Home Cooking Uruguayan Style

A couple months ago a friend invited us to a backyard barbecue in Arlington that was a post-mortem for a FIFA World Cup game. I thought, sure, I'll get the brooding Frenchman out of the house and have a chicken wing and a beer. For me barbecue's are usually a bunch of people standing around an outdoor Weber with a cold Corona, waiting for the barbecued-sauce-smothered chicken or ribs to cook, stuffing their face with chips and sides. Not this barbecue. This was Marco's Uruguayan Barbecue Theatre. What you eat is prepared with love, experience, pride and passion. Where the barbecue itself has been hand constructed, brick by literal brick. Where the coals are not Kingston coals with a gallon of lighter fluid, or fake gas coals. No. The source of heat is hot wood chips from a burning set of 8-10 logs piled on top of each other, and are retrieved by Marco hitting on the iron grate with a shovel so they fall off the burning logs. He then shovels the fallen, red hot wood chips underneath a grill rack. Everything was extremely delicious and we were fortunate enough to be asked to come over last Saturday. This time I was prepared. I took my camera and a bigger appetite.

Marco served us freshly made salsa, that he cooked for a few minutes to soften Safeway's best unripened tomatoes and marry the cilantro, onions and lime juice. Our hostess, 

Fernanda, heldthe chips and salsa long enough so I could take a picture and then it disappeared. (Notice the hand in the photo). There were almost six of us by then, but by the time the meat was ready, the guest count had risen to almost 15. Everyone from frien

ds and cousins to colleagues and neighbors were there. People were dropping in on their way to clubs to grab some dinner, give Marco a hug and leave.

For dinner, Marco served Picanha-cut sirloin steak, sweet breads, white sausages, blood sausages, rosemary potatoes with marinated red peppers, big bread rolls and plenty of Zinfandel.

American butchers don't sell the Picanha cut. It's a large roast with a thin layer of marbling in the meat that seasons as it cooks over the open flame. Sebastian, on the right, simply rubbed Kosher salt all over the Picanha and slapped them on the grill. Marco then turned to me and said, "in one hour we eat."  During that time we snacked on blood sausage sandwiches, the rosemary potatoes (when he wasn't looking), and again, plenty of Zinfandel. That's the beauty of home cooking: timing means nothing. It's all about the food, and the company.

The rosemary potatoes were easy to make. Marco covered potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters, in olive oil and let them fry on the grill until soft and brown. He added lots of Kosher salt and fresh Rosemary. Then he heated marinated red peppers in the leftover oil, and mixed it in with the potatoes.

The sweet breads were simply grilled. The flavor of the wood, which was just cut firewood logs, was the only seasoning, making them rich and delicious.

Marco is wanted all over town by some of the area's biggest restaurant chains. Javier Angeles-Baron, the executive chef for a Latin Concepts, who own Guarapo's in Arlington, joined us for dinner. He and I both agreed that Marco would be great as a chef, but it would be a waste to confine him to the kitchen. What Marco needs is a continuous pile of wood and a large audience. Thank you Marco and Fernanda!

If you want a real Uruguyan outdoor grill built on your patio, Marco does that too. He can be reached at bokajian (at) hotmail.com.

Success!

The Avgolemino soup was a success, and because I knew it tasted very close to my grandmother's soup I decided (at the last minute) to invite family and friends over for a birthday dinner for my Dad. 

To do something so last minute was logistically insane. I really didn't have the time to cook or the energy to shop, cook, host and clean, all while juggling a toddler. And what's worse I promised my husband we'd play nine holes of golf on Monday (our day off).

So, the morning started with a Red Bull. Our daughter went to pl

ay with her grandmother, JP and I shot nine holes of golf at Rock Creek Park, then hit Harris Teeter on the way back, picked up the toddler, ran through the house with a dust cloth and a vacuum cleaner, set a pretty cute table, and started to cook around 5pm. Guests were told to come at 5:30pm. Needless to say, dinner was served late--7pm or thereabouts. In my family, good scotch will save the hapless cook. I served plenty.

I practically stood over them while they ate the soup, making sure I got the right looks and comments. I was begging for it I admit it, but to me this

 was my grandmother's soup. My Aunt and Dad said it was "delicious." Trust me that is real praise. Full recipe (with secrets) below. The rest of the menu was simple: beef tenderloin, cauliflower au gratin, pomme frittes and Harris Teeter's double chocolate cake.

Full Avgolemino Soup:

Chicken Stock:
1 package (1lb) chicken drumsticks (thawed or fresh)
1 package (1lb) chicken backs and necks (thawed or fresh)

1 package (1lb) chicken hearts and gizzards (fresh)
4-5 Quarts of water (an inch over the top of the ingredients)
5 Stalks celery, halved or chopped
4 Medium carrots, skinned and chopped
1/4 Onion, quartered
5 Sprigs of fresh flat leaf parsley
3 Tsp salt
3 Tsp pepper

Bring to a boil all ingredients, reduce heat to the lowest setting, simmer for 7-9 hours. Simmer with the top ajar to let the steam out. Make sure you watch the heat or your stock will reduce to chicken soup concentrate.

Bechemel Sauce:
2 Tsp butter (Presidential or Irish)
2 Tbs flour

4 Cups scalding hot milk

Whisk the first two ingredients until blended.
Pour milk slowly into butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly in the same direction. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, constantly stirring for about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken.

(Secret: If it gets lumpy, simply strain it after it's cooked, put it back in the pot, and put Saran Wrap directly on the sauce so it doesn't form a skin when it cools.)

Egg & Lemon:
(Secret: The more egg yolks the richer the soup).
5 Eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice (This is a taste preference. You can do less or more.)

In a bowl, separate eggs, keeping the yolks. While whisking, add a little lemon juice at a time to the eggs. Keep stiring in the same direction.

Assembling the soup:
Heat up the stock if you've let it cool. Some people make it the day before and store it in the refrigerator. If it's cold and gelatinous, heat it slowly, constantly stirring.

Add the bechemel in teaspoonfuls while constantly stirring the soup. Take your time with this step. You might not want to use all of the bechemel as your soup can get heavy. I used about 4 Tbsps of bechemel for 3 quarts of stock.

After you have blended the eggs and the lemon juice in a separate bowl, slowly add the hot chicken soup to the egg and lemon, one cup at a time, constantly stirring. This is the phase where the lemon and butter meet and might separate, or curdle. To keep this from happening always stir slowly and in the same direction.

Then you now have to transfer the egg, lemon, chicken stock with bechemel to the larger pot of soup. Again, do it slowly and stir in the same direction.

That's it.

By the way, omit the bechemel and this is the best home remedy for a cold.

Questions? Leave it in the comments!