Monday, June 25, 2012

Grilled Steak Fajitas

What I really love about this recipe is how the marinade adds great depth of flavor coupled with grilling the meat over an open flame. Fajitas are versatile and can be built to your taste. Some additional items you can pile on are guacamole, diced tomatoes, salsa, lettuce, etc.

Give this recipe a try when you want a little variety with your BBQs.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. skirt steak
2 Green Peppers
2 Red Peppers
2 Yellow Onions
1 Package of Large Flour Tortillas

The Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 scallions
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 tsp red paper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tbsp dark brown sugar

Step 1: Blend marinade well and set aside.


Step 2: Cut skirt steak into manageable sized pieces. I find that Kosher skirt steak is very salty. I have a theory that this has to do with the part of the cow that skirt steak comes from and its ability to absorb salt from the kashering process better than other cuts of meat. It is for this reason that I soak my skirt steak in a bowl of water for some time before using it to help draw some of that salt out. If you decide to soak your skirt steak also, be sure to dry it with paper towels before applying the marinade.


Step 3: Place marinade and skirt steak into Ziploc bag (the good kind that wont leak and fall apart) removing as much air as possible. Place bag in the refrigerator to marinade. I recommend letting the meat marinade for 1 to 2.5 hours.


Step 4: While the meat is marinating, cut your vegetables very thinly and set aside. We call this step mis son plas (putting in place).

Step 5: Go out and start your charcoal chimney

Step 6: Once your grill is hot, grill the skirt steak for 4-6 minutes on each side for medium doneness.

Step 7: Once all your skirt steak is grilled, set aside and cover to rest and stay warm

Step 8: While your skirt steak is resting, sauté your vegetables until soft

Step 9: Wrap your tortillas in aluminum foil and place in a 325 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.
Step 10: Skirt steak is fibrous and if cut incorrectly can make for an overly tough and chewy bite. To overcome this issue, be sure to slice your skirt steak across the grain. After the skirt steak has rested, you will notice a good amount of juice in the bottom of the pan. Be sure to place your slices back in the pan with the juices for added flavor.
Step 11: To assemble, place a layer of the vegetables on the bottom followed by the skirt steak slices on top.

Step 12: Wrap your fajitas and enjoy!

How do you like your fajitas?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Millions Of Grilled Peaches, Grilled Peaches For Me

When I say Everything Is Better Grilled, that also includes dessert. While there are many desserts suitable for the grill, during the summer months, when peaches are in season, there is nothing like a warm grilled peach with vanilla ice cream after a savory BBQ. The reason why this dessert works so well is because once your grilling is finished and the charcoal is still at a medium heat level and is dying down, you can throw these peaches on and have a great dessert. The only special instruction you have to keep in mind is to make sure you clean the grill grate before you put the peaches on.
Ingredients:
6-10 whole peaches, not yet ripe

Step 1: Halve and pit the peaches
Step 2: Score peaches while being careful not to pierce the skin.

Step 3: Once the grill grate is cleaned, place peaches flesh side down. The amount of time this takes will depend on how hot your coals are.

Step 4: Once you have grill marks on the peaches, and the natural sugars have started to caramelize, turn the peaches over.

Step 5: You will know the peaches are done because you will see the juices on the peach start to bubble

Step 6: To finish the peaches you have a few options. Option 1: Move the peaches over to the indirect side of the grill and cover the grill. This method will add ‘smokiness’ to the peaches while keeping them warm while you and your guests eat inside. Option 2: Wrap your peaches in aluminum foil and keep them in a warm oven until you are ready to serve.
These are best served with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
What other fruit do you like to grill?

Trader Joes Charcoal Review



For me, any time I see the words 'hardwood', I begin thinking about lump charcoal. To say that I am picky about my charcoal and how it is lit is an understatement. Recently I was in Trader Joes and saw a bag of their 100% natural charcoal and picked up a bag to give it a try.



On first glance, comparing the briquette to the Kingsford Competition, you can see that the Trader Joes one (on the left) is larger with a more oval elongated shape compared to the Kingsford (on the right) square shape.



Lighting the charcoal was similar using 3 pieces of newspaper to get a good fire going in the chimney.



Once poured, I was amazed at how hot it got the grill and how quickly it reached that temperature.


As soon as I started putting the food on, you could hear, see, and smell the amazing sear that I was getting on those burgers and the awesome grill marks I could expect to see.



I was amazed to see that 40 minutes later, the temperature was still running high.

In conclusion, these briquettes bring serious heat to any BBQ. I am pretty sure I am going to start stock piling this charcoal and saving it for the BBQs where I want high heat for searing.

BBQs aren't only for weekends # 2

Some views from a Tuesday night BBQ of Burgers and Grilled Peaches for dessert




Monday, June 18, 2012

Gill Tip of the Week #2

For those new to charcoal, common questions range from how do I get the charcoal going?, to When do I know its ready? If you are using a chimney to light your charcoal, then this grill tip is for you:


The BBQ Sundays of Summer #2


Some views from this past Sunday's BBQ and smoke fest - Grilled and then smoked cut up chicken and chicken wings


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

BBQs aren't only for weekends # 1

 Some views from a Monday night BBQ......



For Those Who Like It A Bit 'Saucey'

Over the last year I have been asked many times to address how to make chicken on the grill using BBQ sauce instead of my preferred dry rub method. Well today, your voices have finally been heard. I adapted it for the 'chirp and turf' technique my family loves. Most BBQ recipes call for cooking your chicken the 'normal' way and adding the sauce for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Unfortunately, this doesn't build enough layers of flavor into our chicken for my EIBG grilling standards.

Ingrediants:

3 pounds of wings
1/4 cup olive oil
bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce.
salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Thoroughly wash and clean your wings and set them on paper towels.



Step 2: Dry the wings very well



Step 3: Place wings in a strong ziploc bag. Add salt and pepper to taste as well as the olive oil.



Step 4: Close the bag, removing as much air as possible and shake to make sure wings are thoroughly coated in the seasonings and oil.

Step 5: Go out and start your charcoal/gas grill.



Step 6: Pour some of your favorite BBQ sauce into a bowl and grab a brush. In my house, we really like the K.C. Masterpiece Original and Honey.



Step 7: When your charcoal is ready/gas grill is hot, make sure you pour the charcoal on one side of the grill so that you allow for direct and indirect cooking. For a gas grill, make sure that the burners are on med-high on one side only.

Step 8: Begin grilling the wings skin side down for a few minutes and then flip them to the other side for an additional few minutes. This step is done so that the wings begin to cook, get good grill marks for presentation, and also infuse the BBQ taste into the wings.



Step 9: move the wings over to the cooler side of the grill. Apply your first coating of BBQ sauce and cover the grill.



Step 10: After 15 minutes, uncover the grill and add an additional coating of BBQ sauce onto the wings and cover the grill. This is where the layers of flavor begin to happen.



Step 11: Repeat Step 10.



Step 12: Repeat Step 11 and add 12-15 unlit briquettes to the grill.



Step 13: Repeat Step 10 and add your burgers.

Step 14: Once you pull off the wings and burgers from the grill, it is important to let them rest for a minutes before attacking the food.



So what do you prefer? Dry Rub? Sauce?

Monday, June 4, 2012

The BBQ Sundays of Summer #1

Some views from this past Sunday's BBQ and smoke fest - Burgers and Smoked Chicken Wings