Grilled Top Sirloin Filet with Mushroom Salsa

A little over a week ago, a recipe for mushroom salsa inundated the food blogs I read.  It was here.  It was there.  It was everywhere I looked.  I had to try it.

I had just bought four top sirloin filets and I knew exactly what I was going to do with them.  Top sirloin filet are one of the "extra lean" cuts off beef with less than 5 grams of fat.  They resemble beef tenderloin but they are a little less tender, more flavorful, and about half the price.  I cook them the same way I do filet mignon.

Grilled Top Sirloin Filet with Mushroom Salsa

source:  Sauce Marsala adapted from BigOven

Ingredients

• 4 Top Sirloin Filet
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup mushroom salsa

For the Sauce Marsala

• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp flour
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Place steaks at room temperature.
2. Mix together the butter and flour, then chill.
3. Heat wine, pepper, and stock in a saute pan over medium heat until it reduces volume by half (about 10 minutes).  
4. Once reduced, slowly whisk in the cream.  Add the flour butter mix in small amounts (1/2 tsp) while whisking frequently.  Simmer until thickened.  Taste for seasoning and add salt IF needed.  It took right at 20 minutes from start to finish for the sauce.  Keep warm.
5. Preheat a charcoal grill to 500f.  Make sure your grates are clean and lightly oiled.
6. Season filet with salt and pepper just immediately before putting them on the grill.  
7. Grill the filet to 125f for medium rare, about 4 minutes per side.  Rotate the steaks a quarter turn on each side to get nice grill marks.
8. Allow filet to rest 5 minutes after taking them off the grill.  
9. Serve steak on a bed of the mushroom salsa and top with the sauce marsala.  I used a ring mold to shape the salsa.

The idea of a mushroom salsa seemed weird but it totally worked with this steak.  The sauce marsala had a sweetness to it that was balanced out by the black pepper.  The fingerling potatoes were just seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano and roasted.  Alexis loved it all.  

My baby bellas were HUGE.  More like teenaged bellas.

The netting helps them hold their shape.  I cook the filet with the netting on and cut it off afterward.

Grilling away on the Craycort grates.

Like beef tenderloin, top sirloin filet are best served rare to medium rare.

I hope you all are having a fun weekend.  Give your loved ones a hug!

Pimento Macaroni and Cheese

I guess that I forgot to mention that I was going away for a week on a fishing trip with Trevor and my father in law in Florida.

Gone fishin' ......

Actually, I didn't forget, I just didn't want any of you folks to steal our two Big Green Eggs while I was gone, (not that I don't trust you - wink).

When Trevor and I got back, I was craving some good barbecue so I uncovered the grill and smoked a rack of pork loin back ribs (aka "baby back" although these were 2 1/2 down instead of 2 1/4 down).

Gratuitous rib shot.

I won't go into the details because I used a version of the method I learned in George Ewart's Hands On Rib Class at Dead End BBQ last year.  George is repeating the class next month [details here] and I would highly recommend the class.  Whether you are a beginner wanting to learn to BBQ or a seasoned competitor, you will learn a lot.

Alexis made a batch of her pimento mac and cheese to go with the ribs.  Mac and cheese is a perennial BBQ side dish and let's be up front, it's not health food.  I'd rather do an extra 20 minutes on my work out than eat "lite" mac and cheese.

The recipe can be made in the oven but we also like to do it on the grill in a stoneware pan.  I like the way stoneware cooks on the grill, it acts as a heat sink and helps cook evenly.  The particular pan used here is a deep dish pie pan (11" x 2") from the Family Heritage line at Pampered Chef.  Many people often ask me about the durability of stoneware on the grill.  Almost all of the stoneware you see used on my blog are at least over 6 years old, some 10 years old.
 

Served with Bush's  new Sweet Mesquite Grillin' Beans.

Pimento Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Kelli's Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

• 16 oz Velveeta, cut into 1" cubes*
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 18 oz large elbow macaroni, dry
• 2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp McCormick's Smoked Paprika
• 3 Tbsp roasted red pepper*, diced

Instructions

1.  Pour the cream and milk into a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the Velveeta and allow to melt, stirring occasionally.  Add the butter and melt.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the pasta according to directions.
3. Place the pasta and half of the shredded cheese in a pan that will hold the pasta about 2-3 inches deep.  Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta.  Top with the other half of shredded cheese.  Sprinkle with smoked paprika.
4. Bake at 350f on charcoal grill (indirect heat) until the top is golden and bubbly, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Notes

• Yes, Velveeta.  Don't judge me.  The Bible says it's okay. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to use Velveeta."  I swear it's in there.  Trust me, don't go look it up.  I'm quoting the Bible, would I lie?
• I find that roasted red pepper gives much more flavor than jarred pimentos, which are often lacking in the flavor department.
• Served with Bush's New Sweet Mesquite Grillin' Beans (Black beans simmered with onions and red pepper in a sweet and smoky sauce).  Helps make up a little bit for the mac and cheese since a serving of the beans has only 1 gram total fat.  But I still have to do extra workouts today because of the mac and cheese!  It was worth it....

Ran out of hickory chunks so I used 2 small hickory splits from my offset smoker, then buried them in more coal.

Like I said, went easy route and used Dead End BBQ rub...

And Dead End BBQ sauce.

 

George's rib technique is meant for spare ribs but works on loin backs too, if you adjust the time.

Don't worry if you have a little "over-bubble-itivity"

 

Proper!

[Standard Disclaimer] Bush Beans - I have a paid business agreement with Bush Beans for this year but have used their products for long before.  McCormick/Lawry's - I had a recent paid post with McCormick's and received a box load of free samples.  Pampered Chef - I paid full price for the Pampered Chef stoneware mentioned.  Dead End BBQ - I pay full price for their food and classes.  I just like to promote them because George and his crew do a great job. 

FISHING TRIP
If you were born before MTV, you probably remember family and friends get togethers where someone would break out the carousel slide projector and share vacation pictures.  Here is my modern version of that.

There were 4 dozen other boats fishing "the Pass" at Pensacola on day 1.

We cruised the coastline 10-20' deep, site fishing for cobia.  Dolphin in the foreground.

Me standing on the seat, searching for the elusive cobia. We didn't find them....

 

But we did find and track a large school of black drum for 45 minutes.

We hooked up a half dozen times while paralleling the school.

The drum were all big hogs! 

Trevor (12 y/o)  getting practice at the helm.  He is going to get an operators license this summer.

Yeah, I've had mornings where I'm slow and need this sign too.

Fishing at Pensacola Pass on Day 2.

Lunch at the Sunset Grille was always a favorite.

Trevor working a plug at Marker 28.

Me pulling up anchor on our last day of fishing.  Time to go home.

 

Just a funny pic - Forget Madison Ave....we "rednecks" know how to market and advertise!  Sign near a roofless abandoned building off of US 331 in Alabama.

Ping Gai Chicken

You have to be careful when you tell someone that you are making this dish.

Because if you say it too quickly, it sounds like "pinkeye chicken", which isn't too appetizing.

But appetizing it is! This is a dish we found years ago on BigOven. It was good back then when we made it with sweet chili sauce but now that I use sriracha sauce in it, this Laotian recipe is a superb grilled chicken with layers of heat and sweet.


Ping Gai Chicken
Adapted from the Queen Mother Cafe in Toronto, as published in The Toronto Star
Yields: 6 Servings

4 ea chicken breasts, boneless, SKIN ON


Wet Rub
1 bunch Fresh Cilantro
6 cloves Garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper, coarse cracked
3 tablespoons Oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Sauce
1 cup Water
1/2 cups Sugar
3 sprigs Fresh Cilantro
2 cloves Garlic
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1 tablespoon Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce (sriracha sauce)
1 tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce

Wet Rub:
Rip of the top half of a bunch of cilantro. Don't be picky about some stems being included. Finely chop the cilantro and garlic in a food processor. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, and oil and pulse the food processor until mixed well into a paste.

Rub the paste onto the chicken breasts and under the skin too. Let marinade for at least 1 hour or overnight if possible.

Dipping sauce:
In a sauce pan, heat the water and sugar until boiling, stirring often. Cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Allow the simple syrup to cool. Then add to a food processor with the cilantro, garlic, vinegar, lime juice, sriracha, and fish sauce. Process until smooth. If still too thin, you can add 1/2 to 1 tsp of potato starch to thicken the sauce.

Set up your grill for a direct heat cook at 350f. Place the chicken on, skin side down, for 8 minutes. Flip and cook for another 6-8 minutes, until the breasts hit an internal temp of 160f.


Slice thin, garnish with sliced green onions and drizzle with the "dipping sauce". Serve with sweet Jasmine rice topped with slivers of carrots and jalapenos.


On that note, we are heading out to the Eggtoberfest in the morning. Behave yourselves while we are gone and don't let Scott Baio give you pinkeye.

Aji Beef Taco Soup

Waste not, want not - this is one of those "use up the scraps" recipes. Nothing fancy at all, but functional and easy.

I used up
-the lean pieces of beef from the "chain of bull" that is trimmed from a beef tenderloin
-the last of my batch of taco seasoning
-the last of the tomatillos we had
-a bit of the Aji salsa that was too hot to eat by itself

The aji is a fiery mix of jalapenos, habanero, and green onion that were roasted and mixed with cilantro, lime juice, and S & P.

I can't imagine why it was so hot (ha!).

If you want to make this Aji, you can use this Aji recipe and add a habanero pepper. Or if you just want to go milder, skip the Aji altogether and just use a can of mild green chilies.

Aji Beef Taco Soup
Adapted from Crockpot Taco Soup #1

Ingredients
1 lb beef tenderloin, diced
1 medium onion, diced
5 ea tomatillo, husks removed and diced
2 ea green onion, green and white parts all chopped
3 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup beef stock
1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
1 can corn, not drained
1 can black beans, not drained
4 oz can sliced black olives
1/4 cup Aji salsa
1/4 cup cilantro

Toppings - more cilantro, green onion, shredded cheese, fried tortilla strips, and/or sour cream

Instructions
Preheat a cast iron dutch oven on a 325f grill over direct heat. Brown the beef for about 5 minutes. Remove beef from dutch oven.

TIP: When sauteing on a grill, you don't have the precise heat control like a range top so keep a close eye on it and stir frequently to avoid burning.

Add the onion and tomatillo to the dutch oven, cooking for 5-8 minutes until softened.

Return the beef and all remaining ingredients except the cilantro to the dutch oven and mix together. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the dutch oven from the grill, stir in the cilantro, cover and let sit for another 10-15 minutes. Despite being off the grill, the cast iron will continue to cook the soup.

Garnish and serve.

This may have been an easy dish and one that used scraps but this is no slouch. There is an initial taste of sweet (not sure where that came from) with each bite but that quickly turns into a bit of heat on the back side. Since there were so many canned goods used, I honestly didn't expect to like this one as much as I did.

This is one where I don't think cooking this on the grill really ADDED anything to this dish, it would have been just as good done inside. But I still enjoyed cooking it outside.

So tell me, what are some of your favorite recipes for clearing out the fridge and using up scraps?

Mahi Mahi Maui Style

Maui style. What does that mean to you?

To most people, it probably means tropical or Hawaiian.

But to me, it reminds me of my adolescence because I started surfing when I was 14 years old. I was as passionate about surfing as we foodies are about food. And just like now when I cook outside year round, back then, I surfed year round, even in the winter. One of my favorite pieces of surf wear was a Maui and Son's sweatshirt that my sister bought me for Christmas in the 80's when Quicksilver, OP, Lightning Bolt, and surf wear were all the rage. It was perfect for changing into after peeling off a cold wetsuit.

I mentioned that sweatshirt tonight to Brett because I had given it to him and he told me that Trevor now had it. Some ~25 years later, that sweatshirt is still in use!

What in the sam hell does that have to do with cooking? Well, Maui and Sons started out as a cookie company but their venture failed so they turned to surf wear. The logo that adorned several pairs of baggies that I wore was based on a chocolate chip cookie.

I never knew that until tonight until the whole sweatshirt thing caused me to look them up on line.

While this recipe has nothing to do with Maui and Sons, it definitely fits my idea of Maui style! Bold and brash.

Mahi Mahi Maui Style
source: Not sure. I find this on several of the big recipe sites but no one cites the original source.

3-4 mahi mahi fillets
2 tsp butter
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp teriyaki sauce
4 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame seeds

Melt the butter and saute garlic until it starts to brown. Remove from heat and whisk in the teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, honey and 1 tsp of the sesame seeds.

Marinate the fillets for 30 minutes while you preheat a grill to 350f.

Grill meat side down for about 3 minutes. Flip and grill skin side down for 5-8 minutes, until the fillet hits an internal temp of 140f.

Serve with sweet and sour rice and soy steamed green beans. I poured a smiddgen (official measurement) of the sweet and sour sauce over the fish too.

If you want to make an impressive grilled fish dish, then you want to give this one a try. I've been making this one for many years and it always rocks. And keep in mind, I hate fish.

Blackened Pork Chops

Dave at My Year On The Grill (who is currently temporarily exiled grill-less in the Virgin Islands) has taunted me a few times with his blackened pork chops. While "blackened" does sound like a euphemism for "burned", Dave has explained that it the meat is not burned but rather it has a crust of charred spices.

I grabbed this recipe from Big Oven for a blackening spice. Then read a little bit more on blackened meat and fish at Dave's blog and a few other sources. They were all very similar so I gave it a shot.

Blackened Pork Chops
Blatantly stolen from...errrr....inspired by My Year On The Grill

3 ea pork chop, 1" thick, boneless, trimmed
1/2 Tbsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp thyme, ground
1/4 tsp oregano, ground
1/4 tsp celery seed

Almost every source I read mentioned the use of a searing hot cast iron pan for cooking these. I knew this was a job for my Craycort cast iron griddle insert.

I let the griddle get very hot in a 400f Egg that had already been burning for 2 hours. I then brushed each chop with hot melted butter (heat is the key) and then layered heavily with the rub. I placed them on the searing griddle, topped with a splash of more butter, and let them go for 2-3 minutes.

I flipped them and repeated the butter splash. The article did warn about possible flame ups from the butter...
I'll be honest, the flare up was much smaller. I did this one on purpose for effect and the camera :)

After two more minutes these chops had a perfectly charred crust on both sides. I quickly converted the grill to indirect heat by putting a grid extender over a 1/2 steam pan. I roasted them at 350f until they hit 145f internal.

I was worried how that crust was going to taste. I like a little char on my steaks, burgers and thinly sliced flank steaks, but this was something else. If it was all just char it was going to be bitter. But I trusted what Dave said.

I was so surprised when I tasted my first slice. There was nothing that resembled burned meat about the texture or taste. It was like Dave said it was, an intensely flavorful crust of spices wrapped around juicy, tender meat. I just wanted to eat the whole thing right there at the cutting board.

But that would have been overlooking the perfect side dish that I prepared for my FIRE DAY FRIDAY post over at Our Krazy Kitchen, red beans and rice.

This was a definite favorite dinner of mine, even if we did eat at 10pm last night.

Don't forget, Sunday is the deadline for entering my June giveaway, an autographed copy of Chris Lilly's book (see the side bar for details and to enter).