grilling

Grill Your Way to a Healthy 4th!

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Hello, dear friends! Yes, it has been a while since I’ve posted, and I apologize for that. I have been a frantic person lately trying to finish the renovations to our forever home in time for Jacqueline’s graduation party, which was this past weekend. I am relieved to say that all of that is over, it went without a hitch, and I am ready to get back to writing my blog again.

So, an important topic is our upcoming 4th of July holiday. I recently developed a recipe that would be PERFECT for the fabulous 4th; marinated and grilled sirloin steak. I just sort of stumbled upon the idea for this because I was buying meat from my favorite Royer farm at the Fishers farmers market and I thought, “I haven’t used sirloin because it’s a tougher cut of meat, but I know it’s flavorful so I want to see what I can do with it.” It was a challenge to myself which I always love, kind of like Chopped (that’s a cooking competition show on Food Network for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about).

Here’s the good thing about sirloin, it’s a lean and nutritious cut of beef. It’s very high in protein, a 3 ounce portion has 25 grams of complete protein, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids. This macronutrient is essential for cell rebuilding, immune function, and muscle growth. Protein has a high satiety rating, ie it makes you feel full for a longer period of time. Sirloin is also low in calories; a 3 ounce portion has only 180 calories. Sirloin contains 33 percent of the RDA for niacin, 26 percent of B-12, 30 percent of selenium, 30 percent of zinc, and 19 percent of phosphorus. Selenium boosts the immune system and is important for thyroid function. Zinc is also an immune booster, and it helps with wound healing and cell production also. Phosphorus works in concert with calcium to strengthen bones and teeth, and it also helps to filter waste through the kidneys.

Another advantage to sirloin is that it is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef. It is around $6 per pound as compared to New York strip which is $9.50 per pound.

Now here’s the not so good thing about sirloin, it can be a very tough cut of meat unless it is prepared properly.  However, never fear my wonderful readers because I’m going to tell you my secret to tender sirloin every time. It involves preparing and cooking the meat in just the right way so that it turns out perfectly. Here we go!

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  • Prepare the marinade- This type of meat needs to be marinated for 24 hours in the fridge before cooking it. My marinade is very simple, 1 cup of Dale’s steak seasoning (can purchase in any grocery store), 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons herbs of your choice, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoons of red wine vinegar for approximately 3 pounds of sirloin. The acid in the vinegar helps break down the fibers in the meat, lending to a more tender steak, but too much and the meat can get mushy, so a little bit definitely goes a long way. FullSizeRender (180)
  • Dry the meat- After the sirloin sits in the marinade for 24 hours it will be super moist, and it needs to be dried so a good sear can be developed on the outside. Blot the meat with paper towels until the meat is dry.
  • Seasonings-Now more seasonings can be added to develop more flavor. I use 1 tablespoon dried herbs, 1/2 cup red wine, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. I rub the dried seasonings on the steaks, and then combine the wet ingredients to use on the steak as it cooks.
  • Grilling is the preferred cooking method- Here’s why: in order to develop the best flavor, you will need to use an extremely hot grill to sear the meat, followed by grilling at a moderate temperature to cook the meat. Instructions for grilling:
    • Turn all the burners on high and preheat with the lid closed for about 15 minutes.
    • Turn one burner down to medium.
    • Place the steak on the hot burner. Grill until well browned on one side for about 2-3 minutes. This is important to develop the crust. Flip the steaks and grill on other side for 2-3 minutes.
    • Move steaks over to cooler side of the grill. Put the lid down and grill for 5-6 minutes for rare meat, 6-7 minutes for medium rare, and 7-8 minutes for medium. DO NOT OVERCOOK THE MEAT. Overcooking leads to tough meat and remember all we did to try to make our meat tender? Let’s not blow it in the grilling phase!FullSizeRender (186)
  • Let it rest- It is important to allow the steak to rest before cutting so the juices settle back into the meat. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.
  • Cut the Steak- For maximum tenderness cut the sirloin against the grain. The grain is the direction that the muscle fibers are aligned. To cut against the grain means that if the grain runs left to right you would cut up and down, across but not parallel to the grain. Cutting through the fibers shortens them and makes it easier to chew through, since a lot of the hard work of breaking up the muscle fibers has already been done for you.

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Now comes the easy part- eat and enjoy! I served my sirloin with white cannellini and pinto beans (more vitamin B for us!), and a vinegar salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, and jalapeno peppers. We had grilled barbequed chicken thighs and beets too. Lots of protein and vegetables in this meal! Eating a meal like this abounding with healthy foods will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie! 🙂

 

The Final Word On BACON!

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Hello my friends! You know I’m here to give you the straight up facts and wade through all of the misinformation running rampant in the nutrition industry. Today I am going to talk to you about one of my favorite things to eat, something that is being currently vilified, and that is bacon.

All I’ve seen on the news lately is how bacon causes cancer, that it reduces your life by 25%, and how you shouldn’t eat it. Well, anyone who knows me or has read my blog knows that bacon is life to me, and that I’ve discussed how bacon is not bad for you, so I was determined to get to the bottom of this issue. I mean, I am more than willing to admit I’m wrong if I am, but I didn’t think I was, and I did some research to see what the media was talking about. And whatever I find I want to share with you, my wonderful readers so that you won’t read what’s out there and think of it as fact.

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Here’s the scoop on bacon. Bottom line, it’s where and how the bacon or any other processed meat is produced that is the key to whether it is dangerous or not. As I just said, it’s not just bacon we are talking about here, friends, it’s any processed meat, like sausage, lunch meat, and hot dogs. Bacon just seems to be the processed meat every media outlet is talking about.

When I say where and how it is produced here’s what I mean, ANY meat that you eat (or eggs for that matter) should be organically pasture-raised, and the animal should eat an appropriate diet as well. In addition, the how it’s produced part means that your bacon or other processed meat should be preservative free, and the primary preservative we are talking about here is nitrates. Nitrate free bacon is easily found in health food grocery stores and your local farmer’s market, as is pasture raised bacon or other processed meats.

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That being said, mass produced bacon, like grocery store bacon, is not cured in the appropriate way. Refer to my previous blog post, “Bacon is my favorite healthy thing!” for more information about curing and other bacony facts. Avoiding bacon from the grocery store would be a very good rule of thumb to making bacon eating a healthy experience.

I feel like I don’t need to say this, but you shouldn’t eat processed meat 3 times a day, even if it is pasture raised and nitrate free. Exercising good judgment and restraint is the way to go here. I eat processed meat twice a week at the most, and that’s probably an appropriate amount to stick with.

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The real key to being able to eat processed meat safely lies in your gut however. If your gut is full of friendly bacteria it will be a healthy environment in which to digest your food, especially food that is potentially harmful. Make sure you are taking an excellent quality probiotic. I take ultrabiotic capsules made by Guyer Institute which contain very high amounts of friendly bacteria to ensure my gut is in perfect health.

Last but not least lies in the way your processed meat is prepared. Grilling and frying are the least healthy ways to prepare processed meat due to the carcinogens produced. Here’s an important point though, make sure not to BURN your processed meat no matter what you do. And for those of you who like crispy bacon, that’s a no-no. It is far healthier to eat your bacon less done, when grilling or frying.

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Those are the straight up facts for you, lovely people. Make sure your processed meats are pasture-raised, appropriately fed, nitrate free, not crispy or burned, and eaten only a few times a week. And make sure your gut is healthy too so your body can handle anything that comes its way. Most importantly when you’re eating bacon or anything you love ENJOY IT! That’s how you live a life of vitality-like Valerie!

Grilled fall lamb and delicious risotto!

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The meal completed and ready for eating!

The meal completed and ready for eating!

Now I know that when you think of fall you don’t automatically think about grilling, right? But I’m here to tell you that fall is a wonderful time to grill. I don’t grill steaks and corn at this time of year, though that is always good. No, my grilling in the fall is more, well, fall-like, with fall inspired meats and recipes. The other night I made a perfect fall grilling menu that I’d like to share with my wonderful readers. It was simple and delicious highlighted by Mediterranean lamb loin chops, amazing asparagus risotto (made in the kitchen, not on the grill), and delicious grilled tomatoes (we still have plenty in our garden!). It was a memorable meal and I couldn’t wait to blog about it with all of you!

First marinate the lamb chops!

First marinate the lamb chops!

The first thing I did was marinate the lamb chops. I started with two bone in lamb loin chops. They are thick, meaty chops that respond quite well to grilling. I used 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons of herbs de province (this is an herb combo consisting of thyme, basil, rosemary, parsley, marjoram, lavender, tarragon and fennel seed). I let it marinate for about an hour in the fridge and then took the bag out of the fridge about 20 minutes before grilling to let the meat return to room temperature and the olive oil to turn back to liquid.

Heat chicken broth in the microwave!

Heat chicken broth in the microwave!

White and green asparagus ready for the pan!

White and green asparagus ready for the pan!

Olive oil and onions in the risotto pot!

Olive oil and onions in the risotto pot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So maybe you’ve heard that risotto is a really difficult thing to make? Well, let me tell you it’s definitely not, and I have figured out some cheats to make it even easier! Risotto is comprised of Arborio rice which is an Italian rice. What makes it so delicious is the fact that it’s really starchy, the secret to risotto is cooking it for a longish time and stirring it constantly to allow the starch to release. There is no cream in risotto, the creaminess is just chicken broth and stirring.

The first step in making risotto is to heat 7-8 cups of chicken broth in a pan on the stove. That is in addition to the risotto pan and I’m not into washing so many extra pans so that leads me to my first cheat. Instead of getting another pan out and heating the chicken broth, I measure out the broth and put the measuring cup in the microwave for two minutes on high. I keep it in the microwave until I’m ready to use it and then I get it out and ladle it into the risotto one ladle at a time. When I get to the bottom of the liquid in the measuring cup I add two more cups of chicken broth, put it back in the microwave and so on until I’ve added all the broth. The next thing you do is chop up a bundle of asparagus and put it aside until later. Then, take one large chopped onion, add it to a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in the risotto pan and sauté until soft.

Rice, chicken broth and my risotto pan!

Rice, chicken broth and my risotto pan!

The next step is to add two cups of Arborio rice (the rice used to make risotto) to the risotto pan and sauté it for about a minute until it gets SLIGHTLY browned. I start by adding a cup of good dry white wine to the rice. Stir until it is absorbed. This is the point at which you start adding the chicken broth. As I said I use a ladle and add it to the rice one ladle at a time. Then, you stir stir stir! The good thing about that is you get a really great arm workout when making risotto! When the ladle of chicken broth is mostly absorbed into the rice, that’s the time to add another ladle of chicken broth. And that’s really about it, you just keep adding chicken broth and stirring until all the chicken broth is absorbed into the rice. I admit, it takes about 30 minutes for this to happen so it’s not an incredibly quick recipe but it is definitely worth the time it takes!

Just added the asparagus to the pan!

Just added the asparagus to the pan!

Here’s my next cheat: usually you would steam asparagus, again in a separate cooking vessel (another pan- yuck!), until it’s mostly cooked and add it to the rice at the end of the rice’s cooking time. However, I don’t do any of that, instead I just keep the asparagus raw and then I throw it into the risotto pan about 15 minutes before the rice is done and it ends up perfectly cooked; not too raw, not too mushy.

At this point I heat the grill to medium heat and quickly sear the lamb chops on each side for about a minute. Then, I grill them about 6 minutes per side and check them at that point. I’m looking for medium rare on the chops. When the chops have about a minute left I put some tomato slices with a little olive oil, salt and pepper on the grill. I also cut a lemon in half, add a little olive oil to the top of it and put it on the grill at the same time as the tomatoes.

There's the parmesan and the almost done risotto.

There’s the parmesan and the almost done risotto.

The very last thing to do is to add a tablespoon of butter and shave 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese into the risotto. Now this is not the time to use the Kraft parmesan cheese in a can. Only freshly grated parmesan will do and it’s not difficult at all, just hold the grater and the cheese over the risotto and go to town until you’re done!

Look at that plate of grilled loveliness!!!

Look at that plate of grilled loveliness!!!

You may be wondering what to do with the grilled lemon; I squeeze it over the lamb before serving. Grilling the lemon gives it a mellow quality that just adds to the flavor of the lamb perfectly. This meal made me so happy, it was warm and comforting, just what you need for fall, but the tomatoes and lemon still make it light and citrusy. So that’s my perfect fall meal with a Valerie twist to it. Let me know what your favorite fall meal is. I hope you try this meal, it will help you live a life of vitality- like Valerie!

My 30 minute Labor Day Menu

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Labor Day is a holiday that gives me mixed emotions. First of all, I’m happy the family is home and the kids are off of school, so that’s good. However,
it signals the end of summer and means that winter is right around the corner- snow and cold=yuck! Another good thing is that corn and tomatoes are plentiful right now and throwing something on the grill is an easy endeavor so hours aren’t spent in the kitchen preparing for this holiday meal- Thanksgiving is another story entirely!

This year my brood is spread out for the Labor Day weekend. 2 family weddings in 2 different states, sorority rush for my college students, and out of town travel means that we will likely be eating on the fly somewhere. So I made us an early Labor Day meal before we left home and I’d like to share it with you so you can see how easy it is to throw something together that is tasty and your family will enjoy. It won’t take you hours in the kitchen slaving away over a stove either. My estimate is 30 minutes tops for this meal. Here it is!

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The first thing I do is marinate the meat for the grill. The longer your protein can sit in this marinade the better but I usually am rushing around so 5-10 minutes is all I can do. You can use any kind of protein you like, steak, pork chops, chicken, etc. In this case I had a T-bone steak and two smaller sirloins. I marinate the meat using a combination of wet and dry rubs. I start with the dry ingredients and after a minute or so I add the wet ones. As you can see from the picture I used red pepper flakes, black pepper, Italian seasoning, shoops seasoning (contains salt, pepper, and garlic), garlic powder, and awake-a-steak (contains coffee granules, along with other seasonings) for my dry ingredients. My wet ingredients were garlic, Dale’s steak seasoning (kind of a pumped up soy sauce that I’ve used for a million years. It’s my favorite go to for flavoring meat and I use it on everything!), and extra virgin olive oil. I just coat the steaks with the dry seasonings using more than I think I need to really flavor the protein. I use about a half cup of Dale’s poured over all the meat, and a tablespoon of garlic and a teaspoon of olive oil per protein. Let that sit for a few minutes while lighting the grill and waiting for it to heat up.

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While you are waiting for your grill to heat up, start on your corn. My brother told me about this YouTube video that showed an easy way to make corn in the microwave and at first I was highly skeptical but I tried it and you wouldn’t believe how well it works! This is the procedure I will describe to you now.

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You take one ear of corn and put it in the microwave on high for 4 minutes. Don’t shuck it just leave it completely intact.

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When the cooking time is complete take it carefully out of the microwave using a pot holder and cut the bottom end of it off using a fairly sharp knife. Again, use a pot holder to hold the ear of corn because it’s hot.

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After cutting the bottom off, grasp the top of the corn and shake it, and the corn slides out of the husk leaving the silks inside. No muss no fuss and the corn tastes exactly the same as if you’d boiled it. No shucking is a very good thing and a huge time saver if you ask me! Now of course you can only make one ear at a time but I put the finished ones on a plate and cover it while I’m making the rest to keep them warm.

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While all of that is going on I make the caprese salad. It’s really easy. I use tubes of mozzarella, tomatoes, green and purple basil from my garden, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. I slice the mozzarella into 1/3 inch slices and place those on the plate. Then I cut the tomato into slices of about the same thickness. Next, I rip the basil with my hands into little pieces and sprinkle on the tomatoes. I drizzle a little EVOO on each, add salt and pepper to taste and that’s done!

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While all of this is going on I got out the salsa I made the other day and some chips and we chowed down on my delicious salsa for our appetizer during the grilling process. As you can see there’s not much left. We were hungry!

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Next on to the grilling, we put the big T-bone on the grill first because it took the longest to cook. Now I don’t know about all of you out there, but in my house the grilling is done by the man of the house and he’s very territorial about his grill. It’s like his outdoor man cave and he likes to do it all by himself. I have to say though that his grilling is perfection so I let him have his outdoor cooking domain while I handle what goes on in the kitchen. It works for us!!

A thick cut of meat needs to grill longer than thinner cuts so it would be easier to have all of your meat approximately the same size and thickness to standardize the cooking time. However, with different types and thicknesses of meat you’ve got to be prepared for different grilling times. First, do a quick sear of the meat on each side on high heat for about a minute per side then turn the grill down to medium and grill a thin cut for about two minutes per side, a medium cut for about 4 minutes per side and a thick cut for 5 minutes per side. This will give you a medium rare piece of meat so adjust it up or down if you like rare or well done meat. Also, REMEMBER TO LET YOUR PROTEIN REST BEFORE CUTTING INTO IT! This is the toughest thing to do for most people because they want to see if the meat is done. Chefs say to let the meat rest for a half hour but I don’t usually have that much time to spare so I rest it for 10 minutes before cutting it. Another thing to remember is to USE A MEAT THERMOMETER TO DETERMINE THE DONENESS OF YOUR PROTEIN. That way you will ensure it’s cooked properly without cutting into it.

This is my simple shortcut grilling menu. If I have more time I would make my Mama’s delicious baked beans (to die for!), or my potato salad. I’d also make my man’s favorite dessert, my berry crumble, but if I want to make a decent grilling meal in 30 minutes this is my go-to meal.

If you try to make any part of my 30 minute Labor Day meal let me know how it turned out, or if you’d like to share your own 30 minute menus I’d love to hear about them. I hope you enjoy Labor Day with your family without spending hours in the kitchen and that you live a life of vitality- like Valerie!