Tips For Cooking Lamb On The Grill

One of the great foodies on Twitter asked me if I had ever cooked lamb? I had to answer, “No, because it’s really expensive where I live”. So what do I do? I go to Costco and buy myself a four and a quarter pound Genuine Australian Lamb Leg Roast, with the whole idea of cooking this Dude up on my Traeger Grill?

Hey, the price was $3.99 a pound which really isn’t all that horrendous for a lean cut of high quality meat. And, I am going have to back off the “too expensive bit”, especially if compared to the latest cost of Halibut, or Kobe Beef, maybe even hamburger or hotdogs per pound. Ok, I’m starting to get it!

I did a little bit of research on the net (which is a first) and attempted to find an original and cool recipe that I could use on the grill. Well, I found a pretty good one from this nice lady, Elise Bauer and her “Simple Recipes” Page.

She has a super nice site and gave me permission to pass on her marinade recipe for a lamb roast. Bless her, and if you don’t do anything else today, please check her site out!

Now, back to the “lamb” and, yes, lamb things are surfacing: “Mary Had A Little Lamb! ”The Lamb Band!” “Shop L.A.M.B.!” “Silence of the Lambs!” “ Lions for Lambs!”

Ok, my brain is starting to rally and here comes the “Marinade” Per Elise:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 2 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary or 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Blend ingredients in a blender, just a few pulses are more than cool! She uses plastic bags to marinate the lamb in. I did not. I prefer a Tupperware Marinating container. I have talked about this in previous posts. Her liquid portions are great for the plastic bags, but you may want to cut it down for the Tupperware….cut the liquid in half, and just make sure to rotate the container at least once. Marinate overnight!

Her lamb was cooked in the oven. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I like the way she did it, using a water pan between the heat and the lamb roast to give the meat added moisture. I keep harping about this when using a gas grill.

It’s a form of indirect cooking and adds both flavor and moisture through self-basting. Your charcoal smokers utilize this type of cooking and the end results can be excellent.

However, I wanted to grill mine using the Traeger, along with burning Hickory wood pellets. Since a Traeger cooks on indirect heat I didn’t put a water pan under the lamb, but I filled two small bread pans with leftover marinade and placed them along side the roast.

Set the BBQ grill or oven at medium temperature. I set the Traeger at 350 degrees. Make sure to let the lamb sit out thirty minutes prior to cooking.

My variation from Elise’s recipe was to rub down the lamb roast with Sea Salt prior to grilling. I thought it just might help to seal the juices in just a little bit more.

After it was on the grill for one and half hours I checked the roast for doneness. We prefer rare and is 140 degrees using a quality meat thermometer. Cooking anything outside takes a little more time if it’s cold out. It took more like an hour and 45 minutes before it was where I wanted it.

Wrap in aluminum foil when done and let it sit out for 15 minutes before serving. For me the lamb roast came across like a lean prime rib. My wife really liked it, but felt it had just a tad bit of a gamey taste. I didn’t get that impression.

Will I be cooking lamb again? You bet!

Enjoy! Like my favorite chef and friend, George Hirsch would say, “Know your fire!”

I don’t ask that you send me 100K for my BBQ and cooking tips. But, hey, it's OK if you do! It really helps with the bills. If not, please check out my sponsors and ads....it helps keep up the blog and my fragile spirit! Thank you, it’s appreciated! Please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure. “Semper Fi” To All Marines!

Beef Bottom Round Roast Recipe

A Beef Bottom Round Roast can go by many names. Meaning, dude: Beef Round Rump Roast, Pot Roast, Beef Round Bottom Roast (a tad play on words) and so forth. Whatever name they go by, they can simply be delicious!

And, maybe even taste good, so here is a simple recipe for the barbecue grill, or oven. You are into something simple, right?
Now, a beef bottom roast is is an economical, lean cut of beef...but not to be cooked so long that it can't be sliced thinly. In other words, you don’t want to cook it to the point that it falls apart like a Yankee Pot Roast would. However, a good pot roast is pure heaven.

I started out with a three and three quarter pound roast. Trimmed the excess fat off and placed in a Tupperware marinating container.

A Tupperware Marinating Container (below): 'Tis the greatest thing since sliced bread!

They are heavy duty, can enclose a heavy duty chicken, beef or pork loin in the airtight mode and...are a lot safer than marinating things in metal containers or foil. Is your brain maybe starting to rally a tad?

Back to the farm!  I used a not so obvious "Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing" (see below)  to cover all sides of the beef. The dressing has all the right spices and oil in it to make an excellent marinade.

I am not ashamed to get happily involved with his quality products. You should, too!

It was marinated overnight and the Tupperware container was turned over to make sure the beef was equally marinated in the dressing. Ok, Dude! Back to the airtighty thing. Kinda hard and messy if the container you are turning over isn't sealed properly. Duh!

Before you put the beef, or you on the grill, or in the oven, let it sit out on at room temperature for at least thirty minutes.

Set the grill, or oven temperature to 350 degrees. I placed the beef in a shallow pan on my Traeger Grill. It also operates on indirect heat.

If using a charcoal grill, you want a two-zone fire placing the meat on the cool side. On a gas grill, light only half the grill and cook on the other. In the oven, simply place on a middle rack in a shallow container.

Cooking time is about two hours for a roast this size. Always use a meat thermometer. Rare beef should be 140 degrees, medium: 150 and well 160 degrees. Don’t overcook.

Once the Beef Bottom Round Roast is done, wrap in aluminum foil and let sit out fifteen minutes prior to serving. This is a simple recipe as far as recipes go and one that you and your family will enjoy. Just remember to slice it thinly.

Enjoy! Like my favorite chef and friend, George Hirsch would say, “Know your fire!”

I don’t ask that you send me 100K for my BBQ and cooking tips. But, hey, it's OK if you do! It really helps with the bills. If not, please check out my sponsors and ads....it helps keep up the blog and my fragile spirit! Thank you, it’s appreciated! Please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure. “Semper Fi” To All Marines!

Pork Loin Recipes | Simple Is Delicious

I keep posting about pork loins. Mainly, because they are reasonably priced, lean, super good and very easy to fix. I have already given you a couple of recipes in past posts, but this one is right out of the “Traeger Grill Owners Handbook”.

Ok, I can’t help myself I made a few deviations from the recipe, but I will give credit due where credit is due. I am impressed with my Traeger Grill (See Below) and I am very impressed with the recipes that Traeger owners come up with, and above all their level of expertise.

If you are thinking about hitting the BBQ competition circuit, well you might want to bring a Traeger to the gun fight (to borrow a jazz phrase), “ With something that Cooks!”

Caribbean Roast Pork Loin

• A one pound, plus Boneless Pork Loin
• Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• One half teaspoon of Black Pepper
• One half teaspoon of Sea Salt
• One teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg & one teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

If you don’t have one, get one…..a Tupperware Marinating Pan (see below). They are plastic, heavy duty and you can flip them over without spilling the works. Place all the above ingredients in the container and rub over the entire pork loin.

Refrigerate over night. If you don’t have a Tupperware pan, use a heavy duty plastic bag. However, plastic bags can get spendy after a while. Don’t marinate anything in aluminum foil or anything that is aluminum.

Start the grill, or oven, and maintain a temperature of at least 325 degrees. If gas or a charcoal grill you will want to cook on indirect heat, meaning heat one side and cook on the other.

Before placing on the grill let the pork loin sit out for at least 30 minutes. Also, I don’t like to sit my pork loin directly on the grill so I place it in a shallow pan and then onto the grill fat-side up.

Cook for at least two hours. But, don’t overcook or your pork loin will be as dry as a bone. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, I like to mist with an equal amount of orange juice and apple cider vinegar. This adds a nice crust to the loin. Make sure the roast reaches a temperature of 170 degrees or thereabouts.

Once cooked, wrap in aluminum foil and let it sit out for about fifteen minutes prior to serving. You will find that a pork loin is as lean, if not leaner than any other meat out there including chicken breasts. There are mucho recipes for pork loins out there and this is just another mucho good one to sink your teeth into!

Enjoy! Like my favorite chef and friend, George Hirsch would say, “Know your fire!”

I don’t ask that you send me 100K for my BBQ and cooking tips. But, hey, it's OK if you do! It really helps with the bills. If not, please check out my sponsors and ads....it helps keep up the blog and my fragile spirit! Thank you, it’s appreciated! Please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure. “Semper Fi” To All Marines!