Beef...it's what was for dinner...

Sunday night we had my parents and my in-laws over for dinner. It is something we try to do every other month and always works well. Since my husband and I recently acquired our new grill all I want to do is use it of course! I went through websites and my new Semi-Homemade Grilling cookbook and finally settled on the fact that I wanted to make steaks...it was just a matter of choosing how I'd like to marinate them.

I finally settled on a red wine marinade from Semi-Homemade. The recipe called for T-Bone steaks but I just bought a few London Broils and cut them up (yes, I know London Broil refers to a cooking method, not a cut of steak, but that is what they call them in the store!).

The rest of the recipe calls for making a red wine butter which did not tickle my fancy at all so I didn't make it, but the marinade was great and the steaks were really tender considering the cut (yeah, I'll admit it, I can be cheap sometimes!). Since I had such large pieces of steak, I did increase all of the amounts of the ingredients since I had to marinate each steak in a separate bag but below I listed the original measurements.

Despite this being a Sandra Lee recipe (yes, flame away!) - I feel like Robin Miller this week. I may be cheap but I always over buy so we had/have quite a bit of beef leftover so Monday night I put it in a fried rice I made and tonight I think I'll be making some steak quesadillas!

Oh and those beautiful cross grill marks on the steaks? Thank Alton Brown for that. I was watching his show recently and he talked about how to get those grill marks so I made my husband do the same. Who doesn't want a purdy steak? Hehehe...

Red Wine Marinade for Steaks

(From Semi-Homemade Grilling 2)

1 1/2 cups red wine

4 1/2 teaspoons salt free garlic-herb seasoning

1 tablespoon Montreal Steak seasoning (I used a reduced sodium version)

Place steaks in a large zip-top bag. Add 1 1/2 cups red wine, the garlic herb seasoning, and steak seasoning. Squeeze air out of bag; seal. Gently massage bag to combine. Marinate in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Set up grill for direct cooking over high heat. Oil grate. Let steaks stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Remove steaks from marinade; discard marinade. Place steaks on hot, oiled grill and cookf or 5-7 minutes per side (we needed more time since our steaks were larger and thicker). Transfer steaks to platter and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The newest member of our (culinary) family

Behold.....the new Charboil....

Isn't he just the cutest grill you ever did see?

Ok, enough gushing, we bought this baby last week and could not wait to use it. Unfortunately weekend plans and weather prevented us from using it until a full week later after we brought it home. Finally Wednesday night arrived and the weather was perfect for some grilling.

I recently bought Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Grilling 2" book. It has a lot of great recipes in it and I can't wait to use it more. DH had actually pointed out this particular pork recipe when I first bought the book a few weeks ago. Since the grill is his domain, he was actually interested in this cookbook which I thought was pretty impressive on its own!

I had bought a pork roast over the weekend and decided I would modify this recipe and make the roast on the grill instead of chops. The lore of brines and how wonderful they are always intrigued me but this being my first brine I am hooked! This pork roast came out incredibly moist, flavorful, juicy, and tender. I made minor measurement adjustments considering this was a roast and not 4 chops as Sandra's recipe was written for, and put it in the brine in the morning before I left for work, so it was in there a good 8 hours.

To go along with our lovely pork roast, I whipped up a Bobbly Flay recipe for Grilled Sweet Potato and Scallion salad to which I only made minor adjustments. Between the pork and this salad I was on a taste of summer overload and it's about time! I can't wait to do lots more grilling as the weather warms up!

Beer Brined Pork Roast
(Inspired by Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Grilling 2")

1 3 - 3 1/2lb pork roast

For beer brine:

3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 (12oz) bottle lager style beer
2 1/4 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Place pork roast in large zip-top bag; set aside. For Beer Brine, in a small saucepan combine water, salt, sugar, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in beer, mustard, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over roast in bag. Squeeze out air from the bag and seal, and then gently massage bag to coat the roast. Marinate for 4-8 hours in refrigerator.

Set up grill for indirect cooking over medium heat. Oil grate when ready to cook. Let roast stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove roast from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Discard brine. Place roast on hot, oiled grill and cook for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours rotating roast about halfway through cooking. Serve hot.


Grilled Sweet Potato and Scallion Salad
(from FoodNetwork.com)

2 large sweet potatoes, par-cooked and cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 scallions
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoons honey
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat grill to high. Brush potatoes and scallions with oil and arrange on grill. Grill potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until just tender. Grill scallions until softened and marked. Remove scallions from the grill and cut into thin slices.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, the mustard, vinegars, and honey. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add potatoes, scallions, and parsley and toss until potatoes are well coated. Transfer to a platter and serve

(picture of finished product above with pork)

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