Tossed Steak

Tossed Sirloin Steak with peppers and onions in a new grill basket. When you know a griller, there is an endless number of great gift ideas you can go with. Dorothy found this grill basket on sale and once again proved that there is always something you can get for the griller who has everything. This started by mixing a marinade in a bowl using balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, brown sugar and red wine. I sliced red, yellow and orange bell peppers into strips and the sirloin steak into cubes. The peppers and steak sat in the marinade, with occasional stirring, for two hours. In the meantime, I sliced some onions into chunks. When it was time to grill, I poured the steak and peppers into the grill basket and caught the marinade in a tray underneath. I got the grill going hot and brought the grill basket over the heat. I continuously flipped the basket - like flipping an omelet - but without worrying that anything would fly out of the basket. I basted the peppers and meat with the marinade right through the screen top. It was ready in about 10 to 12 minutes and we poured it all over a bed of brown rice - fast and perfect.

We didn't get grill marks on the steak because they were never directly on the grill grates and were being tossed while they cooked - but the steak had great flavor and was extremely tender.


What to Drink? The grill basket had a card that said this type of basket grilling is common in Spain. I don't have any independent confirmation that this is true, but we went with it and paired the Tossed Streak and Peppers with a wine from Spain. It was the 2007 Don Romon from the Campo de Borja region of Spain. I must admit I know less about Spanish wines that others so I did a little research. Campo de Borja is in northeastern Spain where wine has been made since the 12th century. Don Romon is one of only 17 wineries in the region. Camp de Borja specializes in the Garnacha grape. The bottle just said "Red Wine" but it is just being modest. The Garnacha grape makes a wine that is more than just table wine. The bottle we had was like a Cab, but bigger and bolder. By that I mean it had more fruit and spice in the flavor - and that was a great match with the Tossed Steak and Peppers that had been marinated in red wine, garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt and ground pepper. Its all about the flavor and the wine that goes with it!


What's on YouTube? As you may know, I entered the St. Francis Winery's Turn Up the Heat Contest. I am trying to win the title of St. Francis Master Griller and a return trip to their Sonoma Winery. Mine was the first video up on there site when the contest started. Now there are several other videos, but honestly these other videos are no match! Go watch my video and let me know what you think. The contest winner will be announced sometime in September. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 

Keep grilling and Turn Up The Heat this summer! Paul

Fourth of July Grill Out

The Fourth of July is when we watch baseball, parades and fireworks, but it is also a nationwide grill out. We had relatives over so I tried to have something for everyone. Clockwise from the pickle in the photo is a bacon-cheese burger, an Italian sausage dog with grilled peppers and onions, cole slaw, Mesa Grill Potato Salad, and Molasses and Honey baby back ribs. All these were grilled using Bobby Flay techniques and recipes. I must say that I think the rubs were the best. Four hours before dinner I pulled out the slab and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic and chili powder. I covered the slab with no-stick aluminum foil and placed it on the upper rack of the grill over low heat. I let the grill do its work for the first hour undisturbed. I turned the ribs over during the second hour and prepared the sauce. In a sauce pan over the grill I combined molasses, honey, brown sugar, salt, garlic and ancho chili powder. During the third hour I opened the foil over the top of the slab and slathered on the sauce. I recovered the ribs with the foil - still on low heat - and let the sauce ooze and bubble down over the slab inside the foil. I know people say that their ribs fell off the bone. The meat on these ribs did not fall off the bone - why would you really want that anyway? But they did melt in the mouth. These were the most tender and the most juicy ribs I ever grilled. The secret is not the sauce - although this sauce was terrific - the secret is the long grill time over the low heat. I also grilled a few burgers and dogs...

PS - Remember to check out the St. Francis Winery's Turn Up The Heat Contest. I have a video on their site and I hope that video will win me the title of Grill King of Sonoma Valley! Go watch the video at
http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/a/f/1/Gr1Y4MUFX_U 


Happy Fourth and keep grillin' Paul