Christmas Smoked Strip Roast
A smoked to perfection Strip Roast (New York or top loin beef roast) has become a family tradition for our Christmas feast. Weighing in at less than $6 per pound a U.S.D.A. Choice grade strip roast is ideal for smoking low-and-slow on a wood pellet smoker-grill. A simple to prepare yet elegant medium rare tender slice coupled with a baked potato, green salad, and freshly baked crescents will more than satiate everyone's taste buds. Prime Rib and Ribeye roasts are great for festive occasions but don't ignore a Strip Roast for the holidays and your Sunday night dinners.
Stated with an 11 ¾ pound Costco Choice grade strip roast. Trimmed the majority of the fat cap and any silver skin. Cut four 1 inch thick New York Strip steaks for later grilling. Rubbed roast with [easyazon_link keywords="california olive ranch" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Extra Virgin Olive Oil[/easyazon_link] and my [easyazon_link keywords="1612435599" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Texas Barbecue Rub[/easyazon_link]. The recipe for the rub can be found in my upcoming book - [easyazon_link keywords="1612435599" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook[/easyazon_link] - coming to a bookstore near you in the Spring of 2016. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Configured my MAK 2 Star wood pellet smoker-grill for indirect cooking. Allowed the New York Strip to sit on the counter while preheating the MAK 2 Star to 240ºF with [easyazon_link keywords="Pacific Pellet" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Pacific Pellet[/easyazon_link] Gourmet BBQ Bourbon Blend pellets. Smoke the roast at 240ºF for approximately 2½ to 3 hours until the [easyazon_link keywords="Thermapen Mk4" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]internal temperature[/easyazon_link] reaches 135ºF.
If you've never enjoyed baked potatoes cooked in a Char-Broil [easyazon_link keywords="B018YSDC4U" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Big Easy Infrared Smoker, Roaster, and Grill[/easyazon_link] (SRG) then you don't know what you're missing. Wash and dry baking potatoes. Rub the spuds with [easyazon_link keywords="california olive ranch" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Extra Virgin Olive Oil[/easyazon_link] and season with Fagundes Seasoning. Bake the potatoes for approximately 1½ hours until the [easyazon_link keywords="Thermapen Mk4" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]internal temperature[/easyazon_link] reaches 120ºF. Wrap the baked potatoes in foil to keep hot if not ready to use. You'll love the crispy seasoned skin!
Rest the smoked strip roast loosely under a foil tent for 20 minutes before serving with a side of salad.
Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin
This moist Roasted Mushroom Stuffed Pork Loin will delight your family and guests.The key is making sure not to overcook the pork loin. The old days of taking pork to 160ºF are over ... 145º to 150ºF is the new USDA guidelines. So butterfly away (there are many excellent butterfly videos online) and try stuffing your next pork loin. You can stuff roasts with almost anything - let your imagination be your guide.
3 pound pork loin
8 medium mushroom, thinly sliced
¼ small red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon [easyazon_link keywords="california olive ranch" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]olive oil[/easyazon_link]1 tablespoon salted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Fagundes seasoning
Saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic in [easyazon_link keywords="california olive ranch" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]extra virgin olive oil[/easyazon_link] and butter till onions are translucent (about 4 minutes) and set aside. Trim excess fat and silver skin of a 3 pound pork loin roast. Butterfly loin and season both sides with Fagundes. Spread sauteed mushrooms and onions evenly on loin - leaving ½ inch on all sides. Roll and truss loin tightly with butcher twine. Wrap stuffed loin in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
Preheat MAK 2 Star wood pellet smoker-grill with [easyazon_link keywords="Pacific Pellet" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Pacific Pellet[/easyazon_link] hickory wood pellets to 375ºF. Place pork loin on a [easyazon_link keywords="frogmat" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]frogmat[/easyazon_link] and roast the loin for 45 to 60 minutes until the [easyazon_link keywords="Thermapen Mk4" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]internal temperature[/easyazon_link] reaches 145ºF.
Remove the roasted mushroom stuffed pork loin and rest loosely under an aluminum foil tent for 15 minutes. Carve the pork loin against the grain and serve with your favorite sides.
Roasted Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloins
For tenderness you can cut with a fork it doesn't get any better than a couple of roasted pork tenderloins in the MAK 2 Star General wood pellet smoker-grill. A pork tenderloins is slightly leaner than a chicken breast and should not be taken to Internal Temperature higher than 145ºF. Everything is better with bacon - right? Well I'm here to say that roasted bacon-wrapped pork tenderloins will blow you away with their juicy succulent bacon infused flavor mingled with those of your favorite pork rub. More than impressive enough for any dinner party but simple enough for any weeknight family meal.
Trimmed a small amount of fat and silver skin from a couple pork tenderloins. Silver skin is very tough and useless - no reason to keep any on the tenderloins. For best results, rub tenderloins with [easyazon_link keywords="california olive ranch" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil[/easyazon_link] and season liberally with your favorite pork seasoning. I find that Jans Dry Rub works equally great on pork and chicken. Wrap each pork loin with 5 thin strips of bacon and then Wrap the bacon-wrapped seasoned pork tenderloins in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the tenderloins for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
Preheated my MAK 2 Star to 375ºF using [easyazon_link keywords="Pacific Pellet" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]Pacific Pellet[/easyazon_link] gourmet hickory wood pellets. If you're trying to reduce carbs in your diet then you'll find that Spaghetti squash is a great side for that Paleo lifestyle. While it takes approximately 60 minutes at 375ºF for the spaghetti squash to be ready it only takes about 45 minutes for a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin to reach an [easyazon_link keywords="Thermapen Mk4" locale="US" tag="ftd-20"]internal temperature[/easyazon_link] of 145ºF. You'll want to rest the tenderloins loosely under a foil tent before slicing against the grain. Timing is everything.
Needless to say the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin was scrumptious!! But don't take my word for it ... roast your own and impress everyone.
Reheating Baby Back Ribs
Most of the time you smoke more than 1 rack of baby back ribs depending on your needs and size of your grill. Since it takes as many Pacific Pellet gourmet hickory wood pellets to smoke 1 rack as it does to smoke 8 racks on my MAK 2 Star General wood pellet smoker-grill I normally do a minimum of 3 racks. Nowadays there is only my Sous Chef and myself at home so I'll vacuum seal and freeze one or more of the racks for future meals or refrigerate a rack for the next day's feast. After all, you can never get too much of a good thing!
That required me to develop a safe and easy method of reheating baby back ribs on the MAK 2 Star rather than using the oven or microwave. The key is to ensure that the ribs do not dry out.
- If frozen always allow enough time to defrost the hickory smoked baby back ribs in the refrigerator
- Remove the ribs from the fridge while your wood pellet smoker-grill is preheating to 250ºF
- Reheat the baby back ribs at 250ºF for 45 to 60 minutes until the Internal Temperature of the ribs reach 155ºF
- Violà ... It's that easy! Bon Appetite ...
Pellet Grill Baby Backs
Baby back ribs get their name because they are shorter than spareribs and not because they come from baby pigs. The ribs are leaner and more tender than spareribs (St. Louis ribs). Low-and-slow hickory smoked wood pellet grill baby backs are to die for. Once you've smoked your own you'll be hard pressed to go back to one of those rib joints cause they can't compare with what you can do at home!
Ingredients: 3 baby back rib racks (6 to 9 lbs), Roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil, and Jans Dry Rub
- Remove membrane - wedge spoon handle under membrane to loosen. Use paper towel to grasp the membrane and peel off
- Season ribs - rub baby back rib racks with olive oil and lightly dust with Jans Dry Rub
- Preheat wood pellet smoker-grill - preheat MAK 2 Star to 225ºF using Pacific Pellet hickory wood pellets
- Smoke ribs - using a rib rack, smoke the baby backs with hickory at 225ºF for 90 minutes before bumping the pit to 250ºF
- Internal Temperature - smoke the ribs low-and-slow for another 3½ hours until the Internal Temperature of the ribs exceed 185ºF
- Rest ribs - pull the rib racks and rest them for 15 minutes under a loose foil tent before serving