Spring Grilling Rain or Shine with ButcherBox and Cuisinart

April Showers bringing May Flowers? No problem. Bring the smoke with these indoor grilling tips!

April is notorious for showers even though the temps are starting to rise. If you are holding off on planning a cookout until the weather clears, there's no need to. Make your plans but have a backup plan to grill indoors. You'll get the same grill marks and smokey flavor with better control over your cooking temperatures using an indoor grill. So easy. I'll show you how!

Wipe your indoor grill down with a small amount of olive oil.  Top meat with onion & garlic coconut oil.

A lot of newer stove ranges have grills now.  The beauty of an electric grill is that you can use it almost anywhere, even outdoors. I'm using the Cuisinart Griddler Deluxe which has duel temperature controls for both the top and bottom grill plates. As the plates are removable and reversible, you can also flip them and open the unit up for a super large griddle surface. You could make a large breakfast menu on it: eggs, hash browns, bacon, grilled cheese sandwiches, ham steaks, etc.  

Follow these cooking tips for grass fed, free range meats such as the ribeye streak shown above from ButcherBox monthly subscription service.

1.) Add dry rub seasonings and flavored coconut oil or olive oil to your steaks, chops and cuts of meat. Refrigerate overnight.

2.) Bring meat to room temperature prior to placing on the preheated grill. 

Hamptons Salt Company Smoked Chardonnay Artisan Sea Salt adds an authentic outdoor BBQ vibe.

3.) Adjust the plate height and temperature for cooking on the bottom grill or both top and bottom simultaneously.

Don't overcook! This is a medium rare ribeye steak.

4.) Grass fed beef cooks 30% faster than grain fed so don't over cook! Take the meat off the grill a bit early. Plate it up and serve hot with sides.

Sirloin Tips, asparagus and steak fries. Portion Savvy Dinnerware in Sunburst by Slimware.

Grilled Sides and More Ideas
I always enjoy doing vegetable Kabobs and grilled peppers, onions and squash. You can even grill Cara Cara Navel Oranges or Blood Oranges in slices as a garnish. 

Luscious Cara Cara Navel Oranges from Limoniera Ranch, CA

The problem can be different cooking times for the meats vs the veggies. So what I like to do is make a slow cooker pot of Chili Con Carne and start the grill up once that is about done. It will stay hot and ready to serve once you take the meat off the grill.

Dried Pinto Beans and Grass Fed Ground Beef are the basics of slow cooker chili

Pretzel Franks
Kosher beef frankfurters like these from Abeles and Heymann elevates this version of an "Auntie Anne's Pretzel Dog" to gourmet level. Rather than use prepackaged croissant dough, we made our yeast buns from scratch with the help of The Bread Machine. 

Once the dough had risen, we simply cut it into pieces to wrap each frank. Before wrapping, add in a little cheese, peppers or sauteed onions if you like. Let rise again and bake for about 20 minutes. You can top each bun with egg or milk wash and kosher salt as shown here below. A & H Kosher beef hot dogs are juicy and lean with that distinctive garlic seasoning found in high quality New York area wieners. Check them out in your local stores or visit Abeles-Heymann.com online.

Pretzel Franks with Abeles and Heymann Kosher Hot Dogs

Soups On! A great healthy side for late spring to early summer temperatures is soup. Blount Organic Soups are fully cooked and ready to serve right from the container so you can heat them up quickly and set out with your grilled goodies. Perfect for large or small parties and gatherings. Blount Organic Soups come in 8 flavors. My favorites are: Minestrone, Lentil, Vegetarian Chili and Tomato Bisque shown below.

Blount Organic Tomato Bisque Soup, perfect for grilling indoors and out.

Keep it festive! Even if you're grilling indoors, serve foods with bright picnic plates and baskets.

Just Desserts
No outdoor or even indoor picnic is complete without dessert! You can ask your guests to bring their favorite cakes or pies such as the pecan pie you see here. You break out the ice cream for pie al a mode, al fresco, (if possible). Shown here with our rich pecan pie is one of Turkey Hill's All Natural Ice Cream flavors, Mocha Swirl. It has that exquisite coffee flavor matched with chocolate cookie goodness. Perfect to top off your evening meal. Other spring picnic flavors from Turkey Hill Dairy, PA include: Blueberry, Raspberry Chocolate Chip and Mango. Pure, simple ingredients with no added fillers or emulsifiers. Check them out at local supermarkets everywhere or visit TurkeyHill.com

Pecan Pie and All Natural Turkey Hill Mocha Swirl Ice Cream