use real butter

Recipe: galbi (bbq korean short ribs)

I am a barbecue whore. I think it originates in part from my southern roots – growing up in southeastern Virginia you end up loving seafood, barbecue, white trash food, and good country ham among other heart-stopping delights. I also love Asian food because I grew up in a household run by Chinese immigrants (my parents and my grandma) who all three are fantabulous cooks. This summer has been my summer of bbq (and pastries, and whatever else I feel like trying to cook). When I declared the Summer of BBQ, I meant I wanted to get my bearings straight on the King of BBQ (pork – according to where I grew up) and its loyal subjects beef, and chicken. But… Sarah Gim piqued my interest in galbi (or galbee), that is, Korean bbq short ribs on one of her posts.

It sounded so good. I had to try it when my List of Recipes to Attempt and Master cleared out a bit. And so it was that earlier this week while grocery shopping in Boulder I met my first obstacle… that no one in Boulder knows what short ribs (according to the Korean style) are. Safeway’s “I don’t normally work this department” butcher led me to something that looked nothing like what I sought. In Whole Foods, I was pointed to beef back ribs which had a lot of bone and fat and not so much meat. Where the hell were all the beef rib racks? At least the butchers at Whole Foods are willing to do just about anything you ask. So I handed the fellow five pounds of the meatiest back ribs I could find in the case and asked him to please cut them across the bones. I got a funny look, but he obliged me. I should have asked him to cut each piece into 3 strips instead of 2, but I have issues with shouting to someone while they are operating a bone saw.

**Jump for more butter**

What to do with fresh figs? I bought about two dozen of these babies the other day because I really do like fresh figs. Most of the recipes call for cooking them, and I think that’s a bit of a shame because I really like them raw.

figs are delicate when ripe

Well the California board of fig growers had one suggestion for raw figs – prosciutto. Honestly, I like prosciutto with just about anything and also with nothing. Sounded like a nice and easy starter for dinner tonight which was a repeat of eggplant parmigiana using that second eggplant and yes – covering with foil for the first 35 minutes makes the cheese melt much nicer – so do that and then uncover for the last 10 minutes to crisp it up.

perfect with prosciutto

It’s a hands down winning combination in my book. Too bad fresh figs have such a small window of availability. And you don’t need all that much prosciutto to go with a fig quarter (we didn’t eat all of that prosciutto). It paired beautifully with a fruity sauvignon blanc too. I could have eaten just that for dinner.

Recipe: rocky road brownies

No – not the way Cartman refers to… I’m talking about literally making brownies.

Never really satisfied with that earlier experiment of fudgy versus chewy brownies, I was flipping through some old issues of Chocolatier the other day and found brownie recipes worthy of a kitchen test. In my youth (back in 1994) I subscribed to Chocolatier because I liked baking with chocolate. I found I was mostly in over my head with that magazine. I tried again in 2000 and the same thing happened. Mind you, their other publication is Pastry Art and Design, if that’s any hint. I’m glad I hung on to those issues though, because now that I have perused the recipes, the three truffle (most difficult) ratings look to be on par with the more advanced stuff I did in pastry class. I mean to say – they are now within my ability level, and that feels pretty good!

marshmallows dusted in flour and cocoa

**Jump for more butter**