Sirloin tip roast

Here is a little more substantial of a meal.   This will be a sirloin tip roast.  The roast I have selected is 2.3 pounds and around 2" thick.   There will be three steps.   First make a rub and let sit.  Second a high heat sear.   I will be doing it on top of the charcoal chimney.  Lastly we will cook it indirect with a little smoke.

Rub ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary or 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 3/4 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp ground white pepper

Mix all ingredients well then apply to the outside of the sirloin tip roast.




Let this sit for an hour to overnight in the refrigerator.  About an hour before putting on the grill take out of the fridge and place on the counter to allow it come up to room temp.

Sear it on the grill.  Here I am using my CI insert on top of my charcoal chimney.  I let it go about 2-3 minutes then flip for a total of 4 times.  This makes a nice "X" pattern on the steak.




Then it is moved to indirect as well as a potato.  I let it sit for 20 minutes then flipped it.  Waited another 20 minutes and stuck a digital thermometer in it.  It was at 120° so I let it go another 20 minutes.  When I pulled it, it was about 134°.  That was a little higher than I wanted it but it was ok.




The steak was put inside under a foil tent to rest.  It will need to rest 15-30 minutes.  While the meat is resting I grilled some asparagus and cooked some rice.  When the veggies and rice were done I plated it.




A little butter on the rice and potato and it is a meal well done.  Check out the color on that cut. It is somewhere inbetween med-rare and medium.

STOK CI grate not so great...

So I have had this thing about 8 months now.   I really like the fact the charcoal chimney fits inside the insert hole.   But when I cleaned out my grill yesterday after the ash catcher locked up on me, I found rust. This thing is porcelain coated but apparently that does not protect against rust.



From what I have been told it that moisture must have gotten on it.  Must have been dew in the month or two the grill was sitting.  On the positive side a good scrubbing with a metal scrubber then a good oiling followed by a low heat on the grill seemed to have worked.  Will now have to watch this grate and keep it oiled.

Shawarma

So here is something a little different.  Made a beef shawarma which is basically a middle eastern soft taco.  It has 3 parts to it a marinade, toppings and a sauce.

Marinade:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1 tspn ground cardamom
• 1 tspn allspice
• juice of one lemon

Mix together put in a freezer bag with your steak and place in a freezer bag overnight.



Toppings:

• thinly sliced cuccumber
• onion
• parsley
• tomato
• sumac (spice)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and add the sumac.  Set aside until needed.

Tahini sauce:

• 1 cup tahini
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tspn plain yogurt

Mix together until it is runny like a sauce.  If it comes out like peanut butter add more water.

Place your piece of marinaded steak on the grill over indirect heat.  Cook until well done, you don't really want a rare steak.



Slice steak into thin strips.  Add some to a piece of flat bread or pita with the toppings and some tahini sauce.



Plate it with a little tabbouleh and you have a nice Middle-Eastern treat.

Porterhouse Steak

This is a 2 pound porterhouse steak picked up from Publix.  I marinaded it is olive oil, Everglades seasoning, white pepper, oregano, minced garlic and crushed red pepper.  Let it sit for 2 hours in the fridge. 



Started the charcoal chimney then placed the STOK CI on top of the chimney.  The grate pegged itself at 700°.  The porterhouse was then place on for 2 minutes a side.



Finished the steak off on indirect a few minutes a side.



Plated with potatoes and corn on the cob.

Filet steaks and veggies

The steaks featured in this cook come from Omaha Steaks.  Very tender beef and cooks real nice.  They were paired up with a cheater potato, asparagus, onion and brown rice.

Ingredients:

• filet steaks
• potato
• white onion
• asparagus
• brown rice
• olive oil
• spices of choice

Set up your grill for indirect cooking.  I am using the CI STOK grate so my direct zone is in the center and indirect the outer rim.   First up make the cheater potatoes.  Cut your potato in half and stick in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Remove then oil and place on grill direct heat and let go for about 5 minutes then flip.  At this time add olive oil to the onions and place over direct heat to get a little bit of brown on the onion.  Don't let them catch on fire, flip often. 




Move the onions and potatoes to indirect. Put olive oil on your asparagus and place on indirect heat. Flip them every 2 minutes. Then place your filets on direct heat. Cook them to rare - medium whatever you like.




Plate it up with some brown rice and it is time to eat!

Potato Grenade

So this is my take on the BBQ Pit Boys potato bomb.  But instead of using an apple coring tool we carve out the inside of the potato to fit more fillings.  In a potato bomb you fill the hole left by the apple corer, in a potato grenade you carve out the insides to leave a 1/4-3/8" shell.  See the CAD drawing below.


You will need to split the potato in half then carve it as the picture above.  For this I used a knife and cheap spoon I sharpened.  You could also use a melon baller.  Also the bottom of a beer can will need to be cut out for a stand.


I stuffed mine with shredded mozzarella cheese, hot sausage and onion.   They were compacted as they were added.   Then I used a skewer to hold the two halves together as I placed it on the grill on indirect.


I let it go 20 minutes with the lid on then turned it 180° and let go another 20 minutes. At that time I put on the onions, cooked them and then on with some hot sausage.


Here it is opened up. It was a taste explosion!

NY Strip and veggies

So I picked up a NY Strip steak at the local grocery store.  It was 2 inches thick and 1.5 pounds in weight.  I coated the steak in Kosher salt and let it sit at room temperature.  This will draw some of the blood out as well as tenderize the meat. 



At this time I fired up the charcoal and set up the grill for indirect cooking.  First on the grill were a couple of baking potatoes sliced in half and olive oiled.  They were placed on the edge of the coals.  I let them go for 15 minutes with the lid on then flipped and let sit for another 15 minutes.  After the second 15 minutes the potatoes were put on the indirect side.  A couple skewers of mushrooms and onions were put over indirect and flipped every couple minutes.  Then they were put over by the potatoes.  After that the asparagus went on direct.  Flipped every couple minutes.  The onions, mushrooms and asparagus were all soaked in oil.



Once the asparagus was cooked they were moved to indirect.  The salt was rinsed off the strip and then patted dry.  Everglades seasoning was sprinkled on then on the grill on direct for 5 minutes a side.  Then it was moved to indirect for another 5 minutes a side.



Pulled off the grill and plated with white rice and the vegetables.



Perfectly cooked, look at that color.

Pizza take 2

This is attempt #2 at pizza on the grill.  This time I used my STOK cast iron grill grate.  This way of making pizza without a stone or pan in my humble opinion is my favorite.

Ingredients:

• pizza dough
• flour
• cooked hot sausage
• pizza sauce
• Mexican shredded cheese
• sliced plum tomatoes
• sliced onion

Spread out the pizza dough to make as thin as possible.  But not less than 1/4".  Use flour on the counter so that the dough does not stick.  Mine did not come out as thin as I wanted but that is ok.  Oiled both sides and threw on the grill on indirect heat.  Let it cook long enough so it had a solid crust and could be flipped.



After the second side is firmed up remove the crust from the grill.  Add the sauce and then topping to the dough.  Through it back on the grill and put the lid on.  When the cheese is melted it is ready to be pulled.



Off the grill.



Came out good but the dough was a little too thick and not quite done all the way. But I will have to experiment further.

Marinaded pork chop, potatoes and rice.

This is a nice marinaded pork chop that is real easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• Pork chop 2" thick
• balsamic vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• chopped white onion
• juice of one lemon
• fresh thyme
• fresh ground white pepper
• potato
• olive oil 
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• white rice

First thing first you will need to create the marinade.  Take 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and to it add juice of one lemon, 2 chopped garlic cloves, chopped white onion, white pepper and fresh thyme.  Let the pork chop marinade a couple hours.  At this time cut the potato in half and put in a bag with some olive oil.  Set up the grill for indirect heat and start the potato indirectly for about 45 minutes.  Flip half way through.  After the potatoes have gone 45 minutes add the pork chop on direct.



After getting a decent sear on the chop move it to indirect with the potatoes and put the lid on.



Grill until the chop is cooked through.  Use a thermometer if you need to. At the end put some shredded mozzarella cheese on the potatoes and let melt.  Plate it with some white rice and you have a nice meal.