I never need an excuse to fire up my BBQ. I love cooking over fire and it gets me out of my tiny kitchen. I grill when it is sunny, and when it rains. I don’t mind. I just love to be out there. Over the bank holiday I gathered lots of random stuff from my fridge and cupboard and cooked it. The result was some terrific new recipes, one of which I will share now.
Gojuchang is one of my favourite store cupboard ingredients. A fermented hot paste made from gochugaru (a wonderful Korean red pepper powder which I use a lot too), glutinous rice, fermented soy bean powder, barley malt powder and salt. So far, so mesmerising and confusing, but this is one of the most delicious things that you could have in your kitchen. Hot (but not face melting), rich and deep, I add it to many things. Korean food, of course, but also unexpected things like soups, stews and bolognese. It is perfect for BBQ marinades.
As my Big Green Egg cools down, I like to take advantage of the residual heat. It is great for hot smoking things like tomatoes and garlic which you can store in the fridge for later uses. Chunky slices of tomatoes become jammy, and garlic with some butter and olive oil to encourage it, becomes a sticky nutty brown, not unlike Korean black garlic (which is essentially cooked slowly over a low heat for a long time). You can do a speedier version as your Big Green Egg heats up also, it will be more of a roasted version, but it is still very good.
Potato dauphinoise is wonderfully indulgent and a perfect Christmas side. I remember my first proper bite of dauphinoise in a French restaurant in Cork. I couldn’t believe how could it was. Crisp and caramel brown on top, gentle underneath, sliced potatoes shuffled into position, yielding to the fork, each forkful a perfect bite.
SPROUT UP YOUR LIFE! IF YOU WANNA HAVE A GOOD TIME! (etc to the dulcid tones of the Spice Girls).
But yes, sprouts. So misunderstood. Often tortured and boiled for way too long a time. I used to hate them, the infernal tiny cabbages wheeled out for some torturous boiling before they meet the Christmas table. Who liked cabbage? (I did not). Why would you want lots of tiny cabbages? I didn’t know just how good they were, I always met them tired and burned out and no one looks good like that. Sprouts are all the better for a quick flash in the pan, a kiss of heat, and they love some smoke. So I got my barbecue out.
I love to have bacon with my sprouts (and Project Bacon backers have my Bacon and Sprout “Yakitori” recipe to play with for Christmas). These lucky sprouts got to share their plate with some ‘nduja, and some hazelnuts on top for a little extra pleasure (some toasted breadcrumbs would work really well too0. ‘Nduja is that firey spreadable sausage from Calabria, as much chilli as pork as fat. It is terrific and it goes so well with the stout sprouts.
Smoked Sprouts with ‘Nduja and Hazelnuts
This recipe is the fourth in a series of four that I developed in partnership with the Big Green Egg who sponsored this post. (Read more about sponsored content on Eat Like a Girl). Previously in this series: BBQ Teriyaki Pig Cheeks, Miso Pork Aubergine and BBQ Clams with Gojuchang and Sake.
One of my friends, a fellow food writer and blogger (Luiz of The London Foodie and author of the wonderful book Nikkei) presented me with a little cool bag for my birthday. I peeked in side and shrieked, thrilled to discover that he had gifted me Uruguyan picanha, a cut of beef which we would call rump cap, undervalued and misunderstood here but valued all over South America. With good cause. It is a perfect BBQ cut.
Chimmichurri is a perfect steak accompaniment. From Argentina, and fitting for this South American cut of beef, they usually serve it using dry herbs, I prefer the liveliness and texture of fresh. I also wanted this to be super summery, and looked at my new kitchen garden, particularly my gorgeous aromatic window sill, fragrant of bergamot, lemonbalm and lemon verbena. I chose lemon verbena and mint as the stars with some parsley to tone it down. I also add some Aleppo pepper, another gorgeous food gift from my friend Ailbhe. Adjust the quantities below to your taste, or if you prefer to go traditional, substitute oregano for the lemon verbena and mint. Really traditional means using dried herbs, but I much prefer the bright flavour and gentle texture of fresh.
Picanha is a great value cut and goes far. It is tender and flavourful, it is quite lean too with the fat coating on top. The fat protects it as it cooks and gives it terrific flavour. Fat is flavour, let’s stop demonising it.
If you are celebrating father’s day this weekend, this is perfect for your family lunch. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Instructions
This recipe is the third in a series of four that I developed in partnership with the Big Green Egg who sponsored this post. (Read more about sponsored content on Eat Like a Girl). Previously in this series: BBQ Teriyaki Pig Cheeks and BBQ Clams with Gojuchang and Sake.
Well this is a cracker. Aubergine is a vegetable that loves smoke, and loves meat too. The deep sweet rumble of miso blends in seamlessly, and chilli gives everything a lift. Because everything does need a lift, every now and then.
This is deceptively simple. The deep flavours come from the fermented miso, the whole thing start to finish cooks in less than an hour. Miso is a great store cupboard ingredient, for quick miso soups and great marinades. Miso makes a great steak marinade with a little mirin, sake and rice vinegar to loosen it out ant balance it. Some chilli too for me, because I can’t resist it. Mix it with butter and a little citrus (yuzu if you can get it, if not some lemon or lime) and rub a chicken with it before sticking it on the grill.
I start this dish with an onion, as most good dishes start. It gives lovely sweetness and texture. Onions, like most simple everyday things, are deeply underrated.
Ingredients
Instructions
This recipe is the second in a series of 4 that I developed in partnership with the Big Green Egg who sponsored this post. (Read more about sponsored content on Eat Like a Girl). Previously in this series: BBQ Teriyaki Pig Cheeks.
It is a bank holiday weekend and the sun is shining, I bet most of you had your barbecues out. I sparked up my Big Green Egg this evening as I do often now, and I used it to do something a little different. I wanted something quick and fresh and spicy, and I wanted it to be a little smoky too. I had some wonderful clams, bought explicitly for the purpose. Perfect little clams that I had soaked in a few changes of water just to make sure that they had relinquished all their grit.
When you think of the BBQ, you probably think of kebabs, burgers and steak, beer can chicken, meat in marinades, low and slow cooking so that the meat falls off the bone. But cooking over fire doesn’t need to be just like this, there is so much pleasure in cooking in cast iron over an intense flame. For this purpose I wheeled out my small cast iron frying pan.
I love clams in sake, it is a combination that works so well, the dry sake combining with the clam brine. With the smoke I wanted some spice, and I reached for my pot of gojuchang (Korean red pepper paste), a favourite cupboard ingredient, deeply flavoured and hot. A little does a lot, and the flavour it lends hints at much longer cooking. A little brightness to finish with some finely chopped spring onion, and some coriander would be lovely too if you had that.
Enjoy and have a wonderful Bank Holiday! (And if you are in Ireland, line this up for your bank holiday next weekend!).
Ingredients
Instructions
This recipe is the first in a series of 4 that I developed in partnership with the Big Green Egg who sponsored this post. (Read more about sponsored content on Eat Like a Girl).
This is the first in a series of recipe posts that I developed for the Big Green Egg. The iconic ceramic BBQ is a terrific piece of kit that I have really enjoyed working with at home. It The Big Green Egg has a domed lid which makes it an all weather BBQ but also allows very precise temperature control (combined with air valves at the top and at the bottom). The enamel coating ensures that it doesn’t rust and it is ready to use within 15 minutes of sparking up. I thought that I would go through a lot of charcoal but it is surprisingly efficient for such a big beast.
There is such satisfaction in cooking over fire. The smells and flavours of smoke permeate the food and the results vary hugely depending whether you cook over a flame or smouldering coals. I like to use flame for steaks and then stick something on low and slow to cook gently. Something like wings, ribs or these pig cheeks.
A hugely underrated and terrific value cut of meat, pig cheeks are a dream to cook on the BBQ. They have a deep porky flavour and firm texture, and they are often cooked so that they yield and fall apart, functioning as a glamorous pulled pork. I don’t know why people don’t stop them before this, I love them cooked until before this point, still firm but rich and moist, and glorious coated in a dark glaze as I have here.
Pig cheeks BBQ very well when marinaded overnight in a soy based teriyaki marinade which functions not just in terms of flavour, but also as a brine. After an hour of gentle cooking the cheeks are tender and moist, and full of flavour. A gorgeous bite. Glazed with a reduction of the marinade cooked on the hob once the cheeks hit the fire. Like this with a slaw, or in a Japanese style taco with sweet Japanese mayonnaise, some sriracha, some sesame seeds and fresh coriander.
Enjoy! And do share what you think of them, and any ideas that you have for BBQ season.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Prep time is only 10 minutes, but try and budget for an overnight marinade also. You will get much better results.
Baby, it is cold outside. (Sings along). But don’t worry, I have the solution.
My solution is tender and bright and soothing and a little bit hot, but not face melting. This pork belly bulgogi is punchy and gorgeous, and it is easy, once you get your mitts on the ingredients. And with this here internet, and the big broad world we all live in, that is not difficult at all.
Korean BBQ is a big thing. Korean restaurants often have a hole in the table with wood burning below, so that you can BBQ your own food as you eat. Bulgogi (which translates as fire meat) is a style of marinaded meat, that is then cooked over the BBQ. At home, you can cook it in the oven or on a pan too. It is most commonly marinaded beef, but I find it works terrifically with pork belly too. Cut thinly, and instead of over the BBQ, I roast it slowly until it is meltingly tender.
Korean Pork Belly Pork – Marinading
This takes little work. If you have a food processor or good blender the marinade takes minutes, and all you have to do with the pork is slice it. After that it is just time, time to marinade the meat, and time to roast it (just an hour). You can eat it as you like, I love it on top of a rice bowl with sesame seeds, spring onions and some greens like kale. Bulgogi is fabulous in a taco with a simple slaw, you can treat it like a Korean kebab and have it rolled in a flatbread or some pita bread. You can eat it very simple wrapped in some lettuce leaves with some herbs and spring onions. This is a perfect dish to make large amounts of for friends, served from a big serving platter in the centre of the table.
Korean Bulgogi Pork Belly Rice Bowl
Note: you can buy ingredients in most Asian supermarkets and online on sites like Sous Chef (a site that I have used as a customer many times, and they ship all over Europe). I make a large-ish batch of this even when I just make it myself. It will keep for a few days in the fridge and is a brilliant sandwich stuffer, for brunch with eggs etc.
Brunch with leftover bulgogi pork belly, tomatoes, onion and a glorious egg
Recipe: Korean Pork Belly Bulgogi
Serves 4
Ingredients
1kg skinless & boneless pork belly, and cut into thin slices (this can be easier if you freeze it for an hour to firm it)
Marinade
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 spring onions, ends removed and green and white parts coarsely chopped
75g gojuchang (Korean red pepper paste – gorgeous & something you should have in your cupboard)
3 tbsp gochugaru red pepper flakes
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
To finish
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp sesame seeds
some light oil for frying like groundnut, rapeseed or sunflower
Method
Put all of the ingredients for the marinade in your blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Add to the pork and mix with your hands, ensuring it is well combined. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour, preferably overnight.
About an hour and a quarter before you want to eat, remove the pork from the fridge, and preheat the oven to 150 deg C. Boil the kettle.
Depending on the size of your tray, you may need two. Oil them lightly and lay the pork slices in one layer. Put the boiling water in an oven proof bowl or pot and put it at the bottom of the oven. This will ensure that there is steam, and will prevent the pork from drying out.
Put the pork in the oven and allow it to roast gently. There should be plenty of water, but if for some reason you run out (say if your bowl is small), top it up if you need to.
After an hour it will be tender and ready to eat. You can push it further if you like, leaving it in longer to make a Korean pulled pork. Just a half an hour extra should do it. (I did this one time, and it is terrific too, if you like pulled pork!).
Serve with sesame seeds and shredded spring onion on top and eat hot, as you like it (rice bowl, taco, sandwich, in lettuce leaves with herbs).
Corn with Lime & Chilli Butter and Feta
This morning something joyful, simple and full of flavour. I was thinking about corn, how wonderful it is and quick, and remembering how I had had corn in some Mexican restaurants. With a fresh tangy crumbled cheese on top, and of course, a kick.
I am working on a whole slew of BBQ recipes this week, and some sides are warranted, so let us start here. Working with what we have, instead of a Mexican cotija cheese, I use feta. Feta, a Greek cheese, is protected, and can only be called feta if it is the traditional cheese produced in specific areas of Greece from sheep’s milk, or sheep and goat’s. You, of course, know it, and it is widely available in supermarkets. The real stuff is aged for a minimum of 3 months resulting in a salty firm & crumbly cheese with a bit of a tang. Imitators pale by comparison and sometimes taste odd, but there are some fantastic British & Irish sheep’s cheese you can use too. Like Irish Knockalara (from my home county of Waterford).
Corn, well that is simple enough. Buy whole corn that is fresh and still luscious and moist, not dry. Preferably with the green husks still on as they keep it nice and fresh. Good juicy limes and a fresh bouncy chilli. As hot as you like, I went for a fresh jalapeno. Continue reading
Hello! I’m Niamh (Knee-uv! It’s Irish).
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