Skillet Porterhouse Steak Basted with Compound Butter and Tallow

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] This is not a sponsored post, as I have taken a break from sponsorships this year.  However, in the spirit of transparency, we still have a close working relationship with the folks at Certified Angus Beef® Brand.

Many of my friends scoff at the notion of "grilling season" because most of us grill and barbecue throughout the year.  But I still think that there is a "grilling season" that starts for me with Daylight Savings Time.  "Grilling season" to me means that it is the optimum conditions for grilling:

• Lighting - The sun starts setting later in the evening, and for our deck, that means beautiful rays of golden sunlight boldly shine through the trees in our backyard.
• Warmth - It feels good to be outside, with warm breezes and pleasant temperatures.  
• Wildlife - Birds, frogs, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters are out and about, and their chorus of animal Tinder ads fill the air.
• Greenery - Winter's fifty shades of grey is over.  The grass is vibrantly green, flowers are bursting open like fireworks, and trees have leaves, once again.

To celebrate the first day of Daylight Savings Time this year, I went to Food City and picked up the prettiest Certified Angus Beef® Brand porterhouse steak they had.  I cooked it in a skillet over hardwood coals and basted it with a mix of compound butter and beef tallow.

When I was posting about this while cooking, one of my followers asked a good question:

@nibblemethis , this may be a dumb question, but what’s the advantage of searing a steak in a cast iron skillet over coals vs. a hot gas or electric stove? Does the meat acquire extra smoke flavor? Gas seems so easy compared to coals. Thanks

The answer is that I did it solely to enjoy the experience.  With an open grill like this, you aren't going to get any smoke flavor.  If I used the skillet as the sear part of the reverse sear technique, then yes, I would get that smoky taste. 

Gear and Set Up

I decided to use a skillet for this cook.  I love uniform cross-hatch marks, but it is hard to beat a cast iron skillet seared steak.  But more importantly, I wanted to butter-baste our steak.  My weapon of choice was a PK Grill, a simple clam-shell type grill and I used Tennessee hardwood lump charcoal.  Notice two things.  

• First, the skillet is empty.  Don't add food, oil, or anything until it is preheated - when you start to see slight wisps of smoke come off the surface.  
• Second, notice the gap with no charcoals, that is my escape area if the skillet gets too hot.  

Golden Pineapple Mango Glazed Chicken

[FTC standard disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post.  Some of the links are Amazon affiliate links.  I do have a business relationship with Oklahoma Joe's, but none of that involves promoting them on my blog or social media.  

My first career was in the retail grocery industry, and I started in high school.  I loved working in the produce and meat departments because there was so much to learn as a teenager.  Back then, for a chicken to be considered a fryer, it had to be 3 1/2 pounds or less.  These days, most fryers start about 4 1/2 pounds and can run over 6 pounds.

I was happy to find a 3 1/2 pound Gerber Amish Farms Chicken at my Food City* this past weekend. I didn't know what I was going to do with it until I got home and rummaged through the refrigerator.  I found some Tropicana Pineapple Mango with Lime drink and thought it would make a good poultry glaze.  I was right.

The glaze is sweet with the citrus tang you would expect.  It is mouthwatering good on grilled chicken and tastes like Summer.  It also creates a beautiful golden color on the chicken.

Golden Pineapple Mango Glazed Chicken

Makes about 1 cup

Phone post: Bone-In Ribeye Steak on the Big Green Egg

[FTC Disclaimer]  We received no compensation for this post.

My absolute favorite time of the year for sports is the college basketball tournament.  This year, three teams that we root for are top seeds which makes it even more enjoyable. Carolina had a late tip-off so I grilled this thick, bone-in ribeye for Alexis and I to split.

It was a straight-forward cook, but here are the details for my grilling-nerd friends. 

The bone-in ribeye steak weighed in at just under 1 1/2 pounds.  I patted it dry, lightly oiled it with some peanut oil, and then seasoned it with our finely ground NMT Umami Steak Seasoning recipe.

Sausage Garden Alfredo Sauce

[FTC Disclaimer]  We received no compensation for this post.  

We made a few white pizza sauces for a client project this weekend and had some leftover ingredients. Last night Alexis and I used them to make a creamy, mouthwatering Alfredo sauce for homemade pasta.

Here is what we had to work with:

Tomato and basil jack cheese

Cooked Italian sausage

Baby spinach

Albukirky green chile dried tomatoes

Baby spinach, tomato and basil jack cheese, cook Italian sausage, and our Albukirky green chile dried tomatoes.

First, we made pasta.  We were out of our usual pasta flour but we had Bob’s Red Mill semolina flour and used the recipe on their package. 

We roll the dough with our hand-cranked pasta machine.  We were out of our usual pasta flour, but we had Bob’s Red Mill semolina flour and used the recipe on their package. It turned out fine.