Older Bolder Life

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The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: 1015 Onion Marinated Skirt Steak

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Having had the pleasure of living in several different regions of the country during the past two decades, we’ve witnessed first hand the regional battles to claim the title of the Nation’s (if not the world’s) sweetest sweet onion.

Texas has its 1015’s, Washington the Walla Walla, Georgia and the South tout their Vidalias, New Mexico offers Nu-Mex and Carzalias, California the Sweet Imperial, and even Chilean farms grow the Oso Sweet.

They’re all delicious, and we happen to think the very best one is the one we can grab fresh at at hand; everyone has their favorite, probably driven as much by regional tradition and seasonal availability than anything else…

Onions and other alliums bring so much in terms of taste to the flavor table entire books could be written on the subject, and I’m sure there are “onion experts” roaming the culinary plain today, trying to aid we mere mortals in the kitchen as we strive to up our onion game.

Being good Texicans, we’re fond of skirt steak recipes, and this 1015 Onion Marinated Skirt Steak has become one of our favorites of late. Skirt steak, or its kissing cousin the hanger steak, cooked medium-rare very quickly over high heat then sliced thinly across the grain is a treat that every good carnivore should savor at least once a month.

The sweet onion here, grated into submission and combined with a little acid works miracles to flavor this humble cut of meat; all you need otherwise is some good salt and fresh ground pepper before and after the grill and you’ll be in carnivore heaven.

Lately I’ve been slicing a red jalapeño or Fresno chile into the marinade, and note that some folks feel this prep needs a little additional sweetness – we don’t add any brown sugar or honey to this marinade given the sweetness of the 1015s, but you certainly can. And finally, swapping the vinegar for fresh lime juice (grate some lime zest in too) swings this one a little more toward Tex-Mex and is damned tasty too.

See you at the grill tomorrow.

2 pounds trimmed skirt steak, cut into 4 to 5-inch pieces
1 medium sweet onion, 1015s here in Texas
2 tbsp (scant) distilled white vinegar
2 tbsp (scant) avocado oil
1 tbsp (or more) good salt
1 tbsp (or more) fresh ground pepper

Optional
1 sliced red jalapeño or Fresno chile
1 tbsp brown sugar or honey
Lime zest and fresh lime juice for the vinegar

Grate the onion, then combine with the vinegar, avocado oil, and optional pepper slices and sweetener if using; pour into a large resealable bag or your favorite marinating container.

Season the trimmed skirt steak generously with salt and pepper, then add to the bag and turn/squish around to coat the steak well. Throw in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

When ready to cook, fire the grill (medium-high), drain the meat and pat dry. Grill, turning once, until well-marked and medium rare – note this won’t take long with skirt. Pull the meat, let it rest 8-10 minutes, then thinly slice against the grain.

Serve with a sprinkling of really good salt, a spritz of lime juice, and maybe a few chopped chives chives, parsley, or cilantro.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday: Grill Roasted and Marinated Red Peppers

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For those who love roasted peppers and much as we do (and choose to utilize peppers in their food plan) here’s a wonderful, and simple, Grill Roasted and Marinated Red Pepper prep to add to your cook next time you fire up the grill.

I like to make a big batch of these, throw some into tuna, chicken, or just big-assed green salads, eat some as a delicious side or just out of hand, and freeze the rest in single-use sized containers to have available at some point down the road.

This prep is ridiculously easy, can be accomplished in simple blocks of time around another meal preparation and kitchen tasking, and offers a blank palate to spice up (add heat, more salt, thyme, basil, or any other herb) and customize to your heart’s content.

There’s really no special trick to this one; get a good char on the peppers while grilling, give them plenty of time to soften and steam, then stem, seed, and peel and you’re ready to season them up.

We love the taste and color of the red bells, but orange and yellow are delicious as well; we’ve also recently done a batch of these using Mediterraneo Dulce peppers which were delicious, and not quite as sweet as red bells.

6 large red bell peppers (yellow and orange are delicious too)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp good EVOO or avocado oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp good kosher salt (more to taste)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Optional
1-2 tsp chopped fresh basil
1-2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Fire a grill for medium-high heat; wash and dry the peppers.

Grill the peppers, turning as needed, until the skins are blackened and blistered pretty much all over. Pending your fire’s heat, this will likely take 15-20 minutes.

Pull from the grill, place in a large bowl and cover (stockpot lid, plate, or plastic wrap), let cool at least 20 minutes.

When cooled, stem, skin, and seed the peppers, then cut or tear into roughly 1.5 to 2-inch strips. Add the pepper strips to a clean bowl along with the oil of choice, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes, and the optional herbs.

Let marinate at room temperature for an hour, then transfer to an airtight jar and hold in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for future use.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Thai-Inspired Coconut Steak on a Stick

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Though I have to admit we were somewhat late to the realization that Thai-inspired flavors and spices, along with coconut, often play wonderfully with beef, we’ve become big fans of the combination around our camp.

With cooler weather on the horizon we’ll be slipping these Thai-Inspired Slow Roasted Short Ribs and this Coconut Braised Chuck Roast with Gremolata back into the rotation; fall is indeed just around the corner.

Traditionally we’ve always hosted a get together sometime during this upcoming long weekend; ribs have almost always been on the docket for that crowd, though I couldn’t resist putting these on the menu this year.

I happened to run across an amazing deal on some grass-fed rib eyes, but this will work with a number of other cuts; one of the first times I made it recently we used tri-tip and it was damned delicious.

There’s nothing very complex about the recipe, though do note that this works much better with an overnight marinade in the fridge. And the basting sauce is optional, though you’ll need to do something with the remaining coconut milk from the can (other than stir it into your coffee tomorrow), and basting the steak skewers on the grill really does boost the flavor.

My other best suggestion is to make more than you think you and your guests will eat; this one makes a killer lunch the next day over salad or just on it’s own.

2 pounds rib eye, top sirloin, tri-tip, etc, cut into 1-inch cubes

Marinade
1 cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk
6 garlic cloves
4-6 red Thai chiles (Fresnos or red jalapeños in a pinch), stemmed, chopped
1.5-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, rough chop
1/4 cup good fish sauce
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp lemongrass puree
Optional: 1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)

Optional Basting Sauce
1/2 cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp good fish sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsp lemongrass puree (optional)

Add all the marinade ingredients to your trusty blender and puree until smooth and uniform; pour over the prepared steak cubes in a large bowl, stir to make sure every piece is coated, cover and throw in the fridge overnight.

When ready to grill, drain and discard the marinade and thread the meat onto skewers, just touching, not tightly packed.

Fire the grill, and use that remainder of the coconut milk from the can to make the optional basting sauce; stir the ingredients together over low heat until combined, set aside.

Now grill over a medium fire, turning and basting every 2-3 with the basting sauce if using, for 14 to 16 minutes until done to your tastes.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Grilled Sweet Potato, Onion, and Chile Salad

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Since late May I’ve been personally pushing my fitness levels fairly hard; starting my fitness and health recovery journey a little over two years ago I never imagined I’d be sprinting and dialing in some pretty danged specific training to compete next spring in Masters track and field events. (I’ve been telling people lately that back then I was a 412 pound weakling; thankfully that’s now very nearly 200 pounds and lightyears of fitness ago…)

Having been in nutritional ketosis for more or less the past 16 months (probably 95% of the time or better) I have noted that my performance did begin to lag on my leanest carb intake days, prompting some experimentation with carb cycling and adjusting my carb targets on my hardest work days.

One of the ways we’ve done that is incorporate sweet potatoes into the rotation a bit more often. Back in our pre-primal/pre-paleo days we had several grilled potato salads we enjoyed, so that set me to playing with several recipes featuring grilled sweet potatoes.

This Grilled Sweet Potato, Onion, and Chile Salad is one that we keep coming back to again and again; we love the Asian-inspired flavor profile in the dressing, the sweetness of the grilled onions, and the herbal tones from the basil added to finish it off. This salad (or side dish if you prefer) is even damned pretty on the platter or plate too.

You can serve it warm just as it’s finished, at room temp, or chilled – my wife prefers it chilled, but it’s good any way you dish it up.

Approx. 2 pounds sweet potatoes, sliced cross-wise into 3/4-inch thick discs
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup EVOO or avocado oil
1 large or 2 smaller red onion(s)
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 cups basil leaves, torn if large
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Dressing
2/3 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned)
3 red Fresno or jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced
3 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil
1-3 tbsp good fish sauce
1 tbsp honey (optional)

Cover the sliced sweet potatoes with water in a large sauce pan; add the salt and stir to combine. Bring to a healthy simmer, reduce heat to medium and simmer gently until the potato slices are just tender (use a fork or paring knife to check) – this will take 9-10 minutes pending how thick your slices are. Remove from the water and drain.

While the potatoes are cooling, whisk together the sauce ingredients, adjust for salt, and set aside (you’ll want to whisk again before pouring over the grilled potatoes).

Fire the grill (you only need a medium heat fire here).

Grate the garlic into a large bowl, stir in the 1/4 cup oil, and add the onions which you’ve cut into wedges (6-8 per onion) through the root end (keeps the wedges together on the grill). Toss the cooled potato slices and the onion wedges in the bowl, add a sprinkle of salt.

Now grill the onions and potato slices until well-marked, crispy, and a little charred (10-15 minutes pending your fire). Return to the large bowl (wipe out any excess oil in the bowl first), chopping into bite sized pieces first, toss with the dressing, then gently toss in the basil leaves and sesame seeds, adjusting for added salt one final time.

Can serve warm off the grill, room temp, or chilled – this one’s good any way you take it.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Grilled Bacon (Pork Belly) Skewers

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A couple of months ago a friend from Montana sent me a pic of thick-cut bacon threaded onto skewers and slowly cooked on the grill; he was at an outdoor expo and a vendor was cooking these and apparently selling them hand over fist one early summer day in Boise.

My friend is not the handiest guy in the kitchen or around the grill (patience is indeed a virtue, and the lack of it can lead to disaster when cooking over live fire); he didn’t have the best of luck with this one the first time he tried it, leading to him pestering me the past few weeks for help working this one out.

After figuring out that you simply can’t rush these Spicy Grilled Bacon (or Pork Belly) Skewers over too hot a fire, we’ve had great results the past couple of times I’ve grilled these up, including the night before last served over a simple salad with a great guacamole on the side.

When stirring together the basting mixture, note there are three ingredients listed as optional; we think it needs all three, including just a bit of honey to add a hint of sweetness to the heat, and the ginger and lemongrass weave in a couple of other flavor notes that round out the Asian-inspired riff here.

Build a two-zone, fairly slow, live fire or just fire one burner if cooking over gas, and don’t wander off and leave these unattended for long. Keep turning and baste right at the end a few times to build a flavor-packed layer of flavor on that crispy bacon.

1 pound thick-cut bacon or uncured pork belly, cut into 1/4-inch slices

3 tbsp chile paste (sambal oelek)
1-2 tbsp honey (optional)
2 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2-3 tsp good Sriracha
1 tsp minced or pureed ginger (optional)
1 tsp minced or pureed lemongrass (optional)

To serve
Your favorite green salsa or chimichurri, such as…
Quick Columbian Guacamole
Tomatillo Avocado Salsa
Quick Columbian Aji Sauce
Our House Chimichurri

Lime quarters

Fire your grill and set things up to cook over indirect heat – bank the coals to one or two sides leaving an unheated zone in the middle or on a gas grill just fire one burner.

Combine the glaze ingredients (the Chile paste, optional honey, rice vinegar, Sriracha, optional ginger, optional lemongrass) and set aside. Thread the bacon/pork belly slices onto wooden (soaked) or metal skewers like an accordion (see the images) and grill over indirect heat for 15-30 minutes, pending how thick your slices are. Turn every several minutes, adjusting position as needed, until beginning to brown.

At this point start brushing with the glaze every 45 seconds or so, followed by a turn, for another 3-4 minutes until they’re nicely colored and maybe even a little sticky.

To serve, set out the salsa and limes, and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Ancho Coffee Pork Tenderloin

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Back a few weeks ago when I posted this Crispy Ancho Coffee Chicken recipe I had a hunch that this particular rub would work wonders on a grass-fed/pastured pork tenderloin. I have to admit, and again readily confess I didn’t develop that recipe (see the prior post) – this spice mixture is just damn good (if not great).

In fact I wrote this about it over on our fly fishing blog ChiWulff several weeks ago –

The flavor of ancho chiles has always kinda reminded me of a sorta sweet, sorta smokey raisin, with a little bit of heat added for interest; combined here with the cumin and just a bit of a dark, freshly ground coffee and good salt, the ancho anchors this very interesting, and tasty, crust.

Over the grill these need to watched carefully and managed over indirect heat or the spices will burn; we think the best way to cook a batch of these up is to sauté them in a skillet in EVOO or avocado oil, taking care to give them time to develop a crispy crust before turning.

Amazing in a taco with all the fixin’s, or topping a tostada or a big-assed salad, these were awesome a few days back on a bed of shredded lettuce and a great guacamole. What a great boat lunch on a hot summer day these would make too…

Well, the rub works amazingly well on pork tenderloin as well, and speaking of pork tenderloin, have you tried cooking it medium rare using a sous vide technique? Sous vide is a wonderful tool to use to produce great proteins (and more), and pork tenderloin, along with a great steak (ribeye around our house), might just be the crown jewel of sous vide meats in terms of bang for your buck and return on your (rather modest) efforts.

By all means you don’t have to sous vide these, a careful grill or roast in the oven would work just fine, but if you’re waffling on sous vide, find a friend with a machine and cook this recipe together – you’ll be hooked for life.

And finally, you can serve pork tenderloin any number of ways, but consider a New Mexico-inspired “red and green” plate (as in the image above) using our Easy Romesco Sauce and either this Columbian Aji or this Columbian Guacamole. Wow, was that delicious.

4 parts fresh ancho chile powder
4 parts ground cumin
1 part (scant) good salt
1/2 to 1 part finely ground fresh dark roast coffee

2 pastured pork tenderloins, silver skin removed

Combine the ancho powder, cumin, salt, and finely ground coffee in a small bowl, stir to mix well.

While not really necessary, I like to paint the pork tenderloins with a bit of apple cider vinegar, then rub with the spice mixture. Cover tightly and throw in the fridge for 2-4 hours.

If cooking sous vide, heat your water bath to 130-135 (F), and cook using routine methods for an hour. Remove, drain, and let rest for 15-30 minutes at room temperature before searing quickly in butter and avocado oil on the stove top or on the grill (my preferred). Don’t sweat it when the rub/spice mixture darkens significantly when seared/grilled – it’s the spices and you’re not burning the outer layer. Don’t forget to be quick about this process to preserve that delightful medium rare cook you’ve just done perfectly in the sous vide bath.

If grilling, cook over medium-high indirect heat per routine, until done to your liking (though I’d personally never cook these past medium…). Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Serve as desired, and enjoy.

the Older Bolder Bookshelf: License to Grill

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There are a bevy of great grilling cookbooks on the market these days, and no doubt more to come, with I’m guessing a great one or two to come forth focusing in particular on ancestral foods.

That said, the critical point of where you source proteins for the grill duly recognized, great grilling cookbooks don’t have to be ancestrally focused to be useful for us all. Many a great grilling chef (and cook) have trod the fascinating path of meat and heat before us, and left us a treasure trove of great recipes, tips, and tricks along the way.

I’m something of a cookbook collector from way back, one of the most used cookbooks in our family collection is in fact this one: License to Grill, written by acclaimed chef Chris Schlesinger and editorial genius John “Doc” Willoughby (1997). This is one that you’ll want to track down and read through if it’s not on your self today.That’s a pic of my own well-worn copy from the back porch last night, digging back through for a recipe component I couldn’t quite remember…

Chris Schlesinger is a renowned chef and restauranteur; he currently owns Back Eddy in Westport, MA, and formerly founded and managed the East Coast Grill and Jake and Earl’s Dixie BBQ, both in Cambridge. He’s written numerous cookbooks and has long been recognized as one of the true geniuses around the grill.

John Willoughby is the executive editor of Gourmet magazine, formerly of Cook’s Illustrated, prolific cookbook author, and graduate-level writing instructor at Harvard’s Radcliffe Seminars.

This is not the fanciest, prettiest cookbook you’ll find; there are just a few pages of images interspersed among the detailed and thoughtfully written recipes, each presented with a short story personalizing some aspect of the recipe or the food itself.

The cookbook itself is fairly classically organized, offering succinct but useful thoughts on fire and preparing food, along with set of recipes for appetizers, cooking on skewers, beef and pork, fish and other seafood, fowl, hobo pack cooking, extra-spicy offerings, low and slow genuine ‘Q, sides, condiments and sauces, and a few (non-ancestral!) desserts.

I’ll bet if you dig around you can find a well-preserved used copy of this one, as well as some of Schlesinger’s other nifty cookbook offerings.

the Older Bolder Life Sauce Monday: Easy Romesco Sauce

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We’ve been talking a lot about sauces the past few weeks, and deservedly so.

Sauces are workhorses during the summer grilling season; they add flavor, interest, color, and sometimes even texture to meals featuring grilled and roasted proteins and vegetables. Chilled sauces can even help you play the temperature game with foods, which can be especially refreshing during these dog days of summer.

I’m not sure where we first came across the recipe for this Easy Romesco Sauce, but it’s become one of our favorites this summer. The careful application of fire and time renders bell peppers (and perhaps a Mediterraneo Dulce) – for the pepper tolerant – tender and almost smokey in flavor. Let them steam covered for 20 minutes and the skins slip off in your fingers, and they’re a cinch to stem, seed, and chop.

Romesco sauces originated in Spain and most that I’ve run across are tomato based with either almonds or hazelnuts added; this is one of those sauces that allows you to shake things up and build it to suit your (family) palate. The roasted pepper base in this recipe simply resonates with our palates at home.

This sauce brings together a cast of players you might not think of at first blush, though most of us in the ancestral food space appreciate the nifty flavor of almond butter; add in a bit of garlic, tart acid in the form of a flavorful vinegar, and a pinch of spice, and you’re in for genuine treat.

We had this again a few nights ago with an ancho-cumin-coffee rubbed pork tenderloin and a spicy pepita jalapeño cauliflower rice; I made a batch of this Columbian Aji Sauce to have a red and green (thank you New Mexico) effect for the sauces – it’s was amazing…

2 large red bell peppers, whole
1 red Mediterraneo Dulce pepper, whole (optional)
Avocado oil or EVOO for grill grate
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp almond butter (unsweetened)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar (sherry or rice wine vinegar in a pinch)
1 tbsp avocado oil or EVOO
1 tsp good salt + more to taste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Grill the whole peppers over high heat, on the grill is best but you can char them over a gas burner or under the broiler as well. Place in a large bowl, cover, and let steam and rest until cool enough to handle (15-20 minutes).

Skin, stem, and seed the peppers, then place the flesh in your trusty blender along with the garlic, almond butter, vinegar, oil, salt, smoked paprika, and the cayenne. Blend until smooth, taste for salt, and thin if needed with a splash of oil or more vinegar.

Best served immediately, though can hold in the fridge (covered, airtight) for a few days.

Enjoy.