Duvel

OMG! "Who could ask for anything more"! Well - now that you ask … the complete absence of either larks' tongues, wrens' livers, chaffinch brains, jaguars' earlobes or wolf nipple chips is somewhat concerning 🙄

Yesterday was Father’s Day. Tradition in the part of Germany where I hail from is to take a handcart, load it up with beer and other consumables and head out into the woods. Of course - now being older and so on - my friends and me downsized a bit, left out the handcart, took our families and the kids instead and made a leisurely stroll along the Bergstraße to reach the Gruffalo in the forest … Still, there were a few beers involved and someone brought a bottle of Marillenschnaps, which sustained us on the hike … We finally ended up at my place to conclude the afternoon with a BBQ and some refreshing beverages. Strangely, no pictures of the prepared food ☺️

Simple weekday BBQ: pork collar steak, Thüringer Bratwurst and herb butter-stuffed Laugenknoten. Mixed greens and pickles in the side …

I was more referring to the pleasant tingling sensation pepperoni might impart to the entry point and exit point of an average raccoon …

And I hope they will be pleasantly surprised by the pepperoni 😜

Pizza & Movie night, featuring some different combinations making use of whatever was in the fridge … “Meatlovers” - four different kinds of cold cuts, some thinly sliced smoked tri tip and crumbled sausage on top … “Ayyy Matey” - tuna & onions (and some capers and even two atomized anchovies) … ”When did I open this ?” - olives, artichokes, pickled garlic and the rest of the crumbled sausage … … and “Fünf Freunde und das Tal der Dinosaurier”, a popular installment of German youth (or better kids) culture, based on Enid Blytons Famous Five …

Ahh … the classic Pharao Special 🥳

Happy birthday, @Kerala 🤗

So true …

Croissant, cheese, sausage and egg - plus a few shakes of hot sauce. Enjoyed on the terrace …

Home alone … Ma la dumplings and a mysterious beverage with slightly flourescent qualities.

I think if you are in the restaurant business this might be scary as hell …

Incredible. I have not a single recipe really written down. Either I remember, or it wont happen again. Luckily, I have a good memory (especially for anything with numbers, like weights and temperatures) …

Crazy, just crazy 🥰

What a fantastic way to end a lovely holiday … and happy (belated) birthday, @liamsaunt 🤗

Fully with you … best SV, then sear as @mgaretz demonstrates so perfectly. Or like you say ”just” grill. But the idea here was that the tri tip functions as smaller (and maybe better) version of a smoked brisket. And I’d like that idea 😊

Inspired by @Norm Matthews post on brisket-style tri tip (and the ensuing discussion) I decided to give it a go … After about 6h in the smoker (last 2.5h wrapped): With a quick coleslaw, beans and a brezel roll … It was ok. Family was not impressed. Taste was good, it was reasonably tender, but slightly dry. I attribute this to mainly two issues: 1) German beef is not particularly fatty, and meat quality is average. This tri tip was too lean and thus the succulence of the rendered fat was missing. 2) I pulled at 187 F because it was dinner time. Should have gone to 200 F. Well … would have, should have, could have. A weekday is not perfect for experimenting with long cooks. As usual, my old lab wisdom hold true: If you don’t have time to do it right, reserve the time to do it again. To be repeated …

I always weight my water. Simpler and usually more accurate* … —- * graduated cylinders would work fine, but my kitchen has a scale, so I use it for this. In my lab(s) on the other hand …

Now that’s a perfect combination: sparkling water & a muddled whiskey. In my head I pretend you enjoyed both together … ☺️

No worries, I‘ll free some space in the attic 😛

That sounds like a plan … Let me explore this pork & fish sauce theme beforehand ☺️

Right now we have some great weather here at the Bergstraße. This calls for BBQ pretty much everyday, but it seems that the family members carrying mediterranean genes do not support more than 4 consecutive days of pork collar steaks and coarse Bratwurst. Luckily, I know just the thing to get them … Yakitori night. Got two large chickens from the Turkish supermarket, chopped them up and made this … (the bacon-wrapped tomatoes in the upper right corner is my German way to sneak in a pork product to maintain moral superiority). Regular skewers with tare (mostly thigh and back), bacon-wrapped tomatoes (that count as the vegetable course) and skin. Tsukune (ground up „everything else“), served with soy and egg … Liver with tare, and just pink in the middle 🤗 Cold soba with tsuyu (and an poached egg that for some reason was added only after the shot). My favourite was thigh, shio tare and some Shichimi Togarashi with extra orange peel. Enjoyed with a rye highball, that was just right on the spot ☺️

True - I like it before the meal with Mezze, too. As a digestif it might lead to some salty “dessert” later (there is a bit of feta left ☺️ ) …

More BBQ … This time sponsored by Lidl, where I literally go shopping once a year (loyal Aldi guy here …). Herb-marinated quail breast, Merguez (that actually was made from lamb and tasted like Merguez), some disappointing shrimp skewers and a coarse butchers sausage (not from Lidl) … Served with bread (not pictured), Tzaziki (Greek weeks at Lidl), lamb’s lettuce with greek dressing and feta and garlic-herb butter. Easy peasy, with a high satisfaction factor in my household. No schnapps, @weinoo (it’s a weekday) - on the other hand this Ouzo from Lesbos calls to me as a digestif 🤭

Elk calls for Aquavit 😝