BBQ or Barbecue?

If you live in Texas or ever visited Texas, you have to try the BBQ.

Combination Plate: Sausage, Ribs, Brisket

I went to the original Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas when I was visiting Austin. It's about 30 minutes southwest of town. I recommend getting there early though because they usually have a long wait. We had to wait approximately 45 minutes, and we arrived around 10:30-11am.

This is probably some of the best BBQ I've never had in Texas, well anywhere actually. The various meats (beef ribs, brisket, sausage) were tender and flavorful, and their bbq sauce had the right balance of sweetness, tanginess, spiciness, and savoriness. It was also nice being able to order a combination platter because I have a hard time just choosing one item. I'm usually not a huge fan of sides, and tend to be really picky about them...especially when it comes to sides served with bbq. Their sides (cole slaw, beans, potato salad) could stand on their own though, and were not overwhelmed by the presence of the actual bbq itself.

Do you call is barbecue or BBQ?

Korean Inspired Chicken

My next chicken dish is completely different from my last post even though I'm using the same cut of chicken, the chicken thigh. This time around, there is a longer wait time since I used a marinade for the chicken. I used a Korean BBQ Kalbi Marinade, typically used for pork short ribs. The chicken was marinaded in this sauce overnight before baking. The chicken was baked for about 45 mins at 350 degrees, with flipping the chicken halfway through.

Alongside the chicken, I made some steamed white rice and stir-fried veggies. The zucchini and baby bella mushrooms were seasoned with just salt and pepper and stir-fried in some olive oil. Simple, tasty, and healthy.

I also had a side of kimchi. The easiest comparison I can make is that kimchi is similar to pickles except it's more spicy than sour, and instead of using cucumber, the main ingredient is napa cabbage (chinese cabbage). The kimchi I had was napa cabbage that was pickled/fermented with ginger, green onions, garlic, salt, and chili pepper.

Two different brands of kimchi.

Here is the complete dish with the chicken!