Home: June 2006 Archives

It's that time of year again folks. Time to shed my geeky shell and go back to nature. Yes I'll be doing what few geeks can comprehend, going back country Montana for a week. Yes, Power stops miles from where I'll be and cell phones stopped a long ways away. Oh it will feel so good to get back into the woods.

For any geek, if you haven't gone without any form of net connection, power, etc for an extended period, you really need to try taking a week off. It's quite the refreshing experience.

Oh, and it's kinda cool, I can see my granny deannie's truck outside her house

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So as a final follow-up to the interlug-bbq, I'll post my macaroni salad recipe that I brought.

Start with 1lb elbow macaroni, cooked slightly past al dente (the cooling process firms it up). Rinse to begin cooling, and stop the cooking, then place in the fridge.

Separately prepare:

• 1c Mayo
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Anaheim Chili
• 3T Dijon Mustard
• 1/2C Diced Red Onion
• 1/2C Cilantro
• 1/4C Lemon Juice
• 1/4C Chopped Green Onion
• 3 Hardboiled eggs

Mix together. Remove pasta from fridge, and pat dry. Add mixture to pasta, add black pepper to taste.

Joe mentioned preferring a previous version of this slightly better. In that one I had a bit of Chipotle also, spicing things up for the crowd (which was known to enjoy spices more than the average potluck). Just mixing in some Jalepeño, or a small Habañero would work well here.
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So today was a day just screaming for the grill, and with my wife out of town with the family, it allows me to play a little more with what I cook. I decided to have some fun with the grill today, not only because of the great weather, but hey I like the grill. Follow along for a couple of fun recipe's that tied together for a great meal.

My entree was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. Be warned, if you are faint of heart when it comes to spice, you'll need to be careful. It wasn't all that hot, but it would scare the crap out of some people I know. I started with some skirt steak (any thin cut steak that can handle a quick cook would work, the more tender the better). I took this and covered it in a rub that I made from some black peppercorns, coriander, mustard seeds, garlic cloves, and kosher salt. I ran that through my coffee grinder¹ under I had a nice coarse powder, and rubbed that on the meat, then let it sit while I got my charcoal going.

While cooking the meat, I also roasted two anaheim, and one jalepeño pepper. I timed it so both were done around the same time, then brought them in. I let the meat rest while I pulled the skin off the peppers, and cleaned out the seeds. I then put the peppers, along with a small amount of green onion, and a good amount of red onion, a tablespoon or so of honey, and a couple tablespoons of water, in a blender. Once mixed, a sliced my meat small, and brought the mixings, along with diced red and green bell pepper back outside.

I proceeded to take a couple of hard rolls², cut them open and toasted them on the grills. Once GBD³ I put a piece of Pepper Jack cheese on to melt, then loaded with meat, bell peppers, more diced red onion, and then put on some of my green sauce.

I was very impressed with myself, the bite of the black pepper on the meat was consistently met with the juicy firmness of the bell peppers, and the smooth creaminess of the green sauce. It was a resounding success. Heck, it even looked pretty. The greens and reds contrasted very nicely with the dark meat and light bread.

Of course, no good meal can go without desert, so while I was preparing the aforementioned meal, I also started my desert prep. I took a large granny smith apple (I like the firmness) sliced off the very top, then used a spoon to gut out the inside⁴. I then put a single pillsbury style cinnamon roll dough⁵ piece inside, with some extra cinnamon. I covered out the top with brown sugar, and wrapped inside of foil. These then went directly in the coals and started cooking while I made the rest of the meal.

After eating, I removed, unwrapped⁶ and put into bowls, topped with some good vanilla ice cream, and you have some amazingly good desert.

After recovering from my food induced coma I still had enough coals to re-season my dutch oven that I was careless enough to let get wet, and had some rust spots on it.

¹ Before anybody calls my bishop, yes, I have a grinder just for this purpose, and so should you. Freshly ground rubs are a key to good grilling. Oh, and can you imagine if anybody tried making coffee from my grinder?

² mini french bread rolls, pão de sal pelos brasileiros

³ Golden, Brown, and Delicious

⁴ Man, I could have really used a good multitasker like a melon baller or the almighty grapefruit spoon here. A regular spoon worked ok, but it could have been better

⁵ Just the normal kind you get in the tube at your local store, and flavor will do

⁶ Careful, if done right, your brown sugar will have created this extremely tasty sauce, that will melt right into your hands if you spill
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