Wednesday, July 15, 2009

TFF - Thai Grilled Beef

I am a big fan of any kind of Asian food. As a matter of fact, a Korean style beef skewer was the first "ethnic" food I managed to sneak in on the hubs under the guise of being "like kebabs". SO, when I recently got a copy of Tyler's "Eat This Book" and opened it up to the page marked Thai Grilled Beef and Green Papaya Salad, I was all about getting the ingredients to make the dish! I searched high and low for a green papaya, finally finding one at Meijer, gathered the rest of my ingredients, and set out to make a great meal. Due to circumstances beyond our control, I couldn't make it the next day, so it was two days later when I got started on the dressing for the salad, and the marinade for the beef, and I saw that the papaya was already moldy. CRAP! Well, that counted the salad out, but it wasn't going to stop me from making the beef. It just so happened that that same night, I had to make another dish for Matt that he found in a newspaper article he read, so we had kind of a "snacky" night, sitting out on the deck, munching away. I didn't have any chili paste, and I wasn't about to drive an hour to pick some up, so I substituted red chili flake, which I always keep in quantity, and it worked nicely, and gave the skewers a nice healthy kick! I mixed up a little dipping bowl of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and red pepper flake to serve with it, and we had quite the little taste treat!
This is my submission for Tyler Florence Fridays this week - be sure to hop over there and check it out on Friday!
Thai Grilled Beef
Tyler Florence, Eat This Book, page 93
45 minutes +time to marinate the beef

Beef Skewers:
1 pound beef sirloin
1/4 low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoons chili paste (or 1 tsp red chili flake)
1 tablespoon brown sugar

First, slice the beef as thin as possible against the grain. Skewer and put the skewers in a shallow baking dish. Then stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, chili paste, and sugar; pour it over the beef; and marinate in the refrigerator at least one hour (I left mine in overnight).
Put a large grill pan on two burners (I used my electric indoor grill)over medium-high heat or preheat and outdoor gas or charcoal grill and get it very hot. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towels. Then carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick grilling surface. Grill the beef on the skewers for about 1 minute on each side.
Just look at those grill marks....doesn't it make your mouth water? Hmmmm? Now, imagine me, kicked back on my new, nicely shaded deck, leaned back in my adirondak chair, beer on one armrest, plate of grilled beef in the other, pulling little pieces of tender meat off the skewer and dipping them in my spicy soy, then tipping my head back to keep the juice from dripping on my chin while I drop the juicy tidbit in my mouth....finger food at its finest....jealous? Don't be! Go make your own! Cuz I know you're not getting any of mine!

10 comments:

Arlene Delloro said...

Here's to snacky nights, right up my alley. This beef looks really tasty.

Joanne said...

This looks fantastic! I love thai flavors and meat just seems to taste better on a stick.

outdoorgriller said...

I like to try new ethinic food all of time and I heard that thai food is a healthy food to eat.I have a collection of tips and recipes for grilling and if you would like to see them you can visit www.cookingandgrillinoutdoors.com

Kim said...

I haven't seen this recipe from Tyler yet, great post!! Love kebabs: ) I always laugh when I read your posts. Seems like we have many similar situations. My big store is about one hour away too AND inevitably one of my ingredients always goes bad or moldy before I get to it. The kebabs looks great and I bet both your guys loved them.

Anonymous said...

Oh yum. Serious yum. And papaya salad is right up there with my favorites. Perfect for hot summer nights! Thanks for sharing!

NKP said...

Those do look outrageously good!

Deb in Hawaii said...

Love it! The the perfect summer dinner and I am with Joanne--meat on a stick always tastes better! ;-)

pam said...

I just checked this book out from the library! Perfect timing.

Jenny said...

Sounds great, and those grill marks do look good.

Unknown said...

This looks fantastic!! Love it! Great flavors!