Islandy BBQ Beef Shortribs

This is a favorite barbeque recipe in Hawaii and the Micronesian islands. The secret is in the marinade. You may prefer boneless beef short ribs, but I like them with the bones because I think the meat is more flavorful. I ask the butcher to make them “thin cut.” These are thick cut.

Marinade Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs. beef short-ribs
• ½ cup soy sauce (I use Chinese made 'Pearl River Bridge' brand; I don't like Kikkoman's because it is Japanese and tastes quite different than Chinese brands)
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• ⅛ cup lemon or lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. Worchester sauce
• ⅛ cup brown or regular sugar
• 1 tsp. Sesame oil
• ½ cup water
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. (3-4 cloves) garlic, diced
• 3 hot peppers of your choice, diced (use more, none or less for desired hotness)

Preparation:

Combine all the ingredients into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag or large bowl. Place meat strips into the marinade. If in a baggie, seal it and shake the bag a bit. Marinade for 6-8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. They're delicious! You can also marinade chicken with the same recipe. The longer the meat marinates, the stronger the flavor will be.

Variations: I just use the basic simple recipe above. However, variations include adding a teaspoon of mustard powder, some diced green onions. The sugar helps the meat to blacken when placed over the barbeque fire. I love that charbroiled flavor. You may want to experiment with the different ingredients to suit your preferences.

Barbecue Techniques: I've learned a few barbeque techniques over the years that most people don't know. A lot of people just dump their charcoal into the barbeque, like I used to do; but a better method is to make a pyramid so that the heat can center within the pyramid. This way you won't have to re-ignite your charcoal a dozen times to make it go.

Also, you don't need to cover the entire grill. In fact, it's best not to so you can move food to the cooler sides when it is almost done to prevent burning. Also, a lot of people burn their food because the heat is too high. A lower heat and a longer time to cook makes the meat more juicy. Never poke your meat with a fork or knife because it'll let all the juices out. Cooking low and slow makes meat more juicy. This is true primarily for chicken and thicker cuts of meat.

For thin-cut short-ribs it really doesn't matter. You want to get them over the fire to get that charbroiled flavor, yet you don't want them to burn. There's no exact way to barbeque. Whatever works best for you is fine. The important thing is to apply fire directly to the meat for a couple minutes to get that awesome charbroiled flavor. The trick is not to burn and dry out your meat. Perhaps keep a little spray bottle handy with water, to control the fire.

Believe it or not, an electric fan is great for getting a stubborn fire going. Fire needs air and a fan provides forced air. Short-ribs are one of my favorite meals. I always buy the bone-in cuts of meat for that wonderful extra coveted flavor. Enjoy!

Tasty Steak And Onions

Here's one of my favorite tasty steak recipes that you'll love. It takes about 40-minutes to cook because of the time needed to grill the onions. The steak cooks in a minute.

Ingredients:

• 1 ribeye steak (or your favorite beef)
• 1 large yellow onion sliced
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (it has a robust fruity smell)
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce (I use Chinese made 'Pearl River Bridge' brand; I don't like Kikkoman's because it is Japanese and tastes quite different than Chinese brands)
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 tsp. of regular or brown sugar

Preparation:

Cut the onion in half, and then slice it thinly into rings. Add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to a heated frying pan under medium to high heat. Add the onions and grill, stirring occasionally until the onions start to brown (it takes about 20-30 minutes). The smell of the grilling onions is wonderful.

Keep heat on medium to high. Part onions to side of pan using a spatula and place steak in middle of pan. I only cook the steak long enough to brown each side, then I cut it in half to see how red the inside is. I like my steaks medium-rare, so when it's 50% red inside it's done for me. There's nothing worse than an overcooked steak with no juiciness inside. I want to hear the moo in the cow! 

Adjust the marinade to taste. If the marinade is sweet, I add some more vinegar. The idea is to get a perfect blend of the soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar so that you don't taste any one of them by itself; but rather, they blend together to make a delicious flavor. If too salty, add some sugar. If too vinegary, add some soy sauce.

Add your marinade ingredients to pan and stir into onions and beef.

Cooking Tip: I usually cut the steak into bite-sized pieces before cooking it. This makes it easier to cook since you've increased the surface area of your beef. And by doing it this way, I don't need to cut the steak in half to see if it's done while cooking.

I eat this meal with a dinner roll with a teaspoon of real Irish butter on top of the roll. A little salt on the steak is good, as you eat, but not too much. You can always add more salt, but you can't remove it. Too much salt will ruin any meal.

It's also great with Au Gratin or Scalloped potatoes (from the box). I admit I love dehydrated potatoes, there's just something about the flavor. Oven cooking is best to me, which gives a nice baked coating to the cheese and potatoes.

Sometimes I'll have the steak with some freshly sliced avocado on the side. I like avocado with just about any dinner. Enjoy!

Black-eyed Peas and Smoked Ham Hocks

Black-eyed peas and smoked ham hocks is a delicious favorite meal. Use ham hocks or hog jowl in this basic black eyed pea recipe.

Ingredients:

2 pounds dried black-eyed peas (or frozen in a package)
1 smoked ham hock
6 cups pure water
1 lemon
¼ cup Bertolli virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional for hotness)
¼ teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Use a 3 quart pan. If dried peas, pick over the peas and rinse well, place in boiling water for 1 minute, and then allow to simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour. Add ½ tsp of salt to the water while simmering. If frozen peas, just set to side for now. You can also use beans or split peas for this recipe, my favorite is the 15-Bean mixture which comes in a dry bag.

In a separate pot, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Place smoked ham hock into pot with sautéed onions and garlic and add ½ teaspoon of salt, fill pot with pure water, bring to boil, then simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.

Combine the ham hock mixture and beans into the 3 quart pan. Add the crushed red pepper, sugar and juice from fresh squeezed lemon (or 1 Tbsp. lemon juice). Fill pan almost to top with more pure water. Cover and simmer slowly 1 more hour or until peas are tender and ham hock falls apart easily.

Helpful Notes:

Serve with hot cooked white rice and cornbread. Serves 8 people.

You'll need to add 2 to 3 teaspoons of Kosher or Himalayan salt at the end to get the desired flavor, but only add a little salt at a time. Too much salt will ruin your recipe. Not enough salt and your broth will taste bland. If you taste the broth after stirring, and it still doesn't seem to have enough flavor, add a little more salt and some fresh ground pepper. Pepper is potent, so you don't need much at all. I usually add about ½ to 1 tsp. of fresh ground pepper.

Cooking is an art which takes time and experience to get good at. Peas and beans are excellent sources of fiber for your family, to give them energy and good health. Enjoy!

Beef Shank Bone Soup

This is a delicious recipe that my kids love, but it takes about 3 hours to make. To me, I enjoy cooking long meals. Society today has become so hectic, with everyone tossing a TV-dinner into the microwave. There's no love in that! I enjoy cooking, the longer the better.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 lbs. Beef Shank Bone meat
• 1" fresh ginger
• 2 cubes beef bullion
• 1 to 2 cubes chicken bullion
• 1 medium yellow onion
• ¼ to ½ small head of cabbage
• salt and pepper to taste (I start with ½ teaspoon of salt and about 1/4 teaspoon pepper)

Place meat into pot. Cover meat at least 1" with water. The best part of this meal is the awesome bone-marrow that boils out from the bone. You need to keep the meat covered with water in order for it to cook. Beef Bone Shank is tough if you don't cook it long enough. You can't overcook this meal, so I give it about 3-4 hours to simmer under a medium flame. A gentle boiling is ideal in the center, but your heat is too high if the whole pot is boiling. You want to set your heat just where the soup is starting to boil. When done, the meat will fall right off the bone. You'll see a hollow bone with all the marrow in the soup. Delicious!

Cover the pot for the entire cooking time. After an hour or so, you will need to add some more water to your soup to compensate for lost steam. Keep the meat covered so it can cook properly.

Cooking Rule: Always place the lid positioned slightly off the pot so that steam can escape. This will prevent water from boiling over from the pot when the lid is fully in place.

Add all your ingredients at the beginning, except the cabbage (add the cabbage after about an hour). I wouldn't add any more salt or pepper than listed above until towards the end. The reason is because your soup's flavor is going to enhance as it cooks. I usually will add more salt and pepper towards the end (to taste). Be careful because if you add too much salt or pepper you can't undo it, unless you add a bunch more water and let it stew for a little longer. I usually buy a 2 pack of beef bone shank and use them both at once.

I cut my onions into half circles. I peel most of the skin off the 1" of ginger before tossing it whole into the pot. The ginger essence is hardly noticeable in the soup when it's done. The great thing about the ginger is that it absorbs all that floating brown residue that comes from the meat as it's cooking. It all goes away. I think it's amazing. The ginger perfectly complements the soup.

Some people like to add the entire head of cabbage, but I think that's way too much. I actually only use about ½ of a small head of cabbage. I use both beef and chicken bullions cubes. There is no set rule, but remember that these cubes do contain salt, so it's difficult to determine how much salt to add in this recipe. You'll need to adjust it according to your own taste at the end. Over time you'll get good at doing this. You may want to use all chicken or all beef bullion. I have found that chicken cubes are stronger in flavor than beef cubes. Also, you certainly can add more cubes for more flavor.

Potatoes go great with this soup, but you want to add them towards the end or else they'll cook into mush. I realize it may seem sacrilegious to add canned potatoes to such a fresh dish, but I actually prefer to add 1 can of drained whole peeled potatoes in the last 15 minutes of cooking (30 minutes for fresh cut potatoes; test for softness before removing from heat).

It's the bone marrow in the Beef Shank that really flavors this delicious soup. I stir my soup every 30 minutes or so. Cooking is an art which requires patience and practice.