FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Summertime Chillin’ & Grillin’

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Grilled Sirloin

Growing up with a veggie mom, grilling wasn’t a thing.  Even when I’d satisfy infrequent meat cravings at my grandma’s house, she was more of a skillet cook than a grill master.  A lifetime of little-to-no experience with propane or charcoal left me a grilling novice, at best.

4-4-4 Grilling

So when I saw that the Austin Food Blogger’s Alliance post a grilling how-to event with the Texas Beef Council, I couldn’t have been more on board.  Right away, Tiffany {pictured above} provided helpful tips for safe {and delicious} grilling.

Megan Charcoal

We learned about the 4-4-4 rule for determining the correct grill heat: holding 4 fingertips, 4 inches above the grill, for 4 seconds.  If you have to remove your fingers before 4 seconds then the grill is too hot, longer than 4 seconds and the grill isn’t hot enough.

And we learned the proper way to test the temperature of the meat – sticking the thermometer into the side of the cut until the notch on the thermometer passes through the meat.  Luckily Tiffany sent us home with a meat thermometer, because the candy thermometer I’ve been using has no such notch.  Oops!

Megan & Beverly Grilling

My grilling partners, Megan and Beverly, stacked the charcoal {a double row of 6 by 6}, lit each of the four corners, and then used the 4-4-4 rule to test the temperature.  And while the flame was doing its thing, we had a lesson on seasoning and cuts of beef

Texas Grilling

We were asked our favorite cut before Tiffany went through each one, describing their flavor, fat content, and best use.  I am also a novice beef eater, so a filet was my cut of choice for any and every occasion.  I kept this to myself as the crowd scoffed at the use of a filet in stir fry {FoodFash filet stir fry recipe here}.

FoodFash Grilling

We seasoned our assigned beef cut with salt, pepper, garlic, and smoked paprika and then placed on the grill until the thermometer read 138.  After everyone’s cuts had time to rest {did ya know this allows the temp to rise and keeps the juices in?}, the Texas Beef Council team sliced all of them up and set aside a bunch of grilled veggies for us to try.

After all was said and done {and stuffed}, I re-confirmed my like of filet, but discovered that I’d be open to a NY strip or flat iron as well.

A big thank you to the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance {and my grilling partners} for such a lovely afternoon – I’ll certainly be of the first to sign up for the next one!

Bison Burger Topped With Grilled Guac

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Bison Burger with Grilled Guac

It’s been a while, guys, since I’ve been this excited about anything a recipe.  The kind of excited where my heart gets poundy, my bangs get sweaty, and I’m consumed with this energy that makes it almost impossible to eat the food I’m so excited about.  Ok, so maybe the sweaty bangs have everything to do with grilling and an extended Austin summer. But the rest, the rest of this hoopla was totally about the dinner.

Grilled Guacamole Skewers 2

After buying some bison burger patties from Trader Joe’s, I entered this massive Google/Pinterest thing – a rarely craved burger shouldn’t be ordinary, after all.  I found the appropriately titled Women’s Health Mag post “Best Burger Toppings” and was immediately drawn to the grilled guacamole.  “Why isn’t this being done all over the place?”, I thought.

Grilled Veggie Skewers

Not knowing how to use a grill aside, everything about grilling guac was easy.  Chop, skewer, grill, chop again, stir.  I didn’t use any of the rations or timing in the recipe. And with the addition of some extra lime juice, I felt the salt and hot sauce unnecessary.

Grilled Guac Skewers

It was love at first tart, smoky bite.  I put a dollop on the bison burger, had a holy-crap-I-made-this moment, pulled out my 100mm macro and tripod (told you I was excited!), and shot this burger in a way that it deserved.