I couldn’t exactly throw up a recipe on Independence Day without that dish being grilled, now could I?  So here you have it, my prerequisite grilled Fourth of July dish and my entry for the fourth Frugal Fridays Food Event, Korean-Style Short Ribs.

Korean style ribs are also called flanken style ribs, and are cut in thin strips across the bone rather than along the bone as in your “Standard American” beef rib. I’ve been itchin’ to cook something with these ribs since the first time I saw them, but it wasn’t until this week that I finally grabbed a package and gave it a go. Let me tell you folks, I’m extremely glad that I did!

The Marinade recipe is adapted from one I found on epicurious, with modifications to suit my tastes and the amount of ribs I was using. (Their recipe called for 5 pounds of ribs and I was feeding 2 people, so I halved everything.)

If you’re wondering why there are only four ribs in this photo, it has nothing to do with portioning. The carnage at the scene of the grill was something any horror film director would have been proud of.  The ribs never stood a chance.  I almost feel sorry for them, or I would have if I hadn’t fallen fairly quickly into a food induced coma.

I can’t recommend this marinade highly enough. The ribs were moist, packed with flavor and succulent beyond belief. The slight char (seen above) that was caused by a hot-spot flare up on the grill only served to make the few ribs that got singed even better than they were before…  I swear, I HAVE to make these again…  Often.

Now, as for how this qualifies as Frugal Fridays material..  A quick breakdown goes like this …

Most ingredients were left over portions from other FF meals. Total cost… $0.00 for this round. The ribs totalled in at $4.50.  The rice we had on the side, maybe 40 cents, including the green onions. So in reality, I could have fed close to eight people for just a dollar or two more and one more inexpensive side dish, all for well under $10.00.

Now go make these ribs…  Right now…  Yes, YOU!  Go.  You’ll thank me for it.

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(You could also call it a California Steak Salad, but I hate branding a thing “Californian” just because it uses Avocado and Sprouts.)

It was all about a quick and healthy lunch.  I had a basic idea of combining a few Asian flavors with some darned good fruits and veggies I’d found at the market.  For the protein, some beautiful beef top chuck blade steaks.  For the fruit, a nice avocado. And for the veggies, some of the freshest alfalfa sprouts I’ve seen since moving to Texas.  The dressing was pretty simple to figure out as well, since stone fruit is to beef what apples are to pork and citrus is to chicken, I’d just use a little plum sauce to make a vinaigrette and call it fantastic.

Fantastic isn’t even close.  Not by a long shot.

I have a new go-to meal.  The flavors, the textures, the aromas…  All of them make me a bit woozy in their perfection and balance.  Just the right amount of sweetness from the dressing, tanginess from the vinegar and the succulence of the avocado and beef paired with the bitter crunch of the scallions and alfalfa sprouts sing a kind of symphony of wondrous voices.  It’s truly a thing of beauty, and one I highly recommend to anyone.  The fat lady has sung.  It was perfection.

If you only ever make one of my more California inspired dishes, make this one!

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Read the rest of Pan Seared Beef with Avocado, Alfalfa Sprouts and Plum Vinaigrette (385 words)

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For most of us Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, the start of grilling season and provides that much needed three day weekend for tackling projects around the home.  It’s a time of back yard barbecues, dinner parties and any other social gathering we can find an excuse to hold outside in nice warm weather. (O.K. it’s already hot here, but we’re still outside anyway..)

Our family spent Memorial Day alone at home.  This isn’t because we weren’t invited anywhere, but because there were things that needed to be finished in our new house.  This doesn’t mean we didn’t whip out some good food on Monday though! What would Memorial Day Weekend be without a little grilling time?

The burger pictured above is simple.  It’s a recipe I’ve made in many variations before.  There is nothing new or exciting about the way it was made or the ingredients chosen.  It’s just summer’s basic comfort food and it is something I don’t feel a need to play with much, at least not the first time I grill up some burgers for the year. (Of course, I’ll get more adventurous as the season rolls on…)

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Read the rest of I’ll have a cheeseburger with a side of memories, please. (500 words)

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Making Asian inspired dishes should not be daunting. While it’s true that there are a lot of very complicated recipes for Oriental cuisine, there are likewise a ton of simple recipes you can experiment with while you master the techniques. The trick is to play with the flavors available in your local ethnic aisle and find what you like. Before you know it, your friends will be calling you for take-out orders!

I created this dish for my wife, who has issues with spicy foods (and therefore most off the shelf Asian sauces and glazes.) Plum sauce is very mildly spiced and lends not only a wonderful flavor, but a rather intense glaze to this simple stir fried beef. The ingredient list can be found at any Mega-Mart, prep time is only a few minutes and cook time is nearly instant. This one will Wow you, I promise!

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Read the rest of Beef in Plum Sauce (311 words)

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What do you do with a few pounds of leftover brisket? That depends. If you’re cooing for several people there alre a lot of things you could do with it, from noodle toppings to sammiches. When you’re cooking for one grumpy foodie with a sinus infection coming on… Well, you do whatever makes him happy, and that’s exactly what I did.

To be honest, I didn’t know I was ill at the time. I knew that I had a craving for surf and turf, but that I had a slight headache and not much of an appetite. I did a quick search for shrimp recipes, came across a whole bunch for bacon wrapped shrimp and since I didn’t happen to have any bacon on hand, the inspiration for this dish was born.

My reasoning? Well, bacon is smoked, salted and cured. The brisket I had made two days before was smoked and well spiced, it was refrigerated and so could be cut paper thin if desired and it had the basic shape I was after… It all sounded right somehow.

And it was… Oh, It Was!

I’m not saying that this requires a barbecued brisket. I think this recipe would work just as well with a marinated flank steak, a skirt steak or even a New York strip. Because this is a sauteed shrimp, just be sure that whatever beef you choose has already been cooked, and preferably refrigerated well before you get started or you’ll risk rubbery shrimp… Not something I look forward to.

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I’m dedicating this post to Lydia of the Perfect Pantry, who requested brisket the last time I did barbecue, and every expatriate Texan out there, including of course the lovely Lisa from the Homesick Texan. I wish you could have been here to enjoy with us!

4:45am:

The food blogger rouses himself from a quiet and peaceful slumber and staggers to the coffee maker. He realizes he had planned to wake at 5:30, so the infernal machine hasn’t started brewing yet. He punches the start button and plops down at his desk to check the night’s emails until brewing is done.

4:50am:

The food blogger is roused from a quick nap by the beeping of the coffee maker. It seems he has fallen asleep at the keyboard again. One cup of high octane sludge later, he is ready to proceed with the day as planned.

5:10am:

The blogger pours himself another cup, adds a bit of sugar (which he had forgotten on the first round but had been too tired to correct) and inspects the contents of his refrigerator. Inside he finds a 3.4 pound pork butt roast and a 2.8 pound brisket which have been resting happily throughout the night after their evening massage in BBQ spice rub. they look content and are moved to the stove top to come to room temperature while the food blogger continues.

5:25am:

The food blogger lights a small pile of briquettes in the fire box of his combination smoker/grill and makes sure that the mesquite wood chips are nearby, opened and present in sufficient quantity. With the fire happily started, the food blogger enjoys the sounds of pre-dawn morning while sipping happily on the remnants of his second cup of coffee.

6:00am:

With the coals now colored a lovely gray and glowing warmly in the smoker box, the food blogger gets down to business. A few quick photos of the ingredients are snapped, another cup of coffee is poured and the dog is let out on his tether. (can’t control his schedule, he needed to go). The blogger, the coffee and the two marinated pieces of USDA choice head outside to begin their long, slow day.

6:05am:

The meat is placed on the grill as far away from the fire box as possible, a probe thermometer is laid on the grate next to the meat to ensure that the grill’s built-in analog thermometer isn’t lying and the lid is closed, not to be opened for somewhere around four hours.

Mesquite chips are added to the charcoal for smoke, first some smaller pieces then, once those have caught fire, a few hand-sized chunks get plopped on. The fire box door is closed and the vents on the smoker are set to half-open. The food blogger wanders back ito the house to see about other projects for a bit.

6:30am:

The food blogger turned pit-master checks the temperature in the smoker box and inspects the fire. unsatisfied with the amount of smoke present, he adds a few more pieces of mesquite to the fire box. with the smoker box temperature hovering between 150 degrees and 200 degrees Fahrenheit, the food blogger retreats to a 20 minute timed run at Resident Evil 4, which is still kicking his buttocks.

O.K., Enough with the campy Play-By-Play!

(O.K. O.K…. I couldn’t resist, I’m sorry!)

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Read the rest of Texas Style Barbecue, Brisket, Pork Butt Roast and Sausages (741 words)

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As a long time cook I am well aware that nearly nothing I make is a completely original creation. In most cases I probably couldn’t tell you what the original dish that inspired me was. It may have been something I saw in a cookbook, a magazine or on television several years ago. It may have been a dish I used to make when I cooked professionally, well over 20 years ago. Regardless, for some reason the concept of the dish stuck with me, and I feel compelled to revisit it at some later date with no real guidance at all save my memories of the flavor combinations. This dish is not one of those.

In this case, I know precisely what inspired me. When I saw Peter’s recipe for “Steak Sandwich, Greek Style” on his blog, Souvlaki for the Soul, I knew I would be doing something similar. The concept itself was simply brilliant. A simple and elegant combination of flavors that I could not begin to find fault with. Even though Peter’s “steak” was actually lamb, which is quite a luxury item here in Texas. ($8.99-$12.99 per pound), I was pretty certain I could come up with something along the same lines using beef, which we have in abundance around these parts (And can be found for less than $1.00 per pound, if you know where to look.).

The result? According to Mrs. Seat of her Pants, this was one of the best dishes of the year. I think I have to agree, really. In the end though, I owe the idea to Peter, who got the gears in my head spinning. It’s a very nice and very rare occasion to be able to give credit where it is due and I’m glad to be able to do so.

I, My wife and our stomachs thank you, mate!

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Read the rest of Steak and Field Green Salad with Tzatziki and Feta (303 words)

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As much as I appreciate Texas Red Chili, it’s not what I crave when I’m in the mood for a bowl of chili.  The chili I crave is a variation of the chili my father used to make when I was young and even though it’s never won a competition, I’ve never had a single ladle-full come back from one, either. (The winner’s can’t usually say that, but I think around here the chili is simply graded on how quickly it destroys your taste buds.)

This chili recipe pays homage to my Native American ancestors, who grew beans, corn and squash when they were transplanted to the arid lands of Oklahoma.  They learned quickly from the already native peoples that these three crops grow well together, and are even considered to be the mothers of life by some tribes.  I’ve seen many variations of this particular recipe, but this is mine, with twists from my father’s original recipe throw in.  If you feel the need, you can call this a recipe for “chili beans”.  It really depends on where you’re from, I think.

The first step for creating a perfect chili is choosing the right meat.  I’ve used London Broil and Tri-Tip with success, but by far my favorite meat for this dish is a well marbled chuck roast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Chuck will not only withstand the long cooking times involved, but also ads quite a lot of flavor to the dish, something a leaner cut of beef has a difficult time accomplishing. (For those who are about to scream in horror over the fact that the roast was cut on a wooden board, take heart.  three minutes after I was done cutting the board had been washed, sterilized with a bleach/water solution and resealed with mineral oil, good to go for chopping veggies.)

Just as important as the selection of meats is the searing of the chuck itself and the vessel that is used to cook the chili.  You absolutely must use a very heavy cast iron casserole or dutch oven, both because of the heat retention properties of the dutch oven itself and because the sear should leave bits on the bottom of the pot.  A nonstick pan does not collect these bits and flavor is lost.  Definitely not an ideal situation.  The heavy lid of a dutch oven helps as well, since it helps to hold in moisture when simmering for extremely long periods over very low heat.

This is not a terribly spicy chili.  It’s geared for flavor, not heat, which is what I prefer, and it means my wife can eat more of it as well, since she has a reaction to too much spice in her food.

The amounts given below are fairly loose.  If you’d like it hotter, add more chipotle or add some cayenne pepper.  Like it thicker?  Add a bit more Masa.  Like it thinner?  Leave out the Masa altogether.  In any case, give it a try, tweak to your liking and lemme know what you think.  I’ve been perfecting this recipe for the last 20 years, so for me it’s simply the best bowl of chili I’ve ever had, hands down.  I’ve also never heard anyone say they didn’t like it. (But I’m sure there are some out there who wouldn’t)

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Read the rest of Beef and Butternut Squash Chili with Beans (a.k.a Jerry’s Texoma Chili) (480 words)

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Texans in general are a laid back bunch of folks. We’re generally not in a big hurry to get from place to place, and rather than seeing people power walk through a parking lot to get back to their car, you are far more likely to see a person “mosey” while yapping happily with the grocery store bagger. We take our time at registers, we smile a lot and we tend to be soft spoken and to the point. There are however, two sure fire ways to start a discussion that will become loud, heated and passionate, no matter where you happen to be.

The first of these subjects is football. football really is a religion in Texas. Disagreements on favorite teams or favorite players almost instantly become boisterous, and have been known to end up in brawls. Mention that you’re a Cowboys fan and I guarantee that a Texans fan will pipe up from somewhere in the room. You’re an Aggies fan? That’s going to get you yelled at by a Longhorns fan in a hurry. The discussions on who has the better team, better players, better stadium… The list goes on. (Do not mention football at all if your favorite team is from outside the Lone Star State, this may cause a riot! You are taking your safety into your own hands at this point.)

The second sure fire method to start an argument in Texas is to talk about chili. The official food of The Great State of Texas is chili. This particular variety of chili is probably different from what you are used to finding if you live anywhere else in the country. This chili is known quite simply as Texas Red. It is unanimous that Texas Red shall be composed of only meat and sauce. There are no beans, no rice, no noodles, nor any other fillers in this dish. This meat will be beef! Not pork, chicken, rabbit or any other non bovine ingredient shall now, or ever be used in Texas Red. It is also unanimously held that this chili must be hot. Very hot. Hot enough to make a seasoned cowhand sweat in February, or make small children cry at the very mention of the dish. Wimpy chili’s need not apply here.

Knowing all this, you may wonder where any discussion comes in. If everyone agrees on those points, why would anyone argue at all? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because nobody can agree on the actual recipe for Texas Red Chili!

Chili is such a passion in Texas that we hold annual competitions. These competitions have hundreds if not thousands of entrants, and each and every one of those entrants has a different recipe for the perfect pot of Texas Red. These recipe differences are not limited to competitions. Every home chili cook has their own twist on the amounts and types of ingredients used. Some like Lisa, the Homesick Texan, will tell you that you should never, ever use ground beef. others will say that her additions of Mexican chocolate and lime juice are complete blasphemy, deserving of exile from Texas itself. There are disagreements on fresh vs. powdered ingredients, whether or not tomatoes or tomato sauce is allowed, cheese or no cheese in the chili itself, the amount of spices to use, how hot is too hot… The list goes on and on.

These differences are compounded by the sheer size of the state. Texas is huge. With a land mass of 267,338 square miles , Texas is large enough that even the most basic of regional dishes changes within her borders. In Southern Texas, which is closer to Mexico, things are going to be spicier than they will be in Northern Texas, which borders Oklahoma. In East Texas, the flavors of Louisiana and Arkansas creep in to the daily diet, while in West Texas the influences of New Mexico are frequently present. Central Texas is a huge mish-mash of all of these flavors, so it’s pretty easy to see where we might disagree on some things, isn’t it?

In the end, I present to you my version of Texas Red. I’m sure that others out there will say that it isn’t the correct recipe, or that I’ve done something wrong. But then that is generally said of anyone who makes Texas Red, so if it is the case, I’ll take the heat!

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Read the rest of Texas Red. Chili, That Is (451 words)

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Slow cooked, rich, sumptuous and packed with flavor. Braised short ribs are well worth the time and effort to make them. If you’ve had a dish like this before, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, shame on you! Rush down to the store right this minute with a printed copy of this recipe and get cooking!

You’ll be glad you did, I assure you.

Go ahead, I’ll wait…

…

Are you back with the ingredients? Good, I’ll continue.

Meals like this can be cooked on the stove, but I prefer the oven method, mostly because I don’t have to worry about charring the bottom of the dish. The oven gives more control over the process, but this is also a great slow cooker dish. Just sear your ribs first, then deglaze that pan with onions and wine, add everything to the slow cooker and set it to low, forget it for 8 hours and viola! Perfect braised numminess each and every time.

Any way you cook these, just do.

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Read the rest of Braised Beef Short Ribs (391 words)

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What do you do with a lonely little piece of leftover chuck roast? You can always make a barbecue beef sammich, or just nibble it to death as a snack, but why not give it a bit of pride in its demise and turn it into something completely different and absolutely fabulous!…

But what would that be?

In this case, the inspiration came from my sister, who sent me a wonderful birthday gift, including plum sauce, sea salt, black bean garlic sauce, a couple sea salt grinders, the cutest outfit for Mr. seat of his Diaper, and a jar of oriental barbecue sauce.

A quick look in the crisper showed half of a bag of Italian salad greens, some arugula, shredded carrots, and my course was set. That lonely lil’ piece of leftover roast beef had a new destiny, and it was going Asian.

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Read the rest of Barbecued Asian Beef Salad (423 words)

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Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, the other night was no exception. The plan was simple and I had high aspirations. I was going to introduce my wife to the epitome of cooking with wine, the extravaganza of culinary wonderment and simplicity that is beef bouguignon (beef burgundy). Not only would it be a wonderful dinner for a cold, rainy Texas night, but it was the perfect excuse to pull out my new casserole/dutch oven.

Unfortunately for me, that’s not the way things turned out. I don’t know if the cards were stacked against me, or if Elvis, Jimmy Hoffa and Robert Goulet got together and decided to play a prank on me. In any case, the dinner I planned was apparently not meant to be.

I was sure I had everything I needed. I’d been planning to make beef burgundy for weeks, and had stocked the ingredients well in advance. Here’s how it played out.

• I bounced excitedly into the kitchen to slice the beef… Not gonna happen, it was still frozen in the middle.
• I went to pull out the mushrooms… Ugh! Those were white mushrooms when I bought them, weren’t they?
• Fine, I can live without the mushrooms, I suppose. I’ll just grab the egg noodles… That I used last week for a pasta salad.

After sputtering expletives and downing one or two glasses of the Gallo Twin Valley Hearty Burgundy that I’d picked up especially for this meal, I gathered myself together and hit the internet for some ideas I could use with the ingredients that were in my pantry.

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Read the rest of Burgundy Beef Roast (354 words)

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Vegetarians and vegans avert your eyes! This dish is a carnivore’s delight, and may cause squeamishness in those with different lifestyles.

Kelaguen (ke-la-gwen, also spelled as kelaquin and keliguen though I believe that the first spelling is correct) is a traditional dish of the Chamorro peoples of the Marianna Islands. Kelaguen is a method of cooking whereby the marinade cooks the meat, much like a Ceviche. (Yup, it’s raw beef!) I highly recommend knowing your butcher if you plan on making this dish, as you’ll want the freshest beef possible.

I was introduced to Kelaguen by my ex wife and our Guamanian next door neighbor in the early nineties, and have made it as often as possible ever since. The combination of beef (kåtne), citrus and peppers is wonderful to say the least. This is an Americanized version that was “toned down” for American palettes when our neighbor made it for us the first time. The more authentic recipes read like a who’s-who of spicy, and are generally made of meat that is nearly minced, but this is the version I was introduced to originally, and I’ve stayed faithful to it.

(Besides, cutting the meat in larger pieces makes it perfect for chopsticks!)

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I feel like I’m breaking some sort of oath with myself by releasing this recipe. I’ve guarded this one with my life on more than one occasion, refusing to allow the grail of roast preparation out of the confines of my own kitchen. For me this is something akin to letting a national secret slip into the wrong hands, but the decision has been made and there’s no going back now.

It’s probably guilt that’s motivating this decision. I’m not usually wont to be a recipe hog. Generally I’ll chat and give (and receive) recipe hints anywhere that I can. In the grocery store, at the checkout, at the bank, at dinner at someone’s house, or on the phone. But not this… This one is different.

This is, quite simply the best damned beef roast short of a standing rib roast that you’ll ever eat, and for the first time in my life, I’m going to spill the recipe.

“Please take note, Mr or Mrs Bond, this message will self destruct 10 seconds after completion and will not be repeated”

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Read the rest of Brandy Braised Beef (560 words)

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A little late on my part, I know, but I thought I’d share what Mrs. seat of her Pants and I shared for our belated St. Patrick’s day meal.

Generally speaking, I go large for our St. Paddy’s day celebration. Corned Beef, Guinness for myself and Killian’s for the Mrs. (She’s not a fan of stout) and some good “Irish Movie” (whatever that is. I just tend to rent something I remember watching as a kid with my mother. Generally something like “The Silent Man” or “The bells of St. Mary”)

This year my wife had a bridal shower/wine tasting with a few friends (Italian friends… I nearly fell over, but I suppose it’s not a tradition for them, so they didn’t think about it.) She was compelled to go, and I wasn’t about to make a production out of the evening for myself. (I ended up making Ramen with frozen shrimp and broccoli, but that’s another story.)

Sunday came along with dreams of making all of the above mentioned, perhaps with some champ or other lovely old country side. Unfortunately, Mr. seat of his Diaper had plans of his own, most of which included keeping my wife and myself very busy tending to his needs rather than anything fancier than what I threw together.

A lot of folks would call this a New England Boiled Dinner. I beg to differ. This was the corned beef my mother made every St. Paddy’s day for the first 25 years of my life. Our home had precisely one cabbage lover, my father. He was summarily overruled in his request for corned beef and cabbage by his lovely (and extremely Irish/Cherokee) wife and two children right up until the day he moved out when I was 16. I’m hopeful that he managed to get his requested dinner on the following holidays before he passed away, but I wasn’t around by that point to find out.

I will concede that this isn’t the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage served by most Irish American families, and so I’ve just dubbed it Corned Beef and Potatoes though really I just think of it as “Mom’s corned beef”. In any case, it’s something worth making more than once per year, and I usually get around to it about four times between one St. Paddy’s Day and the next, jut because I love the flavor, the memories and the simplicity of the entire affair.

Being a very old family dish, I have no recipe for this. I simply use the same method that my mother and her mother before her used, and I’ll detail it for you here.

*Note: You won’t find my usual “What I would have done differently…” section in regards to this post. I will never do anything differently with this dish, regardless of what the Dr. might tell me about sodium intake. Period.

Corned Beef and Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 large corned beef brisket (4-6 lbs)
1 large onion
6-10 new (red/Irish) potatoes, depending on size, quartered and halved
3 large carrots, chopped large

Method:

Place corned beef in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add the seasoning included in the package. (No, I don’t rinse mine.) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered, adding water as necessary until brisket is fork tender, or cooked to the desired doneness.

Toss in veggies and add enough water to cover. Cover pot and allow to simmer until veggies are done to your liking.

Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

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