I have been craving oxtails recently. I do not make them very often, because of Jan’s dietary restrictions and because, for the same reason, they are not exactly a health food—they are very fatty. One way to reduce the fat is to make them the day before, skim off the congealed lard, and reheat them the next day.
Karl’s Spanish Style Oxtails
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes
America’s Test Kitchen sends random episodes of their show to my email. The last one was for Beef Bourguignon. When I was thinking about what to make for Sunday, this seemed like a kind of dish that I had not made for a while.
Karl’s Beef Bourguignon
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes, Stews
A barbecue is very traditional for a Labor Day weekend, this year I decided to do tri-tip. Tri-tip is a very popular beef roast to barbecue in California—popularized in Oakland and Santa Maria in the 1950’s. The problems with this cut—it’s thick fat cap and odd shape—leads much of the rest of the world to slice this roast into steaks. The Hispanic world—of which California is really still a part of—knows better. Done right it is flavorful, moist and juicy—of course done wrong it is carbonized, dry and chewy.
Karl’s California Fusion Barbecued Tri-tip
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
I love the very idea of a meal wrapped up in a neat package of bread. Anyone who has been following my blog recently will have noticed than I am on a pocket bread binge—Chicken Curry Pasty, bierock, better bierock, California Fusion guo kui. Today, I decided on a Cal-Mex Fusion taco bun.
Karl’s Pocket Tacos
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes
When I made hamburgers—a long time ago—I simply took the meat out of the package, formed it into patties and threw it on the grill. While I still think there is a place for a plain burger, you can do so much more to make simple ground beef into something to write home about. Of course, fancy burgers require fresh buns.
Karl’s Barbecued Hamburgers
Filed under Beef, bread, California Fusion, Main Dishes
A bierock is not now, nor has it ever been haute cuisine, it is essentially a workingman’s lunch. When you are working, traveling, or having some kind of festival event, you do not always have time to sit down for meal. Having a meal in a neat, sealed package that you can slip into a pocket or pouch is a solution that many cultures have discovered.
Karl’s Better Bierock
Filed under Beef, bread, Main Dishes, Vegetables
Last Sunday I made a barbequed Sichuan chicken. It was so successful that I decided to do something similar with a beef tri-tip. Beef will stand up to stronger flavors than chicken, so I added some onion, chili flakes and white pepper to the sauce.
Karl’s Barbecued Sichuan Tri-tip
Filed under Beef, Chinese, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
I did a barbecued chicken with a wet Sichuan sauce a few weeks ago and I thought it would go well as a Marinade/basting sauce with Sunday’s tri-tip and mushrooms. Continue reading
Filed under Beef, Chicken, Chinese, Fish, Pork, Sauces and Spices, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Bierock are Volga German stuffed breads. The Volga Germans were brought into Russia by Catharine the Great for their “modern” technical skills. However, their cooking was not one of those skills. Many would consider both German and Russian traditional cuisines a wasteland—there is only so much you can do with cabbage, flour, potatoes and a little beef when you do not have access to, or can afford, fancy spices.
Karl’s Bierock
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, German, Main Dishes, Vegetables
I decided to experiment with pickled green pepper (Piper nigrum ). This is a new spice for my family, so I plan to go cautiously. When I did my surf and turf for Miriam’s birthday I discovered just how good a tri-tip could be with simply salt and pepper.
Karl’s Salt and Pepper Tri-tip
with Green Pepper Sauce
Filed under Barbeque, Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 