Wednesday, September 15, 2010

2010 World Cup Summer


So Spain won it all in the 2010 World Cup. With two thirds of the team from Barcelona and rest from Real Madrid it stands to reason...

It was a hot, glorious and painful summer...


The Red, White and Blue outside Taco Mac moments before the notorious comeback...
(full disclosure: the guy in red is actually an England fan)

The shot that birthed twenty million soccer fans!

Diego Forlan, player of the tournament (Golden Ball Winner)


Thank god it's over, my liver couldn't take anymore. But it was memorable...


Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Red Skirt

A new sandwich was created over Labor Day weekend!

Nice plate, huh?

It starts with marinated skirt steak:
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped1/4 cup grainy mustard
2 tblspns Dijon mustard2 tspns paprika
1/4 tspn kosher salt
1/4 tspn black pepper
1 tblspn soy sauce
2 tblspns white wine vinegar1 tblspn honey

Whisk all the ingredients together and allow skirt steak to marinate a couple of hours.


Next, on the grill, roast some red bell peppers. First, oil the peppers with olive oil and then place them right over the hottest part of the grill. When they are nice and blackened they are ready to come off.



Then place them in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let them sit for about 10 minutes and then peel the skin off of the peppers. Cut the peppers up into quarters.



Grill the skirt steak. When the steak is cooked take it off, remove the skewers and cut it across the grain into small pieces. Put some of the steak back onto the grill and drape with a piece of provolone cheese. Allow the cheese to melt. At the same time toast two pieces of sliced Italian bread on the grill. When the cheese has melted, scoop up the meat and place it on the toasted bread along with a piece of the roasted red pepper.


The Red Skirt Sandwich!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Still Smokin'


Actually, I have grilled some this summer....


The rub down ...


Babyback ribs almost ready.....



Unfortunately, Argentina didn't make it to the final, going down to Germany in the quarter final.

Shrimp on the barbie



We decided to grill some shrimp in honor of the Australian football team during the world cup.
I believe we made a cilantro marinade and let them soak for a couple of hours. Then we skewered them with two wooden skewers per shrimp. We also grilled some scallops.

I can't remember what was in the marinade but the final result was a home run!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Kimchi

Kimchi is a Korean dish of fermented cabbage. I first tried Kimchi when I was stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. Killeen has a large Korean community.

I decided to try and make some Kimchi after having some recently at a restaurant in Doraville.

It turned out to be pretty easy to do.

Start by quartering a Napa Cabbage. Then salt the leaves with Kosher salt or sea salt and let it sit for about 4 hours. After that, rinse the leaves well.

Next, make a porridge of 3 cups water, 1 cup rice flour (or regular flour) and 1 cup sugar. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the rice flour. Let it come back to a boil and add in the sugar. Mix thoroughly and take off the heat.


In a food processor combine 1 onion, about a cup of garlic gloves, and some ginger. Pulse until it is chopped well.

I added about a cup of cayenne pepper. Too much actually, it was very, very hot.


Also 1/2 a cup of fish sauce.


Add the ingredients from the processor to the porridge and mix together with your hands. It is best to wear a pair of rubber gloves for this.


Next mix in a some chopped green onion into the mix. After everything is thoroughly mixed apply the red pepper mixture to all the leaves of the cabbage. Put the cabbage in an air tight container and let set at room temperature for at least 2 days.

The cabbage will begin to ferment and when you open the container it should be bubbling a little bit.

Here is a better recipe: Kimchi