Baked Chicken Leg Quarters and Spinach Carbornara Stuffed Mushrooms

One of my favorite summer meals is tri-tip and a tomato and cucumber salad. Tri-tip is the poor man's rib roast. Cooked right, it is as flavorful, juicy and tender (almost) as a great standing rib roast is. It is also a tradition in and around Santa Maria in central California. Santa Maria is where California grilling, highly influenced by the old Mexican cowboys, originates. I love tri-tip and you can get 2 of them, about 2 1/2 pounds each, at Costco for less than $25. $5/lb for quality beef is nothing to sneer at with today's grocery store prices.



Grilling tri-tip right is not particularly difficult, but does take some patience. You need a good digital instant read thermometer and a grill that can be set up for two-zone cooking.

1. About 2 hours prior to cooking, very liberally salt the meat. Put in refrigerator for an hour plus. This is a simple marinading and dry aging process that will greatly improve the meat.
2. About 1 hour prior to cooking, coat with olive oil and whatever rub you are planning to use. Traditional in central California is to just use cracked pepper, kosher salt and garlic powder. However, any good beef rub that you like will be great.
3. Set your grill up for 2 zone cooking, get the direct side nice and hot, indirect side should be 225-250 degrees.
4. Put the tri-tip on the indirect side and cook there until the internal temp is 125 degrees.
5. Bring the temp on the direct side to the highest level that you can (have the tri-tip resting off the grill while doing this, it won't cool off)
6. Put the trip on the direct heat and sear for 3-4 minutes until you get good, dark, carmelized grill stripes. Do same on other side.
7. Let the tri-tip stand for 10 minutes under tented foil. Internal temp will rise to medium-rare
8. Carve and serve. Carve by doing this: cut the tri-tip in half across the narrow portion of the roast. Turn each half 90 degrees, then slice.

Accompany with favorite salad. Traditionally it should be served with garlic bread, too. We'll forgo that guilty pleasure

Recipes please!! Yummy!

Oven Roasted Smokey Brisket
Adapted from Paula Deen at Food Network


Ingredients

BUMP

4 lb. beef brisket, trimmed
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (a little goes a long way)
2 Tablespoons salt, kosher
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon Chipotle chili powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 Tablespoon sugar (splenda)
1 bay leaf, ground
1½ - 2 cups beef stock


Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Start by rubbing brisket with the liquid smoke.In a small mixing bowl, combine the salt, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dry mustard, sugar, ground bay and mix well. POur and rub in this seasoning mixture on both sides of the brisket, covering well. Place brisket into a roasting pan, uncovered, and roast for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, lower oven to 300° F. Add enough beef stock to coome up about ½ inch in pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and continue to cook for 3 hours, or until fork tender.

Trim any excess fat and slice thinly. Serve accompanied by pan juices.
Serves 10

Cloud Bread
3 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons whole milk cottage cheese or 3 tablespoons cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1pk (1 g) packet artificial sweetener
Directions: 1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 2 Separate the eggs very carefully, there must be no yolk in the white. 3 In one bowl, mix together the egg yolks, the 3 T. of Cottage Cheese OR Cream Cheese and the one packet of Sweetener until smooth. 4 In the other bowl add 1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar to the whites and beat the whites on high speed until they are fluffy and form nice peaks. 5 Very carefully fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites until mixed, but try and not break down the fluffiness of the egg whites too much. 6 Spray two cookie sheets with Pam or other fat-free cooking spray. 7 With a large spoon, "scoop" the mixture into 10 even rounds on the sheets (about the size of the top-half of the McDonalds hamburger bun; roughly 3/4 inch thick and 4 to 5 inches across). 8 Bake on the middle rack. Here is when you have to watch them, because the cooking time the same on any two batches. It is somewhere around 1/2 hour, but it could be less or more. You just need to watch them until them become nice and golden brown (again, the color of a McDonalds bun). 9 Remove from the pans and cool on a rack or cutting board. 10 While warm they are crumbly and similar to cooked meringue - but don't let this fool you! Once completely cool, seal them in a ziplock storage baggie or a tupperware over night. They will totally change their consistency, to something much more like bread - a softer texture that is nice and chewy. If you do not like softer chewy bread, then eat them as they are, nice and crisp. 11 Since the sides that were facing the pan are perfectly flat, you use these to spread things on, or make sandwiches, or even as a burger bun! The choice is up to you, and you will be quite amazed at how much like a bun these really are!

Do you use pre shredded cheese or do you shred it yourself?