Food. #3

It's been a while since I've done a food post and Cinco de Mayo weekend was a perfect excuse. I took a stab at smoking brisket on my gas grill last Friday, with less than impressive results, but thankfully I got good flavor out of it and am looking forward to taking it on with a better cooking setup for smoking low and slow. When I went to the store to get the brisket, I made sure to snag a nice ~2lb flank steak for fajitas later on; that later on was the following Monday.

Beth already had a pico de gallo recipe and she borrowed a fajita marinate recipe from Food Network's Paula Deen (one of her few recipes that doesn't have butter in it). I covered her progress doing the work, and as she's made every flank steak for fajita weeks we've had previously, I continued the tradition of letting her cook it which worked out great as I needed to work the camera (and my beverage). The ingredient lists are as follows and of course the pics will explain the rest. Mmhm, what a tasty dinner. I got hungry editing these photos a few days afterwards, and if I did my job right you'll be ready for a meal after finishing this post.

Fajita marinade for ~1.5lbs (flank) steak (Paula Deen):
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- 4 tbsp Tequila
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 jalepeño, chopped
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tbsp honey
- Kosher sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Pico de Gallo (Beth):
- 6 to 8 plum tomates, chopped
- 1 small or half large red onion, diced
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced
- ~1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 jalepeño, diced (not pictured)
- Kosher sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Fajita fixin's (Beth):
- Yellow, red and green bell peppers, cut in large strips
- 3 onions (whatever you like, we used sweet), sliced
- Kosher sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- EVOO

Marinate the steak overnight in a zip-lock bag. The flank steak is typically cooked on med-high to high after the grill is pre-heated, 6-10 minutes a side (rotating by 1/4, halfway through for pretty grill marks) depending on thickness and grill heat. Our flank steak was weighted thick on one end which is pretty typical of this cut. The goal for us was medium to medium-well and while in a perfect world it would all be cooked to the same temp, you'll need to cook for the thickest section. Take a meat thermometer and once you get 150-155 degrees on the thickest part of the cut, take it off the grill and let it rest for 15-20 minutes on a plate. The fajita fixin's should be sautéed in pan on medium to high heat, starting with the peppers, adding the onions after the peppers soften. Add EVOO and seasonings as you cook. Pick up whatever tortillas you like; low carb, spicy, plain or whole grain. Just make sure they're a brand/flavor that you like. Wrap up the ingredients, use some sour cream for 'tortilla glue' and enjoy.

The entire set can be found here.

Food. #2

Al's grilled salmon:
-fresh salmon fillet
-kosher sea salt
-ground black pepper
-olive oil
-pre-made marinade of your choice

Cut fillets into single portions; make sure to remove the light scales that result. Oil a dinner plate (or equivalent) and add seasonings to taste, onto oil. Place salmon fillets flesh side down to coat them generously; they'll be going on the grill so being liberal here will go a long way. Flip and repeat on the skin side. Keeping the skin is necessary to cook salmon directly on the grill grates, however if you'd like to remove the skin or make the fillets easier to remove once done, you feel free to cook fish on top of oiled foil. For those of you looking for more flavor, oil the grill grates and after getting your grill temp to about 350*, place your fish on top of the grates skin side down. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets, but for these pictured cuts from a ~2.2lb fillet the total cooking time was about 25 minutes. Shuffle fish on the grill only to even heat distribution (if your lower-end grill has hot spots like mine), but cook on the skin side only. You'll know the fillet is cooked when you see juice bubbles appear on top and clean flaking is present. Brush on marinade a few times during the last 5 minutes for added flavor. If you have the time you can soak the fish in marinade for 6-10 hours prior to cooking and skip that last step. The result should be tender and succulent.

Beth's string beans:
-fresh string beans
-clove or two of garlic
-red onion
-white onion
-olive oil
-kosher sea salt
-ground black pepper

Prep the aromatics, chopping onions into 1/8ths and dicing your cloves of garlic. Chop the ends off the string beans, then wash them thoroughly. Get an appropriately sized pot for your string beans (I believe what you see is about one pound) and bring water to a boil. Season water lightly and add string beans. Beth cooks her beans al dente, so there's still some bite to them; once beans reach your desired firmness (eat one), pour into a strainer to cool and empty the pot. Put the pot back on the stove and liberally pour olive oil into it, reducing heat to about medium. Introduce your onions and garlic, seasoning them with salt, black pepper and your garlic as you sweat them. Once the onions become slightly translucent, reintroduce your string beans to the oniony goodness now melding flavor in the pot. At this point you're pretty much done; stir to mix seasonings and coat the string beans completely with the resulting broth. That's it.



When you take these two dishes and add the red potatoes from Food. #1, you get a plate that looks like this:

Beth and I ended up making a low sodium version of the string beans and bbq chicken for a pre-Father's Day lunch at my parents house this past Saturday. They both seriously watch what they eat, the two of them averaging ~70 years of age, and they enjoyed the meal thoroughly. Healthy and tasty...what a novel idea.

Food. #1

This series is a no-brainer, because I've wanted to do this since I started this blog; foods, cooking, recipes, etc. and more importantly shots of these activities and finished products. Last weekend I ended up picking up the spatula for the first time in over a year, I'm ashamed to say. In my defense, it's like riding a bike and I even got better at something I've been terrible at for a long time; cooking chicken on the bone outside of an oven. I think the issue is the fact that I love riffing; I can improvise with the best of em' and it's the backbone of my creativity. Sometimes I spread improvisation into things that could use a bit more precision. Time away helped with my grilling methodology as I went about it like I was using an oven (which a grill is), using a clock instead of eyeballing (which works for burgers and links great btw). So without further adieu:

Al's BBQ chicken:
- drumsticks thawed (thighs work too)
- olive oil (the better the better)
- garlic powder
- fresh ground black pepper
- kosher sea salt
- Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce (insert your favorite here)

Put chicken in a mixing bowl with a liberal amount of oil and seasonings added. Toss by hand til fully coated. Depending on your grill size and heat output, things may vary, but for the most part it's ~375* for 30 minutes, flipping half way. Mind the hot spots on cheaper grills, and shuffle accordingly. Sauce during the warming shelf phase or last 5 mins.

Beth's red potatoes:
- small red potatoes
- olive oil (see above)
- kosher sea salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- fresh garlic
- wood skewers

Boil potatoes to al dente in a pot of hot water. Quarter or half the potatoes to taste. Skewer said potatoes (you can soak them in water so they don't burn, but they rarely catch on fire under 400*). Brush the tots in oil and sprinkle seasonings. Grill to taste. Oh and watch your fingers when flipping them.