Turf | goodwilltasting

Jun 27 2015

Sliders- 2 ways

Burgers may seem like humble food but listen up- burger making is an art. There is certainly technique and timing involved if you want a juicy, crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside patty, a lightly toasted bun, and cold, crisp veggies that crunch with each bite. Listen, if you’re gonna make a burger, do it right or don’t do it at all.

This post is more about tips and techniques to help you make a better burger. For fun, I did make two different kinds: a classic American, and a teriyaki shiitake with spicy pickles. See below for the teriyaki sauce and pickle recipes, but if you want to up your burger-making game, read the whole post. To help you in the reading of this post, I’ve put all my burger-making rules in bold italic. Take notes.

Let’s start with the meat:

They say 80/20 is best (80% lean, 20% fat), and I agree. Start by rolling the meat into even-sized balls.

Smash each ball into a 1/2″-thick patty, smoothing out the edges so it doesn’t fall apart on the grill. Here’s a good rule of thumb: whatever size burger your making, always make your patty slightly bigger than the size of the bun, because there’s a lot of fat in those meat pucks and they WILL SHRINK as they cook. There are few things I dislike more than an excessive bun to meat ratio, so do this and you will thank me. Or I will thank you, whatever.

Another good rule of thumb (literally): After forming your burgers, stick your thumb into the middle of each patty to create an indentation, so that the center of each patty is thinner than the outside. Burgers tend to swell up in the middle as they cook, and if you have a completely flat raw patty, you will end up with more of a football-shaped patty when cooked. Making this little divot in the middle counteracts this burger phenomenon. This rule right here might be the only good thing I’ve gotten from Bobby Flay.

One last patty forming rule: try not to work the meat too much. The more loosely-packed the patty, the more tender it will be when you bite into it. The patty should just hold together so you can gently scoop it up without breaking it in half. Grease some foil on a cookie sheet and lay your patties on there as you wait for the grill to heat up, then the next important step:

Place your patties in the freezer for a good 5-10 minutes so they chill and firm up. This is important for a couple reasons: 1. It makes handling your loosely-packed patties easier since cooling them down will firm them up and keep them in one piece, and 2. Chilling your meat and then placing them on a HOT grill will allow the outside to caramelize and crisp up before all the fat heats up and renders out, giving you JUICY burgers.

SO, once your grill is SEARINGLY hot, drizzle a little olive oil on your patties, season liberally with S&P, and get those bad boys cooking. Listen- a lot of people like to fancy up their burgers with minced onions, chopped herbs, Worcestershire sauce, etc mixed into the meat. STOP THAT! I would say it’s permissible if you’re using other types of meat (like turkey or lamb), but if you’re using ground chuck (or better- chuck/rib/sirloin blend), just let the beef speak for itself. Salt, pepper, maybe some garlic powder is all you need.

Ashy, glowing coals = HOT. Place your patties seasoned-side down, then season the other side while the bottom is cooking. 1-2 minutes on each side should do it.

Flip your patties. This is the time you want to brush on any sauces if you’re going for any specialty burger (e.g. teriyaki burger). If you’re going classic, wait another minute as your burger continues cooking.

If you’re gonna add cheese, which I suggest you do, wait till the burger is almost done to your liking, then lay your cheese (I prefer good ol’ gooey American) on each patty and cover the grill for about 15-30 seconds to allow the cheese to melt. If you’re using a thicker or heartier cheese (like swiss or sharp cheddar) put it on a little earlier because it takes longer to melt. Personally, I don’t know why you would ever use swiss though. That cheese is the worst.

Okay, that about does it for the burger cooking portion. Let’s work on some accoutrements:

These are thinly sliced persian cucumbers with some salt added.

This is what happens when you leave salt on thinly sliced cucumbers for 10-15 minutes.

These are the salted cucumbers after you have squeezed out as much water as you could from them. Coincidentally, they are now ready for (quick) pickling.

Add your vinegar, your sugar, your sesame oil, and voila!

By the way, this is what spicy sesame oil looks like:

I also sautéed some sliced shiitake mushrooms for this burger but forgot to take pictures. It’s pretty straightforward: sauté some thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms in olive oil and a little salt and soy sauce, reserve for burger topping.

OKAY let’s talk construction. For goodness sake, TOAST YOUR BUN. Having a nice, crispy, buttered and toasted inner bun will add a little more depth in texture, and also protect your bun from getting too soggy and mushy once your patty is on there and dripping those delicious juices.

Another thing: BUN BREAD IS IMPORTANT. Any health benefit a dry, mealy, whole wheat bun can offer will not make up for the soft, pliable, toothsome and slightly sweet goodness you would be missing out on if you had a Martin’s Potato Bun instead. It’s no secret that these are the buns used by my beloved Shake Shack, so if it’s good enough for the Shack, then it’s probably way too good for me. But whatever I’m using it.

So yeah, toast your bun. You could simply slather a little mayo or melted butter on the inside of your bun and throw it on the grill (open side down, of course).

Then assemble! I like to keep all the raw components nice and cold– lettuce, tomato, and pickles stay in the fridge until time to build. My beloved In-N-Out keeps their veggies cold and crisp, and if it’s good enough for them… you get the idea.

Yum. I just like a little mayo on my burgers, but feel free to add whatever sauces you like. If you want a Shack Sauce clone recipe, check it out here: epicurious’ secret sauce clone.

Happy Grilling!

BURGERS:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs ground 80/20 chuck (80% lean, 20% fat, grass fed if you can swing it)
House seasoning (equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder)

DIRECTIONS:

Get the charcoal going on the grill.

Divide beef into 12 equal balls. The easiest way to do this is to divide all the beef into 2 halves, divide the halves into threes, and divide each third in half again. Roll each portion into a loosely packed ball.

Press each ball into a patty between your palms, then using your thumb, press a little indent into the middle of each patty. The patty should be slightly bigger in diameter than the buns you use (I’d say about 10-15% bigger).

Throw the patties in the freezer for 5 minutes, pull them out, season tops with garlic salt and pepper. Make sure the grill is HOT HOT HOT*, then throw them seasoned-side down on the grill. While grilling, season the other side the same way. Flip each burger once the bottom is browned and there are visible grill marks (about 1-2 minutes, depending on how “done” you want your burger, I like mine medium-just a little pink in the middle).

After flipping, add your cheese (for the classic burger) or brush with teriyaki sauce (for the shiitake burger), cover, and grill another 30 seconds or so until the cheese melts.

*chilling the patties, then grilling them on a super hot grill will let the patties brown and caramelize without all the fat rendering out right away. This is how you get juicy burgers, boiiiiiiii.

EASY TERIYAKI SAUCE:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup rice wine (sake or shiaoshing cooking wine is fine)
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup pineapple juice

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients and simmer over medium low heat until the sauce has thickened slightly and reduced about 10% (10-15 minutes).

QUICK SPICY PICKLES:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Persian Cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp spicy sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, sprinkle salt over the cucumbers. Let sit at room temperature about 20-30 minutes as the moisture gets pulled out. When you see about a tablespoon of liquid at the bottom of the bowl, stir the cucumbers around and in small handfuls squeeze out any remaining liquid from the cucumber slices.

In a separate bowl, mix the squeezed out cucumber slices with the vinegar, sugar, and both sesame oils. Refrigerate until ready to use.

SAUTÉED SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt

DIRECTIONS:

Saute the mushrooms in the oil over medium high heat, sprinkle salt and a splash of soy to the mushrooms, cook until tender.

Beer Pairing Recommendation: Anything. Really. It’s a burger. Go crazy! Okay if you’re really lost on this, I’ll give you a suggestion: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye. Hoppy, peppery, but not so bold that it will overwhelm the burger. Enjoy!

Tagged american cheese, BBQ, buns, burger, grilling, in n out, Martins, Potato Rolls, quick pickles, shake shack, shiitake mushrooms, slider, sliders, teriyaki sauce

Jan 22 2015

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Soup, Turf

100% All-Beef Stew

Does anyone else think it’s funny that McDonald’s still advertises it’s burgers to be made with 100% all-beef patties? Like they should get a prize? Well done Mickey-D’s! You could have just stopped at 95%, which we all know is well within A-range, but instead you went above and beyond and went for the FULL 100% of what really should be the only ingredient in any burger. Just wondering, what percentage of your burger patty would you, the American consumer, be okay with not being beef? 2%? 0.05%? What would that 0.05% even be if not beef? If it’s rat feces then no thank you.

Let’s be real though, I’m pretty sure 0.05% of everything we ingest is probably rat feces. Just saying. Also, I like McDonald’s. Really. Give me a Big Mac and I’m a happy man. Also also, should we be worried about the fast food chains that DON’T advertise their burgers to be 100% all beef?

Anyway, here’s a recipe for beef stew:

I splurged and bought a beautiful grass-fed chuck roast the other day and decided I was going to make one of my favorite winter foods: stew. Nothing is better on a freezing day then a bowl of beef, potatoes, and carrots, in a savory gravy with crusty bread on the side. NOTHING.

Couple things: This is the first time I’ve tried making beef stew starting with a full chuck roast, rather than buying already cut up stew meat. This is also the first time using grass fed for beef stew. I am being honest here: IT TOTALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Buying the chuck whole and cutting it myself not only let me control how big I wanted the chunks to be (they’re usually too big for my taste when you buy stew meat already cut up), but it allowed me to keep as much or as little of the fat on the meat as I wanted, and it also let me cook the meat as soon as it was cut, instead of letting it sit out for who knows how long, with tons more surface area to dry out and collect microbes. Also grass fed really does taste better and is better for you. Check it out.

It’s so beautiful.

This is all you need to start. Don’t forget that bacon. You have been warned.

Brown the bacon, leave the fat. If there’s too much fat leftover, spoon some out but leave about 2 tablespoons. Yes there’s one full piece of bacon in there that was just for me. Get off my back. Oh and I hope this goes without saying, but don’t throw away those bacon bits. Reserve for later.

LISTEN TO ME. BROWN YOUR BEEF IN BATCHES, IN A SINGLE LAYER. In this 5 qt dutch oven I was able to brown them all in 2 batches. If you don’t do this, it won’t brown, and if it doesn’t brown, then you might as well just give it to your dog. This is serious, folks. Once all the meat is browned, set aside with your bacon.

Here’s where it starts to get a little tricky. Saute your onions and garlic in all the leftover fat (again remove some of it’s excessive, leaving about 3-4 tbsp).

Once the onions are shiny and starting to turn translucent, add your tomato paste. Let that brown for about 5 minutes, mixing with the onions.

Add your flour. I know, there’s a lot, but we’re also adding a lot of liquid, so it’ll thicken it all up. If you like a runnier stew, you can use less flour, but I wouldn’t go less than 3 tbsp. Let the flour mix with the fat and tomato paste, letting it continue to brown. There will probably be some burned bits at the bottom of your pot but it’s okay. Just keep everything moving.

Add your wine. I just used a red table wine. You can use any dry red wine you like, but the rule of thumb is use a wine you would actually drink. Mix it all together and try to dissolve as much of the flour as you can. FYI: It’ll get pretty sludgy.

Add your beef broth and mix to dilute the sludgy red wine, then return the beef and bacon back to the pot.

Add a few dashes of this.

Add a tablespoon of that (this is my secret guys, you’re welcome).

And last but not least, your bouquet. I also threw in 2 bay leaves but I forgot to take a picture of it. Cover it with a tight-fitting lid, then throw it into your oven for 1 hour 15 minutes at 300 degrees.

It’s gonna come out looking reduced and smelling like delicious. This is when you add your carrots and potatoes, so they don’t overcook and dissolve into your stew. Add a little water if needed to make sure everything’s submerged. Cover, and throw back into the oven for another 45 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. When it’s done, remove your thyme sprigs and bay leaves, and serve it up!

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 1″ cubes
4 slices of good quality bacon, sliced
1 medium onion, diced small
4 cloves garlic, minced
32 oz beef stock
1/3 cup flour
1/2 bottle of good dry red wine (about 2 cups), I used a malbec
3 medium potatoes, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 medium carrots, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
5 sprigs thyme, tied together with butcher’s twine
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Season beef liberally with salt and pepper. Let sit.

Heat a large dutch oven (5 qt) with the olive oil over medium-high heat, brown the bacon, rendering the fat out. When the bacon is browned, remove it from the heat and reserve in a large bowl for later. Remove some of the fat but leave about 2 tbsp in the dutch oven.

Brown the seasoned beef in the remaining fat IN BATCHES (keeping beef in a single layer each batch). Remove the beef and set aside with the bacon.

Again, if there is a lot of fat left in the pot, remove some of the fat so about 4 tbsp remain, then add your onion and garlic and sautee until the onion starts to become translucent, about 7 minutes.

Add tomato paste and brown for another 5 minutes.

Add the flour and brown that for yet another 5 minutes.

Add the wine and stir, letting it incorporate with the flour and tomato paste, until it reduces slightly and thickens up to a sludgy consistency.

Add all of the beef stock and stir so the whole mixture dilutes.

Return the beef and bacon back to the pot along with any juices that collected in the bowl. Add worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, throw in your thyme and bay leaves, give it a stir, and cover the dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. Put the entire thing in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

After 1 hour 15 min, throw in your potatoes and carrots, adding some water if necessary so everything is covered with liquid. then throw back into the oven for another 45 minutes.

Remove bay leaves and thyme. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy your 100% beef stew!

Beer Pairing Recommendation: Anchor Steam Christmas Ale. Not sure what style this year’s beer is, but I think the flavors they tend to put into their seasonal will match the deep, earthy flavors of this stew.

Tagged bay leaves, beef, beef stew, carrots, grass fed, potatoes, stew, thyme, turf, Winter recipes

Jul 27 2014

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Cook, Ruffage, Turf

Bulgogi Ssam – Kim Chi Salsa

Hello loyal readers!

My sincerest apologies to all 12 of you for being MIA the last couple months. The truth is, once the weather got better here in Boston, this blog took a backseat to being somewhere outside in shorts and a bro tank and not freezing. I think I’ve gotten a lot of the bro-tank-wearing out of my system so I wanted to get back to it!

Another thing I’ve been meaning to talk about is this: I don’t like tons of pictures. In fact, one point I wanted to make when starting this blog was NOT to put up a million pictures in every post. Do you really need a picture of me adding a teaspoon of salt to a pot? That’s not exactly a culinary school skill. That being said, I realized that I’ve started posting more and more pictures in each of my entries and become something of a hypocrite. So from here on out I’m going to try my best to only put pictures up that I think are necessary to clarify one of my instructions. I have a feeling I’m still going to put up a ton but whatever you guys can keep me accountable. Yes, the 12 of you.

Anyway, here’s some Korean food I recently made:

This is a ssäm. It means “wrapped” in Korean. I just googled it. I’ve been eating this for quite some time in restaurants but never made it at home until I met my wife, who if you didn’t know, is Korean. It’s super easy. Also on top is a kim chi “salsa” I made. I got the idea from David Chang on Mind of a Chef when he made a bulgogi burrito and I thought it was genius.

Okay let’s start with everyone’s favorite, the meat! Sorry if you’re favorite is actually the lettuce.

Most Asian stores will have thinly sliced beef like this, sometimes labeled under “beef for hot pot” or “sukiyaki.” I went big time with the ribeye but you can also use round.

Now for the marinade:

Puree your pear, your onion, and your garlic in the food processor until it looks like apple sauce like so.

Add your puree to the meat, then toss in your soy sauce, your brown sugar, and your sesame oil. If you’re using a meat like rib eye, be careful when mixing because all the marbling will make your meat literally fall apart.

The beauty of bulgogi is that it’s so thin that you really don’t have to marinate it long. You can basically start frying it up immediately after the marinade is done. I went ahead and let it rest for 30 minutes before starting to cook but I really don’t think you have to.

While I was waiting, I started on the kim chi salsa.

Char a couple green onions for a little added roasty flavor.

Chop up your kim chi and throw it in a food processor with your green onions.

Chop until everything is coarsely ground. Next add your cilantro and a squeeze of lemon (or lime)

Process some more and you’ll be left with something that you could serve at your local taqueria! Or if you live in Boston, Qdoba.

Okay let’s get back to the meat. It’s been marinating for a little while now, so all you need to do is throw it on the griddle. If you don’t have a griddle, you can use a large skillet, but make sure you cook in small batches, otherwise all the liquid will come out and you’ll end up boiling the meat rather than grilling it, and that’s not nearly as delicious.

You’ll notice I added some mushrooms and green onions to the grill. This is up to you if you want to do it. Either way it will taste great.

BTW, I highly recommend getting a cast iron griddle/grill pan. I use that bad boy all the time and get great results every time. Make sure all the liquid cooks out and the meat actually starts to brown! It’s gotta be a little crispy otherwise you’re doing it wrong.

Glorious.

You can eat this as is, or wrap it up in your favorite wrapper (seawead, rice noodles, or good ol’ red leaf lettuce) with rice, some ssamjang, and the kim chi salsa. Enjoy y’all.

BULGOGI:

1 Asian pear or crisp Bartlett pear
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
1.5 lbs thinly sliced beef tenderloin or rib eye
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp dark brown sugar
A good squirt of sesame oil (about 1 Tbsp)

Pulse the pear, the onion, and the garlic in a food processor for about 15-20 seconds, or until it looks like applesauce. Combine the pureed mixture, the beef, both soy sauces, sugar, and sesame oil into a large bowl and mix gently to combine.

Once all ingredients are incorporated, heat a griddle over medium-high heat, or a 12″ skillet over high heat. Add a little oil to the cooking surface and cook your bulgogi in batches. Make sure not to crowd the cooking surface or too much liquid will run out of the meat and it will start to boil the meat rather than brown it.

Optional: add sliced mushrooms and green onion to your bulgogi while it’s cooking.

KIM CHI SALSA:
1 1/2 cups kimchi, roughly chopped
2 green onions, charred on grill
1 Roma tomato (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Half bunch of cilantro (about 1 cup loosely packed)
Fresh ground black pepper

Char green onions and tomato on the grill, until they are slightly blackened. Add everything to the food processor except the cilantro and pulse until finely chopped. Add the cilantro and continue to pulse until it is a smooth, salsa-like consistency. Serve it!

SSAMJANG:

No ssäm is complete without ssamjang, or literally, “sauce for ssäm.” So here’s the wife’s recipe for the sauce. It’s so good.

1 part gochujang (Korean sweet red pepper paste) to 2 parts doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste, or Korean miso as some have called it).

That’s it.

Happy ssäm-ing.

Beer pairing recommendation: Stone Go To IPA. It’s light, it’s crisp, it’s refreshing, but still packs enough hoppy, citrusy flavor to make it interesting. Would go well with the fruity flavor of the bulgogi and stand up to the strong taste of the kim chi and ssamjang.

Tagged beef, bulgogi, east meets southwest, food, kim chi, Korean, recipe, ribeye, Salsa, ssam

Apr 17 2014

2 Comments

Cook, Soup, Surf, Turf

Wonton Soup

So… this happened yesterday:

This winter is turning into that awkward friend who just won’t leave your house long after the party has ended. It just won’t take a hint! Look man, THE BEER IS GONE, THE HOUSE IS A MESS, JUST GO HOME SO I CAN SLEEP! This is the LAST time I invite that guy.

Anyway it’s a good thing I have some of these handy:

Those are frozen homemade wontons my friends. Mrs. Willtasting and I made a batch of them earlier this winter and I think they’re just what I need to forget this bizarro winter-in-April.

First, you’ll need some ground pork:

Next some peeled, deveined shrimp. I got lazy and bought mine already peeled, but chances are you’ll find fresher and cheaper shrimp if it hasn’t been peeled. Your call, boss.

Chop up the scrimps (or however you want to pronounce them) and add to the pork. Green onions come next.

This is important, folks: the rice wine. This is also important: do not drink this.

Sesame oil, egg, mix.

Your wonton filling should look like the above picture… YUMMYYYYY. Everything should stick together, not crumble apart, almost like a dough. If it doesn’t look like that, slowly add more sesame oil and rice wine until it does.

Now, check it. This is how you fold your wontons:

Wet one corner of the wonton skin, place about a half tablespoon of meat filling off center towards that corner, then fold over and pinch the edges together to make a triangle. Bring one of the smaller corners up to the larger corner and pinch together, then do the same with the other corner. That’s it! If you want to freeze some (which you most likely will, since this recipe makes A LOT of wontons), wipe a little oil over the surface of a large dish, place the wontons on the dish, and freeze in the freezer. Once they are frozen you can keep them in zip lock bags and they will keep for 6 months.

To cook, just boil them in some chicken broth for about 10 minutes, or until the skin is tender and the wontons float to the surface.

Serve with some green onions and thinly sliced fried egg, and quit beating around the bush and tell winter to go home already.

WONTONS:

1 1/2 lbs ground pork
1/2 lbs shrimp
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (about 6 green onions, both white and green parts)
1/4 cup Shaoxing cooking rice wine
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
1 tsp white pepper
2 packages of wonton skins

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix well until the filling sticks together like a dough. To assemble wontons, place skin in one hand, wet the edges of one corner, place a half tablespoon of filling off-center towards that corner. Fold skin in half, pinching edges together to form a triangle. Bring one side of the triangle up to the top corner, pinch together, then do the same with the other side. Or just look at the pictures up top because this is getting really hard to explain in writing.

SOUP:

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup baby spinach, loosely packed
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 egg, beaten and fried into a thin crepe, then sliced thin.

To cook, boil 2 cups of chicken broth to boil, then add 12 wontons and boil for 10 minutes or until they float to the top. Put spinach in bowl and pour hot soup on top. Garnish with sliced green onions and egg.

Eat your winter blues away.

Tagged Chinese, comfort food, cooking, pork, shrimp, soup, wontons

Apr 09 2014

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Cook, Turf

Carne Asada Tacos – Pico de Gallo – Creamy Tomatillo Salsa

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” -Mark Twain (supposedly)

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a winter in Boston.” -William Sam

So we’re a good 4 weeks into spring here in frigid Boston and this past weekend gave us the first semblance of mild weather in what seems like years. I have long forgotten what warmth feels like, and I’ve worn my winter boots for so long that wearing sneakers now just feels like I have a pair of heavy socks on. Here’s to warmer days ahead and to the beginning of slowly repressing all bad winter memories.

To celebrate the first nice weekend of spring, we decided to have ourselves a cookout, Mexican style. And if you know anything about Mexican food in New England, then you probably know you’re better off cooking it yourself. So here it is, my carne asada taco recipe:

Normally I would use flank steak for this recipe but for some odd reason Stop and Shop didn’t have any, so I settled for some sirloin steak tips, which worked out nicely. Start off with your juices (OJ and lime juice), this is what really gives the carne asada that distinct, almost tangy flavor. I also add some soy sauce for a little savoriness.

Then add your spices. That spice mix may look familiar.

Smash some garlic cloves, mince, and chop some cilantro.

Throw it all into your bag o’ meat, seal it, then refrigerate overnight. Here’s a tip: keep the bag in a bowl just in case there are any leaks in your zip-lock bag. I had to learn this the hard way. Meat juice all over my vegetables, never again.

The next day, fire up the grill, and cook it all to a nice medium rare. I know there’s a lot of ash in that grill. I didn’t clean it out and guests were already arriving so I had to just make do. Turned out it was a bad idea because it was blocking the air vents on the bottom of the grill so the coals weren’t getting enough oxygen and cooled down a lot faster than normal. The meat still cooked, only it was a lot slower, so there’s another lesson for you: clean out your grill!

BTW let’s hear it for natural lighting! I can finally take an overhead shot without my shadow covering everything.

Here’s all you need for delicious tomatillo salsa:

Tomatillos are weird. First of all, they have a husk. What’s up with that? Also when you remove the husk there’s this sticky film all over them and it’s a little unsettling. If they weren’t so darn good I would probably never eat them. Anyway, make sure you give them a good rinse to get all the sticky off.

Cut them all in half, drizzle a little olive oil on top, and throw them under the broiler, along with the jalapeño and onion.

After about 10 minutes you should have a nice char like so:

Chop the stem off your jalapeño and throw everything in your food processor, including the fresh cilantro. If you’re not into spicy food you can remove the seeds and pith from the jalapeño before adding it. But just be a man and throw the whole thing in.

Once it’s all pureed a bit, add your avocado and process for another 30 seconds or so, and there you have it:

Pico de gallo is super easy and super delicious. Here’s everything you need:

Chop it all up, throw it in a bowl, add your lime juice, and a little salt and pepper.

Beautiful.

Viva Mexico

CARNE ASADA TACOS:

3-4 lbs skirt steak, flank steak, or sirloin steak tips
1 cup orange juice
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
corn tortillas

In a heavy duty zip-lock bag, combine all ingredients, seal it, then mix it all up with your hands. Put the bag in a large bowl and let marinate overnight, or for at least 6 hours.

The next day, take your meat out about 30 minutes before you’re ready to cook to allow meat to come to room temperature. Heat your grill, then cook carne asada to a medium rare. Let meat rest 10 minutes before chopping it up for tacos.

Heat up a cast-iron skillet with a little oil and heat your tortillas on the skilled for about 30 seconds before assembling your tacos. This will make the tortilla more pliable and less likely to break apart when you’re eating.

CREAMY TOMATILLO SALSA:

1 1/4 lbs fresh tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed clean
1 medium Spanish onion
1 jalapeño
1 large avocado
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (about half a bunch, chopped)
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Cut all the tomatillos in half and place them cut-side down on a baking sheet, along with the jalapeño, garlic, and onion. Drizzle with a little olive oil- you don’t have to coat everything completely, just as long as there’s a little oil on there. Turn on broiler to High and place the baking sheet with your ingredients under the flames, broiling for 8-10 minutes. Make sure you check on them so they don’t burn TOO much. You do want SOME char but you definitely don’t want them decimated by the fire. Once they’re cooked, take the ingredients out and let cool. Peel the garlic, chop the stem off the jalapeño and do a rough chop to the garlic, jalapeño, and onion.

Fit your food processor with a metal blade, then add the tomatillos, jalapeño, garlic, and onion. Process for about 30 seconds, then add the lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro, and avocado. Process for another 30 seconds or until it is a smooth consistency. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper to taste.

PICO DE GALLO:

4 Roma Tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Serve with tacos!

beer pairing suggestion: There’s a lot of citrus and spice going on in this meal, and we’re using a pretty lean cut of beef here, so a light IPA or a lager would go nicely with these tacos. Try Maine Beer Co Another One IPA or Brooklyn Lager or you can never go wrong with some Negra Modelo when eating Mexican!

Tagged Carne Asade, Mexican, pico de gallo, Salsa, tacos, tomatillo, tortillas

Feb 16 2014

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Porter Braised Short Rib – Wild Mushroom Risotto

Listen. This MIGHT be the best thing you will ever make. Unless you are a real chef, in which case this might be something you make in your second week of culinary school. In any case, this dish is just comfort on a plate. If this dish were a style of beer, it would probably be a winter warmer.

A couple things to note: you need to step up if you’re going to attempt this dish, and probably set aside a good 2.5 hours of active prep/cooking time. You’ll also need some stamina since you’ll be continuously stirring that risotto for a good 30 minutes. So clear your calendar for the night, pound down a couple Clif bars, and let’s get cooking.

We’ll start with the short rib. You can usually get about 3 pounds at Costco for $20-25. Here I cut them into thirds:

Season LIBERALLY with salt and pepper. This is pretty much all the seasoning that’s going into this dish so make sure you get a nice coating on all sides.

Dredge in flour, shake off excess, throw in a hot pan over high heat. For those of you who read my searing tutorial, this is the real way to sear. IMPORTANT: To sear the meat, it has to be in direct contact with the cooking surface, so you’ll have to do this step in batches. Don’t crowd the pan or you won’t get the browning and caramelization you want.

When it looks like this, take it out and start the next batch.

See this? This is concentrated beef flavor. Don’t waste it.

Throw your onions and garlic in without cleaning the pan, sauté and add a little more flour. Keep cooking until the flour browns a bit.

Add your beer. Just a quick note on the beer: I have tried this recipe with a number of dark beers and found that milder, less boldly flavored porters or stouts work best. Try not to use any imperial beers, because they tend to leave a little more bitterness at the end of cooking, and really you don’t need to be spending that much money on a beer that you’re going to cook down anyway. Definitely don’t use a porter or stout that has added flavors, like a smoked porter or a maple-vanilla-coffee-bourbon barrel aged stout. Keep it simple!

Return meat to the pot. Don’t forget those sweet sweet drippings.

Throw in some thyme and some bay leaves, cover, and let the magic happen.

2 hours later… (I tasted it and added a little brown sugar because it tasted a little bitter. I think that’s the last time I’ll use an imperial stout for this recipe)

Great on it’s own… or of course with some risotto.

While the short ribs are cooking, you best be making your risotto.

Start with some dried wild mushrooms:

This was the first time I ever tried cooking with dried mushrooms and it was a REVELATION. So delicious. Even just adding the warm water/broth to the mushrooms created this deep, rich, umami smell. Believe me, I hate using the word umami but I’ll use it here. So yeah like I said, soak in warm water to hydrate for about 30 minutes.

When it’s re-hydrated, take it out of the liquid, squeeze gently, and if you want (and I highly recommend this), strain and retain that soaking liquid.

I’m using a paper towel in the strainer to make sure absolutely no grit remains.

You can use this liquid in the risotto, in a mushroom soup, or just to add some savory flavor to a gravy or other sauce you might make in the future.

Now for the actual cooking. Start by bringing some stock to a simmer:

Next, saute the mushrooms, starting with the fresh criminis.

When they look like this, add the wild mushrooms.

Take out the mushrooms, melt more butter, then add shallots.

Add the raw rice and stir to coat with the butter. When the grains start to look translucent on the tips, that’s when you add some broth.

When most of the stock is absorbed (as below), add more. You’re gonna be doing this for a while. Don’t stop stirring.

After about 15 minutes, add the mushrooms back in.

After another 10-15 minutes, your risotto should be al dente. Add some parmesan to finish it, and get ready for a party in your mouth. Not some lame dorm floor party with pretzel chips and Smirnoff ice, but a sophisticated, scotch and smoking jackets type party with smooth jazz and local celebrities.

There it is.

Porter Braised Short Rib:

2-3 pounds boneless beef short ribs, each cut into thirds (2-3 inch segments)
1/2 large Vidalia onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz bottle of a mild porter or stout (such as Anchor Porter, Yard’s George Washington Tavern Porter, or if you’re in a bind, Guinness)
5 sprigs of fresh thyme tied together with butcher’s twine, or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsp brown sugar
1 cup flour for dredging
Salt and Pepa
Olive oil
Chopped chives, for garnish

Season the meat all over with salt and pepper. Don’t be bashful. Coat the bottom of a heavy bottomed pot with olive oil and heat on high until very hot. Add flour to a shallow dish and dredge each piece of short rib in it, shaking off excess, and add to the pot (do this in batches, you should brown the meat in a single layer and DON’T CROWD THE POT). Cook all sides of each piece until the flour becomes a brown crust, then remove from heat. Continue cooking all the meat this way until it is all browned and then reduce heat to Medium-High.

Remove any excess oil from the pot so that 1 tbsp of grease remains, then add the garlic and onions to the pot, stirring until the onions just become slightly translucent. Add another tablespoon of flour to the pot and let it brown. Add the beer, and as it begins to simmer add the meat back into the pot. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Lower heat to low, cover pot and cook for 2 hours, or until the meat is fork tender.

After 2 hours, give the sauce a taste. If it is a little bitter, you can add a bit of brown sugar to balance it out. That’s it.

Wild Mushroom Risotto:

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 oz dried wild mushroom mix (I think mine had porcini, morel, wood ear)
10 oz fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
8 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup finely chopped shallots
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan or grana padano

Soak the dried mushrooms in about 1-2 cups of warm water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and squeeze gently to get rid of excess moisture. Chop roughly. If you want, you can strain and reserve the soaking liquid, which is now super flavorful and can be a great addition to soups or sauces.

Bring 7 cups chicken broth to simmer in medium saucepan and keep warm.

Melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add fresh crimini mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms until tender and beginning to brown (3 minutes), then add the wild mushrooms. Sauté a bit longer until most of the moisture has evaporated but before the mushrooms get too brown. If needed, at a little olive oil so they don’t burn. Transfer mushrooms to a separate bowl.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter with olive oil in the same saucepan over medium-low heat. Add shallot and sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add rice and increase heat to medium. Stir to coat the rice with the oil until edges of rice begin to look translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 3/4 cup warm chicken broth; stir until almost all broth is absorbed, about 1 minute. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is halfway cooked, about 15 minutes.

Stir in sautéed mushrooms. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is “al dente” (tender but still firm to bite) and risotto is creamy, about 10-15 more minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Transfer risotto to serving bowl. You’re done.

Assembly: Place risotto in a shallow dish, top with 2-3 pieces of braised short rib as well as some of the braising liquid (which is delicious), and garnish with chopped chives. It should bring a tear to your eye.

beer pairing recommendation: let’s go with a big stout for this one, like Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout.

(Wild Mushroom Risotto recipe adapted from Bon Appetit)

Tagged braising, cooking, porter, risotto, short ribs, stout, wild mushroom

Feb 02 2014

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Cook, Turf

Wings: 2 Ways

Taking a break from this stupid game to post my baked wings recipe. Hashtag Worst Super Bowl Ever.

Wings are pretty easy to make and pretty cheap too. Usually around Super Bowl time you can find huge packs of wings like this for like 50% off. You can cook them whole, but I like eating my wings the classic wing and drumette way. Here’s a quick primer on how to divide the wing:

I don’t know what a butcher would call those 2 views but for the sake of simplicity I’m calling the thicker skinned side “outside” and the thinner skinned side “inside.”

Start by cutting off the wing tip by placing the wing “inside” up and finding the joint. You can feel the joint with your fingers, it will feel bony and protrude like a knuckle (Fig 1). Find the middle and cut straight down (Fig 2). If you have a good knife, it should cut through pretty easily. If not, you’re probably on a bone and you need to try again. Flip the wing over so the “outside” is up, find the knuckle between the drumette and the wing (Fig 3), and again cut straight down. I like to cut through the skin between the two sections first and spread them apart to allow for a cleaner cut (Fig 4), but it’s not really necessary.

Season with Lawry’s and toss with vegetable oil

Line a baking sheet with foil and put a cooling rack on top. The rack will allow the dry heat in the oven to contact all surfaces of the wings and let it get nice and crispy all around. Here’s a tip: spray the rack with some non-stick cooking spray before putting the wings on.

See you boys later.

50 minutes later… skin crispy, kitchen smelling awesome.

Now for the sauces. This is my Buffalo Bacon sauce. Yes that is 1 tbsp of bacon grease on the right. GO BIG OR GO HOME! DON’T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT ME!

Here’s the other sauce. Not much of a secret here, except that The Salt Lick makes some mighty fine sauce.

Once the wings come out, coat half in the Buffalo sauce, half in the BBQ sauce. Throw the BBQ sauce wings back in the oven for 8-10 minutes so the BBQ sauce becomes a little caramelized and more like a glaze. Serve the Buffalo wings right away (no need to bake again).

Packed up and ready to head out for the game!

DIRECTIONS:

Bacon Buffalo Sauce

1/3 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Texas Pete’s)

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp bacon grease, melted

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a warmed bowl, whisk all ingredients together.

BBQ Sauce

1/3 bottle of Salt Lick Original BBQ Sauce

Wings

5 pounds chicken wings, tips removed, drumettes and flats separated
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Set a wire rack over a large rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Spray the rack with non-stick cooking spray. Place all ingredients in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread wings on the rack in a single layer and as evenly spaced as possible. Try not to let pieces touch.

Bake wings until cooked through and skin is crispy, 45–50 minutes.

Add half of wings to BBQ sauce in a large bowl and toss to evenly coat. TIP: Use a large spoon to toss so you don’t break the skin. Place wings back on the rack in a single layer and bake again until sauce is glossy and lightly caramelized, 8–10 minutes.

Toss remaining half of wings in Buffalo sauce. Serve immediately (no need to bake).

(Adapted from bon appetit)

Beer pairing recommendation: Racer 5 IPA. Is there anything better than wings and IPAs? Yes. Pizza and IPAs.

Tagged bacon, BBQ, buffalo, Salt Lick, so good, super bowl, wings

Jan 26 2014

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Cook, Turf

Soy Braised Spare Ribs with Bok Choy

As delicious as a Panda Express Bowl with orange chicken on a bed of chow mein is, I’m sorry, it’s just not Chinese food. Here’s something you can make relatively easily at home with not too many exotic products that is DELICIOUS and (I’m assuming) slightly healthier than Panda. Or P.F. Chang’s. But don’t get me started on P.F. Chang’s. Just know that we probably can’t be friends if you enjoy eating there.

Chinese cooking and ginger go together like peanut butter and jelly. It just works. Although I like the taste it gives to certain dishes, I never liked biting into a big chunk of it during dinner growing up, so I’m keeping the slices pretty big and easily removable. After slicing, pound each piece gently with the back of the knife to release more juices and flavor from the ginger.

I’m using a wok to make this dish because I’m too legit. If you don’t have a wok you can definitely use a Dutch oven. Just make sure whatever you use has a good fitting lid.

There’s alcohol in this dish, so if you wanna impress the ladies you can ignite it with a lighter… or if you got the skills you can tilt the pan slightly towards the flame from the stove to ignite. Tutorial to come, Casanova!

Hoisin sauce is a common condiment in Chinese cuisine. People use it as a dip for roasted pork, slather it on flour pancakes for mu shu, or (my personal favorite) on steamed buns for Peking duck. So good. Here it adds a little sweet and savory boost at the end of cooking, and also serves to thicken the sauce a bit.

RIB ON!

Okay, this bok choy may be the easiest recipe I’ll ever post but it’s so good and manlier than your adorable wedge salad.

How’s this for a Panda Bowl?

RIBS (adapted from about.com):

2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1.5 lbs pork spareribs cut into 1-inch long segments (if you can’t find them ask the butcher to cut them for you)
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
5-6 thin slices ginger, crushed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup Chinese rice (michiu) wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 green onion, sliced thin for garnish

Preparation:

Heat the oil on in a wok or dutch oven, on high heat. Add the ribs and brown on all sides (a couple minutes each side or until it’s browned and caramelized). Add garlic and ginger and fry briefly, until fragrant. This will really help impart those flavors into the dish. Add the stock before the garlic and ginger start to burn, then add all the remaining ingredients. If you are cooking with a wok and want to impress a chick or something, you can tilt the wok towards the flame and flambe the ribs after adding the wine. Once the flames die down, cover the wok and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for about 1 hour, or until the ribs are tender, adding more water or stock as needed (that is, don’t allow all the liquid to evaporate and burn at the bottom of the pan). During the last 10 minutes, remove cover, add hoisin sauce, and simmer for the remainder of the cooking time. Garnish with sliced scallions before serving.

BOK CHOY:

1 2-lb bag of bok choy tips, aka baby bok choy, sliced lengthwise and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil (2 good glugs into the pan)

Preparation:

Heat oil in wok on high heat, then add the garlic. Saute until fragrant, then add the bok choy. Toss around in the wok, then add salt. Toss a little more to distribute the salt, then reduce heat to medium low and cover for 4-5 minutes, tossing every minute or so. Since there’s so much vegetable in the pot, it will kind of fry and steam at the same time while covered, so cooking time is minimal.

Serve bok choy with spare ribs on steamed white rice.

Beer pairing suggestion: Rising Tide Daymark American Pale Ale, or simply a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Tagged bok choy, Chinese, cooking, food, ginger, hoisin, pale ale, soy, spare ribs

Jan 16 2014

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Cook, Ruffage, Turf

GWT Mapo Tofu

Tofu gets a bad rap. Maybe because people try to parade it around like it’s something that it’s not. I’m looking at you, Tofurkey! Here’s a traditional Chinese way to cook tofu that is comforting, easy, and DELICIOUS.

Listen, don’t be intimidated by the Asian ingredients. These days, this stuff can be found in most grocer’s Asian/Spanish food aisle. It always makes me laugh when I see those two food categories right next to each other at the market. Do we both really have to be marginalized to just half an aisle in the entire store? Also, why so pigeonholed, America? Where’s the half aisle of Moroccan food products? Or Portuguese products? I feel like I should start a petition. Also, if you really just can’t find that stuff, you can always order it online at Lee Kum Kee.

Anyway, three of the most versatile Chinese ingredients you can buy are up there: black bean sauce, chili garlic sauce, and the ubiquitous oyster sauce. Throw some black bean sauce into your next stir fry for a great savory boost, use chili garlic sauce in place of any hot sauce you might use, and any vegetable can be made better with oyster sauce.

Or you can mix them all together and make mapo tofu.

Start with cutting up the tofu right in the container if you like. I usually use soft tofu for this dish so I keep my chunks pretty big at the beginning since it will pretty much break apart by itself as I cook.

Next I fry up the garlic and pork, add the sauces and chicken stock, and let that all simmer a bit before adding the tofu:

Keep simmering then add the corn starch water to thicken. Make sure you mix it good, it should look like milk before you pour it in. Dissolving the corn starch in water rather than just throwing it straight into the sauce will keep it from clumping up into disgusting snot-like corn-starch boogers wading in your tofu. So DO IT.

Finally add the Sichuan pepper sauce and oyster sauce and stir to combine. Many traditional recipes will have you start with whole Sichuan peppercorns, crush them up with a rolling pin, then toast them in the wok first before cooking everything else. You can definitely do that too, you’ll get the same effect.

Note: If you’ve never had Sichuan peppercorns in a dish before, you might be in for a surprise. They’re not so much spicy as they are “tingly.” I don’t know the biochemical reaction that happens once it hits your tongue, but Sichuan pepper has this tingling, numbing effect that will give your tongue a buzz. It’s wild.

Note: Try not to overstir, and use folding motions each time you mix rather than circular motions. Every time you stir you run the risk of breaking apart the pieces of tofu, and over-stirring can really leave you with tiny bits of tofu.

Serve with steamed rice, and if you have a friend who is not a tofu fan, I dare you to challenge him to try this and still tell you he doesn’t like it. CHALLENGE HIM! Because he just might get embarrassed.

Enjoy!

GWT Mapo Tofu

1-lb block of soft tofu, cut into 1” cubes
1/3 pound ground pork
1 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp. garlic black bean sauce
1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp schezuan chili sauce or schezuan peppercorns crushed
Chopped scallions for garnish

Heat oil in wok over high heat and add pork, breaking it up so it is crumbled. When pork is browned, add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add black bean sauce, chili garlic sauce, and chicken stock to the pork, stir until combined, then add the corn starch+water so the liquid thickens into a sauce. Add the tofu to the sauce and toss GENTLY to coat the tofu, being careful not to turn the tofu into mush. Cover pot and lower heat to a simmer for 5 min, uncover and add oyster sauce and Sichuan pepper sauce, stir again to combine. The tofu should have firmed up a bit by this point but still be careful not to break it apart.

Sprinkle with scallions, serve with steamed rice.

goodwilltasting beer pairing suggestion: Brooklyn Lager

Tagged Chinese, cooking, Lee Kum Kee, mapo, oyster sauce, tofu

Jan 10 2014

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Cook, Turf

Beer Braised Pulled Chicken Sandwiches – Kale Slaw

It’s playoffs time. The time of the year when champions are made, when we separate the men from the boys. So bro, get off the phone with Little Caesar’s, and bring these bad boys to your next tailgate.

Pulled chicken is super easy to make. Here’s everything you need (sans one Spanish onion):

Note: Normally I would do this with a pork shoulder but we had just had a slow roasted pork shoulder over New Year’s so we were all porked out. A lot of recipes will tell you to use just breasts, but thighs are fattier and, let’s face it, better tasting. I figure putting both breasts and thighs will make it a little more balanced. Slice up the onion, throw it on the bottom of your slow cooker, pile on the chicken, season, and toss in a bottle of beer. Here I’m using a bottle of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale to be more festive.

Cover that bad boy, set it on low, and 6-8 hours later you should get fork-tender, juicy, delicious chicken. Two forks is all you need to shred those babies up. I like mine chunky. You can make yours stringy if you like. You’re not gonna hurt my feelings.

There will probably be a lot of liquid in the slow cooker once the chicken is done so get rid of as much as you can before shredding. You can save it for a tasty broth later on.

So good. You could eat it just like that, or add some sauce like I’m about to do. Oh yeah, Stubb’s BBQ sauce is legit.

Boom.

Let it cook a little while longer in the slow cooker to let the sauce thicken up. Now, onto the slaw. This recipe I got from chow.com.

Now put it all together and…

Game Time.

Pulled Chicken:

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 medium Spanish onion
1 bottle light beer, in this case Sierra Nevada Celebration
1.5 tsp garlic salt
1.5 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (I recommend Stubb’s)

Slice the onion, place along the bottom of a slow cooker, place chicken on top, season with garlic salt and pepper. Pour the bottle of beer into the slow cooker, then set on low. Go to work, or the gym, or something that will take a few hours. After about 6 hours, check on the chicken. It should be fully cooked and fork tender. There will probably be a lot of liquid so ladle out as much as you can, then shred the chicken with 2 forks.

Add about 3/4 bottle of BBQ sauce into the chicken, mix, then let cook for another hour or so to let the sauce thicken, and that’s it!

Kale Apple Slaw with Poppy Seed Dressing (adapted from Chow.com):

DRESSING:
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

SLAW:
1 pound kale (1.5 bunches)
2 medium size Fuji apples
2/3 cup of small diced red onion (about 1/2 medium onion)

Dressing: Place the vinegar, honey, mustard, poppy seeds, and salt in a mixing bowl, season with pepper, and whisk to combine. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the oil in until all of it is incorporated.

Slaw: Wash and dry the kale. Cut out and discard the thick, tough stems. Arrange the leaves into stacks, slice crosswise into 1/4-inch ribbons, and add to the bowl with the dressing. Core the apples, cut them into 1-1/2-inch-long matchsticks, and add to the bowl. Add the onions and toss to combine. Let the coleslaw sit for at least 15 minutes at room temperature and up to 1 day in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld.

Sandwich Assembly: Butter both sides of a hamburger bun and grill on a skillet, place meat on the bottom and top with slaw. Put it all together, crack open a cold one, and enjoy the games this weekend!

Note: GO NINERS!!!

goodwilltasting beer pairing recommendation: Anchor Steam Celebration Ale

Tagged chow, kale slaw, NFL, playoffs, pulled chicken

goodwilltasting

Eat. Drink. Be Manly.

Category Archives: Turf

Sliders- 2 ways

100% All-Beef Stew

Bulgogi Ssam – Kim Chi Salsa

Wonton Soup

Carne Asada Tacos – Pico de Gallo – Creamy Tomatillo Salsa

Porter Braised Short Rib – Wild Mushroom Risotto

Wings: 2 Ways

DIRECTIONS:

Bacon Buffalo Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Wings

Soy Braised Spare Ribs with Bok Choy

GWT Mapo Tofu

Beer Braised Pulled Chicken Sandwiches – Kale Slaw