Mothers day.. 2010

image via Metblogs

My husband got up this morning and made me some lovely pancakes for breakfast. The children brought me beautiful handmade cards and lovingly made presents from school. I had a nice leisurely morning playing with the kids and writing recipes. I think Mothers Day is such an overrated day. I think everyday should be Mothers & Fathers day. However I will use this day each year to get the house cleaned. I admit it I am shallow like that. Any opportunity to get the house cleaned works for me.

So while the hubby and the kids were cleaning I was playing on the grills. Now in my world a day of playing with the kids and playing with the grills rocks.

My menu for todays meal has been planned since this past Monday. I received an AWESOME present from the food editor of the Toronto Star Jennifer Bain. She also is known as the Saucy lady. I had not seen here for years though we corresponded back and forth. It was fun to grill up some items for her to be featured in a couple of articles in the Toronto Star’s food section. Jennifer brought me a present she knew I would appreciate.

Her husband is a bison rancher in Alberta. I was thrilled to see her digging out packages of meat from her bag. A gorgeous tri-tip and some other cuts to be used at a later date. I knew in an instant what I would be making for Mother’s day. I love tri-tip. Love it. I do not have it often enough. To get a bison tri-tip was really special. I can’t wait to get together again. She is a walking encyclopedia of food knowledge and funny as hell.

For those of you not familiar with Tri-tip Whitetrash BBQ had the following article and image on Santa Maria Tri Tip:

My tri-tip started its journey today in a marinade of dried rosemary, minced garlic, canola oil, and red onions.

While the tri-tip was getting happy I moved on to the side dishes. Artichokes are another one of those items that I do not eat often enough. They are labour intensive but so worth it. I started out with quite a lot of artichokes.

Then I got to trimming them with some scissors to take out the tough sharp outer leaves. I used a large knife to cut off the ends just above the choke.

They are so pretty.

I needed to trim a little faster these were browning up quickly.

Cutting them in half and using a melon baller is the easiest way i have found to clean them out quickly.

I also like eating the stem. I used a paring knife to trim out the harder outer layer.

One of the most important steps is placing the trimmed artichokes in some acidulated water. Thats a fancy schmancy way of saying some water that has some lemon juice in it. So glad I am finally putting those college degrees to use. Basically if you skip this step you will end up with very gray blotchy looking artichokes. It won’t affect the taste but they will look like crap on a plate.

After soaking them in the acidulated water for half an hour I drained them off and placed them in one of my large stock pots filled with fresh water. I boiled them in salted water for approx 1/2 hour till they were just started to tenderize. Now you can skip this step but you better be prepared to stand beside your charcoal grill for a good hour or so while they get tender. Since they are not a rib I am ok with boiling.

While they were getting their happy bath I moved on to the last side dish – corn. I love corn. If given a choice between corn or potatoes corn for me wins out every time. I remember once when I was a kid I got my a$$ seriously reprimanded for eating corn raw right in the field of the farmer that lived near us. Not only did I get the displeasure of my parents bestowed upon me for stealing our neighbours corn I had to go work for the farmer and make up for it. Sheesh I mean really to an 11 year old kid was the farmer really going to miss a couple of ears??? I still think brat (baby brother) ratted me out for that one.

Ok so getting back to the corn. I keep it simple flavorful and fresh. I peel back the husks and I remove the silks and I go right to the grill with it. I don’t season it at all until it comes off. I really find if you use a good charcoal like Basques a lot of the flavor is imparted by the charcoal itself.

When it came off I simply sprinkled chipotle powder, lime zest, salt and pepper on it with a tiny bit of butter. (please note this is the truth the Paula Deen in me didn’t come out today y’all!)At the last minute I always squeeze lime juice on as well.

As the corn was finishing it was time to get the artichokes on the grill to get a bit of char on them. It was quite windy in my backyard today.
**Ahem – note to husband a Q bana may be in my near future. Just saying its something to think about.

Please note this picture should also be proof that I do on occasion wear something other than black. Bright orange neon capris at home are perfectly acceptable grilling clothing.

While all this veggie madness was going on (see Peta I do eat veggies….) on went the tri-tip on the new Traeger 300. I am really loving this grill. Awesome color on everything and great taste too.

Today I employed the reverse sear method. It worked well again. Here is another reference to reverse sear as well.
I held it at 225F for approx 1/2 hour then I finished it at 450F. I took it to medium rare. That way everyone in our house is happy. rested it for 15 minuted lightly tented.

I sliced the tri-tip fairly thinly and served up the corn and the artichokes with a curry aioli (curry powder, good quality mayo, s&p, lemon juice, a wee bit of garlic powder, and a few pinches of turmeric).
Dinner as a family is always great and we try to eat together as much as we can. We are coming up to soccer season in our house this week. That means 3-4 times a week (for the next 12 weeks) we are either at a soccer game or at a soccer practice. I am going to cherish this dinner with family. Let me tell you it was goodness on a plate. #GOAP It was a wonderful meal for mothers day.

For all you Mom’s out there you rock. Happy Mother’s Day to you all.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the Ontario Gas BBQ’s Media Day. Ontario Gas BBQ is one of my all time favorite places in the world. They have so much stuff. So many BBQ’s.  I have to show extreme self restraint every time I go. I want to buy everything. They also are the largest BBQ store in the world. Unfortunately the day was cold and wet. Ugh. But the grills never stopped the beer was flowing and the media were all about….

Their BBQ showrooms are incredible. They carry everything you can imagine and more….

So many BBQ’s ……………….

There was a great selection of BBQ Companies there to demo their products and to provide tastings..Traeger’s menu for the day was ABT’s  Grilled Asparagus with a curry aioli, and hot & fiery chili dipping sauce, pulled pork sliders, Bacon Bombs (Ill be posting about those next week!!) and of course a little bit of chocolate heaven. All done on Traeger BBQ’s

Celebrity BBQ & grilling chefs Ted Reader (Teds BBQ World) and Rob Rainford (Food Network- License to Grill) were also on hand making some incredible food (pulled pork and foie gras burgers from Teddy!- so decadent)

Rob looking as stylish as ever and he always has the megawatt smile.

Here is a picture of Ted’s Ass bending over his grill. You can see it is a much smaller ass now. He has lost a lot of weight.

I have no clue what he was looking for here. You never know with Teddy what will happen next.

I got to try some of his new Apple Brown Betty Grilling Sauce (and I forgot to bring my bottle home) it was damn good. Go get some.

For some serious comedy please watch this video of us chatting after the show on Teddy’s weight loss secrets – they are truly inspirational.

Heres a link to some of the media coverage from yesterday.  It was a really fun day !! Thanks to the folks at Eventrix for organizing the entire event.

Global TV April 2010

Well today has been a very exciting BBQ day!! I got to see the new Traeger 300 in person right after it was unloaded. It is even more impressive in person. Really solid design. I am looking forward to playing on one in the upcoming weeks.

Here are some pictures of the unit

As soon as I get the spec sheet I will update this post!

No special day here or anything buts it’s not often I get to have  prime rib.

Was feeling a bit out of sorts earlier today on a personal level but I will say that spending a bit of time in the kitchen doing some prep lifted my spirits. There is something strangely & immensely satisfying about smashing the crap out of a whole bunch of herbs and garlic using a mortar and pestle. Today’s crust was made with a lot of savory, thyme, 6 cloves of garlic, some beautiful New Zealand sea salt (thanks Angie!!) , black peppercorns and some canola oil. I pounded my little heart out (seriously I really need to bring the mortar and pestle out more often) and came up with a lovely herb mash.

The prime rib was lovely. I just love the look of raw meat. I love seeing the striations of marbling. Just beautiful.this prime rib weighed approx 6 lbs

On went the slather and into the fridge for a couple of ours.

My children were seriously not impressed at this point. At this point they were giving me the oh my goodness you can’t possibly expect us to eat that for dinner tonight looks. Any parent can relate to that.

It was a lovely smelling prime rib and the color was coming along nicely. Off to the kitchen to prep some veggies to accompany our dinner. Had some portobellos with some Wisconsin Parmesan that I picked up on our last travels to the US. Its a nicely aged cheese. Lovely to eat on its own. Not sure I would use it again on the portobellos. Just didn’t have enough oomph.

Then one of my all time favorite veggies – asparagus! Love love love asparagus grilled. So do the kids. Ok 2 out of 3 of the kids love it. The other (Chaos causing , tiny terrorist also known as my son Gabe) child has determined it looks too much like a plant. I grated the rind from a really large lemon and sprinkled it on the asparagus as well as a really fragrant lemon olive oil. Salt & pepper was added as well.

The Natives were getting restless at this point and it took everything in me to keep them all (including husband) occupied until the prime rib had rested for enough time.

Overall dinner was lovely. The prime rib was delicious. I love herb crusts on beef.

Along with my love of BBQ and food in general I have a serious affinity for butchers shops. I have my own here in Barrie- Hovey’s Gourmet Meats and I believe everyone needs a good butcher. Last year I had the opportunity to do a Traeger demo at an incredible butcher store Schinkels Gourmet Meats in Chatham Ontario. Due to some technical difficulties (ok I admit it I lost the pictures) I haven’t posted before now but here are some pictures of this terrific butcher store. If you are ever in the area I suggest you stop in and pick up some of their great products.Additionally they have some of the nicest and most helpful staff you will ever encounter.

They have terrific meat counters that are full service

Great selections of lots of cheeses

Lots of spice mixtures and also BBQ sauces

Plus their owner is an all around great guy who really knows his stuff:

Stop in if you are in the area!

Schinkels’ Gourmet Meats
145 Richmond St.,
Chatham, Ontario.
Canada
N7M 1P1

Ph: (519) 351-2117
Fax: (519) 436-0961

Just wanted to share something I am finally able to post… had to wait till this weekend as it is being unveiled at the Traeger HPBA expo booth.

This is the picture of the brand new Traeger 300. It is really cool and I get to play on one next month. I can’t wait. Monday I’ll post more specs on it. Its going to be awesome.

Well I am once again adding to my ever increasing list of BBQ books. The folks at Big Green Egg were kind enough to give me a copy of their latest book. Just for the record. I don’t have a Big Green Egg. Yet. I am a firm believer that having multiple types of grills is a good idea. They all have different personalities. I love my Traegers. I compete with my Traegers. I really do believe they are the easiest BBQ to own and to operate. So I am definitely a pellet head. However I love playing with charcoal too. Playing with fire can be a lot of fun and certainly a challenge at times. Some women collect shoes I prefer to collect BBQ’s. It makes the whole BBQ experience fun.

So the cookbook is really quite expansive. This is a big cookbook. 320 pages. It is a gorgeous cookbook to own. The pictures are incredible. The recipes many I have tried and would recommend -Smoke Beef Short Ribs done with hickory chips for example. I have found many of the recipes are easily transferable to other BBQ equipment in addition to Eggs.

Some of the recipes also use the stove top (ex Kale on page 307 with the apple wood smoked bacon). It is a delicious recipe.

I like the format of this cookbook. I enjoyed reading the Chef & Pitmaster Biographies. Overall this has to be one of the best laid out cookbooks for BBQ I have ever seen. Plus God bless them they realize there are Canadians and International Folks that BBQ since they even included a Metric Conversion table as well.

From the Gourmet (ex Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Creme Fraiche & Caviar) to the most basic (ex Italian Sausage subs) this cookbook has it all for anyone who loves to grill & BBQ. I would highly recommend it for the recipes whether you own a Big Green Egg or other grill/bbq.

Just an FYI we have announced two classes for 2010 with more dates being announced in the future. Please see our Classes tab for more information. Please note all of our past classes have sold out continuously so sign up soon.

This weekend Ill be with Traeger Canada in the Traeger Grill Zone at Bradford Greenhouses Garden Gallery in Barrie. Its a indoor show featuring lots of interesting indoor ideas, live stage shows and loads of fun. Bring the family! Best part is there is free admittance! Come meet Frankie Flowers as well Frank will be there on Sunday doing a demo on enviro gardening!

I was inspired today from The Original Bacon Explosion™, the world famous bacon-stuffed, bacon-wrapped Italian sausage.

I also had a pound of bacon in the freezer and some ground beef I found as well. I have done a few weaves of bacon before. On a few dessert recipes as well. This worked out extremely well.

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground chuck

1 lb bacon (to wrap)

4 scallions finely chopped

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

3 tablespoons BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons Sisters Secret Fragrant Chili’s

1/2 lb good aged old cheddar

Bread crumbs to bind.

I mixed together all of the ingredients and added just enough bread crumbs to bind it together.

Then using a loaf pan as my mold I placed plastic wrap in the cavity. On a cutting board I made my bacon weave. I had 3 slices left over from the pound.Then I just inverted the cutting board over the loaf pad and let the bacon drape in.

After this step it is simply filling in half the ground chuck mixture, placing the cheese with the center, and covering with the rest of the ground chuck mixture.

Once this step is accomplished just adjust the bacon slices to cover. I used the remaining 3 slices of bacon to ensure I had full coverage on the bottom.

This needs to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

When your loaf is chilled remove from the mold. I placed mine on my frogmat. Just to make my life easier.

My Traeger grill was set at medium high heat. (300F) I used apple pellets.

I took it to 160F internal temperature.

Ok I admit I tried to wait. Really I did. My impatience got the best of me and I cut into it. OOey gooey cheese came out. I should have waited at least 15 minutes.
It still made for a great dinner.