Ingredients:

• 2 Medium sized Salmon Fillets
• 4 T Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 t Sesame Oil
• 1 t Vegetable or Canola Oil
• 1 T Minced Fresh Garlic
• 1 T Dried Chopped Onion
• 1 T Honey
• 2 large rectangles of aluminum foil

Heat half of the grill to med-high and the other half to low.  Mix all ingredients except salmon in a small bowl.  Place aluminum foil rectangles on counter and pour a little of the sauce in the middle of them.  Place the salmon on top of the sauce and cover the salmon with the remainder of the sauce.  Raise up all sides of the foil around the salmon and crimp together to make a pouch.

Place pouches on med-high side of the grill for 5 minutes and then move to the low side for another 10-12 minutes, or until the salmon is done to your liking.  Spoon a bit of the sauce over the plated salmon, and it’s done!

Here’s one of the rectangles of foil with the sauce and salmon in the middle:

Here’s the pouches when they went on the grill:

Here’s the final dish:

Turned out great!

I originally was just going to make a grilled pork tenderloin by itself, so my marinade was more involved than it would have been if I knew that I was just going to end up coating the pork in a hoisin/soy sauce at the end.

Marinade:

• 1 Pork tenderloin
• 3/4 c “Lite” (lower sodium) soy sauce
• 1 T Montreal seasoning
• 2 T minced dry onion
• 1 T Fresh minced garlic
• 1 t Fresh minced ginger
• 1/8 t Tobasco sauce
• 1/2 t Sesame oil
• 2 t honey
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/8 t crushed red pepper

Mix all together in a gallon-size ZipLoc bag and mix around.  Add the pork tenderloin, take as much air out of it as possible, and place in a bowl or pan and refrigerate to marinate for at least an hour.

Sauce for wraps:

• 1/2 c Hoisin sauce
• 3 T soy sauce
• 1 T minced fresh garlic
• 1/8 t black pepper
• 1 small can water chestnuts, chopped

To go along with the artichokes, I grilled up some boneless New York steaks and sweet and russet potatoes.

Artichokes:

• 2 large artichokes
• 3 small lemons
• pinch of salt

Heat the grill to high.

To prepare the potatoes, just scrub them down and poke them several times each with a fork.  Tear off a large rectangle of aluminum foil and place 1 teaspoon of olive oil and some kosher salt in the middle of it.

Put the potato in the center and turn a few times to get the oil on most of it.  Then, wrap up the potato in the foil and put on the grill.

The potatoes (russets) take about an hour on the grill, so they’ll go on first.  I put them on the upper shelf grate of the grill and turned down the burner underneath them to medium.  The sweet potatoes will only take about 30-35 minutes.

For the artichokes, use a large pot with a lid.  Put about 1 1/2 inches of water in the pot and slice up some lemons to throw in there (along with a pinch of salt).  Get that on the grill at the same time as the russets, as it’ll take a while to simmer.

Here’s the washed artichokes ready to be prepared:

To clean the artichokes, first trim off (or pull off) any woody leaves at the bottom of the artichoke and trim off the stem.

Then, cut about 3/4 to one inch off the top with a knife.

Then, trim off all of the pointy ends of the leaves with kitchen shears or scissors:

Then, thinly slice another lemon and stick slices of the lemon in between the leaves of the artichoke, as seen here:

After the russets have been cooking for 30 minutes, put the sweet potatoes on and put the artichokes in the pot (covered).  The artichokes should take about 35 minutes as well.

Then, in a small pot, make the dipping sauce and place it on the grill to melt together (will only take about 5-10 minutes):

Artichoke dipping sauce:

1/2 c butter

3/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t Worcestershire sauce

2 small lemons – juiced

I cooked the steaks like I have before (like on 6/19/2010).  These were a little extra thick, so I had to let them cook a little longer on the cool side of the grill after the initial 8 minutes.

I pulled the artichokes out of the pot with long tongs.  Turn them over to drain out the water.

Pour the dipping sauce into small bowls.

Here’s the final dish – New York steaks with artichokes and potatoes.  Everything turned out fantastic!

Tonight I picked up another one of the Bill Bailey’s Santa Maria pre-marinated Tri Tips (I had previously done one on 7/21/2010), but this time I wanted to cook it a bit less than last time, when it got a little too done (but was still yummy!).

For the sides, I grilled up some fresh green beans, tomatoes, and green onions.

Again, here’s the tri tip package:

Here’s the veggies ready to grill (just rubbed with some olive oil and sprinkled with pepper):

I cooked the tri tip the same way that I did last time, but pulled it off earlier.  I had one side of the grill on high and one side on low.  I grilled it for 20 minutes (10 minutes per side) on the hot side, then moved it over to the low side for another 6 or 7 minutes.  I pulled it when the thickest section was showing 125 degrees on the meat thermometer.  When I moved it over to the low side, I also put on the veggies.

Here’s everything on the grill:

It turned out great, wonderfully pink/red in the middle.  Here’s the finished dish:

Grilling a turkey isn’t really that much more work than roasting it in the oven.  You just have to watch your temperature in the grill more than you’d have to on an oven.  In years past I’ve also hot smoked/grilled the turkey by using some wood chips for the first hour or two, but this year I didn’t.

This is the second year in a row that I’ve used this brine recipe for my turkey – I love it!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Out-of-this-World-Turkey-Brine/Detail.aspx

This year I grilled a 19.8 lb bird.

For brining the turkey, I use a (thoroughly cleaned of course) large cooler.  Since the cooler was pretty big and you want the turkey to be fully immersed, I made a one and a half sized batch of the brine recipe.

Here’s the turkey immersed in the brine in the cooler.  I have a large enough garage refrigerator that my cooler will fit for the overnight soak.

Put a large turkey-sized drip pan under the grates on half of the grill (this side will have no heat).   I have to bend down the edges to get it to fit under the grates.

Set up an indirect heating situation with the lit burners on the other side of the grill.  For the duration of cooking, you’ll want to keep the temperature of the grill in the range of 325 – 350 degrees. You’ll have to keep an eye on the temperature of the grill environment and adjust your burners up or down to keep the temperature in the optimal range for the duration of cooking.

Here’s the grill set up to cook.  Fire on the right, drip pan with grates on the left.

Take your bird out of the brine and dry it off with paper towels. Then rub it with some cooking oil and sprinkle it with black pepper (no more salt is needed due to the brine).  I also cut up an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic to throw them in the cavity.  I also use butcher’s twine and tie up the wings so they don’t hang out too far and dry out.

Put the bird on the grate (over the aluminum turkey pan). I like to use a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh so that I don’t have to constantly open the grill and let the heat out.

Here’s the turkey on the grill.

After about 2 hours, turn the turkey around so that the side that was farthest from the heat is now closest to the heat.  A nice trick that I saw on the Food Network was – when it comes time to turn the turkey around (or to lift the turkey) was to use your knife block steel and stick it in the cavity for stability. I used that plus a wooden spoon handle in the neck cavity to lift the turkey.

Here’s the turkey after turning it after the first two hours.

After another hour or so, check the skin on the turkey and if it is getting dark, you’ll want to shield the turkey with aluminum foil on the side closest to the lit burners.

Here’s the turkey shielded with the aluminum foil.  Also, it’s kind of hard to see, but I also wrapped the tips of the wings with foil so they wouldn’t get too dark.

My 19.8 lb turkey took about 5 and a half hours to cook (obviously you have to go by temperature to make sure it’s fully cooked). Let it rest for about 30 minutes before carving.

Here’s the turkey right before I pulled it off of the grill.  It turned out great!

Ingredients:

• 3 tilapia loins (frozen at Costco – quite large)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/4 t Lawry’s seasoned pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup finely diced onion
• 2 T butter or margarine

Combine ingredients 3-9 in a bowl and stir.  Then add olive oil and stir or wisk vigorously to incorporate oil.  Take out 1/2 cup of the marinate/sauce and add to a frying pan (grill safe!) with the diced onion.  Add the fish to the remaining marinade and let it marinate for 10-15 minutes (you don’t want to marinate too long, or the fish will cook in the acid).  Turn on the grill to med-high (all burners).

Here’s the fish marinating and the onions ready to go on the grill.

I cooked some rice, so that took the longest at about 20 minutes.  After getting the rice boiling, I turned down the burner under it to low.

I used the grilling stone to cook the fish.

Here’s the setup with the rice on the right, the grilling stone for the fish in the middle, and the sauce on the left.

Put the pan with the onions/sauce on the grill and simmer and reduce for about 10-12 minutes.  Meanwhile, put the fish on the stone (or directly on the grill) and cook about 3 minutes on each side.

Here’s the fish cooking on the stone.

As seen here, when the sauce has reduced, take it off the grill and add the 2 T butter or margarine.  Spoon the lemon/onion sauce over the fish and rice.

Here’s the final dish – Lemon Tilapia with a Lemon/Onion sauce with Rice.

Ingredients (this was enough for 2 people):

• 1/2 lb. shrimp – deveined and shelled
• 1 shallot, fine diced
• 1 T fresh garlic, minced
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 T chopped ginger (this is a jarred version, it’s actually like a paste)
• juice of 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in a bowl an marinade for 15  minutes.

Heat all burners to medium-high.

I grilled some ears of corn on the cob as well.  While the shrimp was marinading, I put the corn on the grill, after taking off all but 1-2 layers of the husk.  Rotate and turn them every few minutes.

I used the grill stone for the shrimp.

Here’s the corn on the grill.  These cooked for about 15 minutes total.  Since the shrimp cook fast, start the corn first.

Here’s the marinating shrimp, ready to go on the grill.

The shrimp cook super fast – like 1 1/2 – 2 minutes total.  In the picture above, they are half done (right after I flipped them).

Here’s the final dish – Grilled Asian Shrimp with Corn on the Cob.

The Meat:

• 1 Rack St. Louis Style pork ribs
• 2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
• 2 T yellow mustard

The Rub:

• 3 T brown sugar
• 2 t paprika
• 2 t kosher salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/4 t dried thyme
• 1 t chili powder
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper

Mix all together in a small bowl.

The BBQ Sauce:

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cut water
• 3 T brown sugar
• 2 t kosher salt
• 1 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1 T yellow mustard
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in a pan and bring to simmer.  Simmer for 30 minutes to cook and reduce.

Here’s the bbq sauce on the grill, which I simmered for 30 minutes or so.

The Mop Recipe:

• 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 T yellow mustard
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 t chili powder

Mix together in a bowl.  Use a brush to baste every half hour when you turn the meat.

I didn’t think far enough ahead to rub the ribs and let them sit overnight, so this time I used a thin layer of yellow mustard on the ribs before rubbing them with the rub, and a nice coat of rub stayed on the ribs and chicken.

First, I made the bbq sauce and let that cook down a bit (see above).

To start the ribs,  you have to remove the lining from the under-side of the ribs.  See my post on 5/29/2010 for more info on that.

Then, rub the ribs and chicken with a thin layer of  the yellow mustard, followed by the rub.

Here’s the ribs with the thin layer of mustard on it before I rubbed it with the rub.

Set up the grill with the heat (on low) and water-soaked wood chips on one side, and no heat and a drip pan on the other (the meat will go over the drip pan).  I also made a rudimentary “wall” with aluminum foil so that the direct flames from the right side of the grill wouldn’t sneak over to the left side and burn my meat.

Here’s the setup.  You may have to turn the heat up a little higher than low to get the wood chips going, but once they’re lit, you can turn the heat back to low.  For these ribs, I wanted to cook them at a super low temperature and cook them for a while.  Keep the temperature in the grill at about 225-235 degrees.  The ribs cooked for about 5 1/2 hours and I put the chicken on after the ribs were cooking for an hour (also added a second batch of soaked wood chips at the same time), so they took 4 1/2 hours.

Turn the meat every half-hour or so and brush with your mop mixture.

During the last half-hour of cooking, brush the bottom side of the ribs and the chicken with your bbq sauce, let it cook for 15 minutes, then flip them over and sauce the other side and let it cook for the last 15 minutes.  Make sure both the ribs and chicken are at or above 160 degrees.

Here’s the final dish – Smoked pork ribs and chicken breast.  As you can see, I also grilled up some fresh summer corn.

I made an italian inspired tilapia this time:

Ingredients:

• 5 very large tilapia fillets (in fact, we bought these at Costco (frozen) and they are called loins – probably equal to 6-8 regular tilapia fillets)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 5 slices of lime
• 15 grape tomatoes
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 t dried oregano
• 5 t balsamic vinegar (1 t for each pouch)
• 5 t olive oil (1 t for each pouch)
• salt
• pepper
• aluminum foil (I used two overlapping sheets of aluminum foil, about 15 inches long – see picture below)

Place the tilapia in the middle of the foil.  Rub with 1 t olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano, basalmic vinegar, and lime slices to the fish.

Here’s one of the pouches with the ingredients added.  Fold up all four corners of the aluminum foil and scrunch up at the top.

Here you can see the pouches on the grill.  I also made some rice (see 8/10/2010 post for directions).  I had half the grill on medium-high and the other half on low (the side with the rice).  The fish pouches cooked over the medium-hot side of the grill for 15 minutes.

Here’s the final dish – Grilled Tilapia with Onions and Grape Tomatoes with a side of Long-Grain White Rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy sauce (I used “reduced sodium”)
• 1 bottle of beer – I have to imagine that the surfer “Dogger” used a bottle of Pacifico :)
• 3 lb Tri Tip Roast
• 6-10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 t black pepper (I added this, it wasn’t in the original recipe)

I normally would put the marinade and the tri tip in a gallon-size Ziploc bag, but I ran out so I just marinated it in a bowl covered in plastic wrap.

In a bowl, add the soy sauce, beer, garlic and black pepper.  Stir and add the tri tip.  Marinate overnight (or at least 2 hours).

Here’s everything ready to go on the grill.  I also grilled up some yellow squash and steamed some long-grain white rice on the grill as well.  I turned one half of the grill on high and the other half on low.

For the rice, put the pot with the water (2 cups) on the hot side to get it boiling, then move it over to the low side of the grill and stir in the rice (1 cup).  Let the rice steam for about 20 minutes.

Cook the tri tip on the hot side of the grill for 10 minutes, flip it over for another 10 minutes, then move it over to the low side to finish to your desired doneness.  I pulled mine after an additional 5 minutes (at 135 degrees), and it had a nice pink center.

For the yellow squash, prepare it like zucchini (rub with olive oil, salt, pepper) and cook over the hot side of the grill for about 5 minutes.

Here’s the tri tip and rice on the grill.

Here’s the tri tip almost ready to pull off the grill.

After I pulled the tri tip (and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before carving), I put the yellow squash on the grill for 5 minutes.  When you carve the tri tip, make sure to cut it in thin slices against the grain of the meat.

Here’s the final dish – Dogger’s Marinated Tri Tip with Yellow Squash and Long-Grain White Rice.