Best Steak Competition Announcement

On July 23rd we are hosting a “Best Steak” Competition.  We are looking for a few contestants and judges.

Sign up to be a judge or contestant

Official Rules

• Entry deadline is 7/16/2009
• There is no entry fee but you must provide all ingredients.
• You can enter any cut of beef you want but the total cost of the meat cannot exceed $15.
• You can prep your steak at home but you must grill it on site.
• You will have a total of 30 minutes to grill your steak.
• Each entry will be scored on flavor and appearance, official contest white plates will be provided.
• The entry should not include any side dishes

Prizes to include:

• Weber Spirit® series 2-burner propane grill
• 55 bottle estate wine rack
• US Sankey Keg Tap & Pump
• 25lb bag of Super Lucky Elephant jasmine rice
• And many more….

Hawaiian Style BBQ Chicken

For those of you expecting this recipe to be something like the picture above: a plain chicken breast that is grilled, doused with teriyaki sauce and topped with canned pineapple slices, please read about Sanford B. Dole.  Putting a pineapple slice on something barely edible and calling it Hawaiian makes me want to barf.  Anyways enough about my aversion to “pineapple = Hawaiian” food.  On to the good stuff.

The thing with most grilled chicken is that it has to marinate for a while, preferably overnight and preferably in a zip-lock bag.  Once the marinade has soaked in, the chicken always turns out moist and flavorful.  I don’t know how many times I made this chicken but I never worry about it drying out.  The batch that I whipped up for this past Thursday’s BBQ happened to taste especially good.   I think it was because I used brown sugar instead of regular granulated sugar – sometimes being out of something in the kitchen leads to a good thing.

For this recipe I prefer to use thigh meat but really any part of the chicken will do.  The recipe below should be enough to fill a one gallon zip-lock bag and feed about 6 – 8.  If there is someone named Eric Robinson in the group you might want to make two bags.  I usually buy the big family pack of chicken that has a dozen thighs in it.  12 chicken thighs fit nicely in a gallon bag.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 2/3 Cup shoyu (otherwise know as soy sauce)
• 2/3 Cup water
• About a 3″ to 4″ piece of ginger, grated
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp crushed red pepper (for spicy version)
• 12 chicken thighs

In a very large bowl toss chicken thighs, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic, sesame seeds and optional red pepper.  In another bowl mix shoyu, water and brown sugar.  Next squeeze the grated ginger over the shoyu-suger mixture allowing the juice from the ginger to fall in the mixture.  Give the mixture a quick stir.  Place the chicken in a zip-lock bag (be sure to spoon up all the extra garlic and sesame seeds from the bowl).  Place bay leaves in the bag and then fill it up with the marinade.  Try to squeeze as much air out of the bag that you can before you seal it.  Put the bag in a pan and place in the refrigerator over night.  I feel that it helps if you turn the bag over roughly half way through the marinating process.  If you’re like me and you typically grill in the evening then you can just turn the bag over in the morning.  When you come home from whatever you’re doing that day just plop the thighs on the grill and cook until done.   Best chicken ever… bra.

Aloha

Beer Can Chickin

This was the first time I tried the infamous “Beer Can Chicken” and I was surprised at how easy it was to make.  Once you put the chicken on the grill, all you have to do is close the lid and sit there and “watch” the grill.  The following picture describes what I mean by watching the grill:

Here’s the specs on the recipe:

• One Chicken
• About 3 Tbsp of your favorite dry spice rub – I used a combination of salt, course ground pepper, paprika, oregano & rosemary
• One can of beer – I used Heineken
• Some kind of oil or even butter – I used extra virgin olive oil.

I started by making sure all of the extra bits were removed from the chicken.  Then padded the chicken dry with a few paper towels.  Then I rubbed the chicken with olive oil, inside and out, and proceeded to  massage in the dry rub.  I placed the chicken aside and did a salmonella wash and then came the good part.  I open a can of beer and drink about half of it.  After I sufficiently reduced the volume of beer in the can,  I took a can opener and neatly went around the rim.  The top comes off quite cleanly.  I dumped whatever remained of the spice rub in the can, slipped the chicken over the top of the can drumsticks facing downward and went outside to warm up the grill.

I ended up cooking the chicken for about 2 hours on the grill, covered.  I’m guessing it was around 300 degrees in there.  The end result was very good roasted chicken, but it didn’t seem to me like the beer (or BBQ for that matter) imparted a whole lot of flavor.  All I can say is that it tasted like a really good roasted chicken that you would make in your oven.  The best thing about the beer can is that it  keeps the chicken upright so you don’t have to deal with the ubiquitous flare ups or use come kind of rotisserie contraption that is usually needed to cook a large piece of meat over a flame.

When I do this again I’m definitely planning on using a much stronger beer… probably an IPA…  if I can find one in a can.  I’m also going to try to cook it on higher heat for a shorter period of time.

Thanks again to all those who came out, we had such a great time.  Big shout-outs to James, Liz, and Kevin – its nice to have you guys around for another season.  Also I’m liking all the baby time my wife and I got (I think it helps us cope).  Everywhere we go we see babies now.  Shannon and I are way behind the trends, we don’t even have a dog and dogs are so 2008.

Q MVP goes to Molly Morris for the corn salad (Again I’ll try to hunt down the recipe).

I’ll leave you all this week with a very  important announcement.

MISSING GIRAFFE

If you or someone you know has seen this giraffe or has information that could lead to its safe return please contact us immediately.

1-0

It’s always good to start off the season with a win and I think everyone who made it out to the opener would agree that we won big time.   I went with the sure winner… pork tenderloin.  The loins were on sale and you literally cannot mess them up.  In fact I totally forgot what temperature I was supposed to cook them to and left them on the grill for an extra inning and they still came out bomb:

BBQ Pork Tenderloin

• One Pork Tenderloin (~2lbs)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Hawaiian Salt
• Tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper
• Tbsp Fennel Seed
• 2 Cloves of Chopped Garlic
• Some rosemary if you like
• 1oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rub tenderloin with garlic, salt, pepper & spices.  Place in a gallon zip-lock bag.  Add olive oil to the bag, seal and place in the fridge over night.  Grill on medium heat till the internal temperature is 160.  (I spaced out and cooked these things till about 180 and nobody said anything and all of it was gone by the end of the night).

Q MVP goes to Jean & Don for the fruit salad.  I don’t even like fruit salad but I like this fruit salad.

I’ll try to post the recipe.  I know it involved sorbet which is one of the few sweet things I like.  To me, eating your typical fruit salad is like trying to drink a warm orange soda –  so unrefreshing and you never end up finishing it.  This one was light and tart and most importantly…  sans pineapple (More on that in a later post).

Big mahalo to everyone who made it out and thanks for all the great contributions… wine, sushi, caprese… Shannon and I had a great BobbyQ leftover picnic at Golden Gardens on Saturday. 

I hope I can keep the winning streak going.  I’m thinking of beer can chicken this coming Thursday but I’ve already received some flak about Alzheimer’s.  Maybe I’ll try to invent some aluminum free beer can chicken although if people are seriously worried about aluminum & Alzheimer’s, try looking at your deodorant’s active ingredient.  Peace out bean sprout.

Last BobbyQ season in Seattle

Firs things first, I apologize for not finishing up last season but there were these things called GREs, actuarial exams & grad school applications.  All the studying left me with little motivation to write anything more than absolutely necessary.  I hope to have more stamina this year.

Now on to the meaty stuff.  This may be the last BobbyQ season in Seattle.  As many of you know, Shannon and I are making the big move to Ann Arbor, MI in August.  I know what you’re thinking… first the Sonics skip town and now BobbyQ?   Sorry,  we just couldn’t resist 11% unemployment and minus nine degree winters.  Not to mention all the great stuff that the state of Michigan boasts in their “Pure Michigan” add campaign:

What they failed to mention in that video is shortly after the “annual blaze of glory” comes the epic winter of despair – I’m getting cold feet thinking about how cold my feet will be.

Please if you can this summer, drop by for at least one BBQ.  Don’t think you can make it for any of the Seattle dates?  Perhaps you ccould take a trip out to Michigan and finish the season of in a blaze of glory… Bobby Q style.

Bobby-Q … Literally

I used to have the weekly barbecue on Wednesdays. It was my night off when I was a bartender. Wednesday can be a tough night for people to make it out and in years past I had many a summer night barbecuing solo. This past week was a throwback to those nights. Shannon was out of town and I needed to do a great deal of studying over the weekend. So I didn’t bother to send out an evite and figured I’d just prepare enough food so if people happened to stop by I could at least feed them. It turned out I was the only one who made it to the barbecue on Sunday but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in my driveway on a sunny day, barbecuing steaks, drinking a beer, and listening to the Mariners kill the Padres 9-2. I’m glad I got to do this at least once this year, sometimes it’s good to have a moment for contemplation and think about the things that are important to you. I thought about a lot of stuff that afternoon and for those of you who aren’t into stump speeches I recommend you navigate away now.

I’ve lived a very happy life so far and I’d like to keep it that way. But the problem is there is too much idiocracy going on in this country and I can’t stand it some times. Odd enough it is an election year and politics are invading every inch of my life. I promise I’ll only do this once on this blog but here we go:

Things about this country that I can’t stand:

1) Our president is a big fan of cutting taxes but spends more, billions more… wtf? My extensive training as a financial analyst has taught me that this isn’t supposed to work.

2) Half the people in this country can sleep easy at night knowing our government is doing a crack job of water boarding innocent people until they give us enough false information to justify paying Haliburton to solve the new non-problem. But if the gays marry, we’ve lost our moral center. Hello can I get a constitutional amendment banning torture?

3) The actuary exam that I’m currently studying for is easier to understand than the fraction of the tax code that applies to me, a childless renter.

4) Someone who has more votes than someone else doesn’t get elected.

5) People are still trying to figure out how to get more oil. I’m flabbergasted at the way Americans think about this issue. As if hitting the mother load of cassette tapes is going to be easy to upload on to your iPod.

6) Municipal governments get played by corporations, exchanging tax breaks for tax revenue and in the end your local family owned business is forced to subsidize their large competitor that will eventually put them out of business.

Basically here is my shtick. Even with all this annoying crap going on in our lives it fails in comparison to most people’s problems in this world. I believe the fact that I can sit and relax on Sunday, listen to a ball game, eat fatty steaks, and drink beer is privilege not a right. I’m pretty sure most people, for centuries worked every God given day of their life. We’ve come accustomed to such casual survival and I’m sure many of us, save the men and women of our armed forces, have lived our lives insulated from most real tragedy.

I don’t make a lot of money by American standards but what I do know is that only a small portion of it goes to ensuring my family’s basic survival. And If I want to die a happy man I ought to spend the rest of it in the most responsible fashion I know how. Lowly citizens like me have only two basic powers, the vote and our dollar. The latter by far the more powerful. There’s been a lot of politics so far this year but as Obama’s recent decision to decline public funding shows, everyone answers to cash. So if you don’t like the fact that China’s taking over the world, then don’t spend your stimulus check at Wal-Mart. Or perhaps if you’re unhappy about the way Americans have been running the world and want to give someone else a try then maybe you should shop at Wal-Mart. My point is, the only demand that is met by those in power is economic and real change requires real sacrifice.

A Family Affair

Some of you might have noticed it has been a while since the last post. Truth is I haven’t had a whole lot of spare time since I started at SAFECO and I wanted to give this post its full dues. Last weekend was a busy but special time. Saturday was our cousin Rebecca’s wedding and now we can formally say Anthony is part of the family. Of course he already felt like family from day one and I can’t say enough about how happy it makes Shannon and me. They are truly a great couple, so much so that when we are hanging out with them I always feel a little sad that we don’t spend more time together. Whoa… got a little sentimental there. Anyways mayonnaise, with the wedding and all, we had the family staying with us. Shannon’s Mom & Dad, and also Jason & Hope. Some people might shy away from a weekend with the in-laws but I like it. I like it for many reasons of which I don’t have the time, space, or enough people’s interest to talk about. I will say one cool thing about hanging around Shannon’s family is that I get all the goods about Shannon from back in the awkward days, even if Shannon tells me a particular story, her family’s version with the extra embellishment is much better beef and cheddar. (Also a little shameless plug: for those of you how are into fútbol you need to check out Jason Maxwell’s View from the Couch.

So on to the barbecue. Sunday was quite a family experience. Pretty much all of Shannon’s family was there and I’m glad everyone could make it out, we all had a busy weekend. Even the groom stopped by and dropped off the left over beer from the wedding the night before. The father of the bride, Uncle Mike, who always sends me a sincere apology when he can’t make it to the barbecue (please don’t worry beef curry) was there along with Aunt Louie. Aunt Jean, Uncle Don and Grandpa Bob, the Antoncichs and of course Kathy, Gared and Deirdre brought little Maeve. Parties like this remind me of my childhood because there were always multiple generations at them, I know Auntie Wendy would agree with me on that one. By the way Shannon told me last night she doesn’t know what people from Hawaii put in potato salad but every time she has potato salad made by a Hawaiian it’s always the best.

We went with burgers this time, I did some hand made patties which included my secret ingredient. I don’t think it mattered much though because I pretty much overcooked each burger. It takes a lot of concentration to work the grill and I usually would rather spend time with all the guests. The biggest props were given to the portabella mushroom burgers that we marinated then grilled and also Shannon’s berry crumb bars were gone before any of the other food was. All the food that everyone brought was excellent. We have been really lucky to eat great left-overs this week. Mahalo to all the family and friends, you’re really what made last Sunday a winner winner barbecue dinner.

PS Shannon is gone this weekend so I’m not sending out an evite this week but as always I’d love to have you over so give me a buzz or post a comment if you want to stop by.

Father’s Day, Sunshine & BobbyQ… sans Shannon

Next week there is a wedding in our family. Sunday was the shower, which means Mom and Dad Maxwell were in town. While Shannon and her mom were at the shower, dad and I whipped out the barbecue. I have to admit, I was worried that things might be a little unorganized without my other half, but overall we did well. Dad is an accomplished cook and stepped right in.

We started off the day at the Ballard Farmer’s Market, it was a good day, the sunshine provided lots of energy and the produce looked better than ever. We bought some beef ribs (the father’s day special), radishes, salad onions, mustard greens, lettuce, and asparagus. You know the signs at the market are incredibly brazen, and they don’t apologize for it either. I figure it makes sense because the whole local organic free range no hormones no preservatives shtick is the only reason all the people are there so what else would you advertise?

In other news my family made it out from Woodinville, It was great to see Joe on father’s day along with my Mom, Gus, Angelo and of course, Ola and Kamele. Dad Maxwell had a great time with the baby. Big ups to Nate, Risa and Natasha. Also thanks to Brian for popping in, I was hoping you would be able to make it to at least one barbecue.

Looking forward to next week.

BobbyQ Number Two

Last week while carousing the farmer’s market we noticed the mint looked really good. Since we had a cheap bottle of rum lying around the house, Shannon thought we could make mojitos. Then we thought we’d just go with the whole Caribbean theme. I barbecued marinated carne asada with carmelized onions and mushrooms for sandwiches. Shannon made chipotle cream sauce and cilantro chutney to go with them. Now there is a little sandwich shop down the street from us that makes somewhat similar sandwiches. They don’t have a sign in front of their tiny little establishment, almost as if to say… we’re so good at what we do, we don’t even need a sign. As pretentious as it is, they truly don’t need to advertise. This place is always packed, except when their closed, which is like every Monday, 3rd Tuesday and like a 2 months in December through January and pretty much any other time I remember to go there. And don’t even bother trying to get a sandwich after 2pm… they have usually have sold out by then. Regulars have no doubt figured out that I’m talking about Paseo’s, well the sandwiches we made at the barbecue stood up pretty good to Paseo’s and since I can make these any time I feel like it, I don’t think I’ll be dealing with the frustration of walking down there anymore and figuring out that they are closed or sold out of sandwiches.

With all that said, we had a great barbecue, I got to see a lot of my friends from the Nuffsed crew that I haven’t seen in a while and people brought some great dishes as well, thanks to everyone who attended. I especially noticed we had quite a few canine Q’ers today: Henry, Mia, Rosie, Freida, (Sorry Jill I can’t remember your dog’s name), and a very special shout out to Buster, who wasn’t feeling very good today, you’re a champ buddy and I’m glad you made it, even when you weren’t feeling so hot.

Sophie’s Birthday

Today is Sophie May Weaver’s first birthday (well the party at least).  Sophie is the daughter of our good friends Genevieve and Todd Weaver and the niece of Lindsay and Brian Haas. Here is a picture of the adorable cupcakes Gen got from Metropolitan Market. Too bad I have no pictures of the cutie pie at her party because I forgot to bring my camera!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!

And here is a picture of Gen and Sophie wonderfully preforming their respective bridesmaid and flower girl duties at Lindsay and Brian’s wedding last month