of our planes engines. He took me out to lunch a couple times. One of those times we went to Twister Creek Restaurant in Talkeetna. I work in Talkeetna for those who are new to my blog. I had the pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. It was a really good sandwich with coleslaw on it. They make their own sauce using one of the beers that they brew there. I had never had a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on it before. The slaw added a nice crunch to everything. I don't think they smoke their pork, but it still was super flavorful. Their sweet potato fries are big, crispy, and delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it though.
     I grilled dinner Saturday night. I made pork chops, grilled potato slices, and veggies. For the pork chops, I rubbed them with smokey applewood rub, salt, and pepper. I grilled the pork chops over medium high heat and turned them 90 degrees after about five minutes. I flipped them about 3 minutes later and basted them with BBQ sauce. After they had grilled for a few minutes, I turned them 90 degrees again and grilled them for about 6 minutes total on that side. I then flipped them over and brushed sauce on the other side. I then grilled them for about a minute on each side to caramelize the sauce a little.  We let them rest for about 5 minutes before eating.
   To make the potatoes, I cut several potatoes into slices lengthwise. Next the slices were tossed with olive oil, a garlic herb rub, salt, and pepper. I arranged the slices on the grill at a slightly lower temp than the pork. I rotated and turned the potatoes multiple times to prevent burning. I grilled them till the outside was golden brown and they had nice grill marks. The pork came out good. We ate it with a bit more sauce for dipping. We like anything paired with sauce. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Everything turned out well.

BBQ sauced chops, grilled potatoes and veggies.

Potatoes. Look at those grill marks.

    For Sunday dinner, I was going to grill some halibut cheeks, but Stacy suggested that I just pan fry them. I  rinsed and dried the cheeks. Then sprinkled both sides with lemon pepper, Old Bay, and salt. Each cheek was rolled in corn meal before being added to the pan. I had just a small amount of oil in the pan. The cheeks were cooked until they turned white and were flaky. I also steamed some carrots in the microwave with butter, salt, and pepper. The fish was tasty. Next time, I need to do it outside or use my cast iron skillet.  The house was a little too smokey afterwards. I also forgot to get a picture of them. I hope everybody has a good week. Happy grillin'.

Tweet

Steak, Chops, and Fillets!

I hope everybody had a good week. I ended up having an extra day off and grilled 3 times in 4 days, so I had a good weekend. I came home from work on Thursday to celebrate Valentine's day. I picked up a couple thin New York steaks and a frozen veggie mix on my way home from work. When I got home, we exchanged cards and I gave Stacy some roses I had picked up. I got a homemade card that Stacy had helped Isabella make. After Isabella went to bed, I grilled the steaks.
     To prepare the steaks, I gave each one a light coating of olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I wanted to keep it simple because we wanted to enjoy the beef. Isabella is allergic to beef so we don't get to eat it very often. I put the steaks on a clean medium hot grill. Stacy's steak went over the hottest part since she likes hers well done. My steak went on a little cooler part. I grilled my steak for about 6 minutes flipping halfway through. I was aiming for about medium with mine. Stacy's grilled for about 15 minutes. Stacy made roasted heart shaped potatoes, and we heated up the veggies. I also grilled myself a piece of bread. We had a nice quiet dinner with sparkling apple cider. The steak was great by itself and with a little steak sauce. It had a nice beefy flavor. The potatoes were great too. For dessert we had a heart shaped strawberry cake that Stacy had made.

Grilled New York steak with roasted heart potatoes!

   Friday, I was supposed to go to a conference on aircraft maintenance issues, but got stuck in the driveway. I had to go out a few hours later and finish digging myself out. I ended up having a nice day at home with the family.
   Saturday, I grilled some boneless pork chops.  I rubbed the chops with some of the "Pig Pollen" rub that I got from Big Butz BBQ and let them sit in the fridge for about 3 hours. I then grilled them over a medium heat until they reached an internal temp of 155. We let them rest before eating them with noodles mixed with butter and Parmesan cheese. The rub was good. We ate the pork by itself and with a little BBQ sauce. It was tasty both ways. We liked that the flavors weren't super spicy and they didn't overpower the meat.

Grilled pork chops.

Up close with yummy goodness.

     
      Sunday, I grilled frozen breaded fish fillets and grilled fries. The fish went on the grill straight out of the box and I grilled it on each side till it was browned and crisp. This took about 15 minutes at a medium heat.  The fish was previously fried so be careful no to burn them as a little oil will cook out of them and drip on the burners. For the fries, I took the cuttings from the heart potatoes and added 3 more small potatoes cut into fries. I tossed the potatoes with  olive oil, smoky red pepper rub, salt, and pepper. Then they went on the bbq roasting pan on the grill. I grilled them for about 25 minutes mixing frequently to prevent them from burning. Stacy made a simple tarter sauce with mayo and dill relish mixed together. We don't buy tarter sauce anymore and always make our own. I add lemon pepper and or Old Bay when I make it, but you can vary it however you want. The fish was good grilled. I think it was crispier than cooking it in the oven and more of the oil cooked out. The fries were tasty and had a slight spiciness that went well with the tarter sauce.

Grilled fish tenders and fries.

Fries.

        I added a Pinterest button to the bottom of each post. It is now easier to share my blog on Pinterest. Feel free to post it there or on Facebook to help me expand my readership. Also just as an FYI, the bacon cheddar apple waffles froze well and I enjoyed the leftovers this week heated up in the toaster. We freeze a lot of waffles at out house and reheat them in the toaster. I hope everybody has a good week an happy grillin'.

Tweet

Char-grilled Meatball Sandwiches!

       Sorry this blog didn't go out sooner this week, but things have been getting busier. Work is picking up a bit as we get closer to the start of the season in May. Last weekend I grilled pork sausage meatballs and we had meatball sandwiches on Saturday. For Sunday, we made apple cheddar bacon waffles and biscuits and gravy. I also got my mini prize pack that I won from Big Butz BBQ. It contained a pork rub called "Pig Pollen," a jar of their original sauce and a jar of their cranberry sauce. I will be trying these soon. In fact I used the pork rub on some pork chops this weekend for dinner.

Free Stuff!

      For Saturday dinner, I made meatball sandwiches. Earlier in the day, I prepped the meatballs. I took course ground mild Italian pork sausage and added grated Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, olive oil and pepper. After mixing everything together, I formed it into balls. I then covered them and put them in the freezer. I have found that if I put meatballs or other types of patties in the freezer for a short time, they stay together better when you put them on the grill.
    When it was time to grill the balls, I put them in my flexible basket and put them on the grill at a high heat. While the meat balls were cooking, I started the sauce. First, I sauteed some onions and garlic then added a can of sauce to the pan. As I was stirring the sauce I looked out the kitchen window and noticed a lot of smoke coming out of the grill. I went out and opened the lid to flames. The meatballs had flared up! I turned off the burners and took the meatballs off. I closed the lid to try to let the flames burn out. After a minute they were still going so I sprinkled some baking soda on the grill and the flames were out. The meat balls were charred, but they were also done inside. I added them to the sauce with some more grated Parmesan and let the whole thing simmer for a bit.

Charred meatballs. (Sorry about the glare.)

 For the buns of the sandwiches we used the left over buns we made for "Aloha Turkey Burgers" the previous weekend. We put them in the fridge to thaw over night and then heated them in the microwave when it was time to assemble. We cut the buns in half and lightly buttered them before ladling some meatballs and sauce on the buns. Then each sandwich was topped with grated mozzarella cheese. The meatball sandwiches were good even though the meatballs were a little too charred. I didn't mind the char though. The buns were a good complement  to the meatballs and sauce.

Meatball Sandwich!

Close-up of Sandwich.

 Sunday for dinner we decided to make homemade gravy to go with some biscuits Stacy had made earlier in the week. We also had a recipe for bacon cheddar apple waffles that we wanted to try, so we made a batch of those too. The bacon cheddar apple waffle recipe came from a local Alaskan chef. We modified it slightly to fit the ingredients that we had. Our cheese was medium instead of sharp and our apple was not a granny smith. The waffles turned out good. It was surprising how the three flavors of the apple bacon and cheese worked together. The cheese got a little lost in the mix, sharp cheddar might have been better. Overall we liked the waffles. They were good with just butter on them. I put some sausage gravy on one of mine and that was really tasty also. We will defiantly be making these waffles again.

Bacon cheddar apple waffles with homemade sausage gravy.

I hope everybody has a good week. I will be trying to get this sent out sooner next week. Happy grillin'.

Tweet