Dragon Fruit

 This is a dragon fruit. It tastes a little bit like a kiwi.

Here you can see the inside. The little black dots are seeds. You scoop it out sort of like a avacado.

Chimichurri

Best steak in Barrio Norte

Let's go over this again, it's been a while. Chimichurri. What is it? Chimichurri is a condiment that hails from Argentina. Contrary to popular American opinion chimichurri is not green, it is orange. The header for this blog is a close up of chimichurri.

I don't know why chimichurri this or chimichurri that is on all the menus in American restaurants these days. I don't know why they sell bottles of green gunk in grocery stores either. Why is the Patagonian tooth fish known as Sea Bass? It's all marketing I suppose.

If you go to Argentina and you eat somewhere that isn't a tourist hangout, like around Recoleta cemetery is, you will not see chimichurri on all of the tables and you will not see Portenos slathering it on everything they eat. Chimichurri is a condiment. I ate many steaks in Buenos Aires and I was never asked if I wanted chimichurri with my steak.

Argentineans put chimichurri on choripan.  A choripan is a grilled chorizo sausage sandwich. Chimichurri usually contains garlic so some Argentineans don't like to eat it but every once in a while. Around Calle Florida in the busy city central in B.A. there some places that make choripan and other sandwiches daily. They are usually small with a few high top table and some counter top space.

On the tables you will see styrofoam cups sitting out with a plastic spoon sticking up out of the cup. This is chimichurri and you add as much as you like when you get your choripan. It is very thick and the oil usually separates out of it so it needs stirring. It isn't spicy. Argentinean food isn't very spicy.  It's for the bread. It's the wet component for the dry bread. Like we put ketchup and mustard on hotdogs, yes it's for the taste but it is also easier to eat versus a plain weeny on a bun. And imagine the bun being a baguette.

Someone once said to me they were making chimichurri rice. Can you imagine someone saying they are making mustard rice or ketchup rice. You'd think they were crazy. That's how Argentineans think about Americans that have suddenly begun putting what isn't even real chimichurri on everything and calling it Argentinean inspired.

I think we've gotten to the point where we no longer think that those U shaped crispy yellow taco shells that your mom used to serve ground beef  in are tacos. Now we need to get educated on what chimichurri is and what it is used for as well.

Buen provecho!

Chimichurri ingredients just before going to the blender.

Memorial Day

Lime, cilantro and jalapeño marinade

I got this recipe recently from the head chef at Haven, Stephen Herman at a fundraiser that was held there earlier in the week. He was cooking quail. I substituted chicken for the quail.

Start by juicing about 3-4 limes. Chop up one bunch of cilantro and one jalapeño. Add salt and pepper. Toss chicken wings or small drumsticks in the marinade. I grilled this chicken over a hot grill using direct heat for about 25 minutes.

Peach, bacon chutney with fresh thyme

At the same benefit I learned a new recipe from Chef Matt, of Valenza. 

Start with about 6-8 peaches and cut into a dice. While cutting the peaches, render 4 pieces of bacon in a large casserole dish or pan over high heat. 

After cutting the peaches, dice one onion. When the bacon is rendered remove it from the pan to a towel lined plate. In the same pot add in the diced onion and sweat them down on medium heat. They need to be really well cooked so the starches will turn to sugar. This will take about 10-15 minutes. 

After the onions have finished sweating, add in the peaches. Stir them in thoroughly and place the lid on the pot. Let the peaches simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. They should release most of their juice. Add the bacon back in and stir. Take off the heat and stir in some freshly chopped thyme. 

This chutney is a terrific compliment to the grilled chicken and if you have quail it is even better!

Grilled bacon wrapped asparagus

This was another one of the recipes from the fundraiser that was held at Valenza Restaurant earlier in the week. 

This one doesn't need much explaining, simply wrap fresh asparagus in bacon and it's ready to go! I covered the grill with aluminum foil to cook the asparagus which really did a nice job. 

Chef Stephen Herman, Haven and Chef Matt Swickerath, Valenza

FDA figures out what we already knew

Where's my pork chop!?

The FDA has announced that it is now safe to eat pork that is cooked to a temperature of 145 degrees. They previously recommended incinerating it up to160 degrees. They state that if the pork is a little pink that it is okay to eat. If you try to eat a pork chop that is totally white, good luck! It will chew and taste like shoe leather.

Anyone who's ever spent any amount of time at all cooking pork already new this, and we were becoming extremely tired of being berated that our meat was not cooked. The fear of everything that pervades this country is infuriating. I cannot remember how many times I've served perfectly grilled meat off of the grill only to have some idiot complain that it wasn't burnt to a cinder. Now that someone from the FDA has apparently read Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, perhaps we can now begin to enjoy some moist, succulent pork chops for a change!

Grilled Loin of Pork

On Easter Sunday I decided to grill a pork tenderloin. I used a recipe from Steve Raichlen's book called Tennesse Pork Loin with whiskey, brown sugar and mustard. The first thing to do is make a rub. I used the 4,3,2,1 rub.

4 tablespoons paprika

3 tablespoons garlic salt

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

Rub the tenderloin all over with the rub mix. The tenderloin I had came in two pieces, otherwise you would butterfly the meat. Then tie the loin back together with butcher's twine along with slices of bacon under each string.

Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin.

Glaze:

3 tablespoons salted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons dijon mustard

3 tablespoons whiskey

Combine the ingredients and boil until syrupy, 4 to 6 minutes.

Set the grill for indirect heat. Put the pork on and begin basting with the glaze after 30 minutes. Re-baste every 15 minutes until the pork is (insert internal temperature here) ... The book says 160 but that is over-done in my book.

Pork loin after about an hour on the grill.

Where the hell are those recycling bags?

Two weeks without recycling bags!

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...

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!

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!

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

Old Chamblee Bistro

Bistro Jammin'

Me and my new buddy Chris Carero have been playing on Friday in Chamblee, Georgia at the Old Chamblee Bistro, which makes a damn fine sandwich.











Actually it is Chris' gig, I'm just sitting in...















Chris Carero















Regulars...











Jammin', L.I.G.

Smoked B B Q Chicken

Having had a wisdom tooth extracted last Friday, I decided nice and tender chicken would be about the best think to try and smoke this past weekend.


We made a simple rub (don't remember with what).

I used some hickory chunks for the smoke.





Golden brown before applying the sauce.

2009 Grilling Season Commences!

Grilling season kicked off this weekend with the Memorial Day holiday.

We smoked a nice piece of salmon over hickory chunks for about 2 hours.


Fat rising to the surface after a couple of hours.

Poblano peppers roasting over an open flame.


After a few minutes roasting....



Tubby went into a food coma after having the smoked salmon!



Another satisfied customer!