Argentinian Style BBQ (Asado)

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Argentinian BBQs or Asados have some unique and delicious dishes. A “traditional” Asado is a specific way of grilling meat. It involves using coals and firewood and tending to the meat to make sure that it's grilled to perfection. Here are some dishes to inspire your Argentinian style BBQ!

Chorizo

Chorizo can be eaten sliced, grilled, baked or fried. A tender and flavourful sausage made from finely chopped pork filled with garlic, chilli and smoked paprika. In Argentina a chorizo served in a bread roll is called a choripán.

Argentinian Style BBQ

Provoleta

Provoleta is trademark dish. It's essentially a disc of cheese, 2cm thick topped with chilli and oregano placed on an aluminium foil tin and grilled above the fire. Although probably not the most healthiest of dishes, provoleta is definitely one of the most delicious!

Argentinian Style BBQ

Chimichurri Sauce

Chimichurri sauce is a garlicky, fresh herb sauce that goes well with just about anything. Here's an easy recipe to make the sauce yourself:

  • 1 cup fresh Italian parsley, packed
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, packed
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Puree all ingredients in a processor. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Argentinian Style BBQ

Malbec Wine

Today, Argentina leads with over 75% of all the acres of Malbec in the world (WineFolly.com) This smooth red wine is a must at an Argentinian style BBQ.

Argentinian Style BBQ

Feeling inspired? Like our post and leave a comment with the dish you're going to try at your next BBQ!

Teppanyaki Cooking

We’re always looking for new ways to make our kitchens unique and stylish and we found the perfect way to showcase this through our Teppanyaki grill installations. Teppanyaki grills are not only great for cooking steak but are a brilliant centrepiece  for entertaining guests!

Teppanyaki cooking

What is Teppanyaki?

Teppanyaki (said teppan-yaki) is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. In Japan, Teppanyaki grills are commonly used to cook steaks, shrimp okonomiyaki (a savoury pancake), yakisoba (fried noodles) and monjayaki (rice cakes).

Teppanyaki grills are ideal for dinner parties and offer versatility as you can throw just about anything on there. They are flat surfaced and usually gas heated. The large flat surfaced grill is perfect for collective cooking.

What can I cook on it?

Ingredients for more Western style Teppanyaki cooking include steak, lobster, chicken, shrimp, scallops and vegetables. Here's a quick and easy recipe for some Teppanyaki cooking inspiration!

Benefits of Teppanyaki grills

  • Grill warms up quickly (usually around two to three minutes for a medium heat)
  • Cooks multiple ingredients at a time
  • Keeps food that is cooked warm when placed on the edges of the grill
  • Easy to clean (the flat surface means it is easy to wipe up any residue. Check out our post on BBQ cleaners for tips on cleaning your Teppanyaki grill)

Recommended utensils and accessories

  • It's best to use 'non scratch' utensils like wooden spoons and plastic or silicon coated spatulas and grill scrapers, however it's not uncommon to use stainless steel utensils
  • Copper cap to keep cooked food protected and moist
  • Bamboo skewers
  • Squeeze bottles for oil and sauces

Teppanyaki cooking

To find our more about our Teppanyaki grills contact us here. Or to view more of our projects visit our Houzz page.

Beer Tap Systems - How Do They Work?

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If there’s one piece of equipment you need in your kitchen to impress your guests it’s a beer tap!

We offer beer tap and keg system installations so you can enjoy a freshly poured pint in the comfort of your own home. There's a large selection of draft beer dispensing systems on offer and this week’s post looks at how these beer tap systems work...

How draft beer tap systems work

Beer Tap and Key System

The first piece of equipment needed for your outdoor beer system is a CO2 tank. These tanks come in different sizes depending on how much beer you want to dispense and also vary depending on what kind of beer you want to dispense. Guinness beer for example requires a hydrogen tank as opposed to a CO2 tank.

The second piece of the equipment needed is a regulator. This is used to regulate the pressure of your tank. The third piece is an air line – a PVC  tube that connects the regulator to the keg coupler.

The keg coupler takes in the CO2 to push air through the keg and beer through the beer line. MFAB and D Type couplers are the most popular in Australia. Here's a handy list of beers and their respective recommended couplers.

The beer line is the next piece of equipment needed for your system. Like the air line, the beer line is made from food and beverage approved PVC and usually runs about 152 centimeters but varies depending on the situation. It screws onto the top of the coupler and is then attached to the beer tower (the beer tower is what you’ll see on the surface of your bar or kitchen) Check out this article on how to clean your beer line, which should be done on a weekly basis.

A beer shank is a metal tube that runs either through your fridge or beer tower and is essential for attaching the beer line to the system. A straight beer shank is the most commonly used for fridge conversions. Nipple beer shanks are used for kegerators and can either be permanently attached or changeable.   The beer shank is also attached to the beer tap.

The final pieces of equipment are the beer font (also known as a tower) and tap (also known as a faucet). Beer towers come in different shapes, sizes, styles and colours and are screwed onto your worktop or bar. They are kept insulated to keep the beer line cool. The tap is where the beer comes from. It usually has a lever or handle that is pulled to release the beer. They come in different grades depending on the quality of the tap. We work with Andale Beer Dispensing Equipment who provide a wide range of services and beer dispensing equipment. Here are some of their fonts and taps. Andale also offers washout equipment for your system which is very important as taps should be cleaned regularly!

Choosing the right kitchen - beer tapsWe hope you found this post useful (even if only to impress your mates the next time you have a pint at the pub!) Want to find out more about our outdoor kitchen beer taps? Contact us here or view more of our projects on Houzz.

Australian Outdoor Dining - Why the Popularity?

People have always enjoyed a good BBQ; beautiful sunny weather just seems to almost demand it. Food cooked outside, in the fresh air, just seems to taste so much better than when cooked in a conventional kitchen.The climate, and the great Aussie tradition of entertaining friends and family over the weekend, are the two major reasons behind the increasing popularity of this trend of outdoor kitchens.Outdoor kitchens make it easier for you to entertain your guests, without being creatively restricted by a traditional BBQ, in an outdoor environment while still enjoying the convenience and comfort of being at home.A custom outdoor kitchen will also add value to your property and can have everything a regular indoor kitchen has including a fridge, dishwasher, ice machine, pizza oven, sink and, yes, a BBQ.

Outdoor fridge can be added to your outdoor kitchen

For the full experience, you can also choose all of those little extras too such as extra storage, coffee machine, wine fridges etc.The welcoming aroma of cooking meats wafting through the air is one of the most pleasant things imaginable. How many times have you walked past a takeaway or restaurant, and have your mouth water as the scents tickle your nose?No matter what is cooking, it always seems more inviting outside.Smoke and vapours, when cooking outside, are dissipated into the air and leave your home odour free, which makes the food taste even better (sitting down to a nice sunday dinner, when you can still smell boiling cabbage, isn’t ideal is it?).Creativity blossoms in the great outdoors, as the adventurer in all of us comes out to play so do our food artistry hats; or so we like to believe.Add to this, the fact that most Australians love a good BBQ during the summer and spring months, the rise in popularity of the full fledged outdoor kitchen is not that big of a leap.The versatility of the outdoor kitchen, and the wide range of dishes that are able to be cooked, appeals to just about every outdoor chef.The BBQ is a fantastic bit of kit, and many opt to have a custom built one included in their outdoor kitchen, but it can be a little restrictive.Not only is there a limit to the kind of food that can be cooked, but many people find that they are only able cook outdoors a few months of the year.With outdoor kitchens, however, the chilly winter months need not be a barrier. It is really easy to create a cosy space outdoors with your custom built outdoor kitchen, and especially so with a fireplace and heater.

Add an outdoor fireplace to your outdoor kitchen.

We are all familiar with the snug, warm feeling we get when there is a gale blowing outside as we warm our toes by the fireside, mug of steaming cocoa in hand.Why should that amazing feeling be restricted to the indoors as you tuck into a homemade meal with your friends and family?Sitting at your new outdoor dining table, in a heated kitchen with a fireplace at the side of you while you entertain your guests is one of the most glorious feelings a host can ever wish to have.It is no wonder that outdoor dining in Australia is gaining in popularity, even in the winter months.People are naturally more at ease in the outdoors, and adventure is something that appeals to all of us. Everybody loves the idea of camping, and ‘roughing it’ - even if they do not like actually doing it.The sense of adventure that lives in all of us is tweaked by the idea of outdoor living, and while most are unwilling to turn in their keys and grab a tent, an immense feeling of freedom can be gained by going the outdoor room route.We all like to feel closer to nature sometimes, which is why we have back yards in the first place when you think about it, and entertaining outdoors is just a natural extension of that.Think of how popular outdoor events are, versus those contained within four walls. Open air concerts have been around almost since the dawn of man, in one form or another, and the fact that they are more popular now than ever speaks volumes about how important it is to us to connect with one another outdoors in the fresh air.Communal dining is one of the times that a groups of friends, family, neighbours and acquaintances are able to share ideas and experiences while having fun at the same time.There is something almost therapeutic about the whole experience that cannot be replicated any other way.The rise in popularity of custom built outdoor kitchens is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is that it took so long for it to catch on in a country made famous for its great outdoors and love of outdoor cooking.

Outdoor dining is an extension of your room

Outdoor rooms are a natural extension of the house, bringing the home and garden closer together to create a single living space. Instead of building extensions onto their homes, in order to create more usable space, many people opt instead to make use of the space already available.This makes a lot of sense, and can actually be cheaper than just throwing up walls and a ceiling to achieve the same effect as building outdoor rooms such as an outdoor kitchen.Seasonal changes need not be a barrier, and as already mentioned the winter months can become much more inviting with a cosy outdoor fireplace to gather around while you pull a Christmas cracker with your significant other over the carved turkey.Adelaide Outdoor Kitchens can provide all you could ever wish for in your outdoor cooking area, and then some.Creating memories, forging new friendships and cementing old ones is what entertaining is all about. Outdoor dining is an experience to behold, especially if you already enjoy the outdoors. And, if your friends are always wandering outside to admire your garden, they will be able to do it in true style and comfort.