Yelp’s Brews Bash at New Jersey Beer Co.

This past weekend, Yelp asked us to join them at a Yelp Elite Event and grill up some of our meat. The event was hosted at New Jersey Beer Company which is literally three streets down from the meat plant. We had never done a Yelp event before. We didn’t know what to expect, but beer and barbecue… How could we say no?

We typically grill up some of our sliders for events like this, but we decided to treat everyone to some kalbi made from our short ribs. Kalbi is popular Korean BBQ dish made with marinaded beef ribs. We like to use three-bone short ribs cut 1/3″ thick. The marinade is both sweet and savory. We use a  family recipe and you can find it in our previous post here:

https://patlafrieda.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/kalbi-made-from-pat-lafrieda-short-ribs/

We spent the morning marinating short ribs for 100 people. As we left the plant, the old man must have gotten a craving for sausage because he grabbed a couple of boxes. He was very disappointed to find out that we didn’t have any bread. We planned to serve the kalbi with just lettuce. The old man made a quick call and shortly after a squad car pulled up. An officer gets out and drops off a case of rolls from Hudson Bakery. That’s old school!

The guys from the NJ Beer Co. were great hosts. Their place is clean and well maintained.  It’s obvious that, like us, they take pride in what they do. There are three main beers that they offer: 1787 Abbey Single Ale, Garden State Stout, and Hudson Pale Ale. We had a chance to try them all and loved them. (Perhaps too much, I spilled a Pale Ale all over my keyboard.) If you are in the area, we highly recommend that you check them out. They have tastings on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. For more info go to http://www.njbeerco.com.

We made the mistake of having a few beers while setting up. That made us a little complacent, and we were slow getting the grill going. Fortunately, the Yelp Elites were well-mannered and patient. That’s leaps and bounds better than the savagery that occurs with a hungry mob at the typical LaFrieda Family BBQ. All in all, a great event with a great group of people. We’d love to do it again sometime.

You can check out the Yelp reviews for this event here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/yelps-brews-bash-at-new-jersey-beer-co-north-bergen

Kalbi Made From Pat LaFrieda Short Ribs

We are huge fans of Korean BBQ. Kalbi (also written galbi) is a marinaded and grilled meat dish typically made from beef ribs. Although kalbi is tasty even when made with supermarket beef, making it with high quality short ribs launches it into the stratosphere. Our preference is three-bone 1/3″ thick Prime Black Angus Short Ribs. The bones add flavor and work as a natural handhold to turn this into a finger food. We are fortunate enough to have a Korean mother-in-law in the family. The following is her recipe that she has allowed us, after some coercing, to share with you.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs 1/3″ thick short ribs
• 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 3/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1.5 tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
• 1.5 tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds
• 4 cloves pressed garlic
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 4 stalks finely chopped green onion
• 1 tsp black pepper

We sell the short ribs cut for kalbi in our online store. Here is the link:

http://www.lafrieda.com/USDA_Prime_Black_Angus_Kalbi_Flanken_1_3_thick_p/bfspbsrk.htm

First, score the meat using a knife. Do this by gently tapping a knife across both sides of the short ribs. Then, sprinkle each slice of meat with sugar and set aside. For the marinade, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, ginger, garlic, and black pepper in small bowl. Add marinade to meat. Let meat marinade for at least an hour (preferably two hours). Cook on a grill or broil in your oven. On a hot grill, these only need 2-3 minutes per side.