For Father’s Day weekend, we took a short, very short, camping trip.  We are fortunate enough to have two beautiful lakes within a couple miles of our house: Blue Springs Lake and Lake Jacomo.  Both have campgrounds.  This weekend, we secured a spot less than 50 feet from the playground at Blue Springs Lake.  Mom and I were able to sit and watch the boys play and communicate with them right from our campsite.  Camping a couple of miles from home has its advantages.  Mom and Christian slept at home Friday night and we all took naps at home on Saturday.  Since the dog stayed home all weekend, we would make trips home to check on her and let her out to do what dogs do.  Back at the campsite, while the boys played with the other camping kids, I got to play with fire.  The site had these awesome fire rings that had a grill that you could flip over onto your fire.

Saturday night was NY strip steak, ribeye steak, pit beans, stuffed fresno peppers, and baked potatoes.

Who needs a pot?  These beans were made cowboy style… right in the can!

A Sizzling Industry

· More than 17.4 million grills were shipped in 2007, marking a 13 percent increase since 2000.

· Nine out of 10 (95 percent) grill owners used their grill in the past year, an increase of 4 percent over 2003.

· Nearly eight out of 10 (77 percent) households own an outdoor barbecue grill or smoker, a 5 percent increase from 2003.

· Sixty-eight percent of households own a gas grill, followed by charcoal (37 percent) and electric (2 percent).

· LP gas grills continue to be the most widely owned type of grill, with 94 percent of all gas grill owners owning an LP gas grill.

Grill Usage

· The majority of grill owners use their grills year-round (58 percent), and 45 percent use their grills one to two times per week during the peak grilling season (May through September).

· Traditional summer holidays top the list of the most popular grilling holidays: the Fourth of July (69 percent), Memorial Day (56 percent) and Labor Day (50 percent).

· Nearly half (43 percent) of grill owners see their outdoor grilling area as a functional cooking area of their home, while a third see it as a place to rest and relax.

· Forty percent of consumers have a large movable grill system on a modest patio/deck, with some outdoor furniture and an informal place to eat.

· Consumers say an easy ignition system (72 percent) and large grilling surface (55 percent) are the most important features of a gas grill, followed by durability (52 percent), ease of cleaning (47 percent) and safety (42 percent).

· Multipurpose utensils such as long-handled tongs (80 percent) and forks (64 percent) are the most popular utensils used by gas grill owners, followed by a grill-cleaning brush (74 percent) and long-handled spatula (58 percent).

· Among charcoal grill owners, the most popular utensils are long-handled tongs (77 percent), forks (64 percent), grill-cleaning brushes (63 percent) and long-handled spatulas (59 percent).

Tasty Trends

· Meats, including burgers (82 percent), steak (79 percent), chicken parts (72 percent) and hot dogs (71 percent), top the list of the most popular foods prepared using a grill.

· Charcoal grill owners are most often prompted to cook on their charcoal grills by their desire to eat good-tasting food (77 percent).

· Four in 10 consumers who cook on a charcoal grill (39 percent) normally use barbecue sauce to add flavor to their dishes. Most popular flavors include hickory (65 percent), mesquite (49 percent) and honey (49 percent).

· When charcoal grilling, over half of consumers (56 percent) use marinades.

· Dry meat rubs are popular among consumers. In fact, dry rub usage has increased among gas grill owners to 59 percent in 2007, from 21 percent in 2003.

Household Roles

· The male head (52 percent) normally makes the decision to cook, lights (65 percent) and cooks (59 percent) on the charcoal/wood grills.

· When entertaining and cooking outside, the male head normally cooks on a grill: specifically, 67 percent on a gas, 62 percent on a charcoal and 56 percent on an electric grill.

· Whether male or female, the primary grillers in the majority of households considers themselves to be average or above in terms of cooking skills.

For the BBQ’er who has everything, how about a billet aluminum hitch insert for their truck or SUV? Made from aircraft grade aluminum, these inserts fit neatly in any standard 2″ hitch receiver.

Each catches the eye, but you better think about a locking hitch pin, or you may see it on your neighbors’ truck one morning.

These affordable BBQ hitch inserts can be found online.

If Austin Powers has lost his Mojo again… I’ve found it. Goya brand makes a wide array of amazing products. I recently found their Chipotle Mojo Marinade. Great flavor with not an overwhelming amount of heat. My wife is fairly adverse to spicy food, but she loved the Mojo marinated chicken and chops we did on the Big Green Egg.

The chicken and chops sat in the Chipotle Mojo for 24 hours, soaking up all of that goodness. We made grilled sandwiches with Baby Brie cheese and roasted red peppers. Added a teaspoon of the marinade reserved from the bottle to some mayo for a complimentary condiment.

The following recipe is from The Racing Chef!

I really like this recipe because it is a fairly easy and fast recipe if you can cook on a grill, but the flavor seems like you cooked all day. I always make sue that I have a long pair of tongs when I cook something on the grill that has a lot of fat. It is inevitable that the fat is going to fall in the flames and cause a fire. Some fire is fine, but too much will burn the pork. I use a gas grill most often, but this pork would be great on charcoal and/or wood chips. This is a great summer recipe because it goes great with corn on the cob and a fresh tomato salad from the garden.

Ingredients:

5 Pounds Pork Loin
To Taste Salt
To Taste Black Pepper (Fresh Ground)
To Taste Granulated Garlic
4 Ounces Hoisin (Kikkoman)
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon Orange Juice (Fresh Squeezed)
1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil
3 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce (I use Baby Rays!)

Procedure:

- Season the pork loin with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic
- Mix the remaining ingredients together to make the glaze (Reserve)
- Heat the grill to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
- Place the pork on the grill (Fat side down first) and turn until evenly brown
- Turn the grill down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
- Put the pork on the top shelf of the grill and brush evenly with the glaze
- Turn and rotate the pork until the internal temperature is 165 Fahrenheit

Enjoy!

(This is also a great glaze for pork ribs)

Its been 15 months since I bought this old cabinet for $4 on an auction. Its been a year since I bought the maple lumber to build the top. My table saw needed repairs for the better part of the year, but mostly, I don’t get much time in my wood shop and the winter months after Christmas seem to be the times when it is mostly likely to happen.The top is over 2″ thick, made of laminated hard maple. The darker color is from maple turned on end so that you see the end grain. This is preferred on a butcher block instead of edge grain because of the way the fibers run. When the end grain is used, the knife cuts into the fibers. When the longer edge grain is used, the knife cuts across the fibers. This creates splinters and a place for bacteria to grow.

Like anything I create, I love to use my brand. It was a gift from my wife on my very first Father’s Day. Here are some other pictures.

Here’s what the original $4 cabinet looked like. From trash to treasure.

The bacon wrapped pork loin filets have been a big hit for parties and catering. We made several pounds of these for a friend’s birthday feast last summer. I’ve served these for wedding receptions as well. Amazingly easy and are always a crowd favorite.

Start with a whole pork tenderloin and remove any silver skin. Cut fillets twice as wide as your bacon. Butterfly the loin fillets so they fold over into large round medallions. Run a toothpick through to hold in place and wrap with bacon. Our Plowboys Yardbird Rub goes great on pork. I dare say that it is better on pork than even on chicken.

Grill or smoke until 140 to 145 degrees. If you grill, use a medium fire. These aren’t beef steaks. They are better grilled a little slower than a high sear. Be sure to remove the toothpick.

Sliders, bombers, or mini man burgers, call them what you want, but a mini burger on a griddle is close to heaven on earth. Alton Brown featured what he called “Mini Man Burgers” on his Man Food episode. Fans of White Castle or Krystal’s is familiar with the thin, square burger. Krystal’s has been producing their version of the so called Slider since 1932. White Castle’s burgers started in 1921 and have a cult like following to this day.

To make your own version at home, start with 2 pounds of ground beef. I used a 73/27 grind, but 80/20 and 85/15 would work great. This is the meat to fat ratio in the grind. Whether thin or thick, lean burgers turn out dry pretty easily. Save your 95/5 ground beef for chili. Add a couple tablespoons of garlic powder and onion powder. Then salt and pepper to taste. Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper. Spread the beef mixture evenly across the pan. Cut into 12 burgers.

A fatty grind will shrink significantly in the pan. Cook with or over diced onions. About 2-3 minutes per side. I used a cast iron skillet in my Big Green Egg.

My wife and I learned early in our relationship that dining out on Valentine’s Day is near impossible. The problem seems worse than on New Year’s Eve. Unlike other holidays, Valentine’s Day is more intimate, more for couples than big gatherings and private parties. It has to be the number one day of the year for dinner receipts at restaurants.

This year we had caramelized lamb loin chops grilled on the Big Green Egg. Our family has been eating more lamb since really being introduced to it for the first time in 2007. These chops were marinated for 24 hours and then grilled over a medium fire. There’s a lot of sugar in this marinade so that good caramelization occurs, however, it can burn easily as well. Not straying too far for too long is a must. Grilled chops on the BGE until medium (about 135-145). Served with a balsamic reduction.

• 6 T brown sugar
• 4 T soy sauce
• 4T sherry or rice wine vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 4 T parsley

Potato cakes were fried up in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. We used the food processor to shred four medium potatoes. Two medium eggs, two tablespoons of flour, salt, and pepper were added. Made a half dozen or more servings.

Round Two of burgers on the Big Green Egg with pouch potatoes and onions. Cooking with foil pouches is great. You can steam and brown potatoes, peppers, veggies, and shrimp quickly and easily.

Sweet onion and yellow potatoes were diced in large pieces. Then seasoned with fresh ground black pepper, santa maria seasoning, and olive oil. Sprinkled a little brown sugar over the onions.

Pouches went on about 10 minutes before the burgers. Egg was running at 400 degrees. Grate was sitting at the fire ring level. For crispier onions and potatoes, use some butter instead of olive oil.

Everything was fabulous, but I sure love potatoes done that way. I’m a real pouch potato.