Before I was pregnant with my first child I was practically a vegetarian. I really hadn’t been a fan of red meat in my life and I was started to have issues with eating chicken. I would say my meat issues had more to do with the texture than a health or ethical issue. Regardless, I was nearly a vegetarian until my 18th week of pregnancy. That’s when I began craving meat.
I was at the grocery store staring at the raw red meat while the butcher put out freshly cut steaks. Normally I would have been completely grossed out to even look that directly, but today I was hovering over the counter and nearly salivating over the thick cuts of meat. He asked if he could help me find anything and I replied, without thinking before speaking, “I want meat.” He looked at me a bit puzzled, so I felt the need to explain my condition. I touched by my blossoming bump and said, “I’m pregnant, but I don’t eat red meat, but staring at this meat is making me want some. Now.”
He laughed and said, “What kind do you want?” I had no idea what was what or how to cook any of it. He began giving me the 411 on beef and I was hooked on grilled beef for the rest of my pregnancy. (Ironically, all of that meat eating produced a nearly vegeterian child. Go figure.)
Since many Americans will be serving up favorites from the BBQ grill this weekend I thought I’d pass on of my favorite and easiest recipes from the grill. Enjoy!
Question: What do you like to grill? What’s your favorite tip for perfect food hot off the grill?
Canadian Grilled Meat
Your favorite meat (poultry, fish, pork or beef all work well with this mix of seasonings)
¼ cup Canadian Steak Seasoning (a.k.a. Montreal Steak Steak Seasoning)
¼ cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup water
Let marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. Grill and serve with your favorite side dishes.
TRI-TIP! Hands down. No competition.
I have a secret marinade recipe (involving Montreal steak seasoning, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, A1, and Yoshida’s sauce). But the tried and true “Montreal Steak seasoning” as a rub, works great too!
It’s one of the cuts of meat that is hard to come by here in Texas. (Go figure, cow country doesn’t have tri-tip). I can get it at Meat Markets here, but it is super expensive.
If you’ve never had it, you’ve got to try it.
Take your cut of meat (I like to get the ones without the fat layer or cut all the excess fat off), rub it generously with Montreal Seasoning, Throw it on a hot grill for 1 minute each side to sear it (basically make the outsides cook quickly but not long enough to cook through), then turn the grill down low and cook on each side for about 10-15 min. each. Searing it, locks in all the flavor and juices, then cooking it on low heat allows it to cook through.
I’m drooling just thinking about it.
I’ve done that one, Tara. Its awesome! I gotta try your Ann.. its making me hungry.
That sounds so yummy Tara! We’ll have to give it a try. I just watched hours of Man vs. Food episodes about eating giant slabs of beef in Texas. I guess everything really is bigger in Texas.
I do all the grilling in our house, and since my husband lives off of grilled meat in one form or another, I grill a lot. Slowly I’m trying to find new and different ways to avoid just having a piece of meat with a few seasonings sprinkled on it. So far the only tricks I have up my sleeve are pre-marinated/pre-seasoned things. They’re super easy to pull out, throw on the grill, follow the instructions on the back and have some really good food that night. I’ve also discovered the marinade seasoning packets that are sold in the same aisle as the seasonings. I can easily marinade our meat while I start everything else. And the flavor is great, everytime!