Big Man, Little Kitchen

With Kris still having fun at the lake, I decided to smoke a brisket. Started this bad boy at 8:00 AM and pulled it off to rest at 5:00 PM. Definitely worth the wait. This was the first brisket I have cooked on the Traeger (have I mentioned I love my grill) and it turned out smoky good. For the sides I added some coleslaw and BBQ baked beans. I tried something new with the beans and they turned out pretty darn tasty.

Now for the brisket – Get yourself a nice cut of meat. Trim some of the fat but leave about 1/4 inch of fat on top. This was a 5 lb brisket flat. Season with a good rub. Here is what I used – 

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 1/8 cup paprika
• 1/8 cup salt
• 1/4 cup pepper
• 1/8 cup dark coffee, finely ground

Dry brisket with paper towels. Cover, liberally with the rub. You want a thick coating to help make the ‘bark’ during the smoking process. Let this sit out for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, get the grill going. You will want a temp of 160 – 200 degrees for the smoking time. When the grill is ready put the brisket directly on the grates and get cooking. Smoke from 8:00 AM until 3:00 PM, flipping every 2 hours.

At 3:00 PM pull the brisket off and put in a disposable foil pan. Add about 1/2 inch of your favorite beer to the pan. Slice an onion and cover the brisket with the sliced onions.

Get your grill temp up to 350 degrees. Cover the pan tightly with foil and put back on the grill. Cook this way until 4:30 PM. Uncover the brisket and continue to cook until 5:00 PM. During this last 1/2 hour you can add your favorite BBQ. I do not do this as I like to add BBQ at serving time.Pull the brisket off the grill – doesn’t that look good?? Place on a platter, cover with foil and let rest 30 minutes. You will want the temp of the brisket to be 190+.  While the brisket is resting I cooked the beans.For the beans –

• 1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• BBQ sauce, about 1/2 cup
• Beer, about 1/2 bottle
• 2 T brown sugar

In a cast iron pan add the bacon and cook over medium heat. As the fat begins to render, add the onion and continue to cook until bacon is almost done and onion is translucent. Add the BBQ, beer and stir in the brown sugar. Cook a few more minutes then transfer to your grill. Cook until thick and bubbly, 20-30 minutes.Slice the brisket against the grain. Look at that smoke ring!! Grab a plate, load up and enjoy!!!

With Kris off to the cabin for a girls weekend, I needed a good one man meal. The lake and the cabin got me thinking about fish so I decided on swordfish. This is something I have never had before so if it did not turn out, it would only be me who had to suffer the consequences! I should know by now, anything on the Traeger turns out great and this was no exception. I topped the fish with a Sicilian style olive oil sauce and added a side of fresh sweet corn. This is a keeper!

For the fish – Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You will want to grill this at a pretty high temp 400 – 425 degrees. While the grill is heating up get the corn ready. Remove the husk, coat with butter ( I always add grated parmesan to the butter), season with salt and place on some foil. Add about 1/4 cup of water and seal the corn in the foil. The corn takes about 25 minutes so get this on the grill first.

The fish will take 18 minutes (turning once) so after the corn has been on for 7 minutes toss on the fish. The olive oil sauce is simple to make as well. Here is how to do it:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Whisk in the lemon juice and hot water. Stir in the garlic, parsley, oregano, capers, and salt and pepper to taste. (Go easy on the salt as the capers are salty.) Keep warm and spoon over fish, when ready.

Enjoy!!

I had forgotten just how good flat iron steak can be! Last night we grilled one up and made it into a salad. Boy was this tasty. Along with the flat iron, we had grilled peppers (red and yellow), grilled onion and sliced cherry tomatoes over a bed of greens. Easy to do! Season the flat iron, peppers and onion with olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. Grill on high heat for about 15 minutes. I put the peppers and onion right on the grill grate to get a bit of a char. Turn the steak and veggies once during the grilling. Remove to a platter, let meat rest 10 minutes before slicing.Slice everything up and put on top of your greens. We used a blue cheese dressing to finish it off. Enjoy!

We have been grilling a lot of chicken breasts this summer and I usually trim the tender off the breast and save for later. Chicken breasts cook and look better with these trimmed off. Tonight we grilled up a batch of the tenders added some coleslaw and mexican style potatoes. I found a good BBQ sauce (no high fructose corn syrup) made by Weber. I used the Kickin’ Spicy flavor, and it is tasty!

For the chicken – Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees (the Traeger makes this easy). Cook until the temp is 165 degrees for a perfect chicken strip. Baste with BBQ the last 5 minutes.

For the potatoes – Slice a russet thin and pile onto a sheet of foil. Add some sliced onion then season. I have a fajita style mix that I use made with – Cumin, Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of oregano. Add a few pats of butter, toss the potatoes around to distribute the spices and seal the foil up tightly. Toss the packet on the grill and cook for about 30 minutes also.

For the coleslaw – Mix a bag of coleslaw with some Jimmy’s original slaw seasoning and bingo – perfect coleslaw!

This is a great meal for midweek and super easy! Serve up and enjoy!

This 4th of July we went in a different direction. Instead of the usual ribs, beans and slaw we chose cedar plank salmon, tandoori shrimp and a slaw mix of cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale and bacon. Dressed with Jimmy’s coleslaw dressing.The Salmon – Soak a cedar plank for at least 2 hours before cooking. Fire up the grill to a temp of 350 degrees. Drizzle the salmon with olive oil, add the dry rub. This was a 2.5 Lb chunk of salmon so I used 1-2 T of the rub. Place the salmon (skin side down) on the soaked plank and right onto the grill grates. Grill for 25-30 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork.

The Shrimp – Soak some bamboo skewers so they do not catch fire while grilling. Skewer the shrimp then season with olive oil and tandoori spice. Grill for 2-3 minutes a side.

Serve the salmon on the plank or remove to a platter. Add some of the mango salsa and enjoy!!

Best Salmon rub –

• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T pepper
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1 T smoked paprika
• 1 T basil
• 1 T tarragon
• 1 t salt

Mango salsa –

• 2 fresh mangos, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1/2 red onion, cut into small dice
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1/4 to 1/2 habanero chile, seeded and finely minced
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons honey or agave syrup, or more to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a mixing bowl, combine the mango, onion, cucumber, if using, chile pepper, lime juice, and honey and stir to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding more chile, lime juice, or honey as desired. Gently stir in the cilantro. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Our friends, Dave and Alissa, recently to a trip to New Orleans and found an amazing spice blend, aptly named ‘Slap Ya Mama’. It is pretty much good on anything, especially chicken. So for dinner we had “Slap Ya Mama’ grilled chicken breast, ‘Slap Ya Mama’ potatoes and grilled asparagus. Simple and delicious!Rub the chicken breast with olive oil and sprinkle on some ‘Slap’ but be careful this stuff is spicy. Grill at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the thickest part of the breast is 165. The Traeger does great chicken. The potatoes are super easy as well. Slice the taters and put them on some foil. Add sliced onions, season with the ‘Slap’ and top with pats of butter – about 2 tablespoons total. Wrap up tight in the foil and grill fro 30 minutes, along side the chicken, turning once. Careful when unwrapping the foil as steam will be present.Remove from the grill, serve and enjoy!!

It was a beautiful night here in Minnesota and that means grilling. Kris had picked up some rib-eye steaks the other day at Target and man these were some good steaks! Now that we are in prime growing season we like to add fresh veggies to go along with the meal. Tonight we had grilled asparagus and a caprese salad.While the Traeger is heating up I prepared the goodies. For the rib-eye just olive oil, salt and pepper. I like to cut the asparagus into chunks and season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the grill is hot, put on the asparagus and grill the steaks for 6 minutes a side. Pull off the steaks and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. Pull the asparagus off the grill at the same time.Caprese salad is one of our favorites and so easy to make. Slice some fresh tomatoes, top with a slice of fresh mozzarella and chopped fresh basil. Season with a little pepper. Right before serving drizzle with balsamic vinegar. We get ours from the Oilerie – aged 25 years. Serve it up and enjoy!