Steak on the (improved) grill

It just wouldn't be a post about my improved grill if I didn't follow up with cooking something on it!

Steak and potatoes are one of the favorite meals around here, and certainly one of the easiest things to throw on the grill. I start with a couple of scrubbed potatoes, and cut them into pieces. John likes thin slices and I like big chunks. So we compromise with thin chunks. I add a little EVOO, kosher salt, pepper, and Pampered Chef Rosemary Herb Seasoning Mix.

(Have I mentioned? There's going to be some serious Pampered Chef fun happening here over the next 3 weeks...)

Then I wrap the potatoes up into little aluminum foil packets and throw them on the grill on high heat. (I am very scientific about how long these cook - they go on first, and they stay on until everything else is done. Usually that works just fine.)

Then I season up the meat. These are two ribeye steaks from our freezer. Again, nothing fancy, just some EVOO, kosher salt, black pepper, and this time McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning.

 

I set the meat aside for a second while I got the veggies ready. I speared green bell pepper chunks and garden tomato chunks on flat skewers, sprayed on a little EVOO and sprinkled with kosher salt and black pepper. The steaks and the veggies went on the grill at the same time - the meat on the lower rack and the veggies on the upper rack.

 

Again - super-scientific - the veggies stayed on until the steaks were done, and then just a hair longer. I like the flat skewers much better than round skewers. The flat skewers help keep the food from spinning around on the skewer as you flip them over.

Super quick, super easy, super pretty!

(Next time, I would put the peppers and tomatoes on separate skewers. The tomatoes were done, but the peppers were still a bit crunchy. The peppers could have stayed on the grill longer than they did.)

But this is my all time favorite thing about grilling. After we loaded up the dishwasher, this was all the dishes I had to wash.

 
It doesn't get any easier than that.

My new grill

Okay, it is not new. But it is definitely improved.

I've mentioned before about the troubled days my grill has seen - broken handle, busted igniter, a rusted-out heat shield...

The biggest issue was definitely the heat shield. It had rusted through, in a few spots.


This was a really big problem. All my steaks, burgers, and hot dogs were burning! That is not good eats. I love love love to grill, and things were really not going well.

Grill it up!

The 4th of July is a pretty big grilling day around here, so I thought I would take this opportunity to show off my grill! Our county fair is going on this weekend, so we’ll be eating fried fair food instead of home grilled food, but I bet lots of you are grilling out today!

Hubby Doc actually bought this grill before we got married. But I commandeered it after we got married and I moved down here. This grill has been through a lot. The winds get so bad on our hill sometimes that it has been blown over a time or three. And its handle broke off. But Hubby Doc put on a new one for me. (I was getting tired of using my oven mitts to open the grill cover!)Does anyone actually have good luck with the igniter buttons? This one hasn’t worked in a very long time (hence the cobwebs).The grate and heat shield look a little dusty here, because I just cleaned it with a grill stone. I usually just use a wire brush, but every once in a while I give it a really good scrubbing down with a grill stone.The heat shield has seen some better days. Every time we fire it up, we say that we need to replace it. Then we promptly forget until the next time we are getting ready to cook.This grill also has a burner. I will admit that we have never actually used it. Usually when I’m grilling, I put the entire meal on the grill, veggies and everything. I keep thinking I’m going to try this someday, but haven’t made that happen yet.My favorite part about the grill is the great view we have while we’re cooking outside.Are you grilling for the 4th of July weekend? What was on your grill?

Grilled ham steak

About two weeks ago, I was featured on The Real Farmwives of America and Friends blog for the In the Kitchen feature we are doing with Gooseberry Patch.

In my interview, I talked a lot about my grill. Gooseberry Patch even went so far to tweet that I am a grilling superstar! (Wow! Thanks!)

Then I realized I have never actually blogged about my grill. I use it. Lots. All year round. But I have somehow managed to overlook actually talking about it.

One of the problems this time of year is that by the time Hubby Doc comes in from work/garden/hay/barn projects, it’s dark outside. And grilling pictures don’t go so well in the dark.

But last night I made him take a break, and we I cooked early. Really. It was around 6:30!

I had grabbed a ham steak out of our magic freezer earlier in the day, so I was ready to go!

I am pretty simple when it comes to grilling. A bit of olive oil and some spices to rub into the meat, and I’m set. A favorite spice for pork around here is Shoup’s Seasoning.
I was introduced to Shoup’s by Ott, A (and thank you so much!) and have never gone back. I give the meat a drizzle of olive oil, a healthy sprinkle of the seasoning, and give it a good rub.

Now, this is not your typical grocery store ham steak. This particular piece of ham comes from a pig that Hubby Doc and I actually helped to butcher. This meat is not preseasoned, and it is not precooked. It doesn’t look like a ham steak you would find at the grocery store, and it’s not supposed to at this point. This looks more like a pork chop, but tastes like ham… yum!
I get the grill good and hot, and put the ham steak on high for a few minutes. I flip it over when the first side looks about like this… (very scientific, I know)

The second side never takes as long to cook – the trick is paying close attention so it doesn’t burn! One of the problems with meat that we prepared ourselves is that it is not always very evenly sliced. Sometimes I’ll end up with a thinner part that is a little, shall we say… flame-broiled… while the thicker part of the meat is just perfect. Whoops.

But, served up with our canned green beans (cooked with bacon), long grain rice, and a multi-grain roll, where can you go wrong?

Happy Hunk of Meat Monday!