About the cook

Hello, my name is Cindy Pagenkopf and I'm married to Kevin Pagenkopf. Kevin is an amazing funeral director by day, and an amazing BBQ chef by evening. We love being outside, especially on a nice evening when we can cook out and watch golfers play a round on the course behind our home. 

For this cook, we grilled marinated filets on our built-in Traeger grill. Not everyone has a large backyard, but if you do this is me telling you that you need to put in an outdoor grill space. And, if you really want my advice - get a Traeger when you do!

My husband, Kevin, with the finished filets.

Filets done right

We started by marinating our filets at room temp for about 4 hours. There are a lot of marinades you can buy at the grocery store, or you can make your own from scratch. Marinating the filets beforehand really lets all the flavor sink into the meat so it's not lost when you throw them from the smoker to the grill. We also made some Jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon and grilled those on the Traeger. Yummy!

Finished filets, complete with yummy grill marks.

Ingredients and supplies

• Filets
• your favorite marinade

For the poppers:

• a pound of bacon
• jalapenos (de-seeded)
• cream cheese

Cooking instructions

For the filets:

Marinate the filets at room temperature for 4 hours

Set your Traeger smoker between 450-500 degrees and smoke the filets for 2 hours

Turn up the heat on the grill and sear the filets to get those nice grill marks

For the poppers:

Slice jalapenos and remove seeds (unless you want your mouth on FIRE!).

Fill each jalapeno slice with cream cheese.

Take 1-2 pieces of bacon (depending on the size of the jalapenos) and tightly wrap each pepper.

Throw these on the grill until the bacon is cooked and crispy!

Filets and poppers on the Traeger Built-in.

A meal fit for a king

The jalapeno poppers were a delicious side dish, but we couldn't stop there. We love to eat filets with steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes for a full-course meal. I buy fresh asparagus from the grocery and steam that with some seasonings, and then make a small batch of mashed potatoes for the two of us. 

Crispy, bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers.

Our love for funeral service

Kevin and I work at Pagenkopf Funeral Home in Wisconsin. We love doing what we do to help families in some of their most difficult times. It's a profession that can be challenging physically, emotionally, and mentally, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love being funeral directors. And we love coming home and taking the time to relax out in the backyard over a nice meal. 

Golfers in the background are all part of the ambiance of backyard grilling!