Oxnard Salsa Festival

The 15th Annual Salsa Festival happened this last weeekend. "A Salsa Festival?", you may be asking. "You mean the food or the dance?" In this case the answer is both. I have a general love for all things salsa (the food), so this festival is right up my alley. It seems that every time I turn around, Oxnard is hosting a festival. There is the Strawberry Festival, a Pirate Festival, and now I have been to the Salsa Festival.

Here is what the organizers say about the event:

"Fifteen years ago the idea for the Salsa Festival was brought to fruition by a group of downtown merchants. It began at Plaza Park in 1994 with a handful of vendors, a few bands, and salsa served around the Pagoda by local restaurants and residents. Over the years as the popularity of salsa music and dance exploded, and salsa (the sauce) became the #1 condiment in America, so grew the popularity of the Oxnard Salsa Festival as a celebration of all things salsa– the food, the music and the dance. Today, the Salsa Festival is Oxnard’s largest free community event, attracting an estimated 40,000 to 45,000 people to downtown every summer."

As you can see in this image the salsas come in every form imaginable. There is the standard pico de gallo, some tomatillo and jalapeno based salsas, and plenty of habanero peppers to go around. There are two options for the tastings. 1.) Go to the individual booths and get a free sample. 2.) Go to the tasting tent and pay $5.00 for 10 tastings and a bag of Mission Tortilla chips. I chose to do both. My favorite salsa of the day turned out to be one of the free samples outside the tent. The tent was an experience. I chose the wrong day, or at least time of day to visit. I live right on the water, so I am used to the coastal breeze being something of a constant. When I go downtown, the breeze is not so strong sometimes. It was a little warm for my taste. Add a tent to trap the heat, a large crowd and some spicy salsa, and it was a recipe for some serious discomfort. That being said, the tasting tent was pretty good.

In the tasting tent, I initially tried to avoid the chain restaurants, such as El Torrito and Acapulco. I wanted to give the little guys a chance. There were some really good salsas available. The best mild salsa had to be from a small Italian/Mediterranean restaurant called La Dulce Vita. They only served a mild, and it was a great way to cool the tongue after some of the hotter salsas. I would recommend you try it if you end up in their restaurant. I tried some of the salsas that won "best heat" and "best in show" from last year, but there was no heat to be found. Of the 30 plus salsas I tasted, only three were actually hot. Most were very mild, and some fell somewhere between medium and hot. I prefer hot salsas, but I love a good flavor. Almost all of the salsas had great flavor, and most of them were pretty unique.

Some of the small restaurants I have been to or at least have heard of were there. This included one of my favorite downtown Oxnard restaurants, the Cabo Seafood Grill and Cantina. My wife and I go here at least a couple of times a month when we can. The food is very good, as is the salsa. I asked the lady serving the salsa if she had brought the Diablo salsa which I order each time I go to the restaurant. She was pleasantly surprised that I knew what that was, but unfortunately hadn't brought it. She told me she had a new salsa to introduce, so I gave it a taste. It was really good. It could have been hotter, but the flavor was very good, and very unique to that restaurant. I will ask for it next time I visit them.

Here are some of the things festival-goers had a chance to experience:

• Seven Salsa Bands
• Salsa Tasting Tent ($5)
• International Foods
• Great Shopping – Arts, Craft, Retail & Salsa Vendors
• Salsa Recipe Contest Festival Souvenirs
• Salsa Dancing Beer & Margarita Gardens
• Kids Korner Salsa Art & Music Factory for Kids

There were so many excellent salsas available to taste. I enjoyed almost every one I tried. There were bound to be a few outliers, and this festival proved to be no exception. I did all my tastings without a beverage, so when I found a bad one, I had to rush to the next booth to get a new flavor in my mouth. I wanted to be sure I felt the heat of each one to the fullest extent possible, hence the no drink thing. As I mentioned above, there were only a few that were actually hot enough to tempt me to find a drink.

Here are my top picks from the festival:

• Spiciest Salsa (with best flavor): Hollywood Beach Salsa Company
• Spiciest Salsa (based on heat alone): El Coyote Bar & Grill
• Best Medium Salsa: Tie - El Coyote Bar & Grill, and Cabo Seafood Grill and Cantina
• Best Medium Salsa (runner up): Sal's Mexican Inn
• Best Mild Salsa: La Dulce Vita
• Best Mild Salsa (runner up): Jala-Fresca Inc. (their whole line from medium-extra hot)
• Best in Show: Hollywood Beach Salsa Company

Like I said, most of the salsas I tasted were excellent. I really enjoyed the festival. Next year I will plan ahead and bring my own chips. :) I happened to be driving by this year and am glad I stopped. Where else can you walk around tasting some of Southern California's best salsas? I hope you will join me for next year's festival. You can read more about the festival at their website: Oxnard Salsa Festival.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Tri-Tip

My wife made some really good BBQ Tri-Tip today in the slow-cooker. The recipe is pretty easy to follow. You would swear you got this meat from a professional. I was really impressed. Here are the ingredients. As always, feel free to give it a little bit of your own flavor.

• (1) Tri-Tip Steak
• Stubbs BBQ Rub (available at Vons)
• 1 bottle Trader Joe's Smoky Kansas Style BBQ Sauce

Cover the meat with a thin layer of the BBQ rub and work it into the meat. Place the meat in the slow-cooker. Pour the whole bottle of BBQ sauce on top of the meat. You can cook it at whatever temp your available time allows. We cooked it on high for 6 hours and it was still pretty tender.

The BBQ sauce we used was particularly good. I highly recommend you give it a shot. Hopefully you have a Trader Joe's near you.

Once the meat is ready you can do what you'd like with it. We made some sandwiches with a little mayo, bread & butter pickles, sliced onions, and of course extra BBQ sauce. No matter how you prepare your favorite BBQ sandwich, this meat is sure to please.

Let me know how it goes.

Guinness Tri-Tip Marinade

If you like Guinness, or good meat for that matter, this recipe is for you. People often cook with beer, but a stout the quality of Guinness can provide so much more flavor than a simple Budweiser can do. This recipe is good for one tri-tip steak. If you are grilling more than one steak, double the recipe.

• 1 bottle Guinness
• 3 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tsp Table Salt
• 2 tbsp Black Pepper
• 4 tbsp fresh garlic
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Start by pouring the full Guinness bottle into a mixing bowl. You want this to be your main liquid ingredient, so if you play with the recipe, try not to overpower the Guinness. Mix in all the ingredients. This probably won't smell good to you, so you don't want to go by the nose on this one. I thought it smelled great however. :)

Place the tri-tip steak in a large zip-lock freezer bag, and pour the marinade in. It should sit in the fridge at least 4 hours, if not overnight. When you are ready to cook the meat, take it out of the fridge early. You want to grill a steak from room temperature. A tri-tip is best cooked "low and slow", so you can get away with a temperature a little colder.

Spread the coals around the edge of the grill, leaving some space in the middle. I let my coals burn a little longer before I put the meat on when I grill tri-tip. You want to make sure there are no flare-ups that can burn your meat. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the steak. I turn it once at 20 minutes, again at 40 minutes, and then I rotate and flip at 50 minutes and 1 hour. This gets you a nice brown edge with a light pink center. Perfect.

I used this recipe and the flavor stayed pretty well. I could taste the Guinness in the meat. Add some flour tortillas, some fresh salsa, guacamole, onions, and (Tillamook) grated cheddar cheese, and you have a great tri-tip taco.

Be sure to let me know how this works for you. It is among my favorite grill marinades.

Extra Meaty Chili Dogs

I am a huge fan of meat, in most shapes and forms. One way to put a lot of meat in one meal is the Chili Dog. Not just any Chili Dog, but my Extra Meaty Chili Dogs.

• Hot Dogs
• Canned (or home made) Chili with or without beans
• Ground Beef
• Grated Cheddar Cheese (Tillamook is excellent)
• Red Onion
• Hot Dog Bun

The ground beef I used was leftover from tacos the night before, so it was precooked. If you are cooking the ground beef (as you probably are), start by cooking the ground beef. Season to taste. Look forward to my taco recipe for a great spice to use.

Boil the number of hot dogs desired. While the hot dogs are boiling, grate the cheese and chop the onions.

The chili cooks the fastest, so put it on the stove just before the hot dogs come to a boil.

Add the ground beef to the chili. I put roughly two cups of ground beef into two cans of Hot Hormel Chili with no beans.

Once the hot dogs are boiled and the chili heated, put the hot dog on the bun. Cover liberally with chili, and add the cheese and onions. Top with yellow mustard (I use lots of it) and if you like things spicy, add some Cholula (see my post on Cholula here).

Well, that's all there is to it. See above picture for the finished product. Enjoy.

Biscuit Pizza

When I was a kid my mom always found creative ways to make a cheap meal. There were 7 mouths to feed (including my parents), and a little money had to go a long way. One of the things she would do is have us make our own biscuit pizzas for fun. We would get to pick whatever toppings were available, from breakfast sausage, to pepperoni, to olives and mushrooms, and whatever else we had on hand. I told my wife about this idea, and she kicked it up a few notches. The recipe follows:

• Pillsbury Biscuits
• Trader Joe's Marinara Sauce
• Mozzarella Cheese
• (optional)Spicy Italian Sausage
• (optional)Pepperoni
• (optional)Fresh Basil
• (optional)Any other favorite topping

The quantities needed depends on the amount you are serving. These pizzas are as big as biscuits, so a little goes a long way.

Cook the sausage, sautee any onions or other vegetables as needed.

Take the biscuits out of the can, and spread thin like a pizza crust. Add the marinara sauce. Add toppings and cheese liberally.

Bake in oven or toaster oven until biscuits are golden/cheese is melted.

Add grated Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper to taste and you are good to go.

This meal is really cheap and tastes great. Enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

My wife and I were in Trader Joe's the other day and they had samples of their chocolate chip pancakes. This inspired my wife to make us a batch at home this morning. We usually make our pancakes with the Bisquick Shake and Pour mix, or in today's case the Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix, but I am working on coming up with our own recipe from scratch. Between the two of us with our cooking backgrounds, I am sure we can come up with something. Until then, here it is. Pretty basic, but the pancakes taste great.

We followed the recipe on the box for today's pancakes, and then added our chocolate chips. You can read the box for bigger serving sizes, but here is the recipe for 7-8 pancakes (4 inches round), or 5 pancakes a that are a little bigger.

• 1 cup pancake mix
• 3/4 cup water.
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Decide beforehand which surface you will cook on. We used a pan on a stove burner. The directions call for an electric griddle. Choose the method for you, grease appropriately, and you should be good to go.

Blend mix, chocolate chips, and cold water together with a wire whip. A fork works fine too. Batter should be slightly lumpy. (Do not overmix).

Pour desired amount of batter onto lightly greased pan or griddle. If you are using an electric griddle, be sure to preheat it to 375 degrees F.

Cook pancakes 1to 1-1/4 minutes per side, or until golden brown, turning only once.

That's all there is to it. A trick of the trade is to watch for the bubbles on the dough. When the pancake is ready to be flipped the first time there should be a lot of bubbles. This only works for the first flip obviously, so you have to use your judgment for the other side.

See above picture for how it should come out. This was my plate this morning before I quickly ate it up and grabbed another. These are that good. Enjoy.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

My wife is an avid user of allrecipes.com, and found a really good chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can find this recipe under the title Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies. We made a slight variation, as my wife is not a big fan of walnuts. We used pecans instead. One of the cool things about allrecipes.com is that you can change the serving size and it will automatically adjust your ingredient list. The default is 72 servings, so be sure to adjust as needed if you check out the page.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Thanks go to Debbi Borsick for posting this to allrecipes.com. As you can see from the above picture, our batch came out really well. These are among the best chocolate chip cookies my wife has baked.

Hot Sauce Pick - Cholula

There are a ton of hot sauces on the market. Which ones are really worth buying? There are a number of factors involved, and ultimately individual taste is what it boils down to.

Do you like it mild with good flavor, or crazy hot with a bad taste? Do you like it salty, or do you want a more mellow flavor? Is vinegar good or bad in your book? As for me, it depends on what I am eating. When I am eating microwavable chimichangas or burritos, carne asada tacos, or fajitas, I almost always go for the Cholula.

Cholula has a great flavor and packs a decent amount of heat. It could be a little hotter in my opinion, but the taste more than makes up for it. I LOVE hot sauce. I love it HOT. I am not as crazy as some people I know, but I can handle a pretty high intensity. I don't want to sacrifice taste for heat though. This is why I don't like Tabasco all that much.

Cholula has a great flavor. It is imported from Mexico, so you know it is authentic. If you are looking for something with a kick that also tastes good, give this a shot.

Tri-Tip Quesadillas

See the post "Slow-Cooker Tri-Tip Recipe" for instructions on making the meat. With every great recipe comes the chance for great leftovers. This is how I made a quesadilla from the leftovers of my slow-cooker tri-tip.

• Slow Cooked Tri-Tip
• Medium or Sharp Cheddar Cheese (I recommend Tillamook)
• Flour Tortillas
• your favorite hot sauce

Quesadillas are really basic. Butter a frying pan and place a tortilla in the pan with a low flame. Heat the tortilla briefly and add the meat. Shake the pan every so often to keep the tortilla from burning. When the meat has begun heating up, add the cheddar cheese. Fold the tortilla in half and cook on each side. The quesadilla is done when the cheese is melted. Repeat for desired number of quesadillas.

Add some hot sauce, slice into wedges, and serve.

Tri-Tip Salad Recipe

See the post Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Recipe for the meat recipe. With every great recipe comes the chance for great leftover recipes. This is how I made a great salad from the leftovers.

• Slow Cooked Tri-Tip
• Lettuce (your choice of type, We use anything but Iceberg)
• Medium or Sharp Cheddar Cheese (I recommend Tillamook)
• Red Onion (1/2 onion)
• Sour Cream
• Salsa

Chop the cheese into small cubes. Chop the onions into small chunks. Reheat the tri-tip. Spread the lettuce on a plate, and add all the ingredients in order of preference. I like to toss the salad with everything but the tri-tip, and then add the meat to the top once it is thoroughly mixed. Add the sour cream and salsa and you are good to go.

This works well with a low-carb diet.

Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Recipe

• (1) Tri-Tip steak (trimmed)
• (1) Jar of your favorite salsa (Safeway Select "Garlic Lover's" Salsa works great)
• (1) large can Sun Vista Pinto Beans
• Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
• Garlic Powder (to taste)
• Chili Powder (to taste)
• Salt and Black Pepper (to taste)

If you want to make burritos or tacos with the meat, add the following to your shopping list:

• Medium to Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Flour Tortillas
• Hot sauce/salsa of choice

If your tri-tip isn't trimmed, then start by trimming some of the fat off. Next add some garlic powder, salt and black pepper (to taste). Put tri-tip in slow cooker. Add the jar of salsa. Drain the can of pinto beans, and add to the slow cooker.

Set the slow cooker to low, and cook for 9 hours.

Once the tri-tip is cooked, add the cayenne pepper, more garlic powder, chili powder, and more salt or black pepper, to taste.

Now that the meat is done, throw it into some flour tortillas with sour cream, cheese and salsa, and you have yourself a fantastic burrito.

I am particularly fond of this one, so be sure to tell me how you like it.

Macaroni Salad - Surfer J's Family Recipe

• Salad Macaroni - (1) 16oz. bag
• Del Monte Sweet Pickles - (1) 12oz. jar (you may need the juice, so don't dump it)
• Cheddar Cheese (Medium or Sharp) - About 2 cups cubed
• Hard Boiled Eggs - (6)
• Red Onion - Whole
• Black Olives - (1) can Whole, (1) can Sliced
• Mayonnaise - Amount Varies (usually 2.5-3 cups)
• Paprika - (mostly for presentation)
• Optional Ingredients - Salt or Black Pepper (to taste)

This is an old family recipe, one that has been around over 50 years. I am not a fan of Italian noodles, so if I like it, you can bet it tastes great.

Boil the eggs and noodles (in separate pots of course). The longer you cook the noodles, the less they will "drink" the mayo. (There is a fine line between cooking longer and cooking too long, so use your best judgment here). Chop the pickles into small chunks. Do not discard the pickle juice. Cube the cheese. Chop the onions into small chunks. The onions and pickles should be roughly the same size, but it is up to you. My family loves onions, so we make the chunks large.

Set aside 2 of the hard boiled eggs. They will be used as decoration/presentation. Chop the other 4 eggs with yolk into small chunks.

Once you have everything boiled and chopped, it is time to mix it up. Put the macaroni, onions, pickles, cheese, chopped eggs, and sliced olives into a large mixing bowl. Add the Mayonnaise. You want it to be creamy. Note: The noodles will soak up a substantial amount of mayo. You need to allow for this. Don't be afraid of too much mayo.

Once you have mixed the mayo in, take a taste test. Does it need salt? Does it need some pickle juice for added sweetness? Does it need more mayo? At this point, it is really up to you how you like it. Adjust the ingredients as necessary. Remember this will need to refrigerate for a while, so it won't taste quite right while it is still warm.

Once you have it ready to go, it is time to spruce it up a bit. Black olives, 2 hard boiled eggs, and Paprika are the ingredients. Slice the eggs in half length-wise. Open the can of whole Black Olives. Place the yolks on top of the salad. Slice the rest of the whites lengthwise. Place the sliced egg whites around the yolk in a flower shape. Fill any gaps with the whole olives. Sprinkle the Paprika to give it some color, and you are done.

As you can see, the hardest part of this salad is the decoration. Enjoy. Be sure to let me know how it goes.

Scrambled Egg Sandwich

One of the cheapest, tastiest sandwiches you can make on the fly is the classic Scrambled Egg sandwich. The ingredients are simple, and yet the taste is outstanding.

• Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mayonnaise
• White Bread (no wheat bread substitute)

In the past, my sandwiches have all been salt and pepper free. My wife added them tonight, and it worked pretty well. The most crucial ingredients are the White Bread and the Mayo. Wheat Bread just isn't the same.

Just scramble the eggs with the salt and pepper, slather the bread with the mayo, and you are done. These sandwiches rarely fail to hit the spot.

Bacon Lettuce and Tomatoes - What A Combo

Tonight for dinner we had BLTs, the classic Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. Ours had slightly more than that, but the basic ingredients are still the same.

Ingredients:

• Bacon
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Mustard
• Mayonnaise
• Bread

My wife normally only uses Mayo as a condiment. I grew up with only Mustard. Tonight I had both, and I must say it tastes better that way. There are a number of ways to spruce up this classic sandwich, and many are pretty tasty.

In the past I have added sliced turkey breasts to the BLT. If you grill it slightly in a toaster oven it comes out especially nice. The same goes for thin-sliced roast beef.

I must say the tomatoes were especially good tonight. Tomatoes have been scarce since the salmonella scare a few weeks ago. California was cleared pretty quickly, but many fast food places won't carry them. I can't wait to try the ones we are growing in our salsa garden.

For the most part, I leave the recipe alone. There is a reason this is so popular on its own. It is easy to make and tastes really good.

Great Tri-Tip Marinade

We grilled a tri-tip steak for dinner tonight and it was pretty good. This steak is probably among the best of all the steaks we have made recently. We found a recipe from AllRecipes.com, and made some modifications. The modified version follows:

• 1 bottle Guinness
• 4 tbsp crushed Garlic
• 5 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• Emeril's Essence seasoning

This time we weren't grilling on a whim, so we spent some time to do it right. We made the marinade this morning. Before marinading, we sprinkled the Emeril seasoning. The meat soaked in the marinade for about 8 hours. Once the meat was on the grill, my wife boiled the marinade to burn off any meat contaminants, and we used it to baste the meat as it grilled. The meat had a lot of fat on one side, and my wife trimmed most of it off. What was left, added to the brown sugar in the marinade, was enough to cause some serious flame-ups. I had to monitor the meat closely.

The meat was grilled for an hour, rotated and moved from time to time to prevent the flame-ups from charring the meat. Eventually I moved the coals off to the side and slow cooked the meat for the final half hour. The meat was so tender from the marinade that the charred sections slid right off. This was a very tasty steak. Add some grilled corn and my family's baked beans recipe, and we had a great meal.

I think next time we will grill for 45 minutes instead of the hour, but otherwise it came out exactly as we wanted. Be sure to give this one a try.

Originally posted on my blog "SurfJedi's Musings".

World's Greatest Sloppy Joe's

My wife made one of my family's perennial favorites for dinner tonight - Sloppy Joes. These are no ordinary Sloppy Joes, mind you. We don't do Manwich or any other tomato-based sauce. I am going to share the recipe with you tonight. I am at least a third-generation benefactor of this recipe, if not fourth.

With no further ado, here it is:

• Ground Beef
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Brown Sugar

That's all it takes. Just mix the ingredients together on your stove, seasoning to taste. The idea is for a sweet and bold tangy flavor. The tangy mustard and Worcestershire sauce counterbalance the sweeter ketchup and brown sugar, which makes for a sweet and spicy glaze. Add to a hamburger bun or white bread (or if you must be healthy, whole grain wheat bread), slather with mustard, and you are ready to go. My wife loves Bread and Butter Pickles, so she always adds those and some red onions. She tends to improve upon the family staples.

That's all there is to it. Enjoy.

Originally posted on my blog "SurfJedi's Musings".

Nice Steak Dinner

My wife surprised me tonight when I got home from work. When I got to the door I could smell something good. I walked in to find my wife sautéeing mushrooms and onions. She had some sirloin steaks sitting in some Montreal Steak Seasoning, and had the coals already lit. This was a nice thing to come home to and she knew that.

We had a salad...I know, I know...men shouldn't eat salad, but it was pretty good. She used some alternative types of lettuce, dried cranberries, and she made croutons. She tried to find a healthier dressing than blue cheese, and she did. It was a blue cheese vinaigrette, which tasted heavily of apple, which I thought was pretty good. This was due to the cider vinegar being a main ingredient. I thought the apple and cranberry went really well with the mushrooms.

I grilled the steaks about 5 minutes per side, and it came out really nice. The meat was a little stringy, probably the reason it was on sale. We both thought it was pretty good though. As I said in my post " The Art of Grilling", the McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning really makes a good steak great. The only thing we were missing was a good red wine. My wife being pregnant, I try not to open a bottle for every steak dinner. Even without the wine, I would suggest you try this dinner.

Originally posted on my blog "SurfJedi's Musings".

The Art of Grilling

When it comes to grilling, you will probably hear a different recommendation from each person you talk to. Some will tell you to use a gas grill only, others will tell you that the briquette is the only way to go. Some grill with wood chips, others use smokers. One thing we tend to agree on though, is that fire makes a piece of meat taste so much better than an oven or microwave can.

Grilling takes a lot of finesse. You usually won't get it right the first time you try. It is a process, and you will always try to perfect it. There are two main types of the "right way" of grilling. Charcoal (bricks or briquettes) and wood (Hickory or other choice wood). I am not covering gas grilling, as I am of the school of thought that frowns upon gas grills. I am most experienced with briquettes, so this will be the method discussed here.

The process begins with clearing excess ash from the bottom of the grill. This will allow better air flow. The next step is to put the briquettes on the grill. Note that there are two grills. The smaller one is at the bottom of the grill, and holds the coals. The top one holds the food. Some grills, like mine, have a smaller veggie grill that connects to the lid and sits above the main grill. The various grill plates should be apparent. The ideal amount of briquettes will cover the entire surface of the bottom grill in one layer, with some overlap okay/needed. Once you have enough coals on the grill, you need to stack them. Make sure the vents are open on the bottom of the grill.

Stacking the coals is an art. One wants to maximize the heat channeling through the stack in order to get an even light. You want to build a tall pyramid in the center of the grill. This will maximize efficiency. Next, you douse the coals with lighter fluid. Some men, myself included, enjoy watching the initial burst of fire upon lighting the coals, so we coat them especially well with the lighter fluid. The idea of the fluid is to encourage even an light around the base of your pyramid. Make sure you squirt some of the fluid inside the pyramid. This helps get the most flame onto the coals.

Once you have put the desired amount of lighter fluid, it is time to light it. Keep in mind you are building a fire, so you want to start from the bottom on the opposite side from where you are standing. This keeps you from burning your arm. Light around the base of the pyramid, stand back, and enjoy the fire.

Back in the day, coals took 45 minutes or longer to light. Kingsford, among others, has come up with new ways of making the coals so they light faster and heat more evenly. 25-35 minutes is a reasonable wait for the coals to light. Keep in mind that the flame will burn itself out in moments. This does not mean the coals did not light. The idea of charcoal is to let the embers smolder. If you look at the coals, you should see them turn white as they burn. You may even see a red glow from inside your pyramid. This is good. Once most of the coals are white, it is time to spread them out.

Spread the coals over the entire surface of the grill. You want an even heat, and no flame-ups if possible. By evenly dispersing the coals, you will get a more even cooking. At this point it is time to sterilize the top grill. Assuming it has been used at least once, this helps burn off any remaining bacteria from the last grill session. To sterilize the grill, place it over the coals and close the lid. You should allow about 10 minutes for the grill to heat up. Use a grill brush to get rid of excess ash from the grill. You are now ready to put the meat/food on.

Steaks should be at room temperature before going on the grill. A cold steak will not cook as well as one at room temperature. There are a variety of marinades out there, both wet and dry. I am pretty fond of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning. I am fond of both the original and the spicy versions. I have been adding a basic Cajun seasoning as an alternative lately, and have been pretty pleased with the results.

Once the meat is on the grill, let it stay on the grill. Different steaks or cuts of meat will require different cooking times, so you should probably look your meat up on the web for a guideline. Constant agitating of the steak will result in a poorly cooked steak. Put the meat on, the lid down, and walk away. Try not to position the meat directly over a flame, but rather over an ember. You want a slow, even cook. The flame will char the meat and the inside won't cook all the way.

Try to limit flipping the steaks/burgers to no more than two flips. You want as much of the juices to remain in the meat as possible. Don't press hamburger patties down. You lose the flavor and dry the meat out.

One thing that many people forget to do is let the meat rest once it is cooked. Cutting into it too soon will result in a drier, tougher meat. Let the juices settle back into the meat and you will agree it is worth the wait. A few minutes is sufficient. Keep in mind as well that the meat will continue to cook somewhat once removed from the grill. If you want it medium rare, make sure you allow for some post-grill cooking.

This has been a basic tutorial on grilling. I plan to post more techniques and recipes as I begin my summer grilling season. As for disclosure, I am not being reimbursed in any way from the endorsements made above. Feel free to send me recipes or links to grilling sites. Happy grilling.

Originally posted on my blog "SurfJedi's Musings".

Surfer J's Ultimate Roast Beef Sandwich

I made a sandwich tonight that was so good I had to write about it. I am calling it Surfer J's Ultimate Roast Beef Sandwich. I am not normally a sandwich guy, so when I do eat them I go all out to make sure they are pretty darn good. Tonight was no exception. In fact, this was probably one of the most successful concoctions I have come up with yet. Now I probably hyped it too much, so hopefully you agree that this is a pretty good meal.

I used the following ingredients:

• Deli Roast Beef from my local grocery store
• Tillamook Sharp Cheddar cheese pre/deli sliced
• Cayenne Pepper
• Cajun Seasoning
• Garlic Powder
• Chili Powder
• 1/2 Avocado (lightly salted)
• 2 slices red onion
• 2 slices vine-ripe tomato
• Mayonaise
• Deli Mustard
• Whole Wheat Bread

I first mixed a small portion of the garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper and Cajun seasoning in a bowl for even distribution. I laid a layer of roast beef on a foil-lined broiler pan, and spread the spices over the layer. I added another layer of beef, and added more Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper on the top. I intended the main spices to seep up from the layer below, so I only needed my favorite ingredients on top. I put the broiler pan in my toaster oven. My toaster has heat settings and cooking method options. I put it on max heat (450º) and set the method to broil.

As the meat heated I sliced the tomato, onion, and avocado. As the meat cooked a very pleasant aroma began spreading through the kitchen. At this point my son was trying to help my wife make cookies, and I was delayed slightly in pulling the meat out. It was slightly overcooked for what I had intended, but it turned out having a crisping effect on the edges which tasted pretty good in the end.

I pulled the meat out and placed my cheese slices on top, then put it back in to the toaster. I lowered the heat to 250º. While the cheese was melting I put the mayo on both slices of bread, and added more Cajun seasoning on top of the mayo. I added the deli mustard to one slice of bread and the onions and tomato on one slice.

When I pulled out the roast beef there was a nice layer of juice at the bottom. I put the roast beef on the bread, and added the avocado to the top of it. I put a dash of salt on the avocado and closed the sandwich.

As I said before, this turned out really well. I think if I had to change anything, I might try some horseradish or Cholula/Tapatillo hot sauce. Some bacon might have been pretty good too, but I was working with what I had on hand. I would highly recommend this sandwich. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Originally posted on my blog "SurfJedi's Musings".