Beef Fillets and Vegetables

This year at our local county fair we bought a steer to support the 4H sale and local young farmers.  It's a great way to pay support the community and you know exactly where the beef you are eating came from.  We buy it that day and the local locker/butcher will transport it to his facility.  They will also dry age the meat for 3 weeks.  The locker will make almost anything you want from beef. I'll post another day about the options, but its a great way to get what you want, and know exactly what you are eating.

So, as it sits today I have half of a side of beef in the freezer just waiting to be eaten.  When I took a peek the other day, these beef fillets were right there ready to be eaten.  MMmmmmmm.

The steaks looked great, but for some reason there's was a funky color in the picture!

I seasoned these puppies up with a little olive oil and seasoning I bought at the store.

This is something new I had never tried before.  Last year we received a gift of some Omaha Steaks products and in there were these Potatoes Au Gratin.  They are frozen and you put them in the oven for 20 minutes and they turn out fantastic. I would think these would be great at holidays or other occasions where time is a premium and you have other thing to worry about.  They turned out delicious and the only time you spend is the time it takes to open the bag and put them on the pan!

I don't know if the Schwan's man stops everywhere.  Some people think they are somewhat expensive and they kind of are.  You are also paying for convenience and one of the easy things we like is the vegetable blend.  You can do it on the grill or stove.  They taste delicious and my kids eat em up!

The finished product.  Steaks were on the grill.  I grill them for a few minutes on each side with the grill as hot as I can get it!  My Weber does 550-600 degrees.  Time to Eat!

Wine Country

Our best vacation ever.  Recently we took a long weekend trip to California with some friends and explored wine country. All I can say is WOW!  What a trip.  This is one of those trips that I want to do every single year.

I'm not a wine connoisseur but I do enjoy a glass of wine.  I prefer red wine but really couldn't begin to tell you all the subtle nuances between a syrah or a malbec.  So I was really looking forward to this weekend to not only learn a couple of things, but also enjoy some wine with friends.

In Iowa we have a little saying "Is this Heaven, No it's Iowa."  I gotta tell you, I think Heaven  is Sonoma Valley.  I like a good corn field like the next guy, but that area of California is amazing.  Beautiful Redwood trees, the ocean, Mountains, great views. I want to live there. I really want to live there. 

So here's something interesting.  There are three different types of grapes on this plate.  I believe the Cabernet grapes are on the left and they are much larger than the Pinot Grapes in the middle and I think it was a Chardonnay grape on the right.  On average it takes 1,000 Pinot grapes to make a bottle of wine!  Each vine will make on average 2-3 bottles annually!

We thought this was some type of spice like cinnamon.  Instead we found out this is different types of soil in the area.  What a difference the soil makes when growing grapes!

We thought it would be fun to go to a bottle release at a winery.  After going, I would guess this happens all the time.  SIMI is one of the oldest wineries in the area and did a wine tasting with a food pairing.  It's nice to know you can go across the country and find someone wearing the same shirt as you!

Our group enjoying the wine and company!

So I won't bore you with a lot pictures from the first day of sampling wine at various wineries.  Instead, I'll share some pics from our adventurous 2nd day.  Our base of operations was about 15 min SW of Healdsburg, CA.  This puts you about 5 minutes from a Redwood Forest and 30 minutes from the Pacific Ocean.  In a matter of an hour or so, you can be in the mountains, in a forest, and then walking on a beach.  

Driving to the Redwoods I snapped a picture of a vineyard.  This one is owned by Korbel.  Her'es an interesting fact, Champagne is Grapes with bubbles added.  Way to go Korbel, take something really good, add bubbles, and now I only want to drink your champagne on New Years Eve after lots of other drinks!  The Korbel winery was cool, and they offer free sampling!

In just a mile or two we were surrounded by Redwoods

Next thing we were out of the forest and close to the ocean.  We wanted to stop and stick our feet in the Pacific.  It would only make sense that we find the deadliest beach in all the area.  I guess that explains why no one was there!

After the scenic drive we went back to some wine tasting.  Here's a picture of one of the oldest buildings in the area.  This is the Hop Kiln Winery. What a neat building.

At the end of the day we ended up at VML winery and they had a great garden with fresh fruit.  I had never seen Almonds fresh on a tree or figs, or even a lime tree for that matter.  We have a baby lime tree at home, which the store told us would grow limes so we could have a fresh lime with our Corona's, but it has yet to bear fruit. 

Fresh figs right off the tree!

Almonds!

They were somewhat soft off the tree, not hard like I was expecting.

Grapes!  

The  view from VML winery.  This was our last stop and we loved the wine!

Sooo, did we have a good time?  YES  

Are we going back  YES.  

Should you go.  YES

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Sandwiches

I love beef.  I'm definitely a meat eater.  Steak, Prime Rib, Hamburgers...you name it, I love it.  So you probably wondering why I'm posting this sandwich.  I'm also enjoy just plain good tasting food, and this falls into that category.  Do this though, try it before you pass judgement.  If you really need meat, I have also eaten this with Prosciutto, which was still very good!

If you are looking for a light lunch that tastes great, look no further.  It's super easy to make, the kids love it.

So what do you need?  It's really simple

Basil, Tomato, Ciabatta Bread, Mozzarella, and some greens.  We use either spinach or spring mix.  I'm sure there is a bunch of different ways to make this, but here's mine.

In a bowl I put the sliced tomatoes and add olive oil, balsamic Vinegar, salt and pepper.  I usually do this first and let it marinate.

Then I slice the mozzarella ball.

Here's the lettuce.

Usually I buy the Ciabatta loaf and cook in the oven when making sandwiches for the whole family.  I also buy the little rolls for when I'm taking this to work.

Here's the sandwich with olive oil on the bread.  The spring mix on the bottom, Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and then what's left in the bowl from the tomatoes I pour on top.

Lunch is ready!

It takes longer to cook the bread than it does to make this for the entire family.  Enjoy!

BBQ Beans

When preparing the pulled pork sandwiches during Labor Day weekend I also decided to make some BBQ Beans. This was my first attempt at actually smoking beans.  I looked all over the internet for ideas on what recipe to use, how to do it, etc...

Here's what I decided for my first attempt.

1. There is no way I'm soaking beans and doing all that work.  Instead I'll buy the beans in a can and rinse them off.
2. I'm gonna make up my own recipe based upon what I have seen online and we'll see what happens.
3. I want the beans to be sweet.

Here's what I decided on for my recipe.

3 Cans of Bush beans - Drained and Rinsed
2-3 Cups of Beef or Pork.  I had leftover steak I used and chopped up finely and added to it.
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Water
1/2 C Dried Minced Onion
1/4 C of Yellow Mustard
39 oz BBQ Sauce - I used Kraft Hickory Flavor
2 teaspoons of the BBQ Pork Rub  (See below for recipe)
2 teaspoons of liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Here goes.

The beans

 

Rinsing them off

Chopping up the steak.

The final mixed product.   I made these the night before to let the flavors marinate.

I'm going to smoke the beans for 2-4 hours depending upon temperature, how much stuff I have going on, etc...

The finished product!  The beans were sweet with a little kick, and I mean a little tiny kick.  The reviews in the house were good considering it's an original recipe used for the first time.  For me, I'll use less brown sugar next time as I like it when the beans have a little kick.  Em thought they were awesome!

We served these beans with our pork and slaw sandwiches.  Delicious!



























BBQ Pork Rub Recipe

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup paprika
• 1/3 cup garlic salt
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard

Pulled Pork and Slaw Sandwiches

I love to BBQ.  I love the smell of BBQ.  I love to eat BBQ. I love BBQ Sauce.   In fact, I can't find anything about BBQ I don't like.  I mean really, it is soooooo  good.

Its labor day weekend 2012 and I just had a pig butchered we bought at the local fair.  The picnic cut pork shoulder has been calling my name for almost a month now to be eaten.  Usually that' more food than our family needs but we are going to be celebrating my father in law's birthday and so I have an audience and a way to get rid of all this food!

For the meal I am making the pork and slaw sandwich and BBQ Beans.

So here is the plan:

Step 1 - Make the rub.  This rub recipe is based off Chris Lilly's Championship Pork Shoulder rub and I modified it a little bit.  I added more heat, cumin and ground mustard.  I like it a little spicier and we have some Famous Daves Sweet and Sassy sauce to tone down the heat.

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup paprika
• 1/3 cup garlic salt
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard

Prepare the Pork Injection.

• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
• 2 tablespoons of the rub.

Tangy Coleslaw Recipe - This is courtesy of my Weber's Smoke cookbook.

• 1/3 C cider vinegar
• 1/3 C Canola Oil
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1.5 t celery seed
• 1 T Kosher Salt
• 1/2 t black pepper

• 1/2 head of cabbage thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber cut into thin half moons
• 2 C shredded carrots
• 2 C thinly sliced yellow onion
• 1 C thinly sliced red pepper
• 1 C thinly sliced green pepper

Directions:  Cut, Mix, Eat

The Rub and Injection

About an hour prior to putting the meat on the smoker I inject the meat  with the liquid and then placed the rub all over.

This is a big piece of meat, so I plan on smoking overnight and into the morning.  If it wasn't raw pork I'd lick my fingers this rub tastes so good.

To smoke this I'm going to use a Weber Smokey Mountain and BBQ Guru Digi Q.  I'll write more on this later, but this is a great setup that works awesome.  100% lump hardwood charcoal and Hickory wood for the smoke.

This is my Weber Firestarter.

Lump Charcoal

The sure way to Smoke.  Buy a DigiQ and you can smoke like a professional.



























We are getting close!

Now for the smoke!  I like to cook low and slow so I set the temp of my smoker at 225.
























It took about 15 hours for the meat to finish.  After it hit temp I wrapped in foil and let rest in the oven for a few hours.

Just off the smoker!  That's a great bark.

Pulled pork after a couple hours of resting.

Since the pork was ready about 2, I thought we would have a little snack before dinner.  Thank goodness for Ring Bologna.   We dug into it quickly before we realized we needed pic.  It didn't last long!


























Dinner is served!

Avocado Burgers w/ Chipotle Mayo

This morning I thought I would make this new post while everyone was asleep and I'm enjoying my cup of coffee in silence. So I played a little game this morning - Where in the house is my laptop?  Last I knew, my youngest daughter Sarah was playing with it in my bedroom. I didn't find it there, or in the kitchen, living room, her bedroom, or kitchen nook....so back to my bedroom I went.  On second look, it's on the floor camouflaged with knitting supplies.

Guess what Sarah was looking at on my laptop.

• www.dressup.com - something about a butterfly princess
• www.girlgames.com - something about savage sisters - this made me laugh
• www.americangirl.com -  The Chrissy Doll.   I'm guessing she wants another american girl, and surprise - Christmas is just in a few months.

If there was a message in the webpages I think it would be - "Dad, I'm a princess, my sisters are evil, and you should buy me something."  It's like our own Cinderella Story!  LOL

Well anyway, back to what we had for dinner last night.  Avocado Burgers with Chipotle Mayo.  This was seriously good.  Side dishes - Cucumber Salad and Potatoes.  What better summer dinner is there?

The recipe I used is fairly simple:

• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Burgers - Seasoned with whatever you like.  I used a store bought burger seasoning
• Spring Mix lettuce
• Chipotle Mayo
• 1 big scoop of mayo
• 1 finely chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. 
• You can adjust the spiciness of the chipotle mayo to your taste.
• Provolone Cheese

Usually about dinner time the kids are STARVING.  It's close to the end of the world if we don't feed them RIGHT NOW!.  Anyway Alyssa took a break from whatever craft she was doing to come check on the status of her meal and see how long it would be before I had dinner ready for her. She was nice enough to smile for the picture.

Here's the finished product.  There weren't any leftovers so I'm guessing everyone loved it!

Enjoy!