A few weeks ago, Titty Tea hosted a cookout for their regular customers. Here’s a taste of what we cooked.
Now you know that anything that begins with charcoal and a torch is going to be good! Notice the round aluminum grill. I’ve been wanting to get one of these to use with the Dutch oven, and finally I did. This one fits my 12″ Dutch oven like it was made for it. Using this grill meant that I didn’t have to build the fire on the ground and I didn’t lose much heat.
Most good meals begin with garlic….
To which I added the meat – in this case Australian shin muscle.
Next to me, Marcus had a grill set up and was doing various kinds of meat, these bratwurst being some of what he was grilling.
Once the meat was browned nicely, it was time to add more ingredients to the pot.
Sliced white onions went in next.
Followed by potatoes and carrots.
Regular readers of this blog know that I like to cook with oyster sauce. It adds a great flavor element and also negates the need to add additional salt to the dish.
Our friend Marcus brought some rosemary that he had grown in his herb garden, and it made a very nice contribution to our pot.
This is the scene beside where Hui-chen and I were set up. The closest 2 grills are for cooking vegetarian food items.
Once the 12″ Dutch oven was going, I started another dish in the 8″. Here we see bacon and sliced onions being sauteed.
A quick check on the contents of the 12″ and we’re back to the 8″.
In a local baking goods store, I found several varieties of beans, which I added to the bacon and onions.
This slightly-out-of-focus shot shows the 2 kinds of beans in the pot, stacked on the 12″.
This is the second type of bean I used.
And this is the brown sugar that went into the dish also.
In the meantime, Hui-chen had our other grill going, with these ribs (and something else in foil that was cooking for someone else).
That’s Bootsy BBQ Sauce that Hui-chen is brushing on the ribs. They were very popular with everyone.
Now it’s time for grilled corn!
This type of grilled corn is virtually unknown to local people in Taiwan. But once our Taiwanese friends tried it, they agreed that it is much better than the dried-out-to-death grilled corn that is served in night markets all around Taiwan.
Marcus surprised everyone with some of his home-baked sourdough bread.
Here is a closeup. I can’t tell you how good this bread was, but it was some of, if not the best bread I’ve ever eaten. Honestly!
We settled into evening as I got the last dish ready – a Dutch oven cake that I baked in the 10″.
Now, Marcus really outdid himself on this one – a tiramisu that was outstanding!
Hard to see, but this is a close up of the inside of the tiramisu. I have no idea how he did it, but Marcus managed to balance the flavor elements perfectly, creating the best tiramisu that I have ever tasted! Marcus is some kind of culinary genius!
Most of the Dutch oven fare was gone….
Here we see the 10″ with the cake baking. It came out OK. The fire was a tad too hot I think but overall it was pretty good.
Former field engineer MJ Klein now lives in Taiwan, and writes articles that primarily feature photographs of travels of MJ and wife Hui-chen, plus daily goings on in the bustling island nation of Taiwan, and other places in Asia. Articles feature people, culture, food, situations and sometimes the trials and tribulations of traveling in places such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and of course Taiwan.
