Happiest Birthdays

Mackenzie gave Nick tickets to a Royals game for his birthday Saturday and then arranged a tailgating for the rest of us. I was in charge of the kebabs since we rarely do the ordinary. I brought a few dogs for Benny and made kebabs for the rest of us. We are tailgating virgins, so a few key items were forgotten like matches to light the grill.

Hottest day on the tarmac in KC and relentless sweating ensued. I was never so happy to jump into a cool shower at home but I was so tired after the 6 hours of driving and my back was killing me from the stadium seats. Sunscreen saved the day and a light Pho supper after the game made for some great decisions.

 

We choose chicken and steak for the meal. I used a nice set of tri tip steaks and a few chicken breasts and thighs. Brenda suggested cooking the meat, a least partially so we would not have a long cooking time as I was unsure about the grill we were using. Turns out this small Weber gas grill was a really nice little unit. It got very hot quickly and placed a nice sear on the finished product.

I choose to Sous Vide the meats first which, as you know, brings the meat to a perfectly cooked temp and no more. This worked better than you could imagine. The meat was tender and juicy and cooked through while the veggies got just the right amount of char and doneness.

After the meat was cut up (I placed the meat whole in the Sous Vide) we threaded it on bamboo skewers with onions, peppers, and mushroom and then into a gallon bag to which I added the marinade. Sounds backwards doesn't it? It turned out great. Really great. Nicely browned steak chunks, super tender and tasty with the marinade. The chicken followed suit. We made a delicious antipasto salad with oil and vinegar avoiding the hassle of a mayo dressing. 

The marinade for the beef:

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Olive oil
3 T soy sauce
1 T Lemon juice
1 T Dijon Mustard
2 t Brown sugar
2 t black pepper

For the Chicken:

Jiuice one whole lemon
1/4 C Olive oil
1 t Oregano
Salt and Pepper

So...tailgating? A success with the kindness of strangers who had a few matches. Other missed items? Tongs would have been nice to remove the meat of a stick from the searing grill. All in all though it was a nice gift and really great time to spend with family.

Oh yeah...the Royals won!