WHAT'S FOR LINNER?

We are starting to become really good friends with Maria and Luigi.  We met them less than a year ago as friends of friends, but now we probably see them more than we see our mutual friends.  Aside from great conversation, we also share a love of food and wine.  They have a son who is in between G and D's age, so the three of them play very well together.

Even tho we just saw them last week, Mrs. Fly couldn't wait to return the awesome food hospitality.  Actually, they were trying to pick something for later in the month or next month, but this weekend was the only mutually convenient weekend.  No complaints here!

In lieu of the normal appetizers, Mrs. Fly decided to go hardcore Korean for some grilled meat al fresco.  Even tho some American Koreans have a stereotype of getting drunk on two beers, Korea is a huge drinking culture.  There aren't a lot of cultures where it is common to order whiskey *by the bottle* at many drinking establishments.  I scoured the local liquor shops for soju, kind of like a light rice vodka that is a common drink in Korea.  But being surrounded by white folk, there was none to be had.  Most of the merchants had never even heard of it.  So we just had beer and wine.

In the frying pan is one of my all time favorite drink accompaniments - double cooked chicken gizzards.  TBH, I don't think chicken gizzards are commonly used in American cooking (other than for stuffing), but they are awesome with alcohol.  They have a great meaty flavor, and have a slightly crunch texture.  I could easily eat a pound of that stuff with my beer or wine.  Actually, I think I did.  The women didn't eat much and it turns out Luigi is a little squeamish about eating gizzards.  Not the "food buddy" we thought he would be...  eh, paisan?!?  As much as I wanted to do a facepalm, I quickly realized that there would be more for me!  It's all good.

In the portable grill, we had unsmoked pork belly, shrimp and beef brisket.  Two awesome dead animals surrounding the palate cleanser.  I'll talk more about Korean grilling in a later post.  For dinner, Mrs. Fly made her Korean short ribs (which were awesome) and for dessert we had chocolate fondue.  But the highlight of the meal for me was the leek and seafood bisque Mrs. Fly made from scratch - for the first time!  The last time we had lobster, I said to Mrs. Fly, "Hey, can you make me some lobster bisque?"  At the time, she gave me this look like "Listen Porky, do I look like Jean Georges to you?"  But weeks of subtle DoubleFly nagging did the trick.  When I was younger, I never really cared if my wife cooked or not.  TBH, I still don't.  But it sure is awesome that she does!!!