March Meat Madness- Backyard BBQ

Rescheduled from the January postponed event. Should be a nice sunny Saturday for que'ing. Four Q BBQ is going for #1. We are looking at 10-12 teams competing. Lots of fun, socializing and information exchange. This event encourages new teams to venture into the BBQ competition arena with pointers from some seasoned competitors.

Hot Pot- Sylvie Style

G and I have been frequenting a very good Korean Hot Pot restaurant on Washington Blvd, On Dal 2. They specialize only in flavorful hot pots brewing right at your tableside with varying levels of spicy heat and choices which include, huge shrimp, crab, seafood and a whole lot more. It is recommended that you wear the bibs provided and jump into the messy, tasty family style broth.

Anyway, I have been obsessed with trying to create such a meal at home. Their's is a family guarded recipe which up front I acknowledge I couldn't come close to recreating. With the help of the internet and a couple of Korean cookbooks I happen to own, I prepared my Soul Fusion Kitchen rendition of a Hot Pot cooked tableside using an electric frying pan.

Sylvie's Brewing Hot Pot


















I didn't really follow a recipe but instead relied upon taste for the amounts of each ingredient I added. I started with a chicken broth base to which I added Korean Chili Pepper paste (Kochujang)(1-2 T) and chili powder (Kochukaru)(1 T) along with some soy sauce (2 T), sake (2 T), sesame oil(2 drops), garlic (4-6 cloves minced), soybean paste (1 T) and anchovy paste (<1 T).


















I rummaged through my refrigerator and freezer for items to add to the hot pot. I chose to add some scallops, shrimp, chicken cubes, fish, bok choy, broccoli rabe, mushrooms and zucchini.

















With a bowl of rice, G and I indulged in my rendition of messy, tasty, spicy hot pot.

Stovetop Smoker and Tri Tip

G bought me a stovetop smoker nearly 10 years ago. I used it indoors a few times but found that quite a bit of smoke seeped out and indoors that is not a good thing. Why I didn't think to use it on my outdoor grill is only a testament to "doh".

I decided to try a Tri Tip steak in the smoker. Great idea and the result was also quite good. I took pictures of the prep and end result but failed to take a picture of the medium rare slices- nice pink.


Simple preparation. I seasoned the Tri Tip simply with some seasoned salt and pepper. I soaked some hickory chips in water for about 30 minutes. The drained chips were layered and wrapped in aluminum foil which I poked a few holes for smoke release. I placed the foiled chips on the bottom of the stovetop smoker, then the tray on top of this with the smoker grate and then the meat.

















The smoker was closed and then placed on top of my gas grill. I placed the smoker directly over the heat source, closed the cover and cooked for 28 minutes to an internal temp of 130. I removed the smoker from the heat source and let the Tri Tip rest in the smoker. The temp did increase to about 137. A very nice smokey "Yum".

Tag- You're It!

I've been tagged by Ema at Ema's Edible Experiments to participate in a "Tag" you're it. I am so honored. Being tagged reminded me of how much fun the food blog world can be. In my early food blog days (heck I'm working on 3 years now), I participated in a number of events including sugar high Fridays, what's in your refrigerator, what's in your pantry, cookbooks, gadgets, EoMeTe etc. This was a great opportunity visit other sites all over the world and embrace a community of individuals with your same passion for all things food.

The rules for this meme include:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

What About Me- Five Facts:

1. I have sent videos as application to be the Next FoodTV Star on Food TV too many times. This is more like a confession. This secret desire to be a Food TV Star led to me taping many 3 minute segments on cooking everything from fish cakes to stuffed flank steak. Though I think I am quite good in my kitchen, it's the everyone else's kitchen TV that I guess I won't reach. Maybe next season.

2. I did have 30 minutes of fame a few years ago when I did get to do a Food 911 segment with Tyler Florence. Dandy Donuts with me making jam filled donuts and chocolate covered donuts with Tyler. I still keep up with the Food TV schedule to make sure I see or know of every rerun.

3. I am a member of the Four Q BBQ Team. That's not anything most of my readers don't know but just in case you are a new Soul Fusion Kitchen reader, I am the pork butt queen. Yes, my BBQ specialty is pulled pork. Award winning pulled pork in quite a few Southern California competitions.

4. Empty nester. Yes, it is wonderful. For all you new moms/dads and those with young kids, I too embraced all about my kids. They grew up and with all the love, training and values we bestowed upon them are now flourishing young adults off our payroll. Yes! I did feel a little separation anxiety which is why I got Ziggy, my unconditional loving Yorkie.

5. I spent many years with the goal to become a successful person in my chosen career of a Pharmacist. It has been good to me and I do not regret the hard work and time I had to put into getting to where I am now. I am now thinking that I'd like to have time to do more cooking all over the world. Many roadtrips ahead. That spells happy retirement somewhere in my near future.

Five blogs I'd like to tag:

1 Mrs W at Mrs. W's Kitchen

2 Marvin at Burnt Lumpia

3 FJK at Blog Appetit

4 Lis at La Mia Cucina

5 Rachel at Rachel Bites

...and for those of you not into memes, I understand and please forgive me.

Cookies For A BBQ Event