Summer is in full swing at our house, which means between summer camps and pool dates, we’re all getting home later and hungrier than ever. We’ve survived much of the summer already on easy no-cook dinners or leftovers. While that strategy has its own merits, this week is more jam-packed then ever with guests (and neighborhood kids) dropping by throughout the week.
This week I’m looking at my slow cooker to feed us hearty dinners without heating up the kitchen. Most of these recipes just require simple assembly before they cook for the day, and they take advantage of summer produce, dried beans, and bulk meats. Here’s what a week of simple summer slow cooker meals looks like at our house.
Today’s awesome guest post and video is offered by Head Chef Yankel of ButcherBox. If you’ve been around Mark’s Daily Apple for a while, you’ve likely heard of ButcherBox, a company close to the core Primal values of clean eating, great flavor and healthy sustainability. I’ve been a happy customer and proud affiliate since their beginnings. Today, Chef Yankel is sharing his 5 tips for getting the perfect steak every time—AND a video with 4 delicious summer recipes you won’t want to miss. (And because you’ll want to get cooking, we’re throwing in two deals for your summer barbecue planning.)
There is no better—or easier—way to treat yourself to a healthy and delicious meal this summer than by throwing a grass-fed steak on the grill, waiting a few minutes, and then eating up as much tender, hearty goodness as you can.
One of the simple joys of being the Head Chef at ButcherBox is that I get to experiment with all our amazing cuts of grass-fed beef, many of which can be a challenge to get at the local butcher or supermarket.
I’ve discovered that whether I grill a steak over an open flame or braise it in a skillet, there are a few key steps that anyone can take to get a perfect steak every time you cook.
Use the right seasoning or marinade. Before even beginning to cook, you have to make a few essential preparations. The first is choosing the right cut. Personally, I enjoy everything from ribeye to steak tips and tri-tip steak to skirt steak on a grill. Some of the cuts you usually find in a steakhouse—like a filet mignon or New York strip steak—are already so tender and flavorful, you don’t need to do much more than coat with salt and black pepper before cooking.
Some other cuts, although no less flavorful, come from areas of a cow that have had more use, and therefore have a bit more connective tissue. These steak — flat iron steak, flank steak, skirt steak, hanger steak, and others — are perfect for marinating. Soaking a skirt steak in a marinade adds flavor and tenderness; some of our favorite these days are Primal Kitchen® Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette and Marinade or their amazing Balsamic Vinaigrette and Marinade. You can also use a base like Primal Kitchen’s Organic Unsweetened Ketchup and make your own marinade by experimenting with flavors like ginger, garlic, and chipotle.
(Additionally, don’t be afraid to use Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade if you are cooking chicken breast. It pairs perfectly with ButcherBox free range organic chicken and some grill roasted peppers.)
The key to any good marinade is flavor and time. There are two approaches to marinating meat, and both work equally well. One, you put your steak in a bowl or plastic bag, add the Balsamic Vinaigrette and Marinade, cover, and let sit overnight. This will give you a deeply ingrained flavor. Amazingly, it also works to marinade for less than an hour before cooking. Steaks cooked in this manner are often no less flavorful. Just make sure you don’t over-marinate, as that will toughen the beef.
Get beef to room temperature. Some argue against this step, but I think it is a key part of the process to getting the perfect, evenly cooked steak.
The best approach is to let your steak marinate at room temperature if you are doing the short marinate technique or let the long marinating bowl of steak sit for a bit before cooking.
This step will allow the internal temperature in the steak to even out. Basically, this makes it so that when you throw it on the grill, the center is not too cool.
Get the grill hot…in all the right spots. Make sure you give your grill at least 10 to 15 minutes to warm up—especially a gas grill. The ideal temperature to cook on a grill is 500°F.
With a charcoal grill, make sure the coals are grey before throwing on some steaks. This is the sign they are hot enough to cook. It is best to use a firestarter chimney when using a coal grill; using lighter fluid will detract from the delicious flavor of the grass-fed steak.
A good rule of thumb is that if you can keep your hand a few inches above the grill for a few seconds, it is not ready yet.
Grass-fed beef is best when cooked medium-rare. It doesn’t have as much fat as conventional beef, so it can dry out if overcooked. Make sure to use an instant meat thermometer to get to the ideal temperature. You can check out a chart on our ButcherBox blog, Roam, with the ideal temperatures for the level of doneness you are trying to achieve.
Also, whether cooking on a gas grill or a charcoal grill, it is best to create two different heat zones. This is best done by turning down a burner or consolidating the charcoal to one side of the grill.
I like to use a reverse sear when cooking a steak. This is done by cooking on the indirect heat first — for a few minutes each side — and then sear-finishing on high heat. Doing this creates a more evenly distributed level of doneness and a nice charred crust on just about any steak.
Let the steak rest. Beef continues to cook once it is taken off of the grill. If you slice into it right away, you are likely to get a lot of the flavorful juices all over your cutting board.
Guess what? If you let your steak rest for eight to 10 minutes, those juices will evenly spread through the steak. The result is a more tender, more evenly cooked, and more flavorful hunk of beef.
You should also let chicken and pork to rest. However, they don’t continue to cook.
With a steak, take it off the grill about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the doneness temperature you are trying to get, and you will have perfection.
Cut it the right way. This is the single biggest mistake people make, and it is the final step to getting a perfect steak.
You must slice steak against the grain.
This is true for all steaks. With certain cuts — flank, skirt, or hanger steaks, for example — if you don’t cut against the grain, you will ruin a potentially mouth-watering grass-fed steak.
Slicing against the grain breaks up the connective tissue, so each bite is as tender as the next.
What a shame it would be to marinate in a Primal Kitchen marinade overnight, let your steak sit out for a bit, get the ideal grill temperature, and let the steak rest…and then undo all that hard work by simply cutting the steak incorrectly.
If you can’t tell, we at ButcherBox love Primal Kitchen vinaigrettes, marinades, and dressings. Right now, you can get a bundle of Primal Kitchen dressings and vinaigrettes—4 dressings—and the Lemon Turmeric will be added. Add your chosen 4-pack to the cart, and use the code BUTCHERBOX at checkout.
Thanks to the good folks at ButcherBox for their awesome video and tips today. And don’t forget to check out their current Grok-worthy deal of FREE Bacon For Life. Just order your first ButcherBox today and receive a free package of their premium quality bacon with every box for the life of your subscription.
ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage pork directly to your door—and shipping is always free.
I appreciate that their bacon is always uncured, free of sugar and nitrates, non-GMO-verified, hormone-free, made from pasture-raised, heritage breed pigs, AND is Whole30® approved. This is how I do bacon, and ButcherBox makes it easy. But hurry—this popular deal expires midnight PDT on July 8th, 2018.
Want to make your mornings a whole lot easier? Of course you do. Well, a batch of easy egg muffins is the answer. Loaded with savory breakfast sausage, earthy mushrooms, and spinach, these make-ahead muffins are for people who love eggs and crave a satisfying breakfast that will get them through the morning. They’re also great for anyone in need of a one-handed morning meal they can eat on the go, or dig into when they get to their desk.
Whether you warm them up or eat them straight from the fridge, these muffins are everything you love about a rich and hearty egg scramble.
If it hasn’t hit your market yet, it’s bound to be there any minute. I’m talking about sweet summer corn, arguably the quintessential taste of summer. And the only thing more amazing than fresh corn on the cob is grilled corn — two perfect summer flavors in one bite.
While corn on the cob and butter make a perfect pair, we think it’s time to liven things up this summer! From Sriracha and beer butter to basil and Parmesan, here are six ways to turn grilled corn into the best thing you eat all summer.
When your goal is to eat better — whether that means more whole grains, doing Whole30, or trying something else — it can be tricky to find snacks and staples that fit your diet and your budget. But ever since Thrive Market hit the online grocery scene in 2014, its goal has been to make healthy food more affordable.
In fact, its specific goal is to make organic, eco-friendly, and GMO-free food and household products as affordable as conventional. And Thrive seems to be succeeding: The company’s products are at least as cheap, and sometimes way cheaper, than Costco and Amazon.
Here are 10 things to know about this members-only, web-based health food store.
How long ago was your last poop? And what did it look like? Did you just giggle, or blush a little? It’s okay, getting awkward about discussing our poop habits is so 2015. Now it’s totally on-trend to be open about what happens behind the bathroom door. Besides, everyone does it! Why a healthy poop schedule is […]
Recently I was walking my younger brother through the basics of making granola at home. Over the phone, he lamented that most recipes felt too fussy and ingredient-heavy for the simple, not-too-sweet, easy granola he craved.
Basic (but very good) granola requires just a handful of ingredients: oats, a sweetener, some oil, and maybe nuts or dried fruit. Once you master that basic formula, it’s even easier to mix up a granola made just the way you like it.
I’ll eat an avocado any time of day, but for breakfast it seems especially satisfying. This creamy green fruit is loaded with a dose of healthy fats that make your morning meal more satiating and satisfying, and won’t leave you reaching for a snack in an hour. From smoothies to toast to breakfast bowls, here are 15 delicious ways to eat an avocado for breakfast.
This summer we think you should give banana ice cream, also known as nice cream, a try. Why? Well, for one it’s the easiest freezer treat that you can make without an ice cream maker. Nice cream is also full of fruit, easily customizable, and so dang delicious you’ll be eating it for breakfast too.
Banana ice cream is pretty easy — freeze some sliced bananas, whirl them in a food processor, and enjoy right away or freeze for later — but there are just a few key steps that make the difference between very good banana ice cream and sad banana ice cream. Never do these five things and you’ll have a summer full of delectable nice cream from your freezer.
Fun life fact: Practically every rental kitchen you’ll ever cook in will have at least one thing that you don’t like to look at. It might be a light fixture that’s ugly as sin, walls that have seen brighter days, or some odd feature you have no idea what to do with.
These eyesores aren’t going anywhere permanently if you want your deposit back, but you can magically make them disappear for a bit while you’re living there.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
Warrior Fit Testimonials
First, I want to say thank you for convincing me to do Tabata! I was struggling to lose weight and Finally I found something that helped! I really appreciate your coaching! - Craig T.
Ever since I was convinced to do Tabata I have seen huge results, I lost 6 pounds and gained energy in the first 3 weeks. I have been working out for 3 months before I decided to do Tabata and I struggled to lose weight.
At first I thought "How am I losing weight by bringing my heart rate up then cooling down then bringing it up again?" I don’t know how it works but it does!
Thank you!! - Theresa F.
The first day of Tabata, I wondered WHAT AM I DOING - I AM 56 !! Five weeks later I knew that it was what I needed. I learned that I could push myself well beyond my comfort zone and feel good later. I have a marked improvement in physical as well as emotional endurance. - Lyn C.
When I was first told about Tabata I was very excited from the word go, however that excitement stemmed from the fact that I had no clue what it meant. I missed the first week of class b/c I was traveling for work so when I came in during the 2nd week I had some making it up to do.
It was hard at first b/c my body wasn't used to working out at such a fast pace, but once I got into a rhythm I started to feel very good. These classes are no joke. If you stick with it you will leave there feeling stronger, healthier and overall better about yourself and what you've accomplished.
I would recommend these classes to anyone. Darrin is a great trainer and he'll keep you going with his energy.
- Jami L.
Warriors Fit Audio
Warrior Fit uses High Intensity Music to get ya Moooovin' So we can all "Get Our Sweat On"
The link below will give ya a freeee shot at Audible plus a couple audio books just to try it out and if you haven't used audio books on your commutes you are missing out. Get pumped up before you get to where you are going and exercise your mind. I use it Everyday. Go get yours now!
Today’s awesome guest post and video is offered by Head Chef Yankel of ButcherBox. If you’ve been around Mark’s Daily Apple for a while, you’ve likely heard of ButcherBox, a company close to the core Primal values of clean eating, great flavor and healthy sustainability. I’ve been a happy customer and proud affiliate since their beginnings. Today, Chef Yankel is sharing his 5 tips for getting the perfect steak every time—AND a video with 4 delicious summer recipes you won’t want to miss. (And because you’ll want to get cooking, we’re throwing in two deals for your summer barbecue planning.)
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
