Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Summer BBQ Ideas for BBQ Snobs


What is it with us and BBQ? When the weather gets cooler, we roll up our woolen sleeves and grill some meat. When the weather gets hotter, we take off put on our comfiest cotton tees, tied up our hair, and again...grill some meat, despite being drenched in sweat, even before the charcoal BBQ was lit.

We are all BBQ snobs. The days where mini cheese sausages and fishballs ruled the BBQ were longggg gone. Those are now only the extras, the filler snacks before we get to the good stuff. Soon, I expect them to be totally phased out.

Check out...
Our BBQ Spread
...and you'll know why.

The ever so creative Sir A made:
- Cherry tomatoes and cheddar cheese slice rolled in bacon
- Asparagus rolled in bacon
- Enoki mushrooms rolled in thinly sliced sukiyaki beef, and...


- Japanese sticky rice sticks wrapped in bacon with a slice of cheddar cheese
- Tomatoes filled with cheese topping

A&J made deliciousnesses in those glad bags...

- Beef fillet
- Pork Chops
- Pork neck fillet
- Lam Yu chicken wings - super delicious, I ate at least 6 of these
- Char Siew pork ribs

...and what did I make?
Indonesian Pork Satay (Sate Babi)
Preparations
- For best result, prepare one day in advance
- Select pork meat with a combination of lean meat and fat
- If possible, ask your meat vendor to give you fatty bits of pork, mine gave me some tendons
- Cut pork meat into bite sized chunks
- Soak bamboo skewers in water to prevent them for burning too fast
- Prepare marinate


Marinate
- Light soy sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor should be sweet soy sauce)
- Shallot (thinly sliced)
- 1 tsp ground corriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- ground nutmeg (sprinkle all over)
- white pepper
- lime zest, lime juice
- Olive oil
Marinate for minimum 3 hours, preferably overnight. On the day of BBQ, stick meant together with bamboo skewers, combining lean meat with fatty bits, about 5 pieces per skewer.


Sauce for basting
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- a dash of light soy sauce or fish sauce
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- olive oil
Baste the sate from time to time when grilling


Dipping sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- chopped chilli (optional)
Place dipping sauce on a plate, dip sate after grilling, and serve sate hot.
They should be super tender, smoky from the charcoal grill, juicy, tasty...and very addictive. One stick is never gonna be enough.


How did the boys light up the charcoal BBQ? Ehm. They gas-bruleed it.

Did any of us get drunk? What did we drink?

Sadly, no one got drunk, but we sampled this deliciousness I brought from Bali.
Our skilled bartender, the A, mixed our drinks:
Arak Bali Cola Lime
- a shot of Arak Bali
- topped off with coke
- lime juice
- ice cubes
Super refreshing, just perfect for the hot evening BBQ.

The party was for our Bday girl, Carrie. A bday party is not a party without a cake and gifts.....


...and crazy poses from one of our hosts, the V.

Happy almost summer, bitches. ^_^

12 comments:

  1. Wow, the BBQ food look divine! When I do BBQ, I only have chicken wings, shrimps and grilled vegetable. :P

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  2. oh...the food looks super duper yummy

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  3. I loooove BBQ! Looks like a great party!

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  4. Rita,
    Pork Rules!!!
    Great party ideas.

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  5. Wow, that is a good spread, but so full of labor-intensive things wrapped with other things! And the skewering too! (OK, perhaps it's just me and my laziness.)

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  6. Fabulous! Such a big spread of food. Were the guests allowed to cook their own skewer of food?

    I agree, Sir A is creative. I would have not thought of a cheese slice being rolled in bacon!

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  7. OMGBBQ ^^! YUUUMMMM meaty meaty meat XD I love how everything is wrapped in bacon hee hee and all those yummy skewers mmmm

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  8. Now that's some incredible BBQ! Give me skewered meat anytime instead of just tossing the carcass on the flames. Delicious!

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  9. I love bbq!! Too bad I can't bbq indoors inside my apartment hehe

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  10. Wow! That looks so much tastier than our usual run of burgers, chicken, and weenies! I think I'll add a little 'Rita style to our next Texas grill cook-out.

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  11. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog. Your writing is so coloquial and relaxed and your ideas and passion for food is so refreshing!

    Stumbled onto it when looking for a flourless-milkless cake recipe, since I have had a craving at midnight and my firdge is missing the two vital ingredients for baking! hehe, so as I type this my cakes are baking away.

    This BBQ post has to be my favourite - I am a die-hard carnivore. Also loved your images and take on Brazil!

    Will def be back to visit again soon.

    Do check me out at: www.meagan-megalomaniac.blogspot.com

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  12. Those bacon, cheese and tomatoe things look GOOOOOOOOOOOD! I can't wait to try them out! YUMMY!

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