So Himself has discovered the joy of coal barbecues. We had a gas ‘cue for ages and then one day
we were all like “what’s the point of this? I mean, FBJ cooks on gas ALL THE
TIME inside! What is the point of cooking on gas outside???” and we decided we
needed a coal ‘cue. I’ve been watching a
lot of Bobby Flay on pay TV, a New Yorker who does a whole lot of barbecuing,
and while his restaurant in NYC was SHITE his TV recipes always look amazeballs
so dying to try that stuff.
When we were in Mildura for Christmas to visit my olds we
were discussing our yearning for a Weber and The Old Fella mentioned that there
was a Weber in The Shed. They had
purchased the house last year and he was still working through the Aladdin’s
cave that is The Shed, and said that he didn’t want it and if Himself wanted to
clean it up and take it home he could.
HOORAY!!!! Himself did just that, it was in really good nick so it was
piled in the back of the Outlander (love that car) with all of our presents and
the wine we picked up from Chateau Mildura (classy name) and brought it back to
Sydney.
Himself has been giving it a bit of a workout and stuff has
been delicious – do not underrate the power of the charcoal my friends. But I decided to bite the bullet and buy a
Bobby Flamey Flame Flay cook book because his recipes on Addicted to Barbecue
continued to entice. The book finally
arrived and in anticipation I went to the local Lebanese Fruit Shop (Bankstown –
not the nice end) to pick up a 15kg bag of charcoal for the Weber and Himself
chose four recipes to try out.
I won’t mention the bit where he fell asleep reading Bobby’s
cookbook (wanted to take a picture but refrained to continue with my happy
marriage) and once he woke up again we went down the road for many, many herbs,
a few veg aaaaannnnd that’s about it. I’d
already picked up some delicious meat from Feather and Bone, a Lord and Lady
McAuley Meat Tray*, extra mince and some skirt steak. I don’t really want to mention the
skirt. I know I’ve told you before about
how delicious skirt is, but this is a touchy subject for me.
I remember when lamb shanks were $2
each. But now, all the annoying foodies
have realised shanks are delicious and the damn things are $13 for two.
Pricks. But skirt is delicious when
cooked medium rare over a high heat and cut against the grain. It’s the shit. Please, don’t tell the
pretentious foodies...
So four recipes were chosen and then the wee girl and I
retired to the Housos’ Lounge on the front porch whilst Himself started making
his magic** in the kitchen. I haven’t
mentioned the Housos’ Lounge have I? We
recently bought a new lounge for the small TV room (yeah, we so posh we have two
TV rooms my friends) and anyway the lounge in there was really old and getting
a big funky so we thought we needed a new one.
We went to Ikea and picked one up (how we got it home was a really,
really funny story, but unless I get AT LEAST 10 comments on people wanting to
hear that story I’m not going to tell you) and then we had the old lounge to dispose
of thoughtfully. Hmmmm what to do with
lounge asks Himself. Wellllll says I, I’ve
always wanted to have a lounge on the front porch... just saying... You’re such
a bogan he says, and puts it out there for me anyway. That’s love.
So, the Wee Girl and I sit on the front porch on the Housos’ Lounge
drinking rose (well, me drinking, her not) while he slaves in the kitchen
deciding exactly how much is 1 cup of parsley anyway? It’s just a guide I say, just feel the
parsley, be at one with the parsley...
Four and a half hours later it was dinner time Hooray!!! And
what can I say? Well, I’ll tell you what.
IT WAS FUCKING DELICIOUS!!!!!! Skirt steak with chimichurri (red AND
green), potatoes with herbs, stuffed peppers*** and these mangos.... ooohhh the
mangos, words cannot express. Praise be
the power of Bobby Flay and the King of Coal (Himself). So glad I married him, cause if I hadn’t, I
would have now, because it was so delicious I’m about to throw in the wooden
spoon and let him cook forever as long as it’s on charcoal.
Did I say it was delicious?
Yes it was.
There have been other things he’s done, and I was going to
blog about them, but all pales into significance to the meal he cooked
tonight. Here’s a picture. Look at it and weep....
Delicious.
Yes.
*They must have named that after some amazing individuals
**OMG YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE MESS HE LEFT!!!!
***I told you it was American – peppers... pffftt!
