Big Man, Little Kitchen

There is nothing better than tailgating for a football game. When not going to the game we tailgate at home. The Traeger is perfect for a tailgate party! This weekend was time for Diablo wings and nachos. Wings are excellent on the Traeger.Season the wings with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss on a 350 degrees grill and cook for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through.Pull off the grill and toss in a large bowl. Add your sauce and return to the grill for another 5 minutes to set the sauce.Green Mill restaurant has an awesome wing sauce – Diablo that we used today. You can pick it up at any local grocery store. When you pull the wings off toss a pan of nachos onto the grill and cook until the cheese is hot and melted. I just made simple nachos today – cheese and jalapenos. Grab a plate and dig in. Cheers!

So here is one of the meals I made with the smoked chicken from Sunday. I love grilled brussels sprouts with bacon. I decided to add the chicken right in with the brussels and it turned out great! A side of home style mashed red potatoes and the meal was complete.First step is to get the brussels going on the grill. Cut them in half, remove any loose leaves and toss in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pour them out on to a rimmed baking pan and spread into a single layer. Make sure that at least half of them are cut side down. Place on a 350 degree grill and cook for about 20 minutes.In the meantime, get the bacon going. Add the chopped bacon to a cold skillet. Turn the heat to medium and start cooking. When the fat begins to render, add some chopped onion and saute for about 5 minutes. You do not want the bacon to get to crispy at this point, it will finish when you add it to the brussels on the grill. Now add in the chicken and about 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Continue to cook for 5 minutes more.

Now it is time to add to the brussels. First toss the brussels on the pan then pour the bacon mixture over them. Stir around and return to the grill. You need to cook this for about 10 more minutes, until the brussels are tender.Remove from grill, pour into a nice serving bowl and dig in! Cheers

When you have a big Traeger why smoke one chicken when you can do 2? On Sunday I decided to smoke 2 whole chickens to provide a base for meals all week. Not only is the smoked chicken excellent by itself but it works great in all kinds of dishes. Plus I use the bones to make chicken stock. With soup season coming up in Minnesota, you can never have enough stock!

I normally cook whole chickens on the Traeger at 350 degrees for about an hour but this time I decided to try smoking them. Cook at 225 degrees for 2 1/2 – 3 hours to add more flavor.Start with a couple nice chickens – 4-5 pounds each. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Now I like to add Famous Dave’s Chikn’ Wing Seasoning. This stuff is seriously good! Do yourself a favor and pick some up for all your chicken. Now get the grill temp set at 225 degrees and start smoking!2 Hours in and things are coming together. Once the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees, pull it off the grill. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. I like to cut all the meat off the bones and store it the fridge until ready to use. Be sure to save the carcass to make some stock. Check back later to see what we did with this chicken. Cheers!

Looking for a quick and easy weeknight dinner? Well here it is! Grilled pork tenderloin with a pineapple poblano salsa and a side salad. Things are a bit busy at work and home so it is always nice to be able to whip up a quick and tasty dinner. Pork tenderloin grills fast and is always a winner. Remember to not overcook it though. I grill mine to an internal temp of 145 degrees and pull it off the grill. Let it rest for 10 minutes and slice it up!

Pineapple is a good pairing with pork so I found some pineapple-poblano salsa at the store that looked good. It worked perfectly with the pork! The side salad was a kit from the store as well. Came with all the fixings and a really good southwest style dressing. Quick, easy and tasty. Cheers!

Well it is time for me to head north for the annual fishing trip at Shell Lake, MN. I thought it would be a good idea to smoke some brisket to bring along for tonight’s meal. With folks traveling some long distances, it is nice to have something already prepared.
I put this bad boy on the Traeger last night at 8:00 PM and 15 hours later – perfection! The butcher at Brothers Meats and Seafood gave me some good advice on some rub – John Henry’s Texas Brisket rub – and he was right. This rub is excellent and gave the brisket a great flavor – I had to sample a couple pieces to be sure!

You always need some sweet treats as well after a long day of fishing. I baked up some gluten free chocolate chips cookies last night also. You cannot even tell I used gluten free flour. I used Pillsbury’s Best GF flour and it is awesome. (sampled a couple of these as well)

I covered the 5 lb brisket liberally with the rub and let it sit for 30 minutes while I got the Traeger ready. For this overnight brisket I cook low and slow – the temp hovered around 165 -175. Once the brisket hits an internal temp of 165 I pull it off the grill and double wrap it tightly in foil with a little beef broth. This will keep the brisket moist during the final 2 hours of smoking. Once the internal temp hits 190 – pull it off the grill, let it rest for 15 minutes then slice it up. Make sure to sample a few pieces:) Cheers!

Our anniversary was Wednesday and lucky for us it was Rindy and Aarons night to cook. They decided to cook up a special meal for us – Bacon wrapped filet and grilled lobster! What a treat. Aaron did an excellent job and our anniversary ended wonderfully. We are blessed to have such great friends.To grill the steak – wrap in some back and grill for about 6-8 minutes a side. These were pretty thick so took closer to the 8 minutes. Simple seasoning – olive oil, salt and pepper.I have never grilled lobster but Aaron made it look easy. He skewered the tails which keeps them from curling up so you get an even grill. Brush with butter while grilling and cook 4 minutes a side.Look at that platter of food! I am getting hungry again just writing this post. Thanks Rindy and Aaron for making our anniversary so special. Cheers!

The week of clean eating continued tonight. We had Rindy and Aaron over for supper and dished up a plate of grilled flank steak, roasted potatoes and grilled sweet corn. Also added a caprese salad on the side. Summertime at its best!The caprese salad is so easy yet packed with flavor. Just slice some tomatoes, add a slice of fresh mozzarella and fresh chopped basil. Top with balsamic vinegar just before serving and you have a great salad.

For the corn I tried a new method – instead of just placing directly on the grill grates, I put all 6 ears in heavy foil, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper and added 1/2 cup of water. I then sealed it up tight in the foil and grilled for about 20 minutes. The corn came out perfect, tender and juicy!The flank steak is also a simple meat to grill. Just season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill over high heat for about 6 minutes a side. I love summer. Cheers!