Lamb Roast - Boneless Leg

Bought a boneless leg of lamb roast at Costco so one morning I started the prep process.

·         Lamb — a young sheep that is less than one year old

No, there is not a 3-legged lamb hopping around a field somewhere and No, they have not been able to breed and raise boneless sheep, but here we are, nonetheless.

 

In a small bowl, add:

2 Tablespoons of fresh oregano (or 1 if dried)

1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary (or ½ if dried)

½ teaspoon of salt (I accidentally bought a Coarse Sea Salt a while back, but the chunks are so big, you can’t use it for regular cooking or even for rimming a margarita glass.  Between the marinade time and the slow cooking process, I’m hoping it breaks down in this dish so that we don’t chomp into a chunk of salt :(  (Follow-up report: It worked perfectly!)

½ teaspoon of ground pepper

5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin or chopped

3 Tablespoons of lemon juice (I just bought a bunch of lemons to make Limoncello so I squeezed the juice for this, but bottled would be okay…I guess…if you have to).

¼ cup of your best tasting olive oil.

Mix this up and then set it aside for a few minutes.

The boneless roast is usuallywrapped in a string mesh to hold it together, since the bone has been cut away. Remove the mesh and I usually cut whatever big sections remain of the meat so the entire roast lays flatter.

Place in a glass container (metal containers react in unpleasant ways to the acid in the lemon juice).

If you bought a bone-in roast, make a bunch of little slits up to 1” deep all over the roast.

Smother the mixture all over the roast, being sure to get it into those slits.

Lay out some plastic wrap and on top of that, a long piece of cooking string (not coated in or made from plastic and not twine which leaves fibers behind - Double YUK!).

Roll the roast and tie it as best you can with the string, then wrap the roast in plastic wrap or wax paper.  Rest it in a bowl in the refrigerator for no less than 2 and up to 6 hours.  The longer, definitely the better (which is why I am prepping this in the morning).

Dum dee dum dee dum…6 hours later:

Remove the roast from the refrigerator for about an hour without unwrapping it.

 Oil a pan or rack or grill (I used a pan today).

Unwrap the roast and place it in the bowl, fatty side up.  Insert your oven or grill-safe temperature probe

PreHeat the over to 400.

Put the roast in on a middle rack, uncovered for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, drop the temperature to 250.

 Fuggetaboutit for 20+ minutes per pound then watch the internal temperature climb to 145.

Remove the roast and place onto a cutting board (hopefully with a drip trough because there will be run-off that you’ll want to catch!

If you’re making gravy which takes another half an hour, lightly cover the roast in foil, but I’m skipping that today because the juice is Plenty Good!

After resting for 10 TEN X (get it?) minutes, slice the roast, ladling some of the juice over the top!

Eat with . . . oh yeah, I’m sure there were vegetables of some kind.  Right?

 

Later, pour all of the juices into a measuring cup and refrigerate.  The next day, pop-off the fat and toss, leaving this thick, delicious juice that when re-heated with the lamb, will continue to please for days!

Grilled Steak 'n Fixens

Grilled Steak 'n Fixens

It's grilling season - but isn't it always?  Last weekend I tried a different way to smoke ribs on the grill and it was good, but I won't be posting that here just yet.  Besides, my wife thinks I need to try soaking the ribs in bourbon (just not the good stuff) before I grill them again.  I hope they won't blow up!

Tonight, I had 30 minutes and some steaks that were ready and waiting.  Dinner prep went something like this:

A few weeks ago I brought home some nice, thick T-bones that were on sale for $5.99 a pound (which is still a big ticket when each steak is 2-3 pounds).  Before freezing them, I took them out of the store packaging and prepped them.

Invest in a box of Freezer Paper (wax on one side, paper on the other).  Tear off enough big sheets to each wrap two steaks.  Lay the steaks out onto the paper so when you season them, your clean-up should be little to none.

I sprinkle some Worcestershire on each, using my (washed) fingers to reach every inch of both sides.

Sprinkle on a seasoning of your choice.  Like with my hamburgers, I use McCormick Grill Mates Hamburger seasoning because there is no MSG, and with salt, pepper, chili pepper, onion, red bell peppers, sugar, garlic and "natural flavors" (probably like the debris that blows or sticks onto the ingredients from field to factory), it has good flavor without anything I don't already like (without knowing about it).

Then, I sprinkle McCormick Meat Tenderizer (unseasoned) on each side.  (I think McCormick should give me freebies for mentioning their products here, except for my comment about their natural flavorings).  Again, nothing too threatening in this ingredient list.

Wrap the steaks up in the paper.  Drop them into a plastic zip bag (remember to label one or the other so you know what you're looking at in a few weeks), squeeze out all the air, then seal and freeze.

3-5 days before you want to grill, move the package into the refrigerator.  As the steaks thaw, the marinading begins.  By the time you unwrap these dogies (as in get along little...) they are ready to rock!

Let them sit out on the counter to warm a bit (and far enough back from the edge to keep your dog from being able to reach them) while you prep your coals.

Set aside the grill lid and open the bottom vents of your grill all the way.

I hate to waste much, so if I have unburned coals from my last grilling, I scoop them up and put them into the charcoal chimney (dude, you really need one of these if you're using charcoal).  Squirt them with some lighter fluid then add more fresh charcoal on top of these, with another few squirts.  Once they are lit, walk away.

For steaks, I use direct, medium heat so once the coals are ready, I will spread them beneath the areas where the steaks will sizzle.

Back in the house, I need to find vegetables (because my wife always says meat alone isn't enough).  Ugh!  Me Thinks It IS!  But hey, it's all about her, right?

Wash your hands then wash everything from the peppers on down!  Think about how many hands have touched this stuff!  EWE!

There are some bell peppers (the Farmers Market had purple and sort of beige along with red and yellow peppers - weird but tasty) so I chop 1/3 of each of these off then cut these into bigger chunks.

There is an eggplant (which I really don't understand or appreciate much but cooking it makes me appear sophisticated), so I cube a couple of inches off of this purple thing.

I find some onion which I slice half of into thin rings.

Portabella mushrooms!  SCORE!  Check...no fuzz!  DOUBLE SCORE!  They're still good!  Okay, the snobs say to never wash your mushrooms.  They say you have to buy a mushroom brush and brush the peat moss that they grow in, off.  Yeah, right!  I just don't like the flavor or texture of peat moss all that much so I wash them without getting them too wet (if that's possible).  Just place them on a towel to dry off before you cook them.

Better go check on the coals.

Are they all hot and turning gray?  (Insert your own inappropriate senior citizen joke here).  If so, spread the coals where you want them, put your grill on top then put the lid of the grill on.

Open the vents all the way because oxygen feeds fire and we want this to get hot, fast.  What this is doing is A) cleaning your grill leftovers from your last cookout and; B) pre-heating your grill so the meat will sear when it is placed on top, creating those beautiful grill lines.

Back in the house, we find strawberries and blueberries so rinse those and set them aside to dry.  (You'll get bonus points for serving vegetables AND fruit!).

Now, we need to decide what seasoning we want on the veggies.  I was leaning towards olive oil and a thick, dark, balsamic vinegar but I found a bottle of a mild Curry spice in the cabinet.  Curried veggies and steak...hmmm...that'll work!

Back to the grill!  Toss in a few hickory or cherry wood chips to create a little smoke but because we haven't soaked them (like you should if you are smoking something like ribs for hours), place them at the edges of the grill, away from the steaks because they will burn.  We can keep them at a smoldering stage by dampening down the available oxygen, but we'll get to that next.

Put those steaks on so they are a couple of inches above the coals.  Adjust both the bottom AND top grill vents so they are 3/4 CLOSED or more.  This will slow the coals, minimize or stop flare-ups, trap the wood smoke and drive it into the meat, and avoids making steaks that are soot covered on the outside while still mooing on the inside.

Back in the kitchen, place your stainless steel pan on the burner at about 6 (from 0 - 10).  Once you can feel the heat coming off the pan, add olive oil then the curry.  I would guess (if I had measured) that I sprinkled 1 tablespoon of curry all over the simmering olive oil.  Let that sing a minute, then add the onions and peppers.  After a few minutes, toss in everything else, give it a good stir then cover.  Reduce the heat to a slow simmer at about a setting of 2.

Take a quick peak at the grill without opening it.  If you don't see and hear flames but can see a nice wood smoke coming out of your mostly closed vents, you are golden!  If there are signs of burning, lift the lid.  If you need to reposition your steaks do so but then replace the cover and close your upper and lower vents more.

After 10 minutes, open the grill and turn your steaks over.  Replace the cover and go away for 10 more minutes.

Ta Da!  Pull everything off the heat, put your berries in the center of the table and DUDE! YOUR'E A GORMET GRILLER!

Ham is what's for dinner tonight.

Quite a while back (Easter) I bought a spiral sliced ham that has no sodium nitrates, nitrites, sulfites or MSG (all stuff I try to avoid).  After my wife did her Easter dinner thing (I can't remember what or how, only that it was killer good), there was still quite a bit left.  I wrapped it in Freezer Paper then sealed it in a big zip bag.

Two nights ago, I found it and moved it from the deep freeze to the refrigerator, knowing that tonight would be busy with little time for dinner prep.

The ham was beautiful!  No freezer burn, moist, great aroma...

Ham always makes me scratch my head wondering, "What goes with this?" and "How should I re-heat it (since it's cooked already)?"  With not enough time to fire up the grill, I opted for the down and dirty cooking option:  cover it with wax paper and microwave on high for about one and a half to two minutes.  Cheating you say?  Tough!  We were hungry and in a hurry.

Okay, so with that decided, what to make with it?  Since I bought myself some prep time I decided to take 15 minutes to make a great and simple side dish.  Into the refrigerator and pantry I go.  What do I find?

• Fresh Mushrooms (rinse, set on a cutting board to dry then slice in halves)
• A Tomato (slice then dice)
• A small jar of Artichokes in olive oil
• A bottle of white wine in the refrigerator
• Olive Oil (I get this killer stuff from my favorite local Italian restaurant.  The owners are from Lebanon and they import cases of this stunningly beautiful, green, flavorful and fragrant oil from their hometown.  They aren't supposed to be able to sell it but we're on pretty good terms.  Just like they aren't supposed to sell their homemade limonchello (I'll post my recipe sometime because these guys won't share theirs), but they "give it away to their friends who eat there."
• Basil (I didn't have any fresh but I had the dried herb)
• Salt (I use sea salt because it's larger grains seem to make flavors pop more).
• Everything that I had that was green...really wasn't anymore so we did some refrigerator cleaning while we were at it, leaving greens out of tonight's menu.

How you cook the above can enhance or negate the flavor nearly as much as the quality of the ingredients you are cooking with.  With 10 minutes to spare, this is what I did:

• Put a stainless steel pan on the stove and let it start to get hot.
• I avoid non-stick things because of the various plastic chemicals that come off into your food (not just my opinion).  I avoid aluminum pans because it isn't good for you and because they don't distribute the heat as well as stainless steel).
• Stainless steel pans are VERY easy to clean as long as you follow the steps below.
• When you can put your hand near the bottom of the pan and feel the heat, add olive oil.  Just enough to almost cover the bottom of the pan
• It should NOT be so hot that the oil begins to swirl or pop or bubble when it hits the pan.
• Waiting for the pan to heat first, allows the steel molecules to expand, so the oil and food do not penetrate at a molecular level.  This, along with the post-cooking steps described below make the clean-up a breeze.
• Pour in some white wine (if you feel compelled to measure, I think I used about a quarter of a cup)
• Add the Artichokes (I drain their oil from the jar because I thinks it is a cheap version of olive oil that doesn't taste that good)
• Add the Mushrooms
• Add the diced Tomato (watch for spitting if your pan is too hot)
• If you have garlic, add this too.  I forgot it this time (DARN)!
• Stir a few times, turn up the heat to medium or medium-high and let it cook for a couple of minutes while you put the ham in the microwave
• Sprinkle enough Basil on top to add a nice green dusting (don't coat it)
• Lightly sprinkle salt over these ingredients
• At this point, its really just a matter of cooking it long enough to reduce the liquid to a really nice...almost sauce consistency.  The real cooks call this a reduction (duh).  Steam should be rising hot and heavy from the pan.  Just DON'T let the ingredients burn by forgetting them.  Stir on occasion.
• Once the liquid isn't liquid any longer, you're done!

Spiral sliced ham, a side dish of sautéed mushrooms, artichoke, tomato and basil, and a fruit (we sliced up some fresh watermelon), with a glass of that white wine on the side...not bad at all!

Okay, that last part of easy clean-up of stainless steel pans:

• After you serve the food from it, allow it to cool
• Once it has cooled, set it in the sink with some soap and water in it while you eat (do not add soap and water to a hot pan!)
• By the time you bring your dinner dishes to the sink, the pan will wash off easily.  No scrubbing needed!

Tonight, my after dinner drink is a glass of bourbon whiskey (Basil Hayden's) which is unlike most any other bourbon you may have tried and liked (or not).

Enjoy!

Grilled Hamburgers

To get that extra special flavor, I prep the burgers when groceries come home, then its into the freezer. Goes something like this:

What you will need:

• Freezer Paper (it's waxed on one side) so the meat doesn't stick to it and it prevents freezer burn when you forget it in the freezer for too many months.
• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 pound of ground pork
• Hamburger Seasoning.  I use McCormick Hamburger seasoning (no MSG) and it has good flavor.
• Worcestershire sauce (some people like soy sauce but . . . not so much.  I want my burgers to taste like steak not sushi.
• Beer (chilled) of your choosing.
• Two 1-gallon sized zip bags (write "Burgers" on the outside so you'll remember in 2 months).
• Grill, charcoal, lighter fluid and lighter

Tear a couple of sheets of Freezer Paper (waxed on one side) and lay them out.

Open the zip locks so they are ready when you are.

Open the beer and take a long, slow pull.

1. Dump the 2:1 ratio of ground beef to ground pork into a big glass bowl (don't use wood because IT'S RAW PORK AND BEEF!).
2. Liberally sprinkle your hamburger seasoning.  
3. Add enough Worcestershire sauce to get everything sticky but not wet (about 1/2 cup).
4. Take another sip of beer because your fingers are going to be gross for a while.  Take off your ring(s) while you're at it.
5. Squeeze the mix through your fingers until you can't tell the beef from the pork.
6. Grab a hunk that you will turn into a burger.  I get about 10-12 burgers out of the almost 3 pounds of ground meat which is 1/4 pound or a little more for each burger.
7. Use your cupped hands to form rounded balls.  Flatten each burger slightly (for easier stacking).
8. Lay 5-6 out on each of the two sheets of freezer paper then wrap up (without crushing your burgers).
9. Put these into the zip bags, squeeze out the air, then set them into a freezer.
1. If you are going to eat some of these now, let them rest at room temp for 30-60 minutes but keep them covered with wax paper or something.
10. Wash everything with hot water and soap, then rinse really well with more hot water.

Prep is done.  Finish your beer.

Before you're planning to tackle the grilling portion, take out one or two of the zip bags and let everything thaw in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.  Not only is this thaw time important but it helps all of the ingredients to merge into one.  Don't rush this by sticking your frozen burgers into a microwave.  You'll regret it.

Okay, grilling day.

Fire up the charcoal.  You are only going to need about 25 coals - not too hot or else everything will be black on the outside and red on the inside.  

Oh, by the way, remember that this is 1/3 pork and all of it was ground by someone, somewhere, so everything needs to be cooked until it isn't pink.  This isn't steak!

Use one hand to keep the edges of the burger rounded while your other hand flattens them a little more.

Let them rest while you prep your side dishes (YOU'RE NOT JUST GOING TO EAT MEAT!)

Look in the refrigerator.  I did and found these:

• Ketchup
• Mustards (yellow and stone ground)
• Pickles
• Mayo or Miracle Whip (I really like the Miracle Whip made from olive oil)
• Mushrooms (the store-bought kind not refrigerator grown)
• Onion
• Tomato
• Greens (lettuce in this case)
• Strawberries
• Salad dressing (I had Honey mustard with horseradish so of course I used that)
• Cheese (I found goat feta which doesn't melt too well but it tastes good)
• Beer (for drinking)

Then I looked in the pantry and found:

• Slivered almonds
• Olive Oil
• Salt

Tools:  Skewers and a metal spatula (don't use plastic on the grill) and hot pads.

One of the secrets to cooking is TIMING! So, drink now because your going to be busy for a while.

Rinse the mushrooms and set them aside on a paper towel or cutting board to dry off

Rinse the tomato, berries and greens

Slice the strawberries (you only need a few for this)

Slice the tomato to top your burger

Slice the onions into chunks that you can spear with a skewer

Slice some cheese for the end

Alternate spearing the whole mushrooms and sliced onions onto the skewers.  Put them in a pan or dish that is long enough to hold them, then drizzle a little olive oil onto them.  Use your fingers to make sure most of them are oiled.  Salt lightly.  These won't need to cook as long as the burgers so just push this dish aside for now.

Check the charcoal.  It should still be heating up but not quite ready yet. 

Tear up the greens then add the strawberry slices and slivered almonds.  I suppose you could put the tomato and cheese in this too, but I didn't.  Dude, you made a salad!

A little beer (remember you will be working with fire).  Now take your burgers out to the grill.

The grill should be hot but not roaring.  Remember, you want burgers that are golden brown (not black) outside and brown inside.

Place the burgers on the grill AND RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO CRUSH THEM!  This squeezes all of the juices out of the burger and onto the coals, creating flames - a bad thing at this first stage of cooking.

Did you bring the skewered mushrooms and onions?  If not, go get them!  These should go on the outer edges of the grill.

Cover the grill with your vents open (top and bottom).

Go away.  Don't open this to admire your work just yet.  Open another beer.

About 5 minutes, take a peak just to make sure nothing is on fire.  If it is, move whatever is dripping onto the coals, somewhere else on the grill - closer to the outside of the edge.  Partially close the upper and lower vents to give the coals less oxygen.  Cover the grill again.

About 5 more minutes, go out there and gently turn the burgers over, along with the mushroom skewers.  If the mushrooms and onions are already done, take them inside (use your hot-pad) and put them in the oven set on low until you're ready to eat them.

About 5 more minutes, go check the burgers.  If your coals have been keeping their temperature, your burger should be done but there are only two ways to know for sure.  

1. Cut one open (which I don't like to do because if it has to go back onto the grill, this burger will get dried out) or;
2. Stick an instant thermometer into the center of your biggest burger.  This needs to be close to 160 degrees F.  REALLY.

Once the burgers are cooked, take them off of the grill and put your cheese on them.  

Let them rest a few minutes.  This is important to allow the juices to be reabsorbed by the meat.  If you cut it now, the juices will just flow all over your plate and your burger will be dry.  Bummer!

Slide some of those grilled mushrooms and onions onto the plate next to the burger, top with tomato and your favorite condiments, leave a little room for that salad you made all by yourself, and dig in!

I am a late middle-aged guy from Minnesota who enjoys cooking.  The purpose of the blog is to share the simplicity of selecting and preparing good delectables.   When I think about who I am writing for, I imagine someone like some of my neighbors (male and female) who have yet to find joy in cooking.  I believe that cooking doesn't have to be difficult or time-consuming (unless you want it to be).

Most meals I prepare are done (start to finish) in under 30 minutes (not counting grill prep or marinading). Dairy-free and gluten-free are two dietary concerns in my family, and low-carb cooking is just a good idea, so these influence how I modify or create recipes.  I have a few hundred I've accumulated over the years, but more often than not, I use most recipes for ideas and inspiration in order to create something different.

If anyone stumbles across this blog and has any ideas or questions, fire away!