Before I got married, I was not much in the way of a cook.
In fact, I'm still not much in the way of a cook.
When it comes to making food, my wonderful and amazing husband does the cooking. And he likes doing it. In his family, it was a tradition that the men learn how to cook. And it was a good thing, since I would have missed out on lots of good down-home Cajun cooking that his family made.
But, there is one wifely cooking task I'm proud to own.
Barbeque.
I didn't think I could cook anything outside of a microwave and boxed food, until my husband taught me how to barbeque. It all started when I had a craving for carne asada. Living here in southern Arizona, carne asada is a popular weekend dish. Many a Sunday, I can smell my neighbors cooking carne asada. So naturally, I wanted to make some.
Since I don't have a family recipe for carne asada, nor do I speak enough Spanish for one of my neighbors to teach me how to make it, I consulted the great oracle known as Google for some recipes on how to make it. Then, when our food stamps came in, we got some chuck steaks on sale and I made the marinate. I chose a citrusy sort of marinate, since we had all the ingredients on hand.
After an overnight soak in the marinate, my husband fired up the grill and I plopped the marinated steaks along with some green onions and peppers. The result was delicious.
I felt good about it afterwards since I was the one who created this treat from beginning to end, and that despite my huge lack of experience, I could barbeque something and NOT have it come out vulcanized! A huge confidence boost for someone like me who grew up with shoe-leather tough barbeque!
The next barbeque endeavor I undertook was pork chops, using a marinate similar to one my late father-in-law used for his homemade barbeque sauce. I don't have pictures of that one, but it was also delicious.
Finally on 4th of July, the biggest grilling day of the year, I barbequed chicken and americanized cevapcici (Serbian sausages made traditionally with ground beef, lamb, and pork with spices. Instead of lamb and pork, I'd made the cevapcici with ground beef and Jimmy Dean-knockoff sausage cuz it was there and needed eating)
One thing I've discovered when cooking chicken quarters whole-the joint where the thigh meets the drumstick does not cook all the way, even if the rest of the chicken does. Not wanting to vulcanize the rest of the quarter to ensure that part cooks through, next time I feel like barbequing chicken, I'll separate the thigh from the drumstick for more even cooking. Hope my husband remembers where he put the skillsaw...
In due course, I will be sharing my favorite marinates, as well as tips on barbequing in general.
Bon appetite!
In fact, I'm still not much in the way of a cook.
When it comes to making food, my wonderful and amazing husband does the cooking. And he likes doing it. In his family, it was a tradition that the men learn how to cook. And it was a good thing, since I would have missed out on lots of good down-home Cajun cooking that his family made.
But, there is one wifely cooking task I'm proud to own.
Barbeque.
I didn't think I could cook anything outside of a microwave and boxed food, until my husband taught me how to barbeque. It all started when I had a craving for carne asada. Living here in southern Arizona, carne asada is a popular weekend dish. Many a Sunday, I can smell my neighbors cooking carne asada. So naturally, I wanted to make some.
Since I don't have a family recipe for carne asada, nor do I speak enough Spanish for one of my neighbors to teach me how to make it, I consulted the great oracle known as Google for some recipes on how to make it. Then, when our food stamps came in, we got some chuck steaks on sale and I made the marinate. I chose a citrusy sort of marinate, since we had all the ingredients on hand.
After an overnight soak in the marinate, my husband fired up the grill and I plopped the marinated steaks along with some green onions and peppers. The result was delicious.
 |
| Tools of the trade |
 |
| Smoky, meaty goodness |
I felt good about it afterwards since I was the one who created this treat from beginning to end, and that despite my huge lack of experience, I could barbeque something and NOT have it come out vulcanized! A huge confidence boost for someone like me who grew up with shoe-leather tough barbeque!
The next barbeque endeavor I undertook was pork chops, using a marinate similar to one my late father-in-law used for his homemade barbeque sauce. I don't have pictures of that one, but it was also delicious.
Finally on 4th of July, the biggest grilling day of the year, I barbequed chicken and americanized cevapcici (Serbian sausages made traditionally with ground beef, lamb, and pork with spices. Instead of lamb and pork, I'd made the cevapcici with ground beef and Jimmy Dean-knockoff sausage cuz it was there and needed eating)
 |
| Those pink finger-looking thingies are the cevapcici |
One thing I've discovered when cooking chicken quarters whole-the joint where the thigh meets the drumstick does not cook all the way, even if the rest of the chicken does. Not wanting to vulcanize the rest of the quarter to ensure that part cooks through, next time I feel like barbequing chicken, I'll separate the thigh from the drumstick for more even cooking. Hope my husband remembers where he put the skillsaw...
In due course, I will be sharing my favorite marinates, as well as tips on barbequing in general.
Bon appetite!
No comments:
Post a Comment