tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77279157027963071592024-02-07T06:11:52.394-06:00How's it Taste?Because recipes are for jerks.* (Some thoughts on food; and other stuff.)How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-31427593922978492232016-02-04T18:39:00.001-06:002016-02-24T20:52:32.581-06:00Chicken Paprikash Samwich (Paprikás Csirke Szendvics)As much as I love food- making it, eating it, playing around with new recipes- I'm not very good at coming up with new recipes of my own very often (hence the long times in between updates here). So I love it when a new, and really good, recipe practically hands itself to me, like this one did.<br />
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The other day at work I noticed we had some really beautiful red bell peppers that were perfect for roasting. Right away I knew I wanted to make a batch of my Muhammara so the staff could try it and maybe we could figure out a way to utilize it in a special of some sort. It was popular with everyone who tried it, but nobody, including me, had any immediate ideas of how exactly we'd be using it. There was still a little left after a couple days though, and I wanted to get it all used up so it wouldn't get tossed, so I thought I'd make some sort of pita sandwich with it. I didn't really have anything specific in mind, but I figured chicken would be good in it. Ok, but chicken and what else? And how to prepare it? Paprika popped into my head, so I started thinking of ways to cook it with that. Got a basic outline of what I wanted, then I did a search for "Paprika Chicken" and came across a bunch of recipes for what's commonly known as Chicken Paprikash. I kind of blended the two together and ended up with my Chicken Paprikash Samwich. And even though I could barely taste it due to some sinus and lack of sense of smell issues I've been having lately, I'm <i>really</i> proud of it. It looks good, and it went over really, really well with my taste-testers. We'll definitely be doing it as a special soon.<br />
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Don't be put off by the number of ingredients or the length of the recipe- the Muhammara probably takes the longest to make, due to the roasting and peeling of the peppers (you could always just buy jarred roasted red peppers, but... Why would you do that?), but once that's done it all goes together pretty quickly. <br />
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<b><u>What you'll need-</u></b><br />
<br />
<b>For the sandwich proper-</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/search/label/middle%20eastern">Muhammara</a> (can be made up to a few days in advance)<br />
Pita bread or naan (I have a good recipe <a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/search/label/flatbread">here</a>)<br />
Baby spinach <br />
Kalamata olives*<br />
Goat cheese*<br />
Toasted walnuts<br />
Pomegranate molasses**<br />
<br />
<u><b>For the Paprikash- </b></u><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
1/2-3/4 c olive oil<br />
1/4 c smoked paprika<br />
1/4 c regular paprika (Hungarian is preferred for this, but I used Spanish and it turned out great too)<br />
2 t cumin<br />
1/2 t kosher salt<br />
1/2 t black pepper<br />
1/2 t lemon juice<br />
Dash of cayenne<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Chicken (breast or thigh, cut into strips or cubes)<br />
1-2 c water<br />
1/2 c sour cream<br />
1 T flour<br />
Diced tomatoes<br />
Julienned onions<br />
<br />
Montreal Chicken Seasoning<br />
Kosher salt/pepper<br />
Splash of red wine vinegar or lemon juice<br />
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Ok, let me break down my process a little for you. I had initially planned on cooking the chicken in some sort of olive oil/paprika mixture, so I came up with the first half of the Paprikash recipe above. I think I used a total of 1 c olive oil, which proved to be too much, though it didn't affect the overall quality outcome of the sandwich. For this recipe I'd start with 1/2 c and add up to 1/4 c more if you feel like it needs it, though I don't think it will. This is the part where I looked up Chicken Paprika recipes and came across the Chicken Paprikash recipe. I used the one <a href="http://norecipes.com/recipe/chicken-paprikash">here</a> at No Recipes as a guide.<br />
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Their recipe called for chicken stock. I didn't happen to have any on hand at the moment, so I improvised as best I could- Montreal Chicken Seasoning (I <i>think</i> it was McCormick brand, though I'm not sure it matters all that much), salt, pepper, water. Maybe a little Italian seasoning, I can't remember. Chicken stock may well have been better; chicken stock with added Montreal chicken seasoning may well have been better yet, I don't know. I do know, based on what my taste testers told me, that this particular iteration worked really well. As for how much Montreal seasoning/salt/pepper to use, I can't really say at this point- due to the aforementioned sinus issues, I couldn't taste it anyway, so I just eyeballed it. I'd start with a small amount and add more according to your tastes.<br />
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Mix up the first half of the Paprikash recipe and add to a medium saucepan. Add in the water/Montreal Chicken Seasoning/salt/pepper/ and bring to a simmer. Mix the sour cream and flour thoroughly and slowly temper it into the mix. Hard sear the chicken in a sauté pan with a mix of olive oil and butter. When you reach your desired level of color/carmelization, add it to the Paprikash mix to finish cooking. Deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine vinegar.<br />
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(Note: based on a lot of personal experience, my preferred way to sear chicken in a pan is as follows- heat the pan on high, dry- no oil/spray - until the pan is smoking, or pretty darn close to it. Add the chicken, let it set for a few seconds, <i>then</i> stir a couple times, then add your oil/butter. You don't want to add the fat at the beginning because it will burn before the pan gets hot enough, and also there's the risk of splashing hot oil when you add the chicken. Trust me, the extreme heat of the pan will prevent the chicken from sticking, then you can finish it off with the oil/butter with no worries of burnt/splashing oil. But it has to be hot, Hot, HOT for it to work. If the chicken sticks to the pan to the point where the it tears- the pan wasn't hot enough. You'll want to turn on your overhead fan for sure. If in doubt, nervous, or if you don't have a good vent system, you'll want to just do it normally over medium heat or whatever. This is just my personal preferred way to do it, having learned it back in my early days in the restaurant biz. It works great and is faster than just heating the pan to medium/med-high and then adding the chicken.)<br />
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After deglazing the pan, sauté a handful of julienned onions and add those to the pot. Deglaze again with a handful of diced tomatoes, preferably ones heavy with juice. Add those to the pot and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked.<br />
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Now for the tasty part. Spread a generous layer of Muhammara on your warmed flatbread and sprinkle on some baby spinach. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, spread as much of the chicken/tomato/onion mix as you can fit over that. Add kalamatas, toasted walnuts, goat cheese. Finish with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQfGql6g_O8ysymR_zLTVgdT1T3JNGENJwubrHWW9J6qTxK_jdvGNKYMvPzZK5F6wDlvFfGCZg_YpNNLBrvlkw54XQL36Srr-0l3JsZNqGdA-61bPRYhn33LThZ3igAc4Dmk2xcMGqZnR/s1600/Paprikash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQfGql6g_O8ysymR_zLTVgdT1T3JNGENJwubrHWW9J6qTxK_jdvGNKYMvPzZK5F6wDlvFfGCZg_YpNNLBrvlkw54XQL36Srr-0l3JsZNqGdA-61bPRYhn33LThZ3igAc4Dmk2xcMGqZnR/s320/Paprikash.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIj1hxIjtorbseDrqY57P12uYQOfAu2Ppy9CuBHOfdNKpxLqmbjOB8pFRY5rFt0FR_kUPaGLkhqrD9S5eiLPskQFudjpcRzNJXbQU8mSwwwA8Io-i8qsFIZ78Qlu1xr3FXuQa21Tpz6mb/s1600/houdini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIj1hxIjtorbseDrqY57P12uYQOfAu2Ppy9CuBHOfdNKpxLqmbjOB8pFRY5rFt0FR_kUPaGLkhqrD9S5eiLPskQFudjpcRzNJXbQU8mSwwwA8Io-i8qsFIZ78Qlu1xr3FXuQa21Tpz6mb/s320/houdini.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">maybe garnish with rose buds, if you got 'em</td></tr>
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*In place of kalamatas and goat cheese, regular black olives and feta work very well too. I use goat cheese with kalamatas because they offset each other; I think kalamatas and feta together would be too salty, but feel free to try it out. <br />
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**Pomegranate molasses- basically just super concentrated pomegranate juice. You can find it at a lot of grocery stores nowadays, most Asian stores, and definitely any Middle Eastern store, as well as online, but if for some reason you can't get any, you can always just buy some 100% pomegranate juice and simmer it down until it's nice and thick (which is exactly what I did in this case).<br />
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*Update* - I actually now recommend buying 100% pomegranate juice and simmering it until it's concentrated, instead of buying the commercial kind. (Unless you can find a commercial brand that's <i>just</i> 100% pomegranate juice.) I recently shopped around for some and found a couple popular brands that had added sugar and citric acid. I don't have a problem with either of those two, but it definitely didn't taste as good as the stuff I made from 100% juice. So yeah, the homemade stuff is a little more expensive, but if you want the highest quality pomegranate molasses, it's definitely the better choice. How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-57868130124933715732015-11-12T22:45:00.000-06:002016-05-08T16:02:19.731-05:00Turmeric TeaIt has been way, way too long since I posted anything. I just haven't had anything new I've been excited about, and I don't want to post anything new just for the sake of having new stuff. But I've come up with a few new things lately that I think are quite good and worth sharing.<br />
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This first one is Turmeric Tea. (Turmeric with *2* r's, not just 1 - as in TUR-mer-ic, not TOO-mer-ic.) I really, really, really like this stuff. My plan is to drink it near daily, year-round, not just when the weather starts to turn cool through the wintertime. My particular recipe is meant to be drunk hot. (From what I've seen online, most, if not all, other recipes are as well.) While I'm sure it would taste fine iced, the particulars of my recipe don't allow for it, as you'll see. I may play around with an iced version at some point, but for now I'm as happy as I could be with the one I've got.<br />
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If you've never had Turmeric Tea before (aka Turmeric Milk or Golden Milk), I highly recommend you try it. Besides its many purported health benefits (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immune booster, digestion, liver health, and possibly cancer, among others) it just tastes really, really great. Even if you have had it before, I'm pretty sure this particular recipe trumps all others out there. To be honest with you, the taste is really why I drink it; any health benefits are just bonus for me.<br />
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Ok, here's my particular recipe, which I'll break down following the particulars-<br />
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<b>Turmeric Paste:</b><br />
<br />
1/2 c ground turmeric<br />
1 1/2 - 2 c hot water <br />
1 t Vietnamese cinnamon (or 2 t regular cinnamon)<br />
1 t ginger<br />
1/2 t cayenne<br />
freshly ground black pepper (8-10 turns on the grinder)<br />
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<b>Tea:</b><br />
<br />
2 c guayusa, honeybush, or black tea<br />
2 T honey<br />
2-3 T coconut oil (extra-virgin, if possible)<br />
pinch of salt<br />
<br />
1/2 c (or so) almond/soy/whatever (non-dairy) milk*<br />
<br />
Ok, let's start with the paste. It's pretty straightforward- start with the ground turmeric and add *about* a cup and a half of hot water to make a paste. You may want more or less depending on how thick you want the paste to be. Add in the other spices. As for the black pepper, I use a Magnum grinder and I just add in about 10 cranks on that. With other brands of pepper grinder, you may want to adjust the amount a bit higher or lower, depending on how big your grinding mechanism is. The main thing is to definitely have black pepper in your turmeric tea; it increases the effectiveness of the health benefits. And just in case you're thinking of leaving out the cayenne because 'you don't like spicy stuff,' please don't. At least try it as written just once. It's not spicy hot at all, I promise. And cayenne has been gaining attention lately as having its own health benefits for us, so bonus points for that.<br />
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For the tea- I personally almost always use, and highly recommend, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Runa-Amazon-Guayusa-Traditional-Tea/dp/B004FSASKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447387273&sr=8-1&keywords=guayusa">guayusa</a>. Honeybush also works very well. To be honest with you, those are the only two I've tried, so I don't know how other teas or liquids might work. If I was to try something else, I'd go with a good Indian black tea, followed by just any regular black tea, and then water. <br />
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So, brew your tea as normal (for guayusa, I use 1 T guayusa per 8 oz water), then add 2-3 T of the paste, the honey, coconut oil, and salt. Next you're going to want to blend it for about 8-10 seconds, preferably with a stick blender, but a regular blender is fine too. If you have a stick blender, maybe use a larger-than-normal container to brew your tea in, so you don't have to transfer it over to something else in order to blend it. If you don't have a stick blender, just take your tea/spice blend and pour it into a blender and blend on high for about 8-10 seconds. Pour into your mug of choice, add about a half cup of hot soy/almond/whatever* milk, and prepare to be blown away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN21mF5CxwP76kOz3BjRbBo164K6MrMVaqAkyp-s9xVt865qpISKHMqhdl8Kevt9yMI6PFNFf9orlZPISyC7IrdnhSuWYhJcq47jqM3y5Sn1F3SnowiL2npPcU0JtR19qDOiXbcSITtIbo/s1600/turmeric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN21mF5CxwP76kOz3BjRbBo164K6MrMVaqAkyp-s9xVt865qpISKHMqhdl8Kevt9yMI6PFNFf9orlZPISyC7IrdnhSuWYhJcq47jqM3y5Sn1F3SnowiL2npPcU0JtR19qDOiXbcSITtIbo/s320/turmeric.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This stuff is Amazing</td></tr>
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I recently made a version of this and added fennel seeds, nutmeg, and a few cloves. It was probably the best version of this that I've had yet. I don't remember the amounts, but I'd probably go with a teaspoon of each and experiment with that. <br />
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*ok, me personally, I love, love, love dairy. But I've never considered, and probably never will consider, using dairy in my turmeric tea. It's always been soy/almond/coconut/whatever. Don't know why, that's just my thing for this stuff. Just know that I can't vouch for how dairy tastes in this drink.<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-15900690494813157852014-02-20T23:48:00.000-06:002014-02-20T23:48:12.808-06:00Homemade White Chocolate Nutella?! Ooh, Girl!Do you like Nutella? Wait, that was a dumb question. Of course you do. What I meant to say was, Do you like it, but kind of wish it had more hazelnut flavor like its <a href="http://knitstamatic.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/taleoftwonutellas/">European</a> <a href="http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2012/03/international-face-off-nutella.html">cousin</a>? Do you look at your jar of Nutella and shake your fist in the air, cursing those heathens at Ferrero for not having a white chocolate version? Well curse no more, girl, because today is your day! Here is my tasty recipe for White Chocolate Nutella, which I came up with just the other night!<br /><br />2 c roasted and skinned hazelnuts<br /><br />2 c white chocolate chips (about 12 oz)<br /><br />2 T neutral oil (any neutral oil would be fine, but hazelnut would be perfect!)<br /><br />1-2 t vanilla*<br /><br />1/4-1/2 t salt (1/2 is my recommended amount, but start with 1/4 if you doubt my tastes. Shame on you if you do, though.)<br /><br />Putting it all together is super easy, but I'm going to skip the part where most food bloggers tell you to roast the hazelnuts at xxx degrees F/C for xx minutes, and here's why: In my experience, if you see a recipe for something like homemade white chocolate Nutella, you either say 'YES, YES, OH GOD YES!!' and run out to buy the ingredients (if you don't already have them), or you're like, 'Ooh, Nutella, yeah I'll have to get me some of that on the way home from work.' In other words, you're either the kind of person who really likes to play with their food and try anything homemade, or you think that Sandra Lee and her semi-homemade stuff is too much work. In *other* other words, if you don't already know how to roast a bunch of nuts, then you probably don't care anyway. The skinning part, however, is another matter. If you google how to peel hazelnuts, you'll find a few different ways, probably the most common being to roast them in the oven and then boil them for 3 minutes in water with a little baking soda. The other way is to wrap them in a towel while they're still warm from the oven and roll them around in it. (I've recently read that using a damp towel works better than a dry one.) That's the way I did it because I wanted the flavor of *roasted* hazelnuts, not boiled. I don't know for sure if boiling really affects the final flavor or not, but I suspect it probably does. When you roll the hazelnuts around in the towel, you definitely won't get all the skins off, but that's ok. Just tell your friends that it's vanilla bean flakes.<br /><br />Take your roasted and skinned hazelnuts and blend them in the food processor. While that's going on, melt the white chocolate in the microwave. When the hazelnuts are pretty well blended and smooth, add in the rest of the ingredients and blend some more. That's pretty much it. You could additionally strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve for more smoothness and to get rid of some leftover skins, but I say why bother? I've read that hazelnut skins can add a bitter taste, but I've not found that to be the case at all.<br /><br />After you first make it, your homemade Nutella will be nice and smooth and spreadable, but over time it may thicken up to almost a peanut butter-like consistency if your kitchen isn't super warm. If that's a problem, you can easily soften it back up by microwaving it for a few seconds.<br /><br />***<br /><br />As far as white chocolate goes, no need to use fancy-pants super expensive hipster stuff... y'know, the kind made from organic locally grown cocoa beans harvested by angels and then ejaculated by unicorns into pristine cocoa butter, etc. etc... The main thing you want to look for on the ingredient list, besides as few ingredients as possible and nothing artificial, is that cocoa butter and sugar are at or near the top of the list. I used my local grocery store's 'Private Selection' brand for mine and it came out great.<br />
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* As for the vanilla, when I was working on this recipe, I originally wrote down 1 t, but I could swear I actually used 2, so I'd start with 1 and see how it tastes and add more if you feel like it needs it.<br />
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(Hopefully a photo or two will be coming in the days ahead...)How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-76514207743542884742013-10-14T22:57:00.000-05:002013-10-17T00:24:50.236-05:00ChermoulaHow's about some Chermoula recipes, y'all? Yeah, I know I'm a good bit behind in posting these. I've been kinda busy and totally forgot about them. <br />
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As you know, Chermoula is a popular condiment/marinade in Moroccan cooking, especially with fish. And while it's been slowly making it's way into into American cooking over the last several years (the NY Times posted a recipe in 2009), it's still not very well known around here, even among folks who cook for a living. That needs to change, because Chermoula is easy to make and tastes amazing. You *will* impress your friends and loved ones if you make them a dish with it. Even more so if you mix it with the Orange-Cardamom marinade from one of my previous posts!<br />
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I've been taste-testing some different fresh Chermoula recipes and have found at least one really excellent recipe online, and made up a couple of my own that I'm also proud of. Today's first recipe is for the online one, the other (my) two follow behind.<br />
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Let's take a look at the photo-<br />
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<a href="http://s183.photobucket.com/user/jbeaudin1/media/chermoula_zps81471ef2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="chermoula photo chermoula_zps81471ef2.jpg" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/chermoula_zps81471ef2.jpg" /></a><br />
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The spoon on top is the recipe from <a href="http://www.choosy-beggars.com/index.php/2009/07/27/tagine-bil-hut-moroccan-fish-stew-with-olives-potatoes-and-preserved-lemon/">Choosy Beggars</a>.<br />
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Here's the quick details-<br />
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small bunch cilantro (1/2 cup finely chopped)<br />
1 tbsp ground cumin<br />
1.5 tsp ground coriander<br />
2 tsp hot red pepper flakes<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
2 tbsp smoked paprika*<br />
4 cloves garlic<br />
3 tbsp olive oil<br />
juice of 1 lemon (or 1/2 preserved lemon, juice and flesh)<br />
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*If you don't have smoked paprika you can sub regular (which is what I did), but smoked is definitely recommended.<br />
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Simply mince everything up finely and mix it up in a bowl. (You could use a food processor, but this is how they outlined it on their website, and I wanted to follow their recipe as closely as possible, so I opted not to.)<br />
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Looking at the recipe before I made it, I honestly didn't expect to like it. It seemed to have about half the oil it needed and twice the lemon and chili flakes. Turns out that's not the case- it's excellent! (In fact, if you eliminated the oil and added some diced tomatoes it could also be used as an excellent salsa.)<br />
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As for how to use Chermoula, there are plenty of ideas to be found online, but one way in particular that I like is to use it as a marinade for baked chicken**. (And then to drizzle the reduced drippings over oven-roasted potatoes and onions!) Simply coat your favorite chicken parts (boneless breast is quite common, though thigh meat is much more flavorful) in a very generous helping of Chermoula and let set for an hour or two (or more) to marinate. Then bake on 350 F, along with all of the marinade, in a foil pouch or partially covered baking dish, until done (an internal temp of 165 F is recommended). As previously mentioned, drizzle the drippings over oven roasted potatoes and onions. Serve the potatoes and chicken together, with a cilantro garnish (and maybe some feta or goat cheese), and you and your friends are in for a treat!<br />
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**For extra juicy chicken, I <i>highly</i> recommend brining the chicken before you marinate it. While there are many elaborate brines out there with all sorts of spices and flavorings, 2-4 T kosher or sea salt per half gallon of water is all that's really needed for absolutely delectable chicken. Throw in some sugar if you're feeling sassy, but it's not really necessary. 1/2 hour to several hours, depending on your schedule, then coat in the marinade.<br />
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And now here's two of my own that I really like. (These also are great when combined with the Cardamom-Orange Marinade I told you about recently.)
The two are pretty similar (but definitely different). And don't worry if you don't have everything necessary to make them, such as the Chimayo chile powder called for in the first one - I'm a firm believer in using recipes as guidelines (think of a recipe as a basic outline rather than a set of specific, necessary instructions) and going with whatever suits you instead!
Here's the first one I tried-<br />
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35 g cilantro<br />
20 g flat leaf parsley<br />
25 g garlic (5 cloves)<br />
25 g ginger<br />
1 1/2 T coriander<br />
1 1/2T cumin<br />
1 1/2T paprika<br />
1 1/2T Chimayo chile powder<br />
1 T turmeric<br />
juice from 1/2 lime<br />
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil<br />
3 finger pinch of kosher salt<br />
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Don't have a digital kitchen scale? No problem, just start with one bunch each of parsley and cilantro (use a little less parsley); as for the ginger, just pick up 5 cloves of garlic and use your best guess as to an equal amount of ginger. (Seriously, it's really that simple.) Use more or less depending on your preferences. As for the Chimayo chile powder, regular chile powder would work, but if you can get guajillo or ancho, those would be closer. (If using whole chiles, start with 3-4.)
Simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.<br />
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Second recipe is as follows-<br />
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40 g cilantro<br />
20 g flat leaf parsley<br />
25 g garlic (5 cloves)<br />
25 g fresh ginger<br />
1 1/2 T coriander<br />
1 1/2T cumin<br />
1 1/2T paprika<br />
1 T dried mint<br />
1 1/2 t chili flakes<br />
juice from 1 lemon<br />
1/2 c + 2 T neutral oil<br />
Two 3 finger pinches of kosher salt<br />
<br />
As you can no doubt see, this one is pretty similar to the first one, but it's different enough to stand on its own too. If you look at the photo above, the first spoon is the recipe from Choosy-Beggars, the second spoon is the second recipe, and the last spoon is the third recipe. You can see the greener color from the added cilantro and the addition of mint. As with the first recipe, simply drop everything into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
As for how to use Chermoula, besides marinating and baking chicken, and then drizzling the juices over oven-roasted potatoes and onions, Chermoula also goes especially well with (and is traditionally used over) fish. As for <a href="http://spicemongers.com/chermoula/">our dried Chermoula</a>, if you mix it with roughly equal parts olive oil, and lemon juice to taste, it can be used exactly how you'd use the fresh stuff, but we've heard great reviews of folks sprinkling it into ground beef for tacos (in place of traditional taco seasoning) and over rice with a splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of cilantro, as well as mixing it into ground turkey for a definitely non-traditional pasta sauce!
Fresh or dried, I highly recommend you try some Chermoula soon!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s183.photobucket.com/user/jbeaudin1/media/chermoula_zps6208f85c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo chermoula_zps6208f85c.jpg" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/chermoula_zps6208f85c.jpg" /></a>
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-16725966429250137042013-09-27T00:39:00.000-05:002013-10-13T20:45:47.520-05:00Blueberry-Espresso AwesomeSauceAfter playing around with a recipe I found for blueberry-chipotle ketchup (on Saveur.com, I think) I ended up creating the following:<br />
<br />
<b>Blueberry-Espresso AwesomeSauce!</b><br />
<br />
1 lb blueberries<br />
3 1/2 oz espresso<br />
8 oz dark brown sugar (Get a kitchen scale! Best $25 you'll spend!)<br />
1/2 c cider vinegar<br />
1/2 c lime juice<br />
1 can of tomato paste (the small kind, I think they're 6 oz.)<br />
1 1/2 oz fresh ginger, minced<br />
3 finger pinch of kosher salt<br />
1 t ground cardamom<br />
1 1/2 t Vietnamese cinnamon<br />
1 t baking soda (add a pinch or two more as needed. cuts down on the acidity and gives it a smoother flavor)<br />
3/4 t allspice<br />
1/4 t nutmeg<br />
5 whole cloves<br />
<br />
Pour everything into a medium sized saucepan, bring just to a boil or to a near-boil, then turn down to about medium low. Blend thoroughly with a stick blender, then simmer until your desired consistency, keeping in mind it'll thicken up some after it cools. 15-20 minutes will give you about the consistency of apple butter. Don't forget to stir it occasionally. Hit it again, harder this time, at the end with the stick blender and you shouldn't have to strain it through anything.<br />
<br />
Some notes:<br />
<br />
I highly recommend using actual espresso instead of extra strong coffee, even espresso roast. I tried both ways a couple times and the espresso way is definitely better. If you can't get any actual espresso, I also made it with my normal, good quality coffee and brewed it double strength. It's still good, I just think the espresso is better.<br />
<br />
I used whole cloves because I didn't have any ground and I knew I wanted to use between 4-6, but I didn't feel like grinding them in my mortar/pestle and it wouldn't have been enough for the coffee grinder. After a good blend or two with the stick blender, especially at the end, they completely disappeared.<br />
<br />
I really recommend using Vietnamese cinnamon instead of regular. It's a lot stronger. Spice Barn carries it for about $8/lb. As for the amount, I added 1 1/2 t, but not until it was already done cooking. If I'd added it at the beginning, probably 1 t would have been enough. If you can't get Vietnamese, I'd use probably 2 t. Either way, I'd made about 3 batches without cinnamon, and added it to the end of the 3rd batch (which was when I'd first thought of using it), and that one was definitely the best.<br />
<br />
Goes great on toast. Goes better on toast with peanut butter. Goes even *better* on toast with goat cheese. Or try stirring it into your plain, organic, r-BGH-free, made-organnically-from-scratch-by-your-Greek-neighbor's-organic-109-yr-old-grandmother-from-her-organic-grass-fed-cows Greek yogurt. OR just shovel it into your pie-hole with a large wooden spoon. Point is, it's GOOD. And though I haven't yet tried it out on grilled meats, it really tastes like it'd go well as a bbq sauce on chicken or pork.<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://s183.photobucket.com/user/jbeaudin1/media/blueberry-espresso_zps70aa96a0.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo blueberry-espresso_zps70aa96a0.jpg" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/blueberry-espresso_zps70aa96a0.jpg" /> </a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is what REALLY EFFING GOOD looks like</span>How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-82216513510582101512013-08-27T17:52:00.002-05:002013-11-28T01:19:06.779-06:00Amazing Thai CoffeeAh yes, Thai coffee. If you've ever had it before you know how awesome it is. If you haven't, seek out your nearest Thai restaurant pronto and order yourself one. They are <i>incredible</i>. I've been on a Thai coffee kick for the past couple weeks, working on a good recipe, and I think I've gotten it down. This is some of the best, if not the best, Thai coffee I've ever had. Rich and thick and almost chocolate-y (even though there's no chocolate in it). It's hard to stop drinking it.<br />
<br />
The only ingredient that's not readily
available in grocery stores everywhere is the actual Thai Coffee
grounds, but if you don't happen to live in a town with a decent ethnic
mart you can always find it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pantai-Oliang-Powder-Coffee-1-Pound/dp/B000Y06F8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377712249&sr=8-1&keywords=thai+coffee">Amazon</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s183.photobucket.com/user/jbeaudin1/media/thaicoffee_zpsdcb75f74.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo thaicoffee_zpsdcb75f74.jpg" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/thaicoffee_zpsdcb75f74.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Here's what you'll need- </div>
<div>
<br />
Heaping 1/2 c of Thai coffee (Not instant! And I've been using, and recommend, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pantai-Oliang-Powder-Coffee-1-Pound/dp/B000Y06F8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377665967&sr=8-1&keywords=thai+coffee">Pantai</a>)<br />
3 c water<br />
1/4 c sugar<br />
1 1/2 t ground cardamom**<br />
2 egg whites (I know what you're thinking, but trust me!)<br />
Pinch of kosher or sea salt<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
1 can sweetened condensed milk<br />
1 can evaporated milk<br />
Whipping cream*<br />
<br />
Mix
everything but the two milks and the cream together in a large saucepan
over high heat, stirring occasionally until it just comes to a boil.
Let boil for several seconds, or until the coffee foams up to the top of
the pot (I use a 3qt. pot), then remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Strain
through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, then stir in the condensed milk and
evaporated milk. Let it cool down completely in the fridge (it should
be cool enough after adding the milk that you can just put it in right
away without affecting the fridge temperature). When it's nice and cold
you just pour 1/4 c cream into a glass, followed by 3/4-1 c of the coffee mix (or vice-versa, whatever). Stir thoroughly and add lots of ice. Take a long sip and prepare
to be blown away.<br />
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<a href="http://s183.photobucket.com/user/jbeaudin1/media/coffee_zpsf8a622ee.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo coffee_zpsf8a622ee.jpg" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/coffee_zpsf8a622ee.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<br />
<br />
***</div>
</div>
<br />
Ok, egg whites? Yeah I know, seems kind of odd, but <i>do not</i> skip out on them. I made this several times before remembering that adding an egg white can really smooth out your coffee, especially if you're going to be boiling it. (Some folks also add egg shells, I've recently learned.) So I tried it with the egg white and the difference was quite noticeable! The coffee I'd made before was definitely very good, but the batch I made after adding the egg whites to the mix was downright exceptional!<br />
<br />
* The type of cream you use does make a difference. You want plain old 'whipping cream,' not 'heavy whipping cream,' not half and half, and definitely not anything 'lite' or lowfat. If you're unsure if you have the right kind or not, check the nutrition label- what you're looking for is 4.5 grams/fat per Tbs. I've tried creams with 3 (half and half), 4.5 (regular whipping cream), and 5 grams (heavy whipping cream), and the 4.5 seems to have the best balance of everything. The half and half is too light and the heavy whipping cream is too... well, heavy. It leaves your tongue kind of feeling coated with fat. If all you can get your hands on is heavy cream, just dilute it slightly with milk or half and half.<br />
<br />
** UPDATE- I just made another batch of the stuff and upped the cardamom to 2 teaspoons, as well as added a couple grinds of fresh black pepper. Totally the best batch I've made yet, by far. All of the other stuff had a chocolate-y taste to it, as I've mentioned, but this latest batch had more of a caramel-y flavor going on (which I definitely prefer). I've also tried Honey Bee brand Thai coffee, which has sesame seeds in it (and maybe one or two other things that the Pantai brand doesn't have, I can't remember and I don't have the label to check), and I'm thinking I like that even better. I don't know that it was the defining factor in this batch (I think probably not, since I used about half of each kind) but overall I think it's at least as good as Pantai, and maybe even better.How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-72708560661119544502013-06-17T22:28:00.001-05:002013-06-18T19:52:10.330-05:00Orange-Cardamom MarinadeThis is something I've been wanting to make for awhile now. Actually, what I originally wanted to make was an orange-cardamom <i>vinaigrette</i>, but it ended up becoming this instead. I still have plans to work on the vinaigrette, but for now this is a really, really good diversion. It makes for a fantastic marinade for chicken, both by itself, and maybe even more so when mixed with Chermoula, which I'll be posting recipes for here in the next week or two.<br />
<br />
The really interesting thing to me about this marinade is that, at least when you mix it with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chermoula">Chermoula</a>, the dominant flavor seems to change depending on how you blend it up. Here's what happened when I made it- the first time I made it, I used my immersion blender, but it didn't really completely emulsify; the oil separated a little after awhile, which wasn't really a big deal since I ended up using it as a marinade instead of a dressing. But the second time I made it, I used a regular blender to make it, and in that case it emulsified quite well- to the point of almost being aioli-like in consistency. In fact, it could even make a good condiment! Both times I ended up mixing it with Chermoula, and the resulting blend would also make for a good condiment. The first time (when I used the stick blender) the flavor of the Chermoula was more dominant (not overpowering, but you noticed it before the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade). When I mixed it with the the blender, the flavor of the orange-cardamom marinade was more prominent. Interesting...<br />
Anyway, here's the recipe for the marinade, and coming in a couple weeks or so are some Chermoula recipes (with photos) that I've tried that I like (both my own creation, and a couple I found online). <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Orange-Cardamom Marinade</b><br />
<br />
200 ml straight (undiluted) orange juice concentrate<br />
300 ml neutral oil (I used sunflower; I think canola tastes shitty)<br />
2 T fresh lemon juice<br />
1 1/2-2 T ground cardamom<br />
1 1/2-2 T ground coriander<br />
1 T prepared spicy brown mustard<br />
pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper<br />
<br />
<br />
A couple notes-<br />
<br />
For this particular recipe, I ground my own cardamom in my coffee grinder, but I used pre-ground (commercially ground) coriander. If you're using pre-ground spices, 1 1/2 T is good, but since coffee grinders don't get the grind quite as fine, if you grind your spices yourself in a coffee grinder (which I recommend- fresh ground is best!), you may want to lean towards using 2 T instead of 1 1/2. Or if you just really, really like cardamom and coriander, like I do, then up the amount as well.<br />
<br />
As for the mustard, it doesn't really make much difference whether you used plain yellow, spicy brown, or dry. The first time I made the recipe I used 1 t dry mustard. The second time, I was out of dry, so ended up using the 1 T spicy brown that this recipe calls for. I didn't really notice much difference as far as the mustard goes, so probably whatever you have on hand will be fine.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chermoula recipes ahead, so stay tuned- they're damn good!<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-44547046896228075952013-04-17T21:17:00.001-05:002013-04-17T21:21:40.604-05:00Introducing... Spicemongers!Well, Hallelujah! After <i>many</i> months of planning and hard work and delay, it's finally here!<br />
<br />
It started off as a half-joke in the kitchen of my friend and business partner, Lo-- we'd just made up a batch of our own Za'atar, as well as Zhug, and were comparing them to other, well-known brands that we (up until that point) thought were pretty good. But our two blends were just <i>so</i> much better, and we hadn't even spent long periods of time refining them; we just created them in one evening while hanging out with friends. And since we already had a few other spice blends worked up- we've both got our own version of Ras el Hanout, and I've had a Jalapeno-Lime spice blend for years- he remarked that we should just start our own damn spice company! And so here we are, several months later, just opening our doors-<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://spicemongers.com/">Spicemongers</a></span></i></b><br />
<br />
We don't have a huge variety to start with, but we couldn't be more proud of what we do have. My <a href="http://spicemongers.com/ras-el-hanout/">Ras es Hanout</a> has long been a favorite of both of us (as well as our friends) and is pretty much <i>made</i> for the Moroccan Chicken Sandwich.<b> </b><a href="http://spicemongers.com/chermoula/">Chermoula</a> is something relatively new to us, yet our dried version (which is also the <i>only</i> dried version we know of) is top-notch; actually <i>better</i> than the fresh versions we've tried so far! And for chile-heads, <a href="http://spicemongers.com/blaze-of-glory-hot-snack-seasoning/">Blaze of Glory</a> is something I'm especially proud of. I've been working off and on to create this exact flavor for about 10 years now, and I finally got it. It's designed specifically to be used on home-fried tortilla chips and combines a great flavor with a slow burning heat. We don't have the Hint of Lime snack seasoning at the moment, mainly because we had to change suppliers for some of the ingredients used, and so have to start over with the testing process to make sure the flavor is exactly what we're going for.<br />
<br />
So, we're starting off small, but we've got big plans and ideas, and nowhere to go but up.<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-76339900732085472592013-01-25T00:16:00.001-06:002013-02-27T00:25:00.522-06:00What's Going On...(<b>Update, 2/27:</b> Going to look at a commercial rental kitchen today; it's almost certain that we'll take it, and once we do, the next step is getting the Dept. of Agriculture to come in and inspect our process, make sure everything's kosher. Once that happens, we're pretty much going live. So (fingers crossed) ... within a week.<br />
<br />
<br />
So in a previous post or two, I mentioned that I had a super-awesome-for-me announcement coming up, and that it would be up this month for sure. And so here it is (sort of) -<br />
<br />
A friend and I are starting a spice company. A <i>super bad-ass</i> spice company. Well, sort of a spice <i>blend</i> company, as opposed to just your ordinary, all-purpose 'We sell basil and thyme and black pepper and stuff,' company. See, we won't be selling thyme and black peppercorns and dried basil (though we're looking into dried <i>Thai</i> basil, since no one else seems to carry that). Our feeling is that you can get good quality 'regular' herbs and spices pretty much anywhere nowadays. Our focus is on unique and/or exotic/unusual stuff that you have to search high and low for, and maybe go through several different sources to get everything you want (like we've had to do in our own personal spice-buying ventures). Basically we're taking all of the flavors and spices and spice blends that we love to use in our own personal kitchens, and offering them for sale, in one convenient place, to other 'fellow seekers of the exotic.' Naturally, we came up with the idea after several beers. But it wasn't just the beer. We'd been snacking on some flatbread with store-bought Za'atar that we thought was pretty good, as well as a dried Zhug spice blend, that we also thought was pretty good. We decided to try and come up with our own version. And we did, and both of them were so, so much better than the stuff we'd paid money for that we just thought, 'We should just start our <i>own</i> spice company!' And so that's what we're doing.<br />
<br />
Our standards are pretty high; we've bought plenty of different spices and spice blends from plenty of different companies. And while most are good, even our favorite companies offer some products that are, in our opinion, just plain mediocre. But that's just our opinion, right? Hell, maybe other people <i>really</i> like the stuff that we don't, and think it's just peachy. And that's fine. But our whole thing is that <b>we won't carry anything that we don't absolutely love and think kicks ass.</b> No, we don't expect everyone will love our stuff as much as we do; however, if someone were to say to us, <i>'Y'know, I really don't dig on your Za'atar that much, I've had better pre-packaged stuff from my local Ethnic Mart,'</i> we honestly wouldn't be able to say, <i>'Yeah, so have we.' </i>Bottom line: if we were selling beer, we sure as hell wouldn't be selling Bud Light. It may be one of the most popular beers in the U.S. (if not the most popular), so we might sell a ton of it, but we think it tastes like watered-down ass, so we just wouldn't carry it. <br />
<br />
Here's some of what we plan to offer:<br />
<br />
Za'atar<br />
<br />
Zhug (aka Skhug) a Yemeni hot sauce/condiment (though ours, along with all our other stuff, is a dried spice version)<br />
<br />
Jalapeño-Lime snack seasoning (hot and mild)<br />
<br />
Vadouvan <br />
<br />
A <i>Tostitos w/ Hint of Lime</i> clone, based on <a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/2010/08/homemade-tostitos-with-hint-of-lime.html">the recipe I came up with years ago</a>, but slightly different, and much better. (Also, better than the commercial variety.)<br />
<br />
Harissa<br />
<br />
Chermoula<br />
<br />
Ras el Hanout<br />
<br />
<br />
...as well as some other various blends, both our own original ideas as well as more well-known standard flavors, like Jamaican Jerk. In addition to blends, we also plan on carrying more exotic single spices like Ethiopian Cardamom (Korarima), Szechuan peppercorns, Omani/Loomi, Sumac, etc.<br />
<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, we're not quite official yet, so I can't announce the company name or URL, but soon. Target date for going live is Feb. 1st.<br />
<br />
We're starting off small, so we've got a long road ahead of us, but we couldn't be more excited!<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/spicie_zps14fde1cb.jpg" />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-87479627682476440002012-12-25T15:06:00.000-06:002013-02-19T20:40:12.639-06:00You'll Want To Put These Balls In Your Mouth Two At A Time! <b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Title credit: Amy)</span></b><br />
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<br />
Alternate titles:<br />
<br />
'My Second Favorite Set Of Balls'<br />
<br />
'Now Here's Some Balls You'll <i>Really</i> Love Eating' <br />
<br />
<br />
It's pretty tough coming up with a decent title for a blog post about cheese balls. You can't just say <i>'World's Best Cheese Balls,'</i> or even, <i>'Totally Amazing, Must-Try, Most-Deliciousest-Ever Cheeeese Baaalllsss!!1!'</i> Nobody's going to want to read about that, even though in this case it's probably accurate.<br />
Anyway, the lowly cheese ball- it's just a ball of cheese, usually covered in almonds, that you spread on crackers. How good can it be, right? Well, if you're my friend Heather, who was married to a chef for ten years, then it can be really, <i>really</i> good. We were at a party at a mutual friend's house one night a few weeks back, sitting out on the patio, and she was telling us about this cheese ball that she'd made. Said she'd used Laughing Cow, goat cheese, and that one with garlic and herbs, she couldn't remember the name. (It was Boursin.) Ok, that alone was sounding pretty good, but then she mentioned that she put dried blueberries in it. I must have made a face because then she said, <i>'Yeah, I know, it sounds weird, right?'</i> I said, <i>'Hell no, it sounds awesome! You got anymore?' </i>Turns out it was her contribution to the party's food supply and it was sitting right there in the kitchen for the taking! So me and a friend rushed in to get some. I took one bite and right then I knew- <i>I knew</i> - that even if I hadn't been drunk it still would have tasted just as awesome. And it does. The mildness of the Laughing Cow balances out the weirdness of the goat cheese, and the sweetness of the blueberries balance out the savoriness of the Boursin. Sesame seed crackers make for a really nice diversion from the usual Ritz or whatever, and the almonds add more visual appeal as well as extra crunch.<br />
<br />
Like <i>I</i> often do when I make stuff, Heather didn't really use a recipe, but she remembered enough about it that I was able to pretty much recreate it. Here's what you'll need:<br />
<br />
<br />
12 wedges Laughing Cow cheese (regular, not that light crap) <br />
<br />
1 package Regular (garlic & herb) Boursin <br />
<br />
1/2 lb. goat cheese <br />
<br />
~1/3 c mayo <br />
<br />
~1/2 c (packed) dried blueberries<br />
<br />
Toasted almonds <br />
<br />
Sesame seed crackers <br />
<br />
<br />
Putting it all together is about as straightforward as it seems. The worst part is unwrapping all those Laughing Cow triangles- kind of a pain in the ass, really, but it's worth it. You'll want the cheese to soften up a little to make it easier to blend, but in my experience, the LC triangles are easier to pop out of the wrapper if they're nice and firm, so I usually just unwrap all the cheese and toss it in a bowl while it's plenty cold, and then leave it out for a little while (or microwave it on low power) to soften up. Then add the mayo, then the blueberries, then mix thoroughly. Put back in the fridge for awhile to firm up so you can form balls with it, then roll in chopped, toasted almonds. The sliced almonds you get in the baking aisle of the grocery store are ok too, but they tend not to have a whole lot of flavor. I wouldn't waste my money on them.<br />
<br />
Serve with sesame crackers at your next party, and watch while folks gobble these balls up like porn stars gobble up the other kind!<br />
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<img img="img" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/balls_zps04c1400b.jpg" />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I mentioned in my last post about an upcoming special announcement, thinking it'd be up by now, but the holidays, among other things, have caused delays. So, next month sometime for sure. It's really cool, too. Can't<span style="font-size: x-small;">. W</span>ait!)</span><br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-33633268354669933902012-11-25T20:35:00.000-06:002012-11-25T20:35:32.808-06:00Bodie's Most Bad-Ass Red Beans & RiceUsually I hate it when I lose something I was working on (like a recipe) and have to start over from scratch, but in this case it worked out pretty well. What happened is that a couple months ago or so, I came up with what I thought was the best rice and beans I had ever eaten. Actually, it <i>was</i> the best rice and beans I'd eaten- at that time. (There was one time before that, but I never bothered to write anything down, so all I had was an awesome dish with no accurate way to re-create it.) And this time, luckily, I actually managed to write everything down as I made it so I'd be able to re-create it any time. But unluckily, I stored the main copy of the recipe in my Gmail account, thinking it'd be about as safe there as anywhere. And actually it <i>was</i> pretty safe there, so I erased the copy I had on my dry-erase board in the kitchen. But in an effort to clean up my Gmail, I <i>completely</i> deleted a whole bunch of emails, accidentally including the red beans and rice recipe, among a couple other kind of important recipes. (Even though it's unlikely to ever happen again, I'm now using <a href="https://www.backupify.com/">Backupify</a> again. I used to use it a long time ago when it first came out- thankfully, because that means it's still free for me- but didn't really see the need for it, so I stopped.) So there went my most-bad-ass-ever recipe for red beans and rice. But I figured since I'd done it once or twice before, I <i>might</i> be able to do it again. And not only <i>did</i> I do it again, but I think this one is even better! So yee-haw for happy accidents (though I'm still sticking with Backupify).<br />
<br />
<br />
What you'll need:<br />
<br />
3 c dry pintos or red beans<br />
7 c water<br />
<br />
1lb bacon (minus what you eat after smoking it, because it's so damn good) + drippings<br />
2 smoked pork hocks/pig's ears/whatevers<br />
A couple jalapeños and cayennes (if you like yours a little spicier)<br />
2 each guajillos and pasillas de Oaxaca*<br />
<br />
3 T chopped chipotles in adobo (I highly recommend La Costeña brand)<br />
3 T chili powder<br />
3 T toasted cumin<br />
3 T granulated garlic <br />
2 T paprika<br />
2 T mild jalapeño-lime blend**<br />
2 T cider vinegar<br />
2 T dried epazote<br />
2 T dried cilantro<br />
1 T onion powder<br />
1 T oregano<br />
1 1/2 t sugar<br />
1 1/2 t coarse sea salt<br />
1 t thyme<br />
pinch of dill<br />
several grinds of black pepper <br />
<br />
1 can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes<br />
1/2 can of tomato paste<br />
1 can of beer <br />
6 T Louisiana hot sauce<br />
2 T Valentina hot sauce <br />
1 ea. red bell pepper and yellow onion, diced<br />
fresh cilantro and/or green onions (and more Valentina) for garnish<br />
<br />
<br />
Take your raw bacon (high quality or cheap-ass store brand, it really doesn't make much difference in this case) your smoked pork/turkey/whatever parts, and smoke them again. Really, fire up the grill, load on the wood chips and smoke the hell out of those suckers! Make sure you have some sort of drip pan underneath to catch all of the drippings. If you have a big enough grill and can fit it all on, I'd also recommend smoking your chile powders, cumin, salt, pepper, etc. I don't have a big enough grill to do it all at once though, and by the time the bacon and pork is smoked to the point where I want it to be, the wood chips are spent and I don't feel like doing it all again.<br />
It's almost impossible to oversmoke the smoked pork parts, but I suppose you could, in theory, overdo the bacon since this involves hot-smoking and letting it go too long will result in burnt bacon. I let mine go until it's dark brown and crispy. I've burned the smoked hocks before, but it was only superficial and after cooking down in the beans awhile they were as tasty as ever. Bacon being so thin, however, that wouldn't work. <br />
<br />
Next come the beans. I have a pressure cooker (Presto, 8 qt.) so that's how this recipe was written. If you don't have one, then cook the beans however you normally would, soaking them overnight or whatever. But with the pressure cooker, I never bother with that. Take the unsoaked beans, add the water, smoked meats, guajillos and pasillas (and the other chiles, if you're using them) and add it all to the pot. Bring it up to high pressure, then turn down to low pressure and set a timer for 21 minutes. When the time's up, release pressure using the cool water method and return to the stove over med-low heat. (When you open the pot, it'll probably look like there's not nearly enough liquid, but once the beer, hot sauce and tomatoes come into play, it'll be perfect.) In a separate pan, sauté the pepper and onions until they're brown and crispy, and deglaze with some of the beer. Scrape it all into the beans, pour in the rest of the beer and wet ingredients and add all your dry seasonings. At this point you just let it simmer away happily on low to med-low for awhile, either until the beans are completely softened up (if they weren't already after the initial pressure cook) or for at least a good 20-30 minutes. While that's going, get your rice cooking and have a few more beers. Speaking of which, every time I've made this, I've used el-cheapo Genesee Ice ($2.99/6-pack!) and it's always come out amazing. I can only imagine how much better it would be if I used a better beer. Then again, if you have to pay for beer, is there a better one than the one that costs $3 for a 6-pack? I'm not sure.<br />
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<img img="img" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/redbeans.jpg" />
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* Pasillas de Oaxaca... not the same as regular pasillas (pasilla negro). Pasillas de Oaxaca, as the name suggests, are from Oaxaca. I don't know much more about the differences between them other than the Oaxacan version is very smoky tasting (which is why I like them) and much harder to find, therefore more expensive than the regular. Like 3x more expensive. Last I checked, they go for around $30/lb. They're <i>so</i> good though. Definitely worth trying out.<br />
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** Mild jalapeño-lime blend. It's a custom spice blend I make, most often to put on tortilla chips, but it goes well in stuff like this too. Not available for sale anywhere yet, but it will be soon, so stay tuned for that announcement. But if you don't want to buy it, I'd just sub some canned green chiles and fresh lime juice.<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-5691347381649646042012-11-13T23:32:00.000-06:002012-11-14T00:44:34.954-06:00Kitchen ConfidentialSo I just recently finished reading Anthony Bourdain's '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Confidential-Updated-Edition-Adventures/dp/0060899220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352870058&sr=8-1&keywords=kitchen+confidential">Kitchen Confidential</a>' for the first time. I couldn't believe that it had been first published 12 years ago and I'd never read it before. I actually didn't really know that much about him, other than that he was a 'celebrity' chef and all that b.s. But if you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it, especially if you want some insight into the restaurant biz. I found it to be not only highly entertaining, but also there was very, very little that I've found not to be 100% accurate, based on my own experience. (Case in point: he says that despite all the foul language to be heard, joking around about 'your mom, girlfriend/boyfriend, etc.,' is off limits. In my own experience, 'your mom/girlfriend' jokes are abundant, and par for the course. Maybe things have changed since he was in the biz, I don't know.) In any case, as I've already said, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it; in fact, I can't recommend it enough. Very accurate, <i>very</i> entertaining.<br />
<br />
On a side note, I've got a totally badass red-bean-and-rice recipe coming up, as well as a special announcement (special to me, anyway). Stay tuned; one (maybe both) should be up within the week...<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-86156247062083459372012-09-17T13:30:00.000-05:002012-09-17T17:47:16.043-05:00'All Your Honey Are Belong To Us!' - ChinaCame across a really interesting article on honey the other day over at <a href="http://www.foodista.com/#s.abtsgjboabiaa">Foodista</a>. They referenced an article by <a href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/">Food Safety News</a> showing that most honey sold here in the U.S. has had all of it's pollen filtered out, making it impossible to trace the origin, which likely means it's ultimately from China. And since the Chinese generally have no problems selling us highly adulterated shit, some people might find that problematic. Worth looking into more if you use honey at all and would prefer to know that what you're using actually <i>is</i> real honey.<br />
<br />
<br />
More info: <br />
<br />
Here's a link to <a href="http://www.foodista.com/blog/2012/09/07/most-store-honey-is-not-really-honey#s.abtsgjboabiaa">the shorter version on Foodista</a>.<br />
<br />
Here's a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-schiffman/most-store-bought-honey-i_b_1118564.html">similar article on Huffington Post</a>.<br />
<br />
A longer (3 page) article published last year by abc news- <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/tainted-honey-sparks-push-fda-standard/story?id=13547820#.UFdq7lbxtBl">Tainted Honey Sparks Push for FDA Standard</a>.<br />
<br />
And here's the Food Safety News article (a bit long, but worth reading) - <a href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/#.UFdnIVbxtBn">Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey</a>.<br />
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How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-58227541146728375042012-09-05T21:22:00.000-05:002012-09-05T21:22:25.294-05:00My People Call It MaizeYears ago, when I was living in Chicago, I'd see these Mexican food carts, with the vendors selling some sort of corn on a stick. A friend of mine told me they slathered it with mayo, cayenne, parmesan cheese, and maybe some cilantro and lime juice. My first thought was, man that sounds gross. Mayonnaise on corn? The whole thing just seemed weird to me. Fast forward to about a week ago, when I noticed a recipe Saveur posted for <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Mexican-Style-Roasted-Corn">Mexican-Style Roasted Corn</a>. I have to admit, the picture kind of sold me on it, so I went out and bought some corn and Queso Fresco. I know their recipe calls for Cotija, but when I got to the store, I couldn't remember for sure if that was it. I thought it was, but the only Cotija I saw looked like overpriced Parm, so I went with Queso Fresco instead. I think I made the right choice.<br />
<br />
I made some other, minor, tweaks as well. You can follow their recipe to the letter if you want, but this stuff is dead simple. No recipe needed. They peeled the husks back and tied them with twine; while it does look kinda pretty, it's probably not really necessary. Strip those babies off and throw them in your jerk neighbor's yard or driveway. Saveur soaked their corn in water for a half hour. I didn't soak mine at all, and it came out fine.<br />
<br />
Here's a list of my ingredients:<br />
<br />
Corn, husks removed<br />
Mayo<br />
Queso Fresco<br />
Chili Powder<br />
Jalapeño-Lime powder (my own blend; not really for sale anywhere- yet!)<br />
Cayenne<br />
Fresh lime juice<br />
Fresh cilantro<br />
<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/mexicorn.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Putting it all together is almost self-explanatory, but here's how anyway:<br />
<br />
Grill the corn till it's as done as you'd like. Slather on the mayo in whatever quantity you'd like. Roll the corn around in a dish of crumbled Queso Fresco till it's nice and coated, then sprinkle with your choice of chili powder(s). Salt and pepper if you want, then squeeze some fresh lime juice on it and hit it with some cilantro. Then, while guzzling a beer, give your neighbors some shit about their stupid messy lawn/driveway. <br />
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How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-49428040880269276792012-08-04T23:43:00.000-05:002012-09-17T17:48:36.119-05:00Muhammara, aka 'Uh, what?' (Updated, with photos)Muhummad-who? Uh, <i>Muhammara</i>. It's a Middle Eastern pepper dip, or spread, very similar to hummus in consistency, but with some different ingredients and a deep maroon color. Yeah, if you've never heard of it before, don't worry, you're not alone. I've worked with countless cooks and foodie-types over the years, and the only ones I know who know what Muhammara is are the ones I've told about it. And I think that's a damn shame, because it's really tasty and really easy to make. Slightly sweet, tart, spicy and savory all at once, it goes good on flatbread, but is really great as a dip for veggies. <br />
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I first read about it on The Perfect Pantry about four years ago, while looking for recipes that called for Aleppo pepper. <a href="http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2008/03/aleppo-pepper.html">This was the recipe</a> I came across and it sounded pretty good so I tried it out at work one day. Never having had it before, I didn't really know if it was any good compared to other Muhammara recipes or not. It was decent overall, but it seemed to me like it was lacking something. I had a couple other people try it out and they thought the same thing. So I started looking for other recipes for it, and quickly found out that yes, it was in fact missing something, at least according to most of the other recipes I found- roasted red peppers! I'm not sure which version is the most 'traditional,' but the vast majority of recipes I've come across call for them, so I'd say it's probably a key ingredient, kind of like tahini in hummus. I've tried it both ways and definitely prefer the kind with the roasted reds. The Perfect Pantry has <a href="http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/10/cashews-recipe-muhammara.html">another recipe</a> for it that does include roasted red peppers, but calls for cashews instead of walnuts. I haven't tried that one yet, mostly because I came up with my own version that I think is pretty damn good, so when I make it I always end up using my own recipe. And like hummus, the exact recipe isn't strictly necessary; if you have a basic idea of what's in it and how you want it to taste, you'll be good to go. But here it is anyway:<br />
<br />
<b>Muhammara </b><br />
<br />
2 1/2 lbs roasted red bell peppers (fresh, of course)<br />
1 1/2 c toasted, chopped walnuts<br />
1 c bread crumbs <br />
1/4 c light olive oil<br />
6 T cumin, toasted<br />
3 T tomato paste <br />
2 T chopped garlic <br />
2 T pomegranate molasses* <br />
1T lemon juice<br />
1t Aleppo pepper<br />
1/2-1 t kosher/sea salt<br />
<br />
<br />
Let's start with the roasted reds-<br />
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<img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/muhammara01.jpg" />
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I've found that roasting them over an open flame is best, and easiest. I've tried roasting them under the broiler in the oven, or even just baking them under really high heat, but I've not had much luck with that method. Then again, I don't have a Silpat, which might improve matters. But even if I did have a Silpat, I think I'd still prefer open flame. If you don't have access to a grill (either gas or charcoal, it doesn't really matter), you might try a propane torch. I've used one successfully, but it took a little more finesse than a grill. But still, better (in my opinion) than doing it in the oven. If you've never roasted peppers before, you want them looking kinda sorta like the ones in the photo above. I usually char mine quite a bit more than what you see there, though it's not totally necessary. However, you do need to keep an eye on those bad boys while you're roasting them;
make sure the heat isn't too high and to turn them at least every once
in awhile. I figured it would be very difficult to over-roast them, but
it turns out that's not the case at all, and I had to throw out most of
the peppers for this latest batch and go and buy some more. If you know
me at all, you won't be surprised to learn that there was alcohol
involved. In any case, once they're at the desired char level, toss them into a stainless steel mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap to trap the heat and steam them for a bit. Once they're cool enough to handle, you can easily peel the charred skin off from the flesh, discarding it along with the seeds and stems.<br />
<br />
It's pretty straightforward and simple from here- everything's going to go into the food processor. No need to slowly drizzle in the oil like you're making mayonnaise or something, but you might want to roughly chop the peppers a bit first so they'll blend a little quicker. Adjust the amount of salt/pepper/lemon to taste. Maybe throw in or garnish with some sumac.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html">Penzey's</a>, among other places, has Aleppo pepper, but if you don't want to bother with it, plain old crushed red pepper flakes make a good substitute. Once it's all blitzed up in ye olde Cuisinart, it should look something like this:<br />
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<img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/muhammara02.jpg" />
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You can see seeds and bits of charred skin in there- no biggie, you ain't gonna get rid of all that stuff anyway, so I figure if it affects the flavor at all, it's only for the better. <br />
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So that's <i>my</i> Muhammara recipe. Which has so far been a pretty good hit with everyone who's tried it.<br />
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Give it a shot, and I'd love to hear how it compares with others you've tried.<br />
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* If you can't find pomegranate molasses, substitute with 1/4 c of pomegranate juice concentrate, which should be available in the frozen juice section of just about every grocery store everywhere.<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-40574417504773230162012-06-16T22:49:00.000-05:002013-02-18T00:36:53.572-06:00Hello Bánh Mì, We Meet Again...About a year and a half ago, I created one of the two best sandwiches I've ever had in my life, the Bánh mì. Well, I didn't create the <span style="font-style: italic;">original</span> Bánh mì, but I think I probably improved on it with <a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/2011/02/banh-mi-recipe-on-monday.html">my version</a>. I've had Bánh mì from four other places so far, three of them Vietnamese, and so far mine has been better than any of them. Not just slightly better, either, I mean a <i>whole lot</i> better. Which thrills and saddens me at the same time. Anyway, I've always wanted to experiment and come up with a different kind, something a little more 'traditional,' using pork instead of chicken. But every time I got the urge to make Bánh mì, I went with the tried-and-true and made my old version. Well, earlier this year, I and a foodie friend of mine teamed up and decided that the time for talk was over, we were going to put our heads together and come up with a new version, something at least as good as the old one, something that really rocked. And we did it. On the very first try, even. No tweaking the final recipe necessary.<br />
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This new Bánh mì is definitely more work to make. Not so much that it's not worth making, but there's definitely a lot more ingredients and a lot more steps involved. The payoff, however, is <i>so</i> worth it.<br />
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I do get a little specific when it comes to seasonings in the ingredients list- for example, this recipe specifically calls for Kwong Hung Seng brand thin soy sauce- but that's for consistency's sake. I don't normally get too hung up on using specific brands in my cooking- one good quality fish sauce is about as good as another- but when we were in the kitchen making this, my friend had a different brand
of thin soy sauce, and we tasted both. The Kwong Hung Seng brand was
much, <i>much</i> stronger. And because we both, along with everyone else who's tried it so far, think this is a pretty special recipe, I want to make sure that anyone else who wants to make it can make it as close to our original dish as possible.<br />
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Here's (almost) everything we used:<br />
<br />
<b>Sandwich:</b><br />
<br />
Crusty baguettes (preferably homemade. My recipe is at the bottom.)<br />
Pork loin, 2-3 lbs.<br />
Julienned carrots and/or seeded cucumbers, or both. (Red onions are also pretty kickass.)<br />
Fresh, thinly sliced jalapeños<br />
Fresh cilantro<br />
Fresh Thai basil<br />
Mayo <br />
<br />
<b>Pork Marinade:</b><br />
<br />
3 stalks of lemongrass<br />
5 fresh kaffir lime leaves <br />
2 thai chilis<br />
1.75 oz fresh ginger<br />
1.5 oz garlic<br />
3 T Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce*<br />
2 T Squid brand fish sauce<br />
1 T Healthy Boy sweet soy sauce**<br />
2 t Datu Puti sugar cane vinegar<br />
2 t Sriracha<br />
1/2 c water<br />
1/2 t sugar<br />
1/4 t kosher salt<br />
1/4 t Kwong Hung Seng thin soy sauce<br />
juice from 1/2 a lime<br />
<br />
<br />
* There's a big difference between oyster sauces. Lee Kum Kee premium is very good, but I think they have a non-premium version as well, which probably tastes quite different. Other 'premium' brands may be good too... but they may not. The main thing you want to look for is that 'oyster' (or 'oyster extractives,' or something like that) is the first thing on the ingredients list. If it's second or third down, it's probably not going to be nearly as good, and you should keep looking.<br />
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** HB sweet soy sauce tastes (to me) a lot like molasses, so if you can't find this brand, or something similar, molasses might be a good substitute. <br />
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<b>Sauce:</b><br />
<br />
Your favorite cooking oil<br />
2 large shallots, minced<br />
Xiaoxing cooking wine<br />
Kong Yen rice vinegar (A very good brand. Marukan ain't got nothing on it. Should be available at any Asian market.)<br />
Beer<br />
<br />
*****<br />
<br />
<br />
Let's talk marinade first. When we first made this, we just chopped everything up by hand (rather coarsely), dropped it in a bowl and added in the wet stuff. When it came time to cook the pork, we just kind of shook off the aromatics, leaving them in the marinade. What I recommend now is chopping it up just enough so that you can throw it in your food processor and have that do the rest of the work for you. Mince it up nice and fine; you want lots of surface area. But, since lemongrass is very fibrous and likely won't soften up enough during cooking, even that might not be enough for some people. If you think that might be you, I'd use a blender instead, adding enough of the liquid ingredients to just blend it completely, then stir in the rest. Set it aside in a large bowl and go to work on the pork loin. Slice it up small and thin, nice bite-sized pieces. Submerge as much of it as you can in the marinade and let set for at least 2 hours.<br />
<br />
<br />
Sauce:<br />
<br />
(Originally, we started this in a single pan and then sautéed the pork in the same pan after deglazing, but now I find that kind of impractical, so I do them in separate pans now, adding this to the pork towards the end of cooking as kind of a Bánh mì 'sauce.')<br />
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Chop up the shallots and <i>slowly</i> caramelize them using your favorite cooking oil. (We originally used peanut oil, but since then I've been playing around with lemongrass oil and szechuan peppercorn oil.) Take your time with this step. Don't sauté quickly over high heat; you should be able to walk away for 10 minutes and not worry about finding them burned. When they're ready, turn the heat up a little and deglaze with a liberal splash of the Xiaoxing wine, rice vinegar, and beer (we originally used Sierra Nevada Pale, but the last time I made it I used Arrogant Bastard and the two folks who tried it- one of whom was the co-creator- said it was the best so far, for what that's worth). Don't be shy on the amount of liquid, either. A half-cup each is not too much; you're going to simmer it down into a tasty sauce to mix into the pork. Season with a pinch of salt and/or sugar as necessary. When you decide it's ready, either set it aside in the pan, or transfer to a cup or bowl. Ultimately it's going to go in the same pan as the pork and cook down just a little more, so I guess it depends on when you'll be cooking that. When you're ready, get a wok or cast iron skillet and set it on high. You want it hot<i>hotHOT</i>. While it's heating up, drain the pork in a colander. A fine mesh sieve is even better- you want as much of the liquid out as you can, so it doesn't splash in the smoking hot oil. When the pan is smoking hot, or just about so, pour in a splash of oil and add the pork. Sear it good, turn the heat down just a little, and then when it looks like it's about halfway done, add in your sauce and turn down the heat to about med-low. At this point, you're mere minutes away from Bánh mì bliss. If you haven't already, now would be a good time to toast your baguettes. When everything is ready, slather the baguettes with a good amount of mayo. Don't skimp, and <i>don't</i> leave it off. The Cohort (Amy) requested no mayo the first few times I made this for her, but this last time she forgot, and <i>I</i> forgot that she doesn't like it on there, so I put it on like normal... And she was blown away. At first, she was none too thrilled that it was on there, and came in the kitchen to remind me that she 'doesn't like it' on there, but just a short time later, after I'd left the house and went out to the garden, she actually called me on my cell phone to tell me how surprised she was by how much she loved it and how it all came together- the 'sauce' combined with the mayo, and everything else- to make the perfect sandwich.<br />
<br />
And I was all like, 'Um, duh.'<br />
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So yeah, don't leave off the mayo, even if you 'don't like' mayo. <br />
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Here's what it looks like:<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/banhmi.jpg" />
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My Bánh mì<br />
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<br />
If you need a good baguette recipe (or just a good bread recipe in general), here's mine, which I also <a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/2012/04/bomb-ass-buffalo-chicken-quesadilla.html">posted here before</a>:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>
2 1/2 cups <span class="il">bread</span> flour</li>
<li>
1 tablespoon white sugar</li>
<li>2 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt</li>
<li>
2 teaspoons <span class="il">instant</span> yeast</li>
<li>3 T wheat gluten</li>
<li>3 T potato starch (not potato flour) </li>
<li>~ 1 c warm water</li>
</ul>
<br />
I recommend working it by hand, instead of using a food processor, as it's very, very stiff. Besides, it won't take but a few minutes before it's ready to proof. I also recommend letting it rise at least twice. This recipe makes an excellent flatbread, but for baguettes, after the rise just cut off about 6-7 oz (makes a nice, large-but-not-too-large loaf) and shape. Brush with butter or egg wash if you like, cover with plastic wrap and let rise again. It may not rise all that much this time, but that's a good thing. You want that. Mine didn't rise much before it went into the oven. I didn't think too much of it, just figured it'd finish off while it was baking. But it didn't. At first I was pretty disappointed, and briefly considered making some new loaves with the rest of the dough, but in the end I went with it, and it actually turned out <i>perfect</i>. See, the bread is really just a shell, something to hold all that flavorful pork inside so you don't have to use your bare hands or a fork. It does also contribute some flavor and texture, but you really don't want a whole lot of puffy bread getting in the way of the rest of your Bánh mì. <br />
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<br />
This recipe is definitely a lot more work than my other one, but it's worth every bit. I also can't stress enough that it's totally worth the effort to make your own baguette. Store-bought, even if it's 'artisan,' just can't compare.<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/banhmi02-1.jpg" />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-47949048540413653102012-06-08T19:11:00.003-05:002012-06-08T19:34:18.595-05:00Time To Start Growing Your Own Garlic...<span class="hasCaption">On the left, garlic I planted last fall from some everyday store-bought stuff. On the right, the everyday store-bought stuff. The stuff I planted was *not* elephant garlic, it was just the plain old white kind you see everywhere. The stuff on the right is about average sized; not the biggest I've seen from store-bought, but not the smallest, and these were the biggest I could find out of the package (ready-peeled stuff from the local Asian-mart). Not all of the garlic I planted came out as big as those on the left, but even the smallest ones were larger than the largest ones I could find from the store-bought stuff.</span> What's more, I even let this particular plant go to flower, which I'm told you shouldn't do so the garlic can concentrate all the nutrients on the garlic itself, not divide it up between the bulb and the flower. But I wanted photos...<br /><br />Growing your own garlic has the added benefit of fresh garlic scapes, which I'm told are fabulous (I've heard garlic scape pesto is amazing). I'm going to find out soon enough myself.<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/garlic.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />The flower of the home-grown garlic:<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/garlicflower.jpg" />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-58347949775854060562012-05-15T20:53:00.004-05:002012-05-15T21:22:24.618-05:00Quick, Easy, and Surprisingly Good Marinara SauceI was totally not in the mood for cooking tonight, so I wanted something super quick and simple. I ended up throwing this together in about 10 minutes with stuff I had lying around. I never would have expected it to be so good.<br /><br /><br />1 1/2 yellow or white onions, diced<br />1 red jalapeño, minced<br />1 can tomato paste, plus water for thinning<br />Large dash of nutmeg (1/4 t or so)<br />Heavy splash of cheap white wine for deglazing<br />Medium splash of red wine vinegar<br />Salt, to taste<br />Garlic oil<br /><br />Sauté the onions and jalapeño in hot garlic oil, deglaze with the wine, add the nutmeg. Stir in the tomato paste and thin to your desired consistency. Add in some red wine vinegar, and salt to taste, and you're good to go.<br /><br />Super easy, super simple. I didn't actually measure anything out, and even though I say 'Salt to taste,' I just eyeballed it and and tasted it at the end. Turned out so good, I decided to just stop right there. No herbs necessary. Would red wine have been better? I don't know. Probably, but I didn't have any on hand. All in all, though, this turned out to be pretty damn good. I'll definitely be making it again, especially when I'm in a hurry, or being lazy (which is most of the time).How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-8727586033266034602012-05-11T19:48:00.002-05:002012-05-11T20:21:52.954-05:00Banana-Coconut SmoothieI normally don't do smoothies because whenever I try, they always disappoint. Alcohol helps, but usually it just helps me forget how lame my smoothie is. However, tonight I finally made a good one. The first one I've ever made that I actually liked. And as is usually the case whenever I come up with something decent, I didn't try to measure anything out, I just eyeballed it.<br /><br />This was my second try. My first try came out like they always do: lame. However, I had some bananas and juice left over and I didn't want to just throw them out, so I figured I'd have another go at it. This is what I came up with:<br /><br />2 bananas, sliced and frozen<br />1/2 c or so each of pineapple-orange juice concentrate (undiluted) and coconut milk<br />A pint glass of ice cubes<br />70 proof coconut rum, to taste (1/2 the bottle should be sufficient)<br /><br />Dump the juice, coconut milk, and bananas into a blender and whiz away until it's all good and liquefied. Add the ice and blend some more, then the rum. Give it a couple quick pulses and pour it all into a frosty mug and pat yourself on the back for a kick-ass drink.How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-25776024583061368032012-04-30T23:47:00.000-05:002012-09-25T19:40:31.149-05:00Bomb-Ass Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla (updated)This is one of my all-time favorite things to eat, ever, and <i>definitely</i>, hands-down the <i>best</i> quesadilla I've ever had in my life. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Now if only I could take credit for the basic recipe. Unfortunately I can't- I learned to make it during my very first cooking job, back in the late 90's, at a franchise pizza restaurant chain that no longer includes pizza as part of their name. I just checked their website and they still offer a buffalo chicken quesadilla, however, I've not eaten there in years (they don't have any locations in my area, or in my previous area of St. Paul, MN) so I don't know if it's the same as it used to be when I worked there. But that don't matter either way, because after you read this, you too can partake of the Bestest Bomb-Ass Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla in the History Of Ever in the privacy of your own kitchen (or basement or bedroom or wherever), no 'Pizzeria Something Or Other' locations necessary. As a bonus, it's a total cinch to make.<br />
<br />
Necessary stuff:<br />
<br />
Pizza/bread dough* <br />
Panko bread crumbs<br />
Vinegar based hot sauce (Frank's, Louisiana, etc.)<br />
Red onions<br />
Chicken, preferably grilled<br />
Cheese, preferably Muenster<br />
<br />
Tasty Garnishes, if you like:<br />
<br />
Salsa<br />
Guacamole<br />
Sour Cream <br />
<br />
Let's start with the chicken, just to get it out of the way. Grilled is best, but pan-fried or baked in the oven should be fine too. Sliced or diced, however you like it cut, just be sure and brine it, please. It really makes a world of difference. I rarely, if ever, cook chicken without first brining it. If you're not familiar with brining, it's basically just a soak in salt (and sometimes sugar, as well as herbs) water to help keep the meat from drying out. It doesn't have to be complicated- I usually go with about 1/4 c salt and 1/2 c sugar to 1 gallon of water. Let soak for about an hour, though as little as 20 minutes should be fine too, depending on how much meat you're doing.<br />
<br />
Next up, take a ball of your favorite pizza/bread dough (5-6 oz should suffice for a decent-sized 'dilla, though after trying this one for the first time, you may find yourself going much bigger) and press it out in a bowl/dish of panko bread crumbs. It's hard to describe the exact technique, though I think once you get going, it'll come naturally. You can do it in a large mixing bowl, in a cake pan, or even on a square sheet pan. Basically you want some sort of dish to hold in the bread crumbs while you simultaneously press them into the bread dough/roll it out flat. I find working by hand (i.e. don't use a rolling pin) works best.<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/q01.jpg" />
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I started off with the dough ball in the mixing bowl, then transferred it to the little sheet pan. Press and turn, press and turn. Flip it occasionally, keep it covered with plenty of panko. When it's the size you want, it's just about ready to go. Splash it liberally with your favorite hot sauce so it looks like a scene from Law and Order SVU or whatever, and then toast it up. It's best if you have a grill to toast it on, but if not, putting it on a sheet pan and toasting it under the broiler in your oven until it's nice and golden/slightly charred, works fine too.<br />
<br />
At this point, you're halfway home. Cover half of it liberally with your cheese of choice (I think Muenster is best- it's what we used back in the day at the restaurant- and I've recently found that Havarti is a great choice, but a cheddar/jack/mozz mix or colby-jack would probably be decent too), add the chicken, sprinkle liberally with some diced red onions (very important! They don't necessarily have to be <i>red</i> onions, but don't leave these
off. I did one time, because I didn't have any, and the difference was
profound, <i>profound</i> I tell you! If you don't like onions or
whatever, put them on anyway. You'll somehow like them on this, I
promise. Guaranteed, or your money back), and maybe some more cheese and hot sauce on top. You're pretty much home free at this point. Pop it in a very hot oven (400+) until everything's melty/toasty. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, tops. Probably 7-8 or so.<br />
<br />
<img img="" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/q02.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Perforate the center of it along the cheese with a knife edge, then fold it over and cut into 4 (or 3 or 2) wedges:<br />
<br />
<img img="" src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/q03.jpg" /><br />
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At this point, I like to douse it liberally with Louisiana hot sauce and chow down (Frank's used to be my favorite vinegar-based hot sauce, but since I've tried Louisiana, I'm a convert). I'm not a huge fan of sour cream, but I can see how it would be good on this if you like it, and salsa and guac <i>definitely</i> make for great condiments.<br />
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<br />
<br />
* if you don't have a decent recipe for pizza/bread dough, I've got one I love and use pretty much every time. I was looking on allrecipes.com for a baguette recipe, and <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/french-baguettes/detail.aspx">found one</a> but used it to make flatbread instead. It was the best flatbread I'd ever had. So I ended up messing around with it and making it even better. Here's my version:<br />
<ul>
<li>
2 1/2 cups <span class="il">bread</span> flour</li>
<li>
1 tablespoon white sugar</li>
<li>2 teaspoons kosher or coarse sea salt</li>
<li>
2 teaspoons <span class="il">instant</span> yeast</li>
<li>3 T wheat gluten</li>
<li>3 T potato starch (not potato flour) </li>
<li>~ 1 c warm water</li>
</ul>
(For what it's worth, for the wheat gluten and potato starch, I use Bob's Red Mill brand.)<br />
<br />
Mix all the dry stuff, then add water until a nice dough forms (you should only need slightly less than 1 cup). Because of all the extra gluten involved, this dough will quickly become pretty stiff and hard to knead. And for that reason, I wouldn't bother using a food processor to mix it up. Once you've got the dough ball, it should only take a few minutes of folding and kneading before it gets too stiff to bother with anymore, so to me it's not worth it to get out the food processor just to save a few minutes' work. Plus, unless you've got a super-duty Robot Coupe or something similar, it'll probably just bog down anyway. When it's ready, cover it and stick it in a warm spot for a few hours. I usually let mine rise at least twice, and sometimes I'll let it go all day or overnight while rising.<br />
<br />
This recipe makes the best flatbread I've ever had, and it's my go-to recipe every time.<br />
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<br />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-60962810823993645372012-04-07T13:11:00.001-05:002012-04-07T13:13:32.977-05:00As seen on a bag of Krunchers Jalapeño chips...<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/krunchers.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Artificial parsley?</span> 'Cause the real stuff is just so damn expensive, or what?How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-53316120626334144062012-03-06T21:04:00.008-06:002012-11-13T13:13:17.389-06:00Persian Stew With Goat and OmaniOk, as mentioned in the previous post, I got the idea to try this out when a friend mentioned to me that he'd been to a Persian restaurant here in town and had this stew (not a soup like I said) made with dried limes and that it was amazing. 'Dried limes' was all I needed to hear. I love trying out new foods from various parts of the world that I'll never actually go to, so I immediately started looking around online for more info on them. Basically I just checked <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_lime">Wikipedia</a> and thought ok, cool, let's do this. So I got me some dried limes and looked up a few Persian recipes here and there to get a feel for what went in a Persian dish, and then I got me some goat and 12 beers and came up with a winner of a recipe on my very first try. And while I <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> think this recipe is a winner, I'll be honest, it's not going to win me any Iron Chef competitions, and I'm certainly not expecting any Persian restaurant owners to be calling me anytime soon asking me for my secrets; but it <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> pretty damn good. In fact, a friend of mine who's not a vegetarian, but for some reason that none of us really understand hasn't eaten any mammal in 15 years, ate some of my goat stew that night. And liked it. And all my other, normal, friends that were over that night really liked it too. But most importantly, <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> liked it. If I'd had it at a restaurant, I'd order it again, as well as recommend it to my friends.<br />
<br />
Here's what you'll need:<br />
<br />
2 lbs. goat meat<br />
2 oz minced garlic<br />
1 oz minced ginger<br />
4 dried omani limes<br />
1 bottle of apricot ale<br />
1 oz dried apricots, chopped<br />
2-4 sun dried tomatoes, chopped<br />
12 cardamom pods<br />
3-4 star anise<br />
1 cinnamon stick<br />
1 T annatto<br />
1 T turmeric<br />
1 T fenugreek<br />
1 T dried rosebuds (can be had from <a href="http://www.wholespice.com/default.asp">Whole Spice</a>)<br />
1 1/2 t green peppercorns<br />
1 1/2 t pink peppercorns<br />
1 1/2 t coriander seeds<br />
1 t cumin<br />
1 t szechuan peppercorns<br />
1/4 t nutmeg<br />
1/4-1/2 c chick pea flour (besan) roux<br />
Red bell peppers/onions/carrots, diced<br />
Balsamic vinegar for deglazing<br />
Fresh fenugreek leaves, cilantro, and/or mint for garnish<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/Persianspice.jpg" /><br />
<br />
If you've never had goat before, it's worth a try. It's not gamey or strong-tasting at all. It's kind of hard to describe what it <i>is</i> like, so I won't even try, but if you like beef, you'll probably like goat. It generally has lots of bones in it (sharp ones, too) and is pretty tough, so you'll want to either use a pressure cooker or let it stew a long, long time. I opted for the pressure cooker to get it started, and then let it stew for a little less time (two hours, I think). If you can't get (or don't want) goat, then beef will work just fine.<br />
<br />
The first time I made this, I seared the goat in the pot first and then added everything else after that, but because of the crazy amount of bones in the meat, I think a better approach is to treat it like you're making Pho- put the meat/bones in a large pot and cover with a couple inches of water; blanch for about 5 minutes and then drain. Here's where the pressure cooker comes in <span style="font-style: italic;">super</span> handy- like 'if I didn't have one, I'd buy one' handy. Put the blanched meat/bones in the pressure cooker, cover with a couple inches of water and let it get up to full pressure, then turn the heat down and let it cook on low pressure for 15-20 minutes. Release the pressure however you want, then drain and save the liquid. When the meat cools, you can fairly easily pull all the meat off of the bones. Goat really is pretty tough, so if you don't have a pressure cooker this step will take quite a bit longer. Or you could just use beef. Or lamb, I guess. But this is my recipe, so goat it is. Before you return the meat and reserved liquid to the pot, pour in a little olive oil and sauté the garlic and ginger in it. Next add in the turmeric and let cook for about 20 seconds, then deglaze with some balsamic vinegar. (The first time I made this recipe, I added the turmeric directly to the pot full of liquid, but it clumped up and was hard to mix in thoroughly. The second time I made it, I added it to the ginger/garlic sauté and it of course worked much better. Coincidentally, I've since read that you're <a href="http://wholespice.com/blog/?p=336">supposed to</a> do it that way with turmeric anyway.) I used 'pomegranate infused' balsamic for the deglaze, just because I had it on hand, but I don't think it's anything special, at least this brand (Pompeian). I think next time I might just use regular balsamic and add pomegranate molasses to the stew while it's cooking. When the garlic/ginger/turmeric is ready, add in the goat and reserved cooking liquid. At this point the goat is only covered by an inch or two of water so you'll definitely want to add more. But the thing is- and this is why I really shouldn't start drinking until <span style="font-style: italic;">after</span> I'm done working on a new recipe- I can't remember how much I used. I made it in an 8 qt. pot, and I think I filled it to about the halfway point. It probably doesn't matter much anyway; it's going to have to stew awhile, so you can likely get away with too much water- just let it reduce more. But for now, filling the 8 qt. pot to about halfway is my recommendation.<br />
<br />
Next, drop in your dried limes, but pierce them in at least two places first. An instant-read thermometer works well for this. Add in your dried apricots, sun-dried tomatoes, and apricot ale. (You can probably get away with using more sun-dried tomatoes than what I used; I went with two because the ones I got- from the same international market where I got the goat- were not like 'regular' sun-dried tomatoes; these were dark, almost black, and very, very salty. If I'd been using the kind you see at most grocery stores I probably would have used several more.)<br />
<br />
Now, don't make the mistake I did the first time I made this and just add your cardamom pods, star anise, and cinnamon stick right into the pot. That makes for a lot of hassle later on when you're constantly biting down on woody, chewy bits; toss them in a spice bag before adding them to the pot. I highly recommend the nylon ones that you can find at any homebrew shop, since they're almost always bigger and way cheaper than the cotton ones specifically designated as 'spice bags.' Add in the rest of the spices. If you're using whole spices (which you should be) you'll definitely want a coffee grinder, or at least something other than a mortar and pestle to grind them; most of them are no problem, but annatto seeds are hard. Really hard. I gave up after about 5 seconds in the mortar. Just wasn't worth it.<br />
<br />
Once you have all that in the pot, bring it just to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and let it go for at least an hour. At some point, maybe about 45 minutes into it, get your chickpea flour roux going. Don't use regular flour. It'll work, probably, but besan is so much better in this. It has a great, nutty flavor and really adds a lot of depth to the dish. Before I added the roux, I tasted the stew and was a little iffy about it. It wasn't bad at all, but really needed something. Turns out what it needed was the besan roux. Be aware that besan needs a bit more time to cook than regular flour, since it's very, <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> raw tasting. You'll definitely want to taste it before adding it to the stew, just to be sure. When it's ready, mix it in and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes or so, then give it a taste. At this point, the dish is still (probably) around 45 minutes away from being done. (Taste a piece of the goat to really get a better idea- chances are, you can go quite a bit longer and it'll be fine. What you don't want to do is overcook the veggies.) When you figure it's about 30 minutes away from being done, sauté your carrots/peppers/onions, deglaze with more balsamic, and then add them to the pot. Notice I didn't specify an amount. That's because I was too busy drinking at the time to bother remembering to do that. But it's not exactly critical- 1, or maybe 2, of each should be plenty. If you happen to have any chick peas lying around, those go well in this too. When the goat is nice and tender, and the veggies too, you're good to go. (Be sure and fish out the limes. Or leave them in if you feel like playing a joke on someone. They'll be nice and mushy and the color will blend in with everything else, so they'll almost surely go unnoticed. Especially if it's at night and you're trying to impress a date by candlelight.) Goes well by itself, but is good with flatbread, or especially over rice. Fresh fenugreek leaves make a nice garnish, if you can find them. They don't have an especially strong flavor, but they smell like snap peas, or fresh garbanzo beans. (The Cohort thought they smelled like walnuts, but I didn't really pick up on that.) If you can't find them, fresh sesame leaves are awesome too. Lacking that, mint is nice, and cilantro is especially good.<br />
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<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/goat-stew.jpg" />How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-79179998180790582392012-02-25T12:11:00.003-06:002012-02-25T13:25:34.757-06:00"Goat and shriveled up black lemons. It's what's for dinner."So said Amy on her Facebook page. And it <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> what's for dinner today. See, awhile back a friend of mine (who's great Thai Drunken Noodle recipe will be featured here in the coming months) told me about a fantastic soup he'd had at a local Persian restaurant. Said it was made with dried limes. The gears in my head started whizzing, one thing led to another, and now I've got me some dried lemons (or limes, I'm not sure which; I've read that even though they're sometimes labeled as lemons, they're actually limes) and some goat, and I'll be whipping up my own version of a Persian stew.<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/omani.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Omani/Dried lemons</span><br /><br /><br />They weigh next to nothing. My understanding is that they're made by first boiling the limes in salt water and then putting them out in the sun to dry. Needless to say, I probably won't be trying a homemade version of these, especially since they're so cheap- around $5-6/lb. The tan colored ones are about the size of a nutmeg; the black ones are slightly larger. The tan ones smell, as you'd imagine, citrus-y. Lemon-y. The black ones have a similar citrus-y smell, but much more of a deep, robust background, almost raisin-y. I had planned on using the black ones originally, but after my first taste of goat today (seared in a hot skillet with a pinch of salt; it tastes somewhat similar to beef to me, but lighter and with a subtler flavor. Also tougher.) I think I'm going with the lighter-colored ones. Being that I've never even had Persian (Iranian) food before, this ought to be interesting. I'm planning an update sometime next week (hopefully with an actual recipe, or something like one).How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-42479194235901972742012-02-06T22:22:00.003-06:002012-02-06T23:12:18.484-06:00Stuffed Red Bell Peppers, Two Ways (Part II)Ok, at long last The Cohort has written her version of the stuffed bell pepper throwdown! As you'll see, we have differing recollections of how things went down in the Asian market, but this is Amy's guest post, so aside from some very minor editorial suggestions, I'm leaving it virtually untouched.<br /><br />Take it away, Amy!<br /><br /><br />*****<br /><br /><br />So, as John mentioned in the previous <a href="http://www.howsittaste.net/2011/12/stuffed-red-bell-peppers-two-ways-part.html">Stuffed Bell Pepper post</a>, he and I were prancing about in the local international food store, K&S, when I saw the most stunning red bell peppers from afar. Immediately, angels began singing and wind started blowing through my hair as I pointed in slow motion to the marvelous display. John's jaw dropped and tears came to his eyes when he saw their beauty. Upon arriving at the pepper display, I knew at that moment what we should do with them: Stuffed Red Bell Pepper Throwdown. Neither of us had made them before, and any I had ever seen in the past were green and looked like a baby had done its business in them. When I mentioned the throwdown idea to John, he instantly dropped to his knees and thanked me for having such a brilliant idea, but also said he was afraid of losing. He begged me to be easy on him, but I told him to suck it up and take his loss like a man. He really started to sob at that point; he was making a spectacle of himself. People were starting to gather around us, so I quietly assured him I wouldn't break out the big guns so he would have a chance at winning. So, we made our purchase and went home to start the war. (By the way, I <i>totally</i> broke out the big guns. You have to when competing against John, yo. He is serious competition!)<br /><br />Our basic ingredients were similar: we both used red bells, of course, and we both used sausage instead of beef. I had done a bit of research about stuffed bells, and every recipe I saw had beef. Beef has its place, but I thought in the peppers its only purpose would be texture. So, while we were shopping, I suggested we use sausage instead. We decided to go with regular ol' Jimmy Dean sausage, rather than getting anything flavored; we wanted all the flavors of the stuffing to be our creations. We also both used onion and garlic, and a few other spices as well. Our recipes turned out to be quite similar to each other's, but in the end our minor differences really made for unique taste experiences.<br /><br />My ingredients were the following (any herbs listed here were fresh):<br /><br />4 red bell peppers, tops cut off<br />1 lb regular Jimmy Dean sausage<br />rice vinegar for deglazing<br />1 ½ – 2 cups slightly undercooked rice<br />¼ cup of diced red bell peppers (from the tops)<br />1 small yellow onion, or ½ large yellow onion, chopped<br />10 garlic cloves, minced<br />¼ cup green onion, chopped<br />¼ cup Thai basil<br />¼ cup cilantro<br />2 tbsp Sriracha<br />1 can diced tomatoes, drained (I used Hunts with no added salt)<br />4 tbsp soy sauce (only use LaChoy if you are a complete idiot)<br /><br />The spices I used were the following (any herbs listed here were dried):<br /><br />3 tbsp dried sage leaves<br />3 tbsp parsley<br />1 tbsp Hungarian paprika<br />1 tbsp granulated garlic<br />1 tbsp onion powder<br />1 tsp cayenne pepper<br />1 tbsp oregano<br />1 tbsp thyme<br />1 tsp chili powder<br />1 tsp sumac<br />a pinch or two of coarse sea salt (none of that iodized crap)<br />2 or 3 turns from the black pepper grinder<br /><br />And then the finishing touches:<br /><br />1 tbsp sour cream powder (this turned out to be the ingredient that really made these peppers awesome.)<br />¼ cup bread crumbs (I don't recommend getting any kind of crazy flavored crumbs. Just get plain ones.)<br />4 tsp of unsalted butter (and I mean butter, not Blue Bonnet, not margarine. BUTTER, people. There is no substitute.)<br /><br />That looks like a lot of ingredients, yeah? I guess it kind of is. But I'm telling you, it's worth it. You have never in your whole life <i>ever</i> had stuffed peppers as delicious as these. Well, except for maybe John's, but I am speaking the truth when I say they were equally spectacular. We were both so amazed at each other's creations, there was just no way to pick a winner. Anyway, let's cook these bitches, shall we?<br /><br />First, preheat your oven to 400 F. Get a large pot, one you would make a big batch of chili in, and fill it a little over half with water. Salt it with 2 or 3 generous pinches of coarse salt and bring it to a boil. While you are waiting for the water, you can prepare your vegetables and fresh herbs; chop that shit up! Now, be sure when you cut the tops off your peppers to cut out the veins and remove the seeds. You probably already knew that, but some people... Anyway. Once your salted water comes to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and drop your peppers in. Leave them there until you are ready to stuff them.<br /><br />In a skillet, crumble up your sausage and brown it completely. Drain the fat off, and rinse the sausage in a colander. Then, deglaze the pan with about 3 tbsp of rice vinegar. You might want to use a bit more or less, depending on how much of the sausage is still stuck to the pan. Now, don't go and rinse that out. There is lots of flavor in there! Return the sausage to the pan on medium-high heat. Next, get your dried sage leaves. You should have a nice palm full. Then, rub them vigorously between your hands and drop them into the sausage. Please, for the love of God, watch out for stems! That wouldn't be pleasant to bite down on later! Then add your onion and red pepper. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, then add your garlic. Cook for 2 more minutes, then add parsley, green onion, thai basil and cilantro. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes and rice. (As far as cooking the rice goes, I recommend cooking that in advance. Just use the package instructions, or if you want to be super awesome, use a rice cooker like we do. If you don't have one, get one <i>right now</i>. It will be one of the best investments of your life.) Stir the rice and tomatoes in with the sausage mixture until it is blended well.<br /><br />Ok, here is where the magic happens. Add the rest of the dried spices, which are salt, black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, chili powder, and sumac. Stir it all together, then add the Sriracha and soy sauce. Oh yes, it smells like Heaven now, doesn't it? I bet you want to rub that shit all over your body. Well, don't do it yet. Wait until the peppers are stuffed, then you can do whatever you want with the leftover mixture. If you find the concoction to be a bit dry, you can add a bit more soy sauce. Don't make it too wet, now. Then it will be a soggy mess you will be embarrassed to serve. Basically, you don't want any excess liquid, but you don't want the mixture to be crumbly. It should be just wet enough so it sticks to itself. Now, have a taste. Isn't it grand? Or perhaps you think it needs a little more pepper, or whatever. If you feel it needs a little something, go ahead and add it. All I'm gonna say is this: you really shouldn't have to add anything. This stuff is almighty bad-ass awesome.<br /><br />Ok, now let's stuff those peppers! Take them out of the pot and shake the water off and out of them; you don't want any excess water to be inside the peppers when you stuff them. Put them in a 13 x 9 glass baking dish. Sprinkle the insides with salt and black pepper. Then stuff the peppers with that super luscious sausage and rice mixture you just made. Pack them nice and full, and level them off so they are flat on top. Then, sprinkle the top with some sour cream powder. Don't use too much, just a light sprinkle should do the job. Then put a thin layer of bread crumbs on top of that. By thin, I mean about 1/8 inch. Not much. Then put one pat of butter (1 tsp) on top of each pepper. This will make the crust nice and crunchy and golden brown. Put them in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are, like I said, golden brown. Then, take them out and let them cool for five minutes. The finished product should look like this:<br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/bp03.jpg" /><br /><br />This is what a stuffed bell pepper should be. I really think red is the only way to go; the sweetness of the pepper really makes this something special. I would like to try yellow sometime too, but I don't think green could ever compare.<br /><br />Here is a shot of the inside:<br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/bp04.jpg" /><br /><br />Well, now you have seen both of our recipes for the almighty Stuffed Red Bell Pepper. I suggest you try making them both so you can judge for yourself: whose pepper is better? We certainly can't decide! They are both that damn good.How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727915702796307159.post-51422355663641163712011-12-26T17:53:00.009-06:002011-12-27T00:34:34.826-06:00Stuffed Red Bell Peppers, Two Ways (Part I)So the other day, The Cohort** and I were hanging out at my home-away-from-home, K&S International Market, when we found some sweet-looking red bell peppers. I needed to get a couple anyway since I was planning on making some rad <a href="http://howsittaste.blogspot.com/2010/09/moroccan-sunset-salad.html">Moroccan Sunset Salad</a>, but then she casually mentioned how it'd be cool to make some stuffed peppers with them. Maybe have a 'Throwdown,' or something. Right then and there it's like something inside of me just snapped. I got this wild Charles Manson look in my eyes, stretched my arms out wide and said, <span style="font-style: italic;">'Girl, you don't know who you be messin' with! Oh, I'll throw down with you, alright! I. WILL. DESTROY YOU!!'</span> Then I heard somebody say something about 'Call 911,' so we quickly left and got our peppers elsewhere. Anyway, the important thing is that we did get them, because these two recipes are pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself. Not that I need to, since Amy will vouch for mine, and I'll vouch for hers. I think she knew I was impressed when, after a couple bites, I got out my camera and started taking pictures. Yeah, I was impressed. More than that, I was nervous. After only a couple bites, I was pretty sure I was going to lose this one. However, I managed to bring it to a draw. Yes, we were the only judges, but we're both pretty fair and honestly concluded that they were both equally good.<br /><br />We started off on a pretty much level playing field, since neither one of us had ever made them before. (All I had was vague memories of only seeing them as a child- I never could bring myself to try one, even though I liked stuff cabbage. Something about that pale green, overcooked pepper...) We both agreed that we'd use ground sausage, instead of beef, as the base of the stuffing. She mentioned something about using rice as well. I went along with it, even though I had other plans...<br /><br />So the way it worked is, because we have only one kitchen, and it's a small one, we had to go one at a time so we wouldn't copy or be influenced by each other's recipes, especially since we both had a secret ingredient or two in mind. She went first, but because she's out of town for Christmas, I'm posting mine here first. I kept track of everything I added and all that, just in case it turned out good enough for me to decide to post it here. And surprisingly, it did. (I say 'surprisingly,' not because I didn't think I could come up with something good in this area, but because whenever I try to come up with an actual <span style="font-style: italic;">recipe</span> for something, it's never as good as when I just freestyle it.) So here's my concoction:<br /><br />3 red bell peppers<br />1 lb ground sausage (Jimmy Dean, regular)<br />2 oz ea. minced garlic/shallots (At first, that much seemed like a lot- too much, even- but I ended up going with the whole thing.)<br /><br />(All spices/herbs listed are dried)<br /><br />1 can diced tomatoes (Hunts, no salt added)<br />1T Hungarian paprika<br />1 T Sriracha<br />1 3/4 t basil<br />1 1/2 t ground sage*<br />1 1/2 t ground rosemary*<br />1 1/2 t sumac<br />1 1/2 t onion powder<br />1 1/4 t oregano<br />1 t ground coriander<br />1/8 t nutmeg<br />1/8 t cayenne<br />Several grinds of black pepper (assumes you're using a grinder. If not, probably just a pinch or two.)<br />pinch of dill<br /><br />*I originally used 1 T each of <span style="font-style: italic;">whole</span> sage and rosemary, but ground them myself, resulting in approx. 1 1/2 t each.<br /><br />Boursin Cheese<br /><br />200 ml whole oat groats<br />375 ml water<br /><br />Let's start with the oat groats. I discovered them about a year and a half ago or so. Long story short, I made some rice and beans with them, mistakenly thinking they were brown rice. Turned out to be the best rice and beans I'd ever had. Oat groats are like a combination of brown rice and pearl barley- nuttier and chewier than regular rice. They cook up the same, though, so whatever recipe you follow for regular white rice should work the same for the oat groats. I made mine in a rice cooker, and because I figured the groats would absorb some liquid from the tomatoes and whatnot, I cut back slightly on the water, using 375 ml instead of 400. I used Bob's Red Mill brand for this, which should be available pretty much anywhere, but any grocery store with a halfway decent bulk foods section should have some too. Otherwise, there's always <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Groats-29-Ounce/dp/B004VLVBSY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324951228&sr=8-2">Amazon</a>.<br /><br />While that's going, cook the sausage about halfway, add garlic and shallots and cook until browned. Deglaze with a splash of balsamic vinegar (you may need to drain the fat off first; I was planning on it, but found it unnecessary). Then add in the tomatoes and all the spices. Let simmer on low heat while you blanch the bell peppers.<br /><br />As far as the blanching goes, I brought some water to a boil, turned it off, and then dropped in the peppers for one minute, after which I dropped them in some cold water. After they came out of the oven, they definitely still had some crunch to them. Not that I consider that underdone, but I guess underdone would be better than overdone. However, if that's not your thing, I'd probably go an extra 30 seconds to 1 minute on the blanching, or keep the water boiling instead of turning it off.<br /><br />Now let's talk Boursin cheese.<br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/boursin.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />It's a very soft, creamy, spreadable cheese. I'd actually never heard of it until a few months ago at work. (Walmart lists it on their website, so apparently it's available pretty much anywhere.) Fortunately for me, I had some on hand, leftover from a catering event at work. There's other flavors available, but this is the one I used. Not knowing how it would all play out, I decided to make three slightly different versions of my peppers- one with everything but the Boursin, one with the Boursin on top, and one with the Boursin mixed in. (The Boursin is the one thing I didn't really measure out, but it was approximately 2-3 teaspoons for the two that got it.)<br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/peppers01.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">From left to right- cheese on top, straight up, cheese mixed in.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x215/jbeaudin1/peppers02.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">For some reason, I mixed up the order for this photo- L-R - cheese mixed in, cheese on top, and straight up.</span><br /><br />I also forgot to note how long I put them in the oven for, but it wasn't long- maybe 15 minutes at 350 F. All the filling is cooked already at this point so you're basically just bringing the whole thing up to a hot eating temp, as well as maybe finishing off the peppers.<br /><br />I really liked all three, but my favorite was <span style="font-style: italic;">definitely</span> with the cheese mixed in. The Cohort also liked all three, but said the one with the cheese mixed in tasted like it should be wrapped up in a tortilla and eaten like a burrito. I can see her point. Maybe I'll even do that sometime.<br /><br />So this is my version. The Cohort's is up next. Ours are a bit similar (I find it interesting that we both, unbeknownst to the other, used sumac as a secret ingredient) but different enough that it's worth making both versions.<br /><br /><br /><br />** The Cohort, aka Amy Housewine, aka Amy Crowe, is my friend and roommate. She'll be posting here occasionally, as well as helping me come up with new stuff to make. If you want to get a feel for her writing style, her page is here- <a href="http://vengefulatrocities.blogspot.com/">The Unicorner of Vengeful Atrocities</a>. (I know, right? She's weird. And she has a thing for unicorns. Plus she's just weird. But she's pretty cool too.) The writing over there is definitely R-rated. She likes to write, and speaks her mind when she does. But that's her blog, and this is mine. Obviously very different, not just in content and style, but in language- i.e. mine's more PG. Yes, it's going to stay that way.How's it Taste?http://www.blogger.com/profile/11521682998441056908noreply@blogger.com0