WEEKEND ON THE GRILL: Asian Inspired Marinated Beef

Sometimes, I get in a rut on the barbecue...steaks, chops, hot dogs, burgers, chicken...and just want to break out and do something different. Lately, we've been watching some travel shows and drooling over the food shown from Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Japan. I want to make something more like that.

A few weeks ago, we had a cheap, easy version of a teriyaki bowl featuring Trader Joe's Korean inspired Bool Kogi. Today, we're doing it from scratch.

I've put together a very tasty marinade and am letting my skirt steak soak in it overnight, then will grill it up and see how good we can get it.

First, the ingredients:

Marinade:
1/4 cup - Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup - low sodium soy sauce
3 teaspoons - honey
1 tablespoon - olive oil
1 teaspoon - Chinese five-spice powder
1 teaspoon - mince garlic

Plus:
2 lbs - skirt steak
3 - sliced green onions

Mix the ingredients for the marinade, put steak in sealable bowl or plastic bag. Pour marinade in to soak and refrigerate overnight.  Cook on grill, 3 minutes per side over direct head and 5 minutes per side over indirect heat, covered.

On the side, I'm making grilled corn on the cob, elote style. I've steamed some corn, cut each cob in half, and then cook over direct coals, 5 minutes per side. Apply some mayonnaise and parmesan cheese before serving.

In addition, I'm cooking some zucchini in foil and grilling pineapple slices...5 minutes per side direct heat...putting a few mandarin orange slices and serving all up on a bowl over rice.

Add the green onion over the top after you've put it all in a bowl.

The leftovers also make a superior steak 'n eggs omelet for the next day's breakfast.

This week's gardening:
Picking weeds out of the lawn, deadheading the roses for the last time in the season, spraying deer repellent on the front yard bushes.

Stop by the Musick Channel Garage Sale to pick up some treasures from our stash of over thirty years of collecting, like these great Liberty Falls collectibles which would look great under your Christmas tree.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

Cheap and Easy...Trader Joe's Bool Kogi

While we've been known to get pretty elaborate with our recipes here on the blog, it's a bit much to expect to sit over a hot stove on a summer day when the temps are trending over 110 degrees. Still want to eat at home but without too much effort.

That's where the magic of Trader Joe's comes in. Here there are plenty ready to eat and pre-prepared groceries that are delicious and easy to cook.

Recently, it was another dreadfully hot Sunday and...honestly...cooking was the last thing I wanted to do but it is my responsibility to provide the meals on that day. I was picking up some staples like milk and eggs at my local Trader Joe's, thinking about what quick-serve place I could go to pick up dinner that night.

For some reason, I wandered over to the pre-prepared foods cooler just to see what was there. The 'Bool Kogi,' TJ's bulgogi Korean-style beef, looked good and easy so I picked up a package.

To get to the point, this made for a easy, quick dinner. I put some rice in the steamer, fired up my Weber grill with a load of charcoal, and opened the package.

Basically, it's flank steak marinated with a variety of Asian style seasonings and sesame seeds...sort of a Korean carne asada.

The hot grill made short work of cooking the meat.  So I chopped it up and served over rice in a bowl.  Not bad but needed a little extra. We had a few lefter over Waba sauce packets (teriyaki sauce that's served at the Waba Grill restaurant chain) and put a little on top.

There it is...quick, delicious teriyaki bowls made at home for a fraction of what I'd pay at a take out place.

Better than that, we had plenty of meat left over. The next morning, I threw a handful in a skillet and cracked open some eggs.

Pour an egg, cream, salt and pepper mix over it...sprinkle on some shredded cheese...and scramble to make some of the most delicious steak and eggs I've had in quite awhile.

This Week's Gardening - 

Weeding and trimming, mostly, like cutting back on the deadheads of this glaucous daisy I have growing around my mailbox.

You can already see new flower buds coming. Also, spraying the front yard roses with deer repellent. Let's see if that works, and doing a sprinkler check for clogged emitters.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Swedish Meatballs

When I started this blog, I told you I'd tell you success or fail on my recipes. Hmm, I thought these were good, and they're a very good leftover, but my wife has suggested a couple of changes to make them better, which is noted in the recipe below.

I had a big hunk of ground beef sitting in the freezer so why not make some meatballs for a cool, winter Sunday.

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
4 green onions - 1  well chopped medium onion, instead
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt - 1 teaspoon instead
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups brown rice
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cook the two cups of brown rice in a rice steamer with one can of chicken broth. Fill with water to get enough liquid to cook the rice.

In a large bowl, mix the beef, eggs, bread crumbs, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice all together.

Put a large sheet of wax paper on the counter and make balls, 1-1.5 inches in diameter, and put them on the wax paper. After making enough meatballs for around three per person, take a gallon size, sealable plastic bag. Line with wax paper, put any extra meatballs in there to store in the freezer for a future meal.

Wash and dry the bowl, transfer enough meatballs for around three per person...separated by wax paper...in the bowl and save for later.

When the rice is ready, in a large skillet, heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium/high heat. Cook the meatballs until brown on all sides, turning every couple of minutes for an even cook.  Place back in the bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil. Put the onions in and cook until translucent. Stir in the flour slowly and cook until the flour is brown. Add the other can of chicken broth. Boil for 5-6 minutes, stirring. Turn heat down to medium/low.

Stir in the cream. Simmer for 5-6 minutes. 

Stir again and add the meatballs.

Serve over the rice.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved