Memorial Day Weekend- BBQ, Beer and Bikes



Pretty awesome right?


Memorial Day is always about BBQ Beer and Bikes for us LOL. But then again that's pretty much our life in general during the summer.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So over the Memorial Day weekend we packed up and took a 5 hour drive down to West Virginia to the Summit Point Motorsports Park.  It was a CCS Racing weekend.  So proud of Brendan for doing so well first time at this track.  I'm his number one fan and sponsor.  The weather was amazing- hot and sunny.  Got myself a nice tan and my fiance got some race time in.  We had such a great time.  He loads up his truck with bike stuff and I load the pop-up camper with food and everything else. 

We have limited space in the cooler and mini fridge so I need to plan out a weekends worth of meals accordingly.  I also don't like to settle for just hamburgers and hot dogs, so this is a quick run down of what I made for the weekend:

Friday Night (we arrived): homemade burgers and hot dogs after we set up camp.
Saturday Breakfast: bagels, bananas and coffee (we had this everyday for breakfast)
Saturday Lunch: grilled pizza
Saturday Dinner: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus
Sunday Lunch: Grilled Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches
Sunday Dinner: Pork Tenderloin with grilled corn
Monday Lunch: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus

Of course we had A LOT of drinks on hand. It was so hot- water, Gatorade, iced tea, Redbull and of course beer.

We had some cheese doodles, triscuits, hummus and other various snacks too.

Not exactly the healthiest of choices, but hey it's vacation!

Everything I cooked was very simple prep and simple cook.  All the veggies were simply seasoned with salt, pepper and oil.  The chicken kabobs were just skewered boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning (my fav go-to summer seasoning).  The pork tenderloin was marinated in garlic, honey, jalapenos, oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.  I even grilled the bagels to toast them up.  FYI if you have never had grilled asparagus- go and make that tonight- they are the bomb.

And if you have never grilled pizza- get on that!  It is probably the closest thing you will have to real brick oven pizza.  It is super simple too.  I really should have brought my rolling pin though- was a pain to roll it out- that's why its super misshaped but whatever it's "rustic".  I packed homemade dough (you could even do store bought), shredded cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil.  Roll the dough out and lay on the grill.  I then brush or drizzle a bit of oil.  Let that cook and bubble up.  When it is ready to turn you will be able to grab it up and it will easily pull away from the grill.  Flip it over and top with tomatoes and basil then the cheese to help everything stay put.  Cover (aka close the lid), turn heat to low and just wait until everything melts.  Even if you burn the bottom, it still tastes really good! (oh yea- don't forget a cutting board and knife!)

Here's all the rest of the weekend!




Lexi sun bathing




Dutchy Moo Cow is hot




Mini fridge is stocked plus we had a cooler



gotta have the hot sauce

Our home away from home (with a/c of course!)

Ya know, just the essentials

Simple breakfast plus coffee of course

My ride

A man of many talents

Took him on the turn

Yea forgot to soak the skewers- oh well!

Race grid

Shade!

Love sausage super crispy- cut sausage in half then serve on buns with ketchup!

Yea, these boys don't play around when it comes to speed

Cooling off in the camper- isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen???!!!!

Held his position against this guy and took 11 out of 23 in this race! So proud of you babe, I love you!

Grilled Chipolte Lime Pork Tenderloin w/ Mango Salsa

Personally I was skeptical about the mango in the salsa, at heart I am a tomato girl, but the taste is surprisingly amazing.  I was actually expecting this recipe to be an "in your face" bold flavor experience, but all the flavors came together more as a perfect melody than any one standing out.  Hot rice topped with cold crunchy salsa and the juicy pork makes this dish so delicious.  This meal is also very healthy, to make it even more healthy you can swap the white rice for a whole wheat, or other grain. 

The mango blends with the rest of the salsa flavors to balance it all out- salty, tangy and sweet.  It is just the "sugar" of the salsa, because a lot of salsas do have a little sugar added.  If you are still doubtful about the mango, try a bite of it with the mango, and if you don't like it, have a tomato standing by to substitute in.  But believe me it is worth trying- I bet you will be pleasantly surprised.

A little bit about pork tenderloin: it comes in cryovac and has two pieces- because there are two tenderloins in each pig.  It is a very lean cut with practically no fat, but when you get it you can clean it up a little bit if needed.  One thing you will need to do is remove the "silver skin" it will never break down and is tough and inedible.  Since I didn't take pics of this you can refer to this video to help with that How to Trim Fat from Pork Tenderloin


Salsa:

• 2 ears of grilled corn (or about 3/4 cup of frozen thawed)
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (color of your choice)
• ½ red onion chopped
• 1 jalapeno chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 mango diced
• pinch of garlic powder
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp of cumin
• about 2 tablespoons of EVOO

Just mix all ingredients in a bowl and put in the fridge until you're ready to plate.


Rice:
Prepare any rice you like. I used jasmine rice- 3/4 cup of rice to 1 ½ cups of water with 2 chicken bullion cubes. Combine all in a pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 20 mins.

Pork tenderloin:

I marinated the pork for about 6 hours- in the morning I put it together and by dinner time it's good to go. 

Marinade:

• 1 lime, juiced and zested
• 2 small garlic cloves minced
• 3-4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 chipolte in adobo chopped
• 2 tsp of salt
• couple grinds of fresh black pepper

 In a ziplock bag mix all the ingredients together and then add the pork. Put in the fridge. Longer it sits the better, but even 15 minutes will be better than nothing.

When cooking time comes, preheat your grill or grill pan to high. Put the pork on the grill* and as for the leftover marinade (if you feel comfortable doing this, some people are a little sketchy with the bacteria- but as long as you marinated the pork in the fridge the bacteria did not become immune to heat so as long as you boil it you're fine) add a cup of water to the ziplock and then pour it all out into a sauce pan.  Boil this mixture for ten mins- it will reduce and that's what we want (if it is reducing too much just add more water).  When the pork is cooked through to 140 degrees, make a tinfoil pocket and pour in the reduced marinade, then add the pork and seal it up.  This is called a post marinade- it just adds even more flavor.  Let this sit for ten minutes.  Then slice and serve over the rice and salsa! Enjoy!

Tinfoil pocket

*grilling time can vary.  I would say at least 15 mins.  I had a pork tenderloin that was about 1½ lbs. I was always unable to really judge the doneness of meat, so if you are good with knowing cook time and internal temperatures then wonderful, but if you're like me- invest in a digital probe thermometer (or regular meat thermometer) and you can guaranteed yourself a good piece of meat every time.  There is nothing worse than overcooked dried out meat.  When you use the thermometer, just make sure it is inserted into the thickest part of the piece of meat.