Have you heard of Crowd Cow? Let me introduce you to the company that delivers Steven Raichlen’s barbecue directly to your house. Crowd Cow is an American online delivery marketplace. It connects fisheries and ranchers who raise livestock with consumers who want to buy meat and fish. Crowd Cow was started in Seattle in 2015 by Joe Heitzeberg and Ethan Lowry.
If you have ordered any of Steven Raichlen’s signature barbecue, then you already know about Crowd Cow. In addition to Steven’s products, you will find an extensive assortment of steaks, pork ribs, pork chops, pork loin, beef roasts, hotdogs, hamburgers, and sausages. The variety of seafood and shellfish includes shrimp, lobster, crab legs, scallops, salmon, trout, halibut, and cod. I’m sure I missed a few.
Crowd Cow hand-picks and taste tests all the food they sell to ensure the best tasting products. They partner with ethical farms and fisheries around the world that are sustainable and raised with environmental responsibility. The packaging is recyclable and compostable.
Whether you are looking for a surf and turf combo to cook on your grill this summer, a pork loin to roast in the fall, or celebrate a special occasion with a Wagyu steak, Crowd Cow has got you covered.
I was recently sent a sampling of the products available at Crowd Cow. I received a Sena Sea Copper River Salmon, Gunthrop Farm Heritage Bone-in Pork Chops, Pederson’s Thick cut Bacon, Mishima Reserve Wagyu New York Strip Steak, Fraunheimer Wagyu and Heritage Pork Hot Dogs.
Here is what I came up with to showcase the food Crowd Cow generous sent. Have you ever been out to eat and struggled with what to order since everything on the menu sounds good? If you are like me, you want to sample it all. So, I made my version of a mixed grill so my wife and I could sample a few items and have leftovers for a few nights.
A Perfect Mixed Grill
I started by preparing my veggies. I quartered three cups of mushrooms, thinly sliced one large red onion, and sliced two yellow peppers and one green pepper. All the veggies were placed in a plastic bag with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and seasoned with Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. The veggies marinated in the refrigerator for a few hours.
I decided to cook the steak, the pork chops and the salmon. It may seem like a lot to coordinate, but the whole meal was cooked on one grill. I set-up the Big Green Egg XL (BGE) for indirect grilling by placing the two halfmoon deflector plates in the BGE. I heated the BGE to 250 degrees and added oak chucks, to reverse-sear the steak and smoke the salmon. The smoking component of the reverse-sear took twenty-five minutes. I removed the steak to rest. I removed one of the deflector plates to direct grill. By keeping one deflector plate in I have a safe zone if there are any flare-ups. It also allowed me to finish the salmon without putting it directly over the fire.
Prior to smoking, the steak was seasoned simply with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and the salmon was seasoned with Steven Raichlen’s Greek Island rub. The pork chops were seasoned with a home-made pork rub that consisted of allspice, smoked paprika, brown sugar, kosher salt, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, cherry powder, and chipotle powder.
Once the BGE heated up to high, I placed a grill pan over the fire to cook the veggies. Once the veggies were cooked, I set the grill pan aside.
Next, I placed the steak and pork chops on the grill. I anticipated similar cooking times for each since the steak was already smoked and the pork chops were not too thick.
The steak cooked for 90 seconds, and I gave it a quarter turn and cooked for another 90 seconds. I repeated the process on the other side. The pork chops were cooked for two minutes and then I gave them a quarter turn and cooked for another two minutes. I repeated the process on the other side. I moved the steak to the save zone where the salmon continued to cook while I waited for the pork shops to finish. To boost the flavor or the pork chops and to help prevent the pork chops from getting dry, I sprayed them while cooking with a mixture of apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and apple juice.
Once I moved the steak and pork chops to the safe zone of the grill, I put the veggies back over the fire to heat them up.
Finally, it was time to eat. The veggies developed a smokey aroma and a nice char due to the high heat of the grill and the perforations in the grill pan. The mushrooms and red onion soaked up the balsamic vinegar and the edges of each caramelized to create a nice texture.
The Results
The salmon was flavorful due to the rub and the smoking process, and it was tender and moist. The steak had a great smoky aroma and was juicy and tender on the inside as you would expect from a Wagyu steak. The steak developed a nice crusty exterior due to the seasoning and the direct grilling. The high heat of direct grilling quickly seared the pork chops and kept them from getting dry. The rub provided a delicious balance of sweetness and heat.
Every component of my mixed grill was delicious and could be the star of the meal on its own. So, pick your favorite or favorites from Crowd Cow and get cooking.
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The post From Steaks to Seafood: Crafting the Perfect Mixed Grill appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.
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By: Daniel Hale
Title: From Steaks to Seafood: Crafting the Perfect Mixed Grill
Sourced From: barbecuebible.com/2023/06/28/from-steaks-to-seafood-crafting-the-perfect-mixed-grill/
Published Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2023 17:26:32 +0000
