Korean BBQ Beef - (Pulgogi)

Almost 30 years ago my wife and I visited Korea, and we still have the memories of two well known fares: Kimchi and Bulgogi. I had a Jones for pulgogi and decided to use the steak I had in the freezer to fulfill my craving. I found a few recipes that were very authentic, and combined the features into a marinade that made me very happy. I have reproduced my recipe below, along with a couple of the different background explanations from each recipe I used for inspiration. I have had this best served over simple and sticky white rice...

Korean barbecued beef (pulgogi) 

Next to kimchi, pulgogi may be Korea's best-known dish. Thin strips of spicy beef are cooked over a pulgogi, a dome-shaped charcoal grill. The beef is flavored with a complex, sweet and salty marinade - made with minced pear or kiwi, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds and rice wine - which tenderizes and flavors the beef. Garlic is a key, and be sure to toast those sesame seeds!


Although it is often eaten during the summer as picnic fare, this dish is good any time. Thinly sliced pork loin or tofu can be substituted for the beef, and can be grilled with optional mushrooms and onions for an authentic Korean dish.


This version was cooked on a charcoal grill with hickory.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound beef top sirloin, thinly sliced
• 5 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pear - peeled, cored, and minced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Chefs note (optional): for a little extra spice, I added a bit of Asian chili-garlic sauce, which added to the complexity with some heat at the back end; you could also simply add freshly ground black pepper to taste 

Directions to make korean barbecued beef (pulgogi)
In a large bowl or ziploc bag, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, black pepper, garlic, green onions, and sesame seeds.

· Slice beef thinly into 1/2 x 2-inch pieces. (It helps in the beef is partially frozen when you slice it) Add meat to soy sauce mixture in bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.

· Grill meat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until brown.

· Serve with vegetable side dishes, such as the onions and mushrooms, broccoli, or zucchini or spinach, and rice. (*)

(*) Barbecued beef or pork also works well as a finger food. Place several slices of beef on a leaf of romaine lettuce and top it with 2 teaspoons of hot cooked rice and a dash of cayenne pepper. Roll up the leaf and enjoy.

Preparation time: 25 to 25 minutes
(plus chilling time of 1 to 2 hours)
Cooking time: 4 to 6 minutes
Serves 6

Carne Asada Tacos

One of my favorite things is "street tacos" from my days of traveling down to Baja.

Street tacos are simple, and delicious.

For my version of these tacos, I bought some nice looking Skirt Steak, and mixed up a marinade of the New Mexico Dry Rub added to about a quarter cup of olive oil and some red wine vinegar. I let this marinade soak for about 2 hours.

Heat the grill and add some hickory or mesquite wood chips, and grill until you have a decent char on the steak. Skirt steak is a thin, marbled cut of meat, so be careful not to let it go too hot, too long. Contrary to the way it "should" be done, I usually leave the lid on my Weber kettle grill with a lower temperature to allow the meat to take on more of a smoke flavor.

The meat is then simply chopped/diced and placed into corn tortillas warmed directly on the flame of a stove or on the grill. Add a chopped cilantro/onion garnish (with diced jalepenos added to this if you like more heat), diced tomatoes and some of the Gabriel's guacomole... delicious!

New Mexico-Style Rub

This is probably my favorite rub. I use it on my Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and also beef, like skirt steak for Carne Asada.

This recipe is from Karen Putman's "Championship BBQ Secrets for Real Smoked Food", and if you are someone who loves to Barbeque, I would highly recommend this for your library.

New Mexico-Style Rub
For an authentic Southwest flavor, add this mixture to barbequed beans, pork, lamb or beef.

Mix all the following together and store

1/4 Cup chili powder
1tbsp onion powder
1tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Grilled Flank Steak with Soy-Lime-Ginger marinade

Marinade:

Mix together a half cup of oil with about a quarter cup of dark soy sauce, about 1 inch fresh ginger finely chopped, a clove of garlic, a couple of chopped green onions, a bit of fresh gound pepper, lime zest and the juice of about half a lime. Marinade for 2 hours or as much as over night. (Discard the marinade or you can reserve the marinade and bring it to a slow simmer for about 10 minutes for a sauce to drizzle over the steak when served).

Grill the flank steak over direct high heat till desired doneness (about 140 for medium). Remove and let rest fo a few minutes and slice across the grain.

I julienned carrots and added green beans and sliced muchrooms and seasoned them all with fresh garlic and chopped ginger and fresh ground pepper as well.

Jamaican Jerk Ribeye (HOT)

I got this from Bobby Flay's show "throwdown"... he challenged chef Nigel and his restaurant called "Ripe" who was then gracious enough to post the recipe below for the Ribeye Steak.

-- I found the actual recipe on Norm Schoen's "Eat or Die" blog

RECIPE FOR RIPE RESTAURANT'S "BIG ASS" JERK RUBBED RIBEYE STEAK

At the restaurant, we use the "Choice" Grade Cut.Feel free to use "Select" or "Prime" for this recipe,or any other cut from beef, pork or chicken. This Jerk Rub is very versatile.

1 16oz cut of boneless or bone-in Rib-Eye Steak.

Ingredients for Jerk Rub:

1tsp Nutmeg

2tsp White Pepper

¼ C Black Pepper

½ C Kosher salt

¾ C freshly ground Allspice

¾ C Brown Sugar

¾ C Orange Juice

1 whole Scotch Bonnet pepper

1 bunch Jamaican Thyme(about 10 stalks, picked from hard stems)

8 whole Garlic cloves

¾ C chopped Scallions (green onions)

2 cups whole Ajicito pepper (flavorful but not hot)

METHOD:Put ajicito peppers, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic cloves, thyme and scallions in food processor and pulse until it forms a paste. Then add the remaining ingredients except for the orange juice and blend. Slowly stream OJ into the processor until all is incorporated. You may adjust the amount of Orange Juice used depending on how dry or wet you prefer the rub to be. We like it be the consistency of a chutney.Smear paste over one side of steak and season the other side with salt and pepper. Marinate for 1 hour or up to 48 hours. Place steak on a hot grill and cook to just before desired doneness.Allow steak to rest (off the heat) for 10 minutes after cooking to redistribute juices and the carry-over cooking will bring it to your desired doneness. Then bite into that baby and lose your marbles!This Jerk Rub Recipe should make enough for at least 10 large Rib-Eye Steaks.The Rub can be stored in a tightly covered container in the refridgerator for up to 2 weeks.

NOTE:Ajicito peppers can be found in most Latin markets. It is also called "seasoning peppers" in Caribbean circles. It looks and smells just like a Scotch Bonnet pepper, but without the heat. It is used in the recipe to increase that scotch bonnet flavor, but can be substituted by adding a bit more green onions and scotch bonnet (if you can handle the additional heat). After letting this rub sit for a couple of days, the heat mellows out significantly anyway, so make a large batch by doubling or tripling the recipe. You won't be disappointed, and it lasts for weeks in the fridge.

Chadon Beni Sauce

(As Seen on "Throwdown" with Bobby Flay)

Chadon Beni (also called Shadow Benny in Trinidad & Culantro in Latin markets) has a broad, flat green leaf. Its a cousin of Cilantrowhich can be used as a substitute in the recipe.

1 cup densely packed Chandon Beni leaves.
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat italian parsley leaves
1 cup lime juice (fresh squeezed if available)

1/2 fresh scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero)

1/4 cup chopped scallions

6 whole peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon salt

Put all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth-add a little extra lime juice if puree is too thick

Culantro is VERY similar to cilantro in flavor, just a bit more powerful. Cilantro is a great substitute.The Jerk rub/marinade was EXTREMELY flavorful and even with only an hour of marinade time the flavors were jumping in my mouth. The Chadon Beni Sauce is well worth the effort too. It is a Chimichurri, but with a serious Island attitude.

Randy's notes: This recipe was HOT. I had Habanero peppers so I substituted those for the Scotch Bonnet peppers, and Anaheim Chiles for the Ajicito Peppers. The flavor is fantastic, but if you only like mild spice then cut the peppers and chiles...maybe even in half. The sauce to top this is imperative... that lime tang with the spice combinations is out of this world!

I served this with a Tomato Cucumber Red onion salad with balsamic vinagairette topped with goat cheese which helped counteract the heat.

Filet Mignon with Lemon Parsley Butter

Maybe not a traditional Cinco De mayo dish... however 26 years ago this was the day I asked my wife to marry me, and she likes filet mignon.

The parsley butter provides a bright flavor to the savory filet...

Following recipe comes from Jamie Purviance's "Weber's Real Grilling" book:

4 tbs unsalted butter

1 tbs finely chopped fresh parsley

1/4 tsp fresh lemon zest

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Just grill those Filet's with salt and pepper and top with the above recipe...the potatoes are actually drizzled with the Pepito Cilantro dressing I made the day before... fantastic!

Homemade Pastrami - ALMOST from scratch!

Pastrami starts with a beef brisket, which is brined for anywhere from 3 to 14 days depending on who is doing the prep. This process is called "Corning" and turns the brisket into "Corned Beef". The difference between Corned Beef and pastrami is that if you want to eat Corned Beef from here you just boil the meat, and if you want Pastrami then the Corned Beef is seasoned and then smoked to turn it into a Pastrami. Having tried this process from start to finish, and having had a large brisket in the refrigerator for an inordinate amount of time, and owing to my limited patience, I find that it is very easy and economical to simply skip the brining or corning process and buy a pre-packaged already brined /corned beef. Then all of this (with a very little planning) can be done in one day.

Thanks and Kudos to Chuck Martling for his recipes and methods on this one, from which my recipe is adapted...

1. Buy a packaged brined but un-cooked corned beef.

Take a look at the beef and make sure there is good marbling if you want more flavor, or a thin layer of fat running through the middle.

2. Rinse off the corned beef/pastrami and allow it to soak in cold water for at least one hour- two is better. This will help remove the salts from the packed brine that helped with the transformation from brisket to the beef being “corned”. Don’t skip this step; it will make the difference between your eating a corned beef or our goal of smoking a nice Pastrami.

3. Rub the pastrami with recipe below while the smoker gets up to temp
ADJUSTED RUB FOR RANDY
Adapted from Chuck Marting's recipe rub #3 ( www.bossmanbbq.com ) below:

· 2 Tbsp Freshly ground Black Pepper (or more)
· 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp whole coriander seed toasted in a pan and crushed in a mortar/pestle
· 1/3 Tsp Ground Thyme
· 1 Tsp Granulated Onion powder
· 1 Tsp Paprika
· 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
· *1 Tsp Juniper berry (Added/optional)

4. Smoke the beef at 225-250...with a mix of Oak and Sugar Maple woods for flavor. If desired you can, use a spray bottle to mist the pastrami with apple juice, Dr. Pepper or any other type of basting spray you would prefer to help keep the pastrami moist.

When the pastrami reaches an internal temperature of 140, remove it from the smoker, add 1 cup of apple juice and then double wrap it with aluminum foil before returning it to the smoker.

Let the pastrami continue to smoke until an internal temperature of 160-165 is reached (about 1 1/2 -2 hours), then remove it and allow it to set for 45 minutes to an hour.

Note: the final product pictured below is pretty lean and has okay flavor. If you are trying to duplicate that old deli pastrami from your youth, look for more marbling in the brisket you buy, or get one cut from the side where there is a layer of fat through the middle... you can see it through the package you buy. The rendering of the fat through the slow-smoking process adds flavor!

I usually let this refrigerate overnight... after slicing it cold, I wrap the slices in foil and heat them at 300 - 350 for about 7 - 10 minutes for a hot pastrami sandwich....

Note: According to Steven Raichelin in his "How To Grill" cookbook, pastrami is more of a method than a meat... it can be made with other meats or poultry... he has a recipe for turkey pastrami in his book that I will try soon!.