Soft Tacos with Grilled "Flap" Steak

Well, look what came home with me from my latest foray to the Williams-Sonoma class the other weekend.  The Cook and the Butcher cookbook somehow followed me home and flipped open to a delicious looking "flap steak" recipe and voila...Sunday dinner!

This cookbook is written by Brigit Binns for Williams-Sonoma. What I like about it is that each chapter is designed to educate novice chefs like me from the perspective of butchers.   I haven't devoured it from cover to cover yet.  To be honest, I am a little intimidated.  I get really confused by all of the names of beef as well as the varieties of cooking methods.  I can tell, though, that this book is going to sort it all out.

Patrick and I were in Dallas a few weekends ago.  We went to meet his brother's fiance.  She is from Mexico and made us the most delicious, authentic breakfast soft tacos.  I thought I would just eat one  and ended up eating three (piggish...I know.  Thats why we are food bloggers).

Well, the next William-Sonoma class  was covering meats and grilling.  How timely because I wanted to duplicate the delicious flavors of the beef we had in Dallas.  The smell in the store drove everyone beserk it was so aromatic.  Our adorable chef, Jill, caramelized onions for us to sample alongside the meats she cooked.  I especially liked the ease and flavor of skirt  steak.  Whole Foods was out of skirt steak and the butcher said "flap" steak would work just as well.  

I am now getting acquainted with my butcher at Whole Foods.  Isn't that great?  You know how you always hear "Just ask your butcher this question...or that question".  Ha!  I couldn't even imagine a grocery store butcher taking time with me.  However, I have started talking with the people at Whole Foods in the meat as well as seafood department and they are so wonderful!  Really!

In addition to this hefty new grilling cookbook making its way home with me, I also bought what I consider to be the best cooking purchase ever!  I picked up the new All-Clad "instant read thermometer".   This is a great tool for grilling meats.  We used it on the leg of lamb the other day and it worked beautifully.  The fear of over-cooking or under cooking meat has often made me pass on trying out a recipe.  

In fact, M. has been down with a cold for a few days now.  I considered telling her to pop this meat thermometer in her mouth so we could figure out if she had a fever.   I didn't do it.  You know, she is a teenager and all.  My humor just doesn't seem to work well on the teenage variety.


A dry rub we have tried out since moving to Texas has quickly become our favorite.  Its called "Rub Grub".  Yep.  Its Texan alright. This rub is amazing on barbeque.  I seasoned the flap steak with this before it went on the grill.  Delicious.


Time to get serious and dig into this new cookbook and learn more about beef selections.

I do know one 4-legged creature that certainly was thrilled with this new cookbook find.  His name is Chester and he is hoping that I read it from cover to cover and apply any newfound learning.  Often. 

I know your not supposed to feed your pets table scraps.  But look at that face!

Did we hand out secret tidbits under the table?  Geesh.  No one ever tells.  But, he sure does seem to be snoozing rather dreamily...

Grilled "Flap" Steak:

(from The Cook & The Butcher cookbook, p. 52)

1 skirt (flap, hanger or flank stead will also do)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Rub Grub (Sarah's addition)

Place the steak in a nonreactive baking dish.  Brush both sides with the oil and season generously with salt and pepper (and Rub Grub).  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.

Remove the steak from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes.  Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct-heat grilling over high heat, or preheat a cast-iron stove top grill pan over high heat.  Place the steak on the grill rack over the hottest part of the fire or in the grill pan, and cook without moving it for about 1 1/2 minutes.  Turn and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the steak registers 130º-135ºF (54º-57ºC) for medium-rare, 1-3 minutes more, or to your desired doneness.  Transfer the steak to a platter and let rest, loosely covered, for about 5 minutes.

Cut the steak across the grain and on the diagonal into the slices and about 1/2 inch (12mm) thick.  Arrange toppings and heat soft tacos and serve!

Stir-fried Leeks with Beef and Beancurd

It's Chinese New Year! Back home, my family's probably having a feast with lots of abalone and sea cucumber and roast duck ): The Chinese New Year fare is not only about the expensive or rare ingredients though, often it's the simple vegetables that shine. I love leeks, and as my mum happily informed me, that's going to bring me lots of wealth. Leeks are 蒜苗/大蒜 ('suan'), which sounds like “算”i.e. count, so the Chinese believe it means you will have lots of money to count. You could do it minus the beancurd too, or with extra vegetables like carrots, but the golden beancurd represents happiness (white tofu not recommended..white=death?) I can't promise you'll suddenly get a windfall with this, but no harm having some lucky food in you right? ;)

Stir-fried Leeks with Beef and Beancurd

serves 2-3

200g beef rump (it's a cheap cut but check out the Chinese stir-fry tips I learnt on how to make cheap meats tender even if you aren't slow-cooking it!)

1 medium leek, sliced into about 5cm long pieces

100g firm beancurd, chopped into medium pieces

1 red chilli, sliced thinly

2cm ginger, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp of olive oil+2 tbsp of coconut oil/palm oil

For marinade and velveting

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp good (naturally aged) soy sauce

pinch of five-spice powder

few drop sesame oil

For sauce

4 tbsp of homemade stock

1 tbsp good (naturally aged) soy sauce

1 tsp of Chinese rice wine (shaoxing/huadiao)

1 tsp Chinese black vinegar

1/2 tsp of sesame oil

pinch of sugar

1tsp of cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water (to thicken)

Method

1. Slice the beef thinly against the grain. Mix well with the marinade and then leave it aside for 30 min.

2. Meanwhile, you can prep your ingredients, wash the dirt off the leeks and chop everything up. Also, mix the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch and water so later you can have a relaxing stir fry.

3. Over med-high heat, add half the oil and fry the firm beancurd for about 5 min till light brown and set aside.

4. 30 min should have passed. Over high heat, add the rest of the oil and flash-fry the beef for 1 min, then remove from the pan (sorry no wok) and let drain and set aside.

5. Add the ginger and garlic to the hot oil, fry till fragrant. Add the leeks and chilli and cook till the leeks soften.

6. Add the sauce, which should help deglaze the pan. Let it come to the boil, then reduce the heat.

7. Stir in the cornstarch slurry a little at a time till you get the consistency you want. Note: it will thicken after it cools, so don't go pouring everything at a go!

8. Add the beef and beancurd (finally all the ingredients are happily together!) and stirfry for 2 min or so, making sure everything's coated.

9. Serve over a steaming bowl of rice (:

The beef, prepared this way, is really tender, oozing with juices and flavour-- no need for expensive sirloin steak cuts. Yay for frugal ingredients (:

Some hae meat and canna eat

I've been neglecting my Giraffes this week somewhat - blame it on the Bard!  But decided to do steak as a treat for a "Friday Night In" so bring on the Teriyaki Beef Rib Steak with Asparagus and Green Onions - Page 100.  I even managed to take the steaks out of the freezer in plenty time so they could defrost and then marinate overnight - I think I deserve a big pat on the back for that!  Talking of steaks I get mine from Donald Russell  I now wouldn't go anywhere else - their meat in general, but steaks especially are to die for and they offer your money back if you've ever tasted better  how's that for a guarantee?!

So my lovely sirloin steaks marinated overnight in the Teriyaki sauce, ginger and garlic.  I'll share a secret with you regarding those two ingreedients - I use Dorot Frozen Herb Cubes  They are so handy - none of this battling with a knarly chunk of ginger and a grater.  I've got the chilli and the corriander ones in my freezer too but they do a whole range.  I get them at Sainsburys which seems to be their only UK stockist.

Now I like my steak rare so I just gave it 2 minutes on each side and then rested it.  You can give it longer if you are not so keen on the possibility of it getting up and running off your plate.  It was absolutely divine - the marinade really worked well.  Some folk might get caught out as the soy sauce and wasabi required for serving aren't listed in the ingreedients but luckily its something I had in my storecupboard anyway.

Not so sure on the asparagus and green onions.  They were a bit limp for my liking.  Method says to blanch and then refresh - perhaps I did this wrongly but they went soggy on me.  Next time I wouldn't bother and would just chuck them on the griddle pan from fresh.  Will definately be making this one again - we hae meat and we can eat, sae let the Lord be thankit!

A Labor for my Love...

Beef Tenderloin with sauteed mushrooms wrapped in pastry

Monday was Labor Day in the U.S.  We had a wonderful relaxing weekend.  Patrick's birthday is today but we decided to spend Labor Day festooning him with birthday treats.  

I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted this year for his birthday.  

This took much deliberation and it was days later that I got an answer.  

A Buche de Noel cake.  

This is the yearly french Christmas cake that I make, ahem...at Christmas time.  Its pretty labor intensive so I slightly winced but was amused at his selection nonetheless.  Patrick LOVES homemade goodies.  Nothing storebought will suit his palate when it comes to desserts.  He makes wonderful pies, cookies and other yummy sweet delectibles...All from scratch, so he knows when one has cheated.  

We are a week away now from going to France so I pulled out the french cookbook that our french family gave us as a gift for hosting their daughter a few years back.  The recipes all look delicious (and highly caloric) 

but 

they are all in french.  

I speak a fair amount of french but all of the french units are different so figuring out quantities and measurements seem daunting.  

I decided to try out a beef tenderloin wrapped in pastry dough filled with julienned vegetables.  It looked so yummy in the cookbook, sort of like Beef Wellington, and that is one of Patrick's favorites.  I was at Sam's meat section and saw all of the meat was cut into steaks instead of one long cut so I went ahead and bought that.  

We decided instead of braising them on the stove top to do it on the grill with this rub that Patrick found this summer.  

Its called 

RubGrub 

and it is 

YUMMY.  

I know, the name is really tacky but it has made all of our barbeques this summer delicious.  

I julienned the shallots and carrots and sauteed them in butter and put them aside.  When the steaks were done, I rolled out the filo dough, separated it into 4 sections, spread the vege mixture on each one, placed a steak on top and then rolled them up into cute packages.  The recipe said to brush each with egg yolks all over so I did that and put them into the oven.  

20 minutes later, 

they were golden, crisp packages and the aroma filled the entire house.  

Chester and the cats were dancing around and the kids were wandering in and out sniffing with anticipation.

Next up for Patrick's birthday dinner was Potatoes Au Gratin with thyme and carmelized onions.  

This is a recipe that I found in 

Bon Appetit 

and added to my collection of favorites in my binder.  Its a pretty dish, tastes divinely rich and smells so armomatic while cooking in the oven.  It requires many onion slices all cooked for 40 minutes on the stovetop in order to carmelize and create a yummy sticky texture and flavor.  The potatoes, cooked bacon, thyme, and cream are all layered until all of the ingredients are used up.  After about 40 minutes in the oven, I stick the dish under the broiler at the end to make the top all golden and crispy before bringing it to the table.  

One of my family's favorite dishes and wonderful for holiday gatherings.

I'll get to the big highlight of his birthday - 

The Buche de Noel.  

I tried to make it more fall-like instead of Christmas-y.  Anne-Gaelle, our french girl who lived with us said the cake is served in France year round, not only at Christmas but we tend to only make it during the holidays.  Its a tough cake to make.  

The cake part has to cook just long enough to be soft and malleable but not dry so that it can be rolled.  The butter cream frosting takes a while to get the sugar water combo to "hard ball" stage.  

Oh la, la.

  

I never know if its going to come out well!  All was good, 

and everyone declared it edible.  Instead of a coffee frosting, Patrick decided on vanilla, which was yummy. Riley helped me make the cake and the frosting which was cute and sweet of him.  

He really likes to be in the kitchen and definitely wants to learn how to cook.  I have him making omelets now and he does a really good job.  

We spread strawberry jam on the inside of the buche.  

I think next time, 

I would like to try something like nutella on the inside with raspberry jam.  I think that would be tasty.  

The kids set the table so pretty, we lit candles on the table and had the most wonderful family time.  Patrick opened his gifts (clothing for the trip and new steak knives) and savored the delicious food.  It was a ton of work but I was so glad to do it and create this wonderful family memory.

Patrick 

is 

the most wonderful husband 

and I really wanted to do many special things for him to show him how much we appreciate him.  Riley was adorable and declared my meal to be the best 

"at home meal" 

ever!  

When we thought we were stuffed, we somehow managed to each have a second helping of 

La Buche!  

Happy Labor Day and to my very sweet husband, Happy Birthday.

I love you.

Roast dinner

My first cooking at home was a roast on Easter Sunday

Parboil the potatoes and put in a hot roasting tin with melted goose fat this is the secret to great crispy roast potatoes .

Goose Fat is high in ‘heart healthy’ monounsaturated (55g compared to 19.8g in butter) and polyunsaturated fats (10.8g compared to 2.6g in butter).
Goose Fat is also rich in Oleic acid C18.1 (a specific type of monounsaturated fatty acid) which can lower blood cholesterol levels. Goose fat contains on average 58% oleic acid, C18.1, and is generally higher in comparison to other animal fats.

Info from here http://www.goosefat.co.uk/gfis_04.html

Oh how I miss Parsnip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsnip

Fresh herbs from the garden

I cooked the roast beef for 1 hr 30 mins at 180 degrees Celsius . Covered in foil for the first hour and the meat was sitting on garlic and onions .

Last meal 2 and 3 Good bye Korea

Typical Korean beef BBQ .

My favorite gamjatang or pork spine and potato soup.

Thanks Everyone for coming out, I miss you already .

Beef, Stout and Potatoes

So with all the American beef on sale I decides to buy some but was not so sure what I was going to do with it . So I got home a looked in the fridge . This is what I came up with Beef ,Garlic ,Onions,Potatoes ,Thyme , Rosemary ,Stout, Butter , Flour and a drop of whiskey.
I fried the onions layered them over the beef and garlic . Made a roux with the flour and butter added the whiskey and stout. Added the herbs poured over the Potatoes and beef. Put in the over at 190 Celsius for 2 hours .


Tasty

Gori gomtang- Ox Tail Soup

Next to the office of education Suncheon there is a nice little restaurant with ox tail soup .
Description on the menu calls it Internal soup and rice(beef tail).
Its 9000 won per person .

Its a great winter cold day soup.

Recipe from here http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/416580

Ox Tail Soup (Gori gomtang)
Total prep/cooking time: Up to 5 hours
Makes 4 or 5 servings

Ingredients

Basic Ingredients

4 pounds beef oxtail
8 cups water*
1/2 inch ginger
5 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt

* may use 3 cups beef broth and 5 cups water

Optional Ingredients

1 medium onion
1/4 small Daikon radish
Korean sweet potato starch noodle (glass, cellophane, or clear noodle)
salt
pepper

Basic Garnish

4 green or spring onions

Optional Garnish

8 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

Directions

Preparation

Ox Tail
If whole, seperate the ox tail at the joint.
Hand trim excess fat from the segmented ox tail. Set fat aside in a small container.
Put ox tail in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Let soak for one hour and discard water.
Rinse thouroughly.

Garlic And Ginger
Trim the hard tops from the garlic.
Slice garlic cloves in half from top to bottom.
Slice un-peeled ginger in thin diagonal slices.

Onion if used
Cut onion in half from top to bottom.

Starch noodle if used
Soak noodle in cold water for one hour (do this two hours into the cooking).

Daikon if used

Wash well and thinly slice.
Put in a small bowl and lightly salt.
Mix well and let stand ten minutes. (Do this about twenty minutes before the end of cooking)

Cooking

Place ox tail and trimmed fat in a large cooking pot with 8 cups water (or water/broth) over high heat and bring to a boil, skimming off oil and foam as needed.
Reduce heat to medium and add salt, garlic and ginger (add onion now if used).
Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, skimming as needed (until meat is almost falling from bone and broth is a milky color).
(If used, add sliced Daikon about ten minutes before end of cooking)
Remove the soup from heat.
Remove ox tail from broth with a slotted spoon and place into serving bowls.
Using a hand held strainer, remove onion and garlic solids from soup and discard.
(if used, add noodle to serving bowls)

Garnish and Serve

Chop the green/spring onions (if used, thinly slice the garlic cloves from top to bottom).
Ladle soup into serving bowls, add garnish, and season with salt/pepper to taste.

My Galbi Jim

Valentines is a coming and this recipe is special to me as it was my first date with my boyfriend 2 years ago. I consider it the Korean version of Irish stew.
Galbi Jim
Beef You should use beef short ribs I used stewing stake.
Carrots
Potatoes
Green peppers
Onion
Mushroom Shiitake
Soy sauce
Black pepper
corn syrup Mool Yut You can use honey
Sugar
Garlic
Ginger
Sesame oil
White wine vinegar or apple vinegar
you can also add chestnuts
To cook I cut up the beef added the garlic and ginger. Added a splash of corn syrup ( 3 tablespoons), pinch of sugar, a large dash of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and lots of black pepper. I brown the meat on a medium low heat for about 45 minutes then add the carrots and potatoes till cooked. I added the onion, mushrooms and peppers 10 minutes before the end.

Restaurants in Suncheon with Galbi Jim
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/11/galbi-tang-suncheon.html
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/05/galbi-jim.html

Past bake

 Sometimes I really want to cook but can really afford to go buy what ever it is I want to try.

So I have to look around my place and see what I can do.

Today I have ground beef, carrots, tomatoes and onions. 

So I start with chopping the carrots and onion. I had some blacks olives chopped them too. I found some Jalapeño, g

arlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Cooked the carrots and onions with some

 oil and added the basil, oregano, garlic, jalapeño, a squeeze of ketchup, salt and pepper.

I added a stock cube and the ground beef  a can of tomatoes and some fresh tomatoes .

I then cook some pasta I had some penne .

I mix the pasta and ground meat together and place it in a Pyrex dish (heat resistant glassware).

Top with some Parmesan and bake in the oven at 200 for 15-20 minutes.

Shabu shabu in New Core

In Suncheon we have some new restaurants in New core. Here is a nice Shabu shabu one Its 9000 per person . There is also a very nice organic Shabu shabu restaurant in Suncheon with individual hot plate Here

We went for the spicy one it really is good . 

I think this is Yuzu dipping sauce , its wonderfully refreshing.

The yuzu's flavor is tart, closely resembling that of the grapefruit, with overtones of Mandarin orange. It is rarely eaten as a fruit, though in the Japanese cuisine its aromatic zest (outer rind) is used to garnish some dishes, and its juice is commonly used as a seasoning, somewhat like the way the lemon is used in other cuisines. It is an integral ingredient (along with sudachi, daidai, and other similar fruits) in the citrus-based sauce ponzu, and yuzu vinegar is also produced. Yuzu may be used to make marmalade or as an ingredient in cakes. It is also used to make liquor (such as yuzukomachi, 柚子小町) and wine.[1][2] Yuzu kosho (also yuzukosho, literally "yuzu and pepper"), is a spicy Japanese sauce made from green or yellow yuzu zest, green or red chile peppers, and salt. Slivered yuzu rind is also used to garnish a savory, salty egg-pudding dish calledchawanmushi, as well as miso soup.[3]

Yuzu is also known for its characteristically strong aroma, and the oil from its skin is marketed as a fragrance. In Japan, bathing with yuzu on Toji(the winter solstice) is a popular custom. The whole fruits are floated in the hot water of the bath (sometimes enclosed in a cloth bag), releasing their aroma.

Here is also a nice article from the New York Times On the Yuzu fruit

In Korean cuisine, yuzu (called yuja in Korean) is used, thinly sliced and combined with sugar and honey, to make a thick, marmalade-like syrup containing pieces of the chopped rind and fruit. A tablespoon of this syrup (which can either be made at home or purchased in glass jars) stirred into a cup of hot water makes a beverage called yujacha^photo (유자차; also spelled yujacha or yuja-cha, cha meaning "tea" in Korean), or, which is used as a herbal remedy for the common cold and similar winter illnesses.

It is also used to make yuja hwachae, a variety of traditional fruit punch.

All in All a wonderful meal in a clean nice comfortable restaurant at a good price on the 7th floor of New Core.

BULBOGI NOODLE SOUP

Here is a nice soup . I believe the name is Bul Beck but I am not so sure .I would love to know the name anyone know.
Its a little sweet a very nice menu for someone not in Korea to long. This was also cheap 1300 for two . We ate this in new down town near the Come In the old Julianna's .
Most meat places will have it on the menu.