Big Man, Little Kitchen

Tri Tip is one of my favorite cuts of meat. I heard about it from my sister who lives in California. This cut is popular there but not so much in the Midwest and it can be hard to find. But never fear p Trader Joes has an excellent tri tip!! Normally I will marinate this then just grill to a medium rare. Today I thought I would try to smoke it for a few hours and see what happens. Well it turned out awesome! Similar to a brisket but much more flavor.For the seasoning I did olive oil, salt and pepper. I mixed up 1/8 cup of each and coated the tri tip. This created a great crust and flavor. I set the Traeger on smoke and cooked for 4 hours. After the 4 hours pull the meat of the grill and wrap in foil, along with 1/2 cup of beer. Crank the grill up to 350 degrees. Add the meat back to the grill and cook 45 minutes. That is it – let it rest 15 minutes before slicing.Check out the smoke ring!! The smoke, salt and pepper gave this so much flavor! No need for any sauce with this one.For the sides I added grilled sweet corn and a cherry tomato/fennel salad. We got the corn at the farmers market and the tomatoes came from our garden! Summer at it’s best. Cheers!

I found a new way to make cheesy baked potatoes – Accordion Style! This side dish is loaded with cheese and makes for a perfect side to go along with some grilled flank steak. Simple to make but oh so good.Wash and scrub the potatoes thoroughly. Slice some good parmesan cheese, make sure the slices are really thin as you are going to insert into the potato. Cut each potato crosswise into thin slices. Do not cut all the through the bottom. Put the potatoes in a baking pan and drizzle with melted butter. Now carefully insert the sliced cheese into the potato. You can do each slice or every other one. I did every other one and they turned out excellent. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover pan with foil and grill for about 1 hour at 400 degrees. Remove the foil and sprinkle the tops with shredded cheddar cheese. Grill for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Transfer to a plate and enjoy. Cheers!

Ingredients:

Large baking potatoes – 4
4 T melted butter
1/4 lb parmesan cheese. sliced thin
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt
pepper

Directions;

Position a potato lengthwise with a pencil or chopstick on either side of it. (The pencils or chopsticks will be your cutting guides.) Using a sharp knife, cut each potato crosswise into thin slices, being careful not to cut all the way through the bottom: The pencils should stop your knife from cutting too deep.

Cut the parmesan cheese into 2-inch wide slices. Cut each slice into very thin slices.
Put the potatoes in a baking dish, cut-side up. Drizzle them with the melted butter. Using the thin slices of parmesan cheese, stud each slice or every other slice in the potatoes.
Season generously with salt and pepper
Cover the baking pan with foil and position on the grill grate and bake the potatoes for about 1 hour, or until they are tender.(400 Degrees)
Take off the foil and sprinkle the tops evenly with the cheese and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted and golden.
Transfer the potatoes to a platter or plates and garnish with the chopped chives, if desired.

Picked up some thick, bone-in chops at Hy-Vee the other day and it was time to grill. Now what to have with them? I had a couple apples and a pear so thought some grilled chutney would be nice! Not sure if this is truly chutney, but I just like saying chutney. This is easy enough to make and will cook along side the chops on the grill. Peel and slice the apple and pears. Toss in a cast iron pan. Mix up the ‘chutney’ sauce – 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 2T brown sugar, 2 T melted butter, tsp of ginger, salt and pepper. Mix together in a bowl and pour over apple, pear, onion mixture.Toss to coat well and they are ready for the grill. I like to season the chops with olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple seasoning to bring out the flavor of the pork. Let them sit out for 20-30 minutes before grilling.Grill time is about 25 minutes. The pork temp should be 145 degrees and the apples tender. Pull off the grill and let rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve. The apple/pear chutney turned out wonderful. The balsamic vinegar along with the ginger was very tasty. Cheers!

So Kristen and her co-worker Paul were talking about food and he said he had a secret ingredient for grilled chicken. Once hearing this of course we had to give it a try. I just seasoned some chicken breast with salt, pepper and olive oil. Grilled them and added the secret ingredient for the last 5 minutes of grilling and they were excellent! Now for the secret……….If you have spent time at Costco, I am sure you have seen this – Artichoke jalapeno dip from Good Foods. I love this dip and adding it to some grilled chicken was a great idea! I added the dip for the last 5 minutes of grilling and I think it was enough time. The cheese was starting to melt and the dip was heated through. Tasty!!On the side we had some bursted tomato, grilled corn and avocado salad. This is an all time favorites at our house. Grill the corn and tomatoes, add some diced avocado, salt and pepper and you have a great summertime salad!!

Cheers!