Quick(er) Smoked Tri Tip using a pellet smoker

This is what happens when it is 5:30 PM and all you have easily available is a 4 pound tri tip. It is currently 104 degrees outside and the last thing that I wanted to do was to start the oven in the house. Hence the decision to use the GMG pellet grill.

What you will need:

• 4lb tri tip
• Pappy's seasoning (can be either regular or low sodium)
• Lemon Pepper seasoning
• Granulated onion.
• 1 gallon freezer bag
• Alder wood pellets
• Green mountain or comparable pellet smoker.

This is amazingly simple and came out very good.

1. Take the tri tip out of the refrigerator and out it into a freezer bag. 
2. Add about 3 tbsp of Pappy's to bag.
3. Add about 2 tbsp of lemon pepper seasoning to bag.
4. Add about 4 tbsp of granulated onion to bag.
5. Seal and shake the freezer bag until the meat is somewhat evenly covered.
6. leave freezer bag on a counterout to warm up for at least a half hour.
7. Using the alder pellets, heat your pellet smoker up to 350 degrees.
8. Remove the meat from the bag and place it in the smoker directly on the rack, then cook for an hour. 

After an hour you'll need to take periodic measurements using a meat thermometer. Once the meat reaches 125 degrees in ternal temperature where the meat is thickest, pull it out of the smoker and cover it with aluminum foil.
It should be ready to serve in about 15 minutes.

All I can say about this one is that it was enjoyable enough that there were no leftovers when served to a family of five.

Instant pot chickpea and red lentil stew

This turned out better than I expected given that I was adapting a recipe for the crock pot to the Instant Pot. It is rather Indian(ish) but on the milder side.

Ingredients:

• Cooking Oil to sauté. I used avocado oil, but I suspect that just about anything would work as well. I'll probably try coconut oil next time. 
• 3 small Vidalia onions chopped.
• 1 jalapeno seeded deveined, and chopped.
• 1 bell pepper chopped coarsely.
• 4-6 large cloves of garlic chopped
• 3 teaspoons of garam masala.
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 3 15 oz cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed.
• 3/4 cup dried lentils (I prefer the red lentils, but I suspect any would work.)
• 1 small can of sliced black olives
• 3 cups vegetable broth.
• 1 28 oz can of pureed tomatoes.
• Yogurt to top the stew with.

I used the six quart instant pot for this recipe. The proportions above just about fill it up.

What to do:

1. Set the Instant Pot to saute and add oil to the bottom.
2. saute onions until they start to brown around te edges, about 6-7 minutes.
3. Add the peppers, garlic, and garam masala and saute for another 3-4 minutes until the peppers start to get soft.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the yogurt, that goes on as a topping after the stew is completed.
5. Set the Instant Pot for 15 minutes on the meat/stew setting. 
6. Let the Instant Pot natural release for about 20 minutes after the cycle completes.

I made some coconut rice to go with the above that turned out pretty well:

In  rice maker combine 2 cups of Basmati rice with a can of coconut water and another 2 cups of water to make 4 cups of liquid total. Set the rice maker on the white rice setting. This makes a nice nutty base for the lentils.

Ladle the lentil stew over the rice and add a dollop of plain yogurt on top.

 A couple of notes:

The jalapeno adds some flavor but isn't at all hot given the quantity of stew that this recipe makes, and the bell pepper makes the pepper flavor a little more noticeable than it would be otherwise.

If you don't have easy access to garam masala or bulk sesame seeds near you, Amazon has a lot of options.  We  get ours from a nearby Asian market where it is very low priced. I don't think one has to spend a lot on either of these to make some really great stew.