June 2nd - N'awlins Shrimp, Grilled citrus talapia & baked potatoes with a pork steak.

Baked potatoes on the grill. Baste them with butter. Throw some coarse sea salt. Wrap them in foil. 1 hour later. perfection.

Pork Steak...see last post.

Talapia: This time I marinated it in a rosemary garlic citrus sauce. I liked the previous talapia I made with a marinade consisting of balsamic vinegar and oil and some other things, but this wasn't bad at all; just not as flavorful as I would like. light.

N'awlins Shrimp: Again, out of the Weber cookbook. The only thing I didnt have on hand was the turmeric, but everything else went into the marinade. I tried grilling these with the skin on and peeling afterward. Unless you are going with colossal shrimp or Jumbo (15 or less per pound) I wouldn't suggest this. It was messy, which is fine for some meals, but not this one. I do think they retain some moisture with the skin on, but I would have preferred to baste them on the grill in leiu of having to peel them afterwards. too small. Tasty though, but not hot enough. Not enough cayenne. I should have thrown in some tabasco or franks into the marinade (about 30 mins).

May 28th - Pork Steaks

I used a simple rub comprised of fresh ground pepper, smoked salt and some of this Gateway-to-the-North Maple Sugar Seasoning. These turned out really good, much better than expected. The "pork steak" cut contains some fat to render with the bone so, unlike a chop, you can really put some heat to it without drying it out. The picture doesn't really do it justice. Very good and easy to make in a pinch. These turned out perfectly with enough flavor without being too fatty. A forgiving cut for lazy or unattentive grillers.

May 20th - Grilled Pork Tenderloin on a cedar plank with pineapple relish

This was a new dish for me; I had never done pork tenderloin. It was very good and not at all what I expected from a pork cut. It cooked a little too slowly on the cedar plank. So I had to put it directly on the grill after a little while and wouldn't you know it, the tenderloins came out a little overcooked.
A shot before hitting the flame:

On the plank, on the grill. I used some apple wood for the smoke. perfect !


Had to take them off the plank to hasten the grilling time, but not too long. The tenderloin is not a juicy cut and can suffer from overcooking, if you're not careful.


I also grilled some pineapple to accompany the tenderloin. I got some bamboo skewers that were flavored from Target of all places. They were really great (surprise !)



Here is a shot of the finished dish. I also made a waldorf salad to accompany this meal. That was a perfect compliment. The salad was delicious ! There is something about that spinach+blue cheese+carmelized pecans (no walnuts for me)+lemon vinagrette.



As it turned out, this was one of the most unusual dishes I have ever attempted and it was fantastic. I think it would be a real crowd pleaser, as you don't see too many carribean dishes or exotic grilled dishes very often. I guess some consider the addition of the pineapple relish as a tropical dish. The green in the relish was finely chopped basil ! Here is a shot of the ingredients for the relish prior to simmering:

May 13th - Buffalo Oysters ! (dreadlock rasta)
Grill a pacific oyster. Add to it some garlic, lemon juice, butter and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

There you have: buffalo oysters. mmmm.....these were delicious and chock full of tasty cholesterol. As Homer would say....mmmmmm....pork fat.....or, mmmmm....{insert unhealthy food reference here}

This is after they are pulled off the grill and the good stuff is added:

This is after the good stuff is added and the oyster is grilled for about 30 seconds more...




This was followed by 2 tri-tips.

May 12th - Blue Cheese Burgers, grilled tomatoes and sauteed Anaheim peppers with sweet onions.

We had some ground meat to eat or get rid of. This was lean and needed something to liven it up so I stuffed them with blue cheese...right out of the Weber BBQ cookbook. Not my favorite. I prefer my burgers with more ingredients mixed within them. A little tomato paste is a good additive to burgers. Not only does it give it a little more taste, the bit of sugar that is in tomato paste will assure a pleasing grill mark look. You can see a bit of the cheese escaping on a few of these:

The grilled tomatoes were not as good as I have made in the past. Last time I made grilled tomatoes, I used a pesto sauce instead of a simple home made sauteed onion+garlic mixture topped with Parmiganno-Reggiano cheese. Still, I love grilling vegetables. They seem to all absorb the grill flavor and smoke flavor really well.

But the must-have dish to accompany burgers are the sauteed anaheim peppers with sweet onions. These are so delicious that I could eat them as a side by themselves. Added on top of a burger on a bun or (my preference) in a tortilla, they compliment the ground meat perfectly.

May 11th, 2007 - Pork Chops

A basic grilling of bone-in pork chops, thinly cut (my preference over the thicker loin cut which is too lean for my tastes...makes it harder to grill, in fact, my favorite is the pork steak cut which contains just enough taste to render it).

Two of these (far right) were made with my Georgia Sauce, the rest were a simple rub of chardonnay & oak smoked salt with cracked black pepper. They were fine.