Why in english.....

...because I just love aged stilton.

Brez skrbi, kmalu bodo na vrsti krvavice. Takrat pa spet eno po slovensko!

PePe

Whatever......

BEER

BURGER

So it happened! The first Beer&Burger festival in town is finished! While some would say "Hallooo, it is 2014!?!? I on the other hand would like to say something completely different. I would like to say: "About time.....and....welcome to the real burger!". So far so good but than in a few comebacks I am reminded that this is not a perfect world and there are and will remain people who will never be able to fully understand the complexity of a simple hamburger. 

Our party of three set out to explore the happening at the Beer&Burger fest last saturday afternoon. We were ready for everything. No fuss, no nervous breakdowns when there was a queue and very aware of the situation. We made a plan before entering the market place where it took place. First we would make a round tour of all the stands serving original burgers and make a selection of three wich was as much as we could handle for one evening. The task was not so hard. Two thirds of the stands were serving something else. They thought they were making burgers but they werent. There is a big problem with understanding the meaning of the word Hamburger as it remains a fact. Hamburger consists of  lets say basicaly two main ingredients if we count out the condiments and sauce. These are a pure beef patty and a soft bun.When you fail at this two basics - bummer!

1. Pure beef patty = ground beef patty no salt added. Can be made from differet parts of beef but has to be in proper fat to protein proportion ranging from 30:70 to 20:80. Salted and peppered before grilling. 

2. Soft bun = classic soft hamburger bun. Slightly sweet, light and of melting texture. It plays a role of a vehicle in the flavour delivery process. Essential for good looks. If toasted use butter. So there was a large number of failed attempts. Sorry....

Our selection of stands was as follows.

Pivohram Golar
Smrekarjev Hram
As Aperitivo

For the beers we kinda got along. Some stands had Beer&Burger offer some only one of the pair. For start we tryed the suprisingly delicious San Nicolo light lager from Ankaran and set in the adventure of slowly ordering and paying and waiting in the queue to get around the corner of the stand where we would be served. I said we arrived prepared and aware of the situation so for us the event was a good time. We had no problems waiting a little longer than expected. A lot of other people were not so happy some even loudly expresing their anger with waiting. But hey.....it is a festival! There is a lot of people. What would "you" like? A reservation?!?
At Pivohram Golar visual observation was a very promising one. Coarse ground beef burgers were sizzling on the griddle. Custom made buns accompanied them for toasting. There were some inovative sauces and condiments. They did skip the cheese wich was a pitty. Going around the corner after placing the order we were finished with the San Nicolo lager. The obvious next choice was Bevog OND smoked porter for men and  KRAMAH india pale ale for the lady since Pivohram is a sister company of Bevog brewery. That was some extra special good beer. Smokey porter wich mixed great with the smell of meat and smoke around us while IPA was also a good choice with clear taste and fruity bitternes wich just opens the flow of appetite. Than came the burgers. Nice little slider size burger, looking great and stylish. Served with home made chips. As I said no cheese but they added a deep fried slice of eggplant under the meat wich is allways a good thing though somehow strange for a burger. The bun was on the brioche side. Sweet and yellowish, more like a cake. Not bad but too sweet for our taste in general and unfortunately not butterd before tasting. First bite and....the meat was salted ahead, oh bummer! They must have used salt as a safety peacution but still it is not the way how you treat a burger patty. This is a no no! No beef patty wich is made of salted ground beef will become a good tasting burger. Other problem was uneven cooking. Our three burgers were ranging from well done, medium to medium rare but all without a sufficient dark brown crust. Sorry guys....but the beer was great!!!

The first expirience grounded us a bit but we haven't lost our hunger for more. We got some more beer, this time from HUMAN FISH - a stronger ale variety. Mmmmm....that was great and strong so we were ready for next burger before some more beer. 

At Smrekarjev Hram stand they were the smoke masters. The pillar of smoke from their grill was the biggest on the whole place. Burgers were looking right, buns even better. Size was bigger but still correct for a burger. We were on the same path again. Queue, around the corner and got served. Here we tryed both of their burgers. One was their classic, cheese, BBQ sauce, caramelizied onions, fresh onions, salat, tomato. The other was not a burger exactly. It was a pulled pork sandwich. The first bite revealed another salted beef pattty. Oh come on now.....is it realy that hard to ensure a refrigerator for the meat to keep it cool and safe and tasty? Bun was better but too dry and not buttered. In the end we all agreed that they had a great and juicy pulled pork sandwich but not a good burger. Where is this taking us?!? 

Just an observation. What is a problem here? No connection to the internet and the zillion burger links on YT and everywhere else? I actualy don't understand and can't accept this....whoever has tryed a proper burger only once will understand. Some of the stands were out of ingredients by the evening. So we were saved  of probably another disaster. I even read one recipe wich stated their burger patty is seasoned with cumin, coriander, chilli and curry. Seriously? Is this a joke?!? I will not name any of the places we were not testing but there was a lot of unacceptable stuff sold as burgers. On the other hand we wanted to try the Dobra Vila real beef burgers but they were all out. 

It was getting dark when we were standing in line at As Aperitivo stand. With a good Pellicon Summer Ale in our hands we started to observe something different. Almost strnage.....what are these guys doing? First there was a team of 4 people working at "stations" as in real kitchen.At the first station there was a guy buttering buns. Oh sweet heaven on earth they use butter for toasting the buns!!!! Buns were alinged next on the condiment station waiting for the pattyes. For their two burgers California classic and The Boss condiments consisted of real cheddar and stilton cheeses, red onion marmalade, Bacon The Great, secret sauce, lettuce, tomato and even a slice of an apple. So somebody realy gave some thought to this at last! With some extra participation of the lady power in our trio we somehow mixed all the ingredients into one burger. 

"The MEAT" station. (happy, happy....)

Guys at As Aperitivo know the bussines for sure. Beef used for pattyes was aged for 30 days. That was clearly stated on the blackboard for everybody else to see and maybe learn a bit about beef. But I still did not let my mind go crazy before the first bite. Burgers were cooked in a hell like furnace/oven/grill. It was even more scary when the night set in and the oven was opened for the pattyes to go in. The hottest heat source on the festival for sure! I caught a glance at uncooked pattyes. Prepared properly with fat to protein ratio by the book and even pressed in the middle for latter proper shape. Hopes got even higher. This was station three. Station four was the arranging station. Nothing more than a napkin and a little flag. Guys have style and we got served! First bite...explosion of taste. A bit on the peppery side but really a complete burger with all the basic tastes and much much more. This is what counts. You have to taste the soft buttered toasted bun, only slightly sweet and salty with taste of browned butter. You have to taste the great grilled beef taste. No salt added into the ground beef!!! Only salted and peppered before placed on fire. And the rest of the package was nicely rounded and adding to the big picture perfectly. No complaint and a BIG cheer to guys at AS APERITIVO! Happy as a little child......

At the end I want to say I have never before eaten a burger at any of the reastaurants that participated in this festival. Oh sorry....only at the one with a great name I did. As I said in the previous blog I knew exactly wich burger I will not even sniff at! Well....I did in the end but a short look at it revealed that the situation there didn't quite change.

I am not happy at all that I need to find the burger from one of the most expencive restaurants in town the best of them all! I do not go to such restaurants. I would like to grab a perfect burger at a stand just around the corner but that remains a humble wish. Understanding "The burger" still has a long way to go for the general public in this little part of the world. What a pitty since a good hamburger is in fact a comfort food making people happy. Some people have chocholate, some people have ice cream......whatever does it for you as long as you are happy after that first bite. Fortunately we can make a perfect burger at home just fine!

PePe

How many burgers must a man eat down........

......before he will eat a good one? The answer is blowing in the wind. For a few hours more at least. Today we will go exploring at the Beer&Burger fest in Ljubljana. Previous encounters with to be fair not so many "burgers" in town were a fail!!!! Hopes are high for today but gut felling is a bitch. At least I can be sure the beer will be fantastic. And for sure I know wich burger I will not even sniff at. It is not all in the great name you know. ;)

A review will follow......

PePe

The humble sardine

Looks like summer has finnaly started although late this year. Hopefuly it will extend well into september. On fridays we move to the coast to rest for the weekend. And we rest allright. Food included. After a bustling week with hardly a breakfast in the morning and then lunch or dinner when and if we manage to have it we enjoy even more in preparing food and eating together.
We get up early saturday morning and after coffe I rush to the market to buy fresh catch from the local fishermen and some veggies and potatoes wich are in season on the coast. There is one favourite of all the fish.....the humble sardine. Sometimes I wonder why not so many people are buying this treasure of the sea? They rather reach for the "farmed" bream and seabass. Seems like they don't even care.
 For me I eat what I catch but I buy sardines. Cheap but delicious grilled or boiled in little water with lots of olive oil. It is the oily rich sardine taste I like over everything and not to mention the healthy effect of the fish and olive oil as a counter measure to sometimes really crapy food we eat during stressfull weekdays. Anyway.....here is how to do it properly.
Buy your sardines in the morning at the fish market or at the pier from the boat directly (cheapest&freshest). You will notice if sardines aren't fresh by the lose meat and messy gut. Don't by such. It rarely occours but is allways possible they would mix left over fish from previous day in the new catch at the market. Change the vendor if this happens. Clean the fish as soon as you can and if possible rinse in sea water. Keep in the fridge until cooking. For grilling make a fire preferably with grapevine wood but charcoal or even gas grill will do as well but the taste is best when grilled over grapevine wood. Fire must be very hot! Fish skin is good protection for the meat so don't worry to much. Place the grill over coals to heat up, scrape clean and oil with canola oil soaked paper towel. Dry the sardines with paper and align them on the gril side by side. Grill 4 minutes on one side and brush with olive oil before turning. Use rosemary branch instead of brush to make the sardines taste even better. Turn and grill for 3 min more and it's done. Make a nice salad or baked potatoes as a side but white bread and a glass of local vine will do just fine as well. For a lighter meal for people on a diet shortly boil the sardines in little water with a pinch of salt, parsley, garlic, capres and lots of olive oil. We  like them boiled for breakfast some times. Remember to eat more fish!!!! :)

PePe
 

BBQ and what it is all about

Hy all.....been a while!

No recipes today.......just the essence. It is that time of the year again when we do it. We BBQ. My brothers birthday is now traditionaly the occasion when the coals are fired, wood is smoking and all sorts of good eating is created during the process. It was even the 4th of July yesterday but no fireworks here....LOL. 

Three brothers together gathered around the smoking kettle and a football game. Good enough......
The best time we have is the procces. Mixing spices, rubing the meat, getting the fire started, digging out old storyes and getting everything ready for next day when friends and family will come to the full table. We are happy!!

PePe

Pizza doma, a skoraj kot tista iz prave peči.....al forno

Kdor obožuje pico ve kaj mislim.....prijatelji imajo po novem krušno peč kar doma.  Ker je to res odličen hm...no recimo mu "kuhinjski" pripomoček, me je seveda vse bolj srbelo kako bi se dalo tudi v najini pečki naredit kaj približnoooo podobnega.

Za pico potrebujeta testo, dobre pelate, sir mozzarella in baziliko. In čisto vse ostalo, kar vama pade na pamet. Dolgo sem eksperimentiral glede najboljšega testa in prišel do dveh rezultatov. Prvi je za hitro drugi pa za "počasno" vnaprej dogovorjeno pizzarjenje.

Testo I.

Kila moke za pico iz trgovine (dejansko se je enkrat nekaj namenskega izkazalo za res OK)
0.6l tople vode
3 žličke soli
2.5 žličke sladkorja
dobra mera olivnega olja 0.6dcl
tri vrečke suhega kvasa

V posodo naprej dajta vodo, kvas, sladkor in olje. Vse skupaj zmešajta z metlico in voila! Kvas bo hitro in drzno oživel. Ko se razpeni vsujta moko in sol in z rokami začnita gnesti testo-lahko postane zapleteno....;-)Če imataThe Mixer, pa prepustita zadevo njemu v obdelavo in počnita kaj drugega. Ker je dodano olje se bo testo lažje ločilo od rok in posode, ampak vseeno dodajta malo moke, če po desetih minutah ostaja lepljivo. Testo pokrijta s prozorno folijo in naj vzhaja do dvojne velikosti. Potem stresita vse skupaj na pomokan pult in iz testa oblikujta 8-10 hlebčkov. Kar porabita takoj naj še malo vzhaja, ostalo pa lahko BP zamrzneta.

Testo II.

Kila moke za pico iz trgovine (dejansko se je enkrat nekaj namenskega izkazalo za res OK)
0.6l hladne vode
3 žličke soli
2.5 žličke sladkorja
dobra mera olivnega olja 0.6dcl
1,5 vrečke suhega kvasa

Vse enako kot prej, samo vzhaja naj v hladilniku 48ur ;-) Tole testo je še bolj "ta pravo" po okusu in otipu. Ampak že prvo je zelo OK.

No katero koli pot izbereta sta zdaj pred tem, ko postane vroče. In tu mislim zelo vroče. V najini novi pečki se ustavi na 300°C. To je to.....izberita torej svoj maksimum. Sama pečka pa pizze na žalost ne bo spekla. Nujno je uporabit nekaj, kar se bo v peči razgrelo in držalo temperaturo. Popularni kamen z peko pice je kar drag špas, zato ga BP nadomestita z boljšimi in cenejšimi šamotnimi opekami iz gradbene trgovine. Midva pa uporabljava narobe obrnjeno litoželezno grill ploščo. Vse našteto deluje. Ko pečica doseže temperaturo segrevajta še kakih 10 minut preden se začne s peko.
Zdaj naložita sestavine na testo. Zelo pomaga loparček za prestavljanje pice v pečko. Tako se pica speče v 5-7 minutah. Razlika oz. podobnost je pa očitna....dober tek!

PePe

Roadhouse Grill Ikea Villese Part II.

Ta velik od 500gr (skupne teže)

Da Fili Čiz stejk......

Ja, zadnjič sem neodgovorno planil po krožniku in nisem poskrbel za slikovne dokaze. Ponovitveni izlet po še eno precej pomembno premičnino za v nepremičnino, je končno dal rezultate. Tukaj so fotke. Na žalost okusa ni na slikah. Oboje dobro s pridržkom. Ni vse v velikosti in pa tisto, kar mora biti, naj bo večje.

Cheese stejk premajhen, hamburger pa za vraga prevelik!? Ta mali oz. ta normalni so zanimivejši in okusnejši.  Tudi ta velik bi bil super z dvema burgerjema polovične teže namesto enega velikega. Več skorjice, večji špas. Ampak to so resnično detalji, ki pa malo zmotijo edino pri ceni. Dva ta mala burgerja za enega jedca sta že kar poseg v žep. Takle mamo. Se že veselim naslednjega obiska, ko bo na vrsti spet kaj novega.
Hint: RibEye steak, BBQ rebrca in oh boh pomagi....meat plate in totalno hedonistična All you can eat RIBS ponudba.
Moram malo počivat.

PePe