Yakitori

Yakitori (焼き鳥, やきとり, ヤキトリ) in it's most basic form is simply skewered chicken, although in japanese tradition, there's variations for what proteins and even vegetables you skewer and grill. One can choose to get sweet-salty tare or teriyaki sauce or plain ol' salt.

On this occasion, we'll be making chicken yakitori with pimentos and onions and with tare.

In this post, aside form the the usual recipe we'll also go through how to set up your grill and light up coals, in fact, this post will be more about lighting the grill than the food.

Let's start setting up the grill. First, you'll need to wrap some bricks in aluminum foil and place them on the charcoal rack of your grill, in this case, we won't be using the cooking grates, so you can remove them.

Now, lay down some charcoal, I like making a hollowed out tower, like this

 Now, throw in some napkins or pieces of paper that have been soaked lighty in oil and light, as each piece starts to die off, add another; usually 2~3 is going to be enough, but add as needed until the fire is self-sufficient.

A happy fire..

 Blue flame!

Now spread that charcoal around, in this instance, I added a little bit more and let them turn to embers which was way too much for what we needed to cook 6 skewer's worth of chicken and it was just way too hot.

So, after a quick sear on both sides, I removed the yakitori and pushed part of the embers to one side so I could make sure I finished cooking the chicken on the low-heat side.

The finished product, charred, caramelized and beautiful

Served over some brown jasmine rice, extra sauce optional.

Sources

1. http://www.bonappetit.com/columns/obsessivore-columns/article/i-m-big-on-japan
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitori
3. http://www.japan-guide.com/r/e102.html

Hotel California at Winfield Farms

As I said on a previous post, this time we didn't go outside based on a recommendation from groupon like we have so many times before. But a bit on a whim and a lot on airbnb. I'll admit it, I really needed to disconnect; won't vent here, but suffice it to say: a weekend with no computer in front of me was long overdue. 

Upon arrival, yes, only after leaving the cabin did I remember that you're supposed to call your host to let them know you're about to arrive. But, like most serendipitous events would have happen, the owners were on their way out when we got to their gate. "It's at the end of the driveway on the right. You need anything? we're going to get pizza". Was about the only interaction with our hosts that weekend. Upon arriving to the cabin, nicely identified by a small sign that hangs outside and reads: "Hotel California" we were greeted by the welcoming committee of cats and chickens. 

Nice kitties:

Purring kitties, this little guy was the most adamant about getting inside the cabin. A quick and succinct shoosh!! and he didn't try again.

This one seemed to be the mom of the clowder

Sunset at the farm means soaking up every last bit of warmth from the sun

And it is a sight to behold, at least for an urbanite like me. This happy medium between a city-setting and some of our more rugged adventures was very welcomed.

Their ad on airbnb says that they leave a welcome basket with local goodies. Among what we got, which I can only imagine is subject to availability and seasonality, was:

• Eggs
• Orange juice
• Milk
• Loaf of bread
• Jar of strawberry jam
• Fresh strawberries
• Butter

And as for amenities, I do wish they could list everything on their aribnb site, there's a toaster oven, hot plate, electric griddle, pans, cutlery, silverware, plates and even a coffee maker (we brought our own!). And in the bathroom they put out towels, shampoo, soaps and even moisturizing lotions. Very, very complete for a place they call a cabin. Oh yeah, and there's a gas grill on the porch; complete with tools.

Their walls are decorated with lithographs and postcards from the San Diego - Los Angeles areas. these made us homesick, but in a good way.

Eggs, I like 'em over-medium, but in a lapse of memory, I scrambled them on the second morning and those were the creamiest, tastiest eggs I've ever had!

That should tide-ya over for a few hours.

Ameraucana, I believe....

Silkie?

We went for a walk on the premises, which they let you do.

The grill of an old tractor

Nopales!.. ok, how are these called in English again? Oh, thanks google, they're called nopales also :D

These nopales had fruit on them!

Ladybug

They had 3 horses that were a bit timid when they saw us, but as we walked back, they got curious about us, I guess...

Grasshoppers were jumping around, if you see those cracks on the ground, I saw a spider crawl into one of those, so I would assume that the grasshoppers are food for them. Oh yeah, don't go walking on the "wilderness" in sandals, especially if you're a bit arachnophobic like me.

"they're watching us"...

"I'm telling ya man, they're watching us!"

The path back to the farm

Dandelions everywhere!

Cactus, of sort?

"See? they're watching us!"

A butterfly that stood still long enough for the shutter to capture it

Purty flowers, probably edible

So, yeah, they got curios, curious enough that they followed us back!

Plymouth rock..

"Everythin's bigger in Texas" so true: on the left is what I'd call a normal-sized strawberry, on the right is one of the larger sized fruits in our basket.

This being spring and all, East Texas has blue bonnets everywhere!, and people stopping on the side of the roads to take pictures!

All in all, we had a pleasant stay at the farm and weather and time permitting, we hope to visit again.