How To Cook Grilled Potatoes

You've heard me say before that a good steak doesn't need much besides salt, pepper, and flame.
Bad steaks on the other hand require every trick in the book.  Salting, marinades, crazy rubs, finishing sauces, you name it.    Life is too short to waste time on bad beef.
I guess I've been spoiled lately.  We usually only buy USDA Choice grade at our house.  But at Kingsford University, I had flat iron, fillet, strip, & brisket from Snake River Farms.  Their products actually exceed USDA Prime category, more on that to come.  Then there was the Prime strip at Shula's last week.  I have been living in Beef Nirvana.  Then at SOMEONE in our house brought home some USDA Select grade ribeyes that were on sale this week.  They had no marbling.  And they were only 1" thick.  I wept. 
One of my best tips for dealing with crappy steaks (other than don't buy it)?  Misdirection.  Draw attention away from that beef in a "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" way with great side dishes like these awesome grilled potatoes.
I adapted the basic process from this recipe at America's Test Kitchen and then changed it around to meet my tastes and ingredients on hand.
Grilled Potatoes
8-10 ea red bliss potatoes, halved
4-5 bamboo skewers
1/2 cup herb infused oil (see instructions for ideas)
kosher salt to taste
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated
Infused Oil
Their recipe had a process for making your own rosemary/garlic oil but then they have you strain the solids out.  I WANT the herbs and garlic roasted onto my potatoes, don't you?  Anyway, I was going to make my own oil when I found this in my cupboard. 
It was a gift from a neighbor at Christmas and thought I'd try it out.  I mixed it up according to directions and then added 1 Tbsp finely diced roasted red pepper and 2 Tbsp of the parsley.  
If you need to make your own oil, just simmer your choice of minced garlic, shallot, and herbs in a 1/2 cup of olive oil over medium/low heat until fragrant. Then add in some color and texture with finely diced parsley and red peppers.  Have fun with the combinations, this is your chance to make it YOUR dish. 
Par-cook Potatoes
Skewer the potato halves and poke each several times with a fork or skewer.  Brush with 2 Tbsp of the oil mixture and season liberally with kosher salt.  Microwave for 4 minutes, flip, and then microwave another 3 minutes.  What?  YES, I have a microwave.  Just because I grill all the time doesn't mean I'm a cave man.

How To Cook Spiral Sliced Ham With Spicy Apricot Glaze

One of the downsides to reading food blogs is that AFTER food related holidays, you see ideas that you wish you had seen BEFORE the holiday so you could have tried it.  I've been looking at some ideas for next weekend's Easter ham and I think I have settled on trying a version of this one from Chris Lilly.  I love cherry with ham so I'll swap out cherry preserves for the apricot.
Spiral Sliced Ham with Spicy Apricot Glaze
Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
You’ll Need:
8 pound spiral sliced bone-in cured ham
Spicy Apricot Glaze
½ cup apricot preserves
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions:
In a medium bowl, combine the glaze ingredients and mix well.
Double a large piece of aluminum foil and place the ham, flat side down, in the center of the doubled foil. Pour ½ cup of the glaze mix on top of the ham and spread it evenly over the entire ham. Wrap the aluminum foil tight over the ham and seal it.
Prepare an outdoor charcoal grill for indirect cooking by situating the coals on only one side of the grill, leaving the other side void. When the grill reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit, place the wrapped ham on the void side of the grill and close the lid. Cook for three hours or until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the ham from the cooker, unwrap the foil, and place the ham in the center of a baking pan. Pour the remaining glaze over the top of the ham and spread it evenly. Place the ham back on the grill, close the lid, and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the glaze firms. Remove the ham from the grill and serve.
Recipe created by champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly, on behalf of Kingsford® charcoal.  Reprinted with permission from Kingsford charcoal.

How To Cook Flat Iron Steak With Fun Guy Stir Fry

This grilled steak combines the "fifth taste" of umami from the oyster mushrooms* with layers of ginger, garlic, basil and red chilies to create an Asian flavor profile that hits all notes of the taste buds.  The stir fry cooks during the steak's resting time, making it convenient for a quick but delicious dinner.
Flat Iron Steak with Fun Guy Stir Fry
Serves 4
Ingredients
1.5 lb flat iron steak
For the dry rub
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp basil, fresh minced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp McCormick's Roasted Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp dried minced garlic
For the stir fry
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp peanut oil
8 oz oyster mushrooms, fresh
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 1/2 tsp ginger, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp roasted red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise
1 Tbsp basil, fresh and cut chiffonade style
1/4 cup beef stock
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
slurry (1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp cold water mixed together)
Instructions
Preheat a charcoal grill to 450f set up for direct heat.
Mix the dry rub together and season both sides of the steak.  (Alternatively, use a broiler)
Grill the steak 5 minutes per side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 130f for medium rare*.
Remove steak and rest on a raised rack.  
Reduce grill heat, place a wok or large saute pan on the grill and allow to preheat for a few minutes*.  (Alternatively, do on stove top)
Drizzle the sesame and peanut oil into the hot wok.  Stir fry the mushrooms for 3 minutes until starting to turn tender and releasing their moisture*.  
Add the garlic and ginger, stir fry another minute.
Add the red bell pepper, stir fry another minute
Add the basil, beef stock, mirin, soy sauce, and red pepper flake.  Stir fry another 1-2 minutes.
Add the slurry and cook another minute or until the sauce is thickened.
Slice the steak across the grain (short side) and serve family style with the mushroom stir fry over the top.
Notes
Oyster mushrooms have a natural umami flavor.  If you can't find oyster mushrooms, use another kind and add 3/4 tsp fish sauce to the mirin/soy sauce mixture.
For the Big Green Egg, I had the top DMFT totally open and after preheating, the bottom vent was about half way closed.
For the Big Green Egg, I closed the bottom vent all the way.  The fire was already going from the steak and stir frying requires you to have the Egg top open.  The coals will get plenty of air from the open top. 
I love the flavor of sesame oil but using it as the only oil is over powering.  Using a little sesame oil with a neutral flavored oil like peanut oil gives a balanced flavor.

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Chicken Caesar Salad

Chicken salad usually consists of chopped chicken, mayonnaise, and a few other ingredient used as a binder. Other ingredients may be added to add texture and flavor, such as nuts and celery. There is a wide range of traditional chicken salad, but majority of recipes consist of these basic ingredients. What's great about chicken salads is that they can be easily doubled and tripled in size without compromising the taste of the original recipe. There is also much room for creativity to accommodate different tastes. But first, learn the basics, and then move on to experimenting.
The Basics: Cooking the Chicken
Chicken salads often taste best when the chicken is baked. However, there's no stopping you from grilling, boiling, sauteing, or using other cooking techniques to cook your chicken. You may even utilize precooked chicken breast strips if you're strapped for time. Some basic ideas when serving the dish would be to eat it with crackers, place it on bread as a sandwich, or top it off with hard-cooked egg slices.
Chicken Caesar Salad
If the Caesar dressing is your favorite, then you should try this chicken salad version. Simply add Caesar salad dressing over cooked, cubed chicken and toss to coat. In another bowl, mix chicken mixture, tomato, lettuce and onion. Top it all off with croutons and grated cheese.
Spicy Chicken Salad
This is a warm salad and can be eaten as a side-dish or light lunch. It can also be eaten with bread or potatoes for dinner. This salad has the perfect balance with the meat and spicy dressing poured over the cool salad. First cook some bacon with olive oil in a frying pan, and set the bacon aside when done. Fry chicken strips in the bacon fat that's left in the pan and set aside once browned and cooked thoroughly. Place sliced tomatoes, red and orange bell pepper, and spring onions into a large serving bowl. Add in some lettuce and cucumber strips and set aside. Place finely chopped chili pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar onto the pan and bring to a boil. Mix in the chicken pieces and bacon and keep stirring to heat all the ingredients. Using a slotted spoon, place the hot mixture over the salad and serve.
Asian Chicken Salad
While there are many variations, typical characteristics of most Asian chicken salads consist of chicken, lettuce, sesame oil in the dressing, ginger, and crunchy pieces of deep-fried noodles. Some versions may use bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, almonds, peanuts and mandarin orange slices.