I love, love, love jerk. I love the spiciness, yes, but the flavor behind the spiciness is so rich, full of allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, umami, garlic, and scallions. So far, I've been relying on store bought jerk seasoning, Walkers or Grace or some other Jamaican brand. A little goes a very long way (2 tsp/pound of food). For some other marinade, you would expect to need 1/4 - 1/2 a cup, but jerk is just so intense in flavor. But how do they do it? I've been poking around Jamaican cookbooks, but they usually seem to have sucky recipes for jerk. I don't get it. Too much allspice and green onion and zero umami. It tastes like your meat is seasoned with spicy lawn clippings - yuk! So, I took the sucky recipe I had, looked at the ingredients on the bottle of jerk, and looked at some alternative recipes. Now I got something a lot better.
First I needed some umami. What is umami? Umami is basically the "meaty" flavor you get from vegetarian ingredients, like mushrooms or tomato paste. It's that rip sticking good flavor. Two good sources of umami for jerk paste are soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Even better than the latter is Pickapeppa sauce, which comes from Jamaica. It's a bit thicker, so better for keeping the jerk thick.
Jerk isn't super acidic (it's not hot sauce), but a touch of acid helps bring everything together. I like white vinegar, as it is the least sweet. Other kinds might work fine.
Interestingly, I found that a lot of cinnamon and an addition of nutmeg brought out the flavor. Using allspice, you're theoretically covering cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, but not really. Allspice comes off as unpleasantly peppery at high doses.
Ginger is a big flavor component. I didn't have it in there originally and it's vital
I will probably do some more refining. The recipe doesn't replicate the bottled stuff, but it is still pretty good.
Jerk Sauce, Mark 1
15 scallions, chopped
4-6 scotch bonnet peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp peeled, shredded ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Pickapeppa or worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 cinnamon stick, finely ground
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp allspice
2 Tbsp thyme
Salt to taste (should be relatively salty)
Blend everything together. Thin with water until a thick paste is obtained.
Update Oct 2, 2014
I made jerk chicken and compared with commercial paste. My came back a bit grassier and milder, but still good. I need more Pickapeppa sauce, I think
I need up upload a picture.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Beef Tibs
I had some extra beef in the freezer and I am always looking for new ways to consume berbere, so an obvious option was Beef Tibs. This is a classic Ethiopian dish, basically beef in a thick, spicy berbere infused sauce. Pretty simple. The blend of butter, berbere, ginger, garlic, and onion is irresistible.
Like most of my cooking, I start with a recipe as a base and go from there. I found a decent looking recipe on my new food app Yummy. I liked it in that the beef is fried instead of boiled in the sauce, adding to the depth of flavor.
The first change that I made were in reducing the butter somewhat to improve the healthiness. Butter makes everything good, but there is no reason to go overboard. Ethiopians might also use spiced butter, niter kibbeh. Basically this is clarified butter with spices added. I don't have any and didn't really feel like making it. The berbere adds more that enough flavor by itself. I also doubled the amount of sauce. The sauce is frequently the best part of a dish, but most recipes give you too little. I like to have tons to pour over rice or dip bread into. Sauce is cheap. Finally, I tweaked the cooking of the beef so that it comes out juicy rather than dried out.
I used to shred ginger and mince garlic, but I find that the flavors are too easily cooked away, so I have gone to coarsely chopping them with much better results.
Beef Tibs
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cups chopped onions
2 Tbsp diced, peel ginger
1/4 cup diced garlic
1/4 cup berbere
Kosher salt
1 lb beef, diced into big chunks, as for making a kebab
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1) Melt butter and heat until at frying temperature, but being careful not to heat it too high and burn it.
2) Turn heat to medium and fry onions, ginger, garlic, and berbere. Be careful not to burn the spices or garlic.
3) Heat until the onions are fully softened and have incorporated the berbere.
4) Allow to cool slightly and puree in a food processor.
5) Salt the beef chunk liberally with kosher salt
6) Heat oil until just smoking in frying pan.
7) Fry the beef, searing the outside, but keeping juicy and not full cooked in the middle. This should take a minute or two, so you need to work quickly.
8) Add the onion paste back in the pan. Rinse any remaining paste into the pan with a little water.
9) Simmer a couple of minutes to finish cooking the beef. Don't go overboard, as the beef will get tough.
10) Serve over rice or scoop up with thin bread, like a pita or naan.
Like most of my cooking, I start with a recipe as a base and go from there. I found a decent looking recipe on my new food app Yummy. I liked it in that the beef is fried instead of boiled in the sauce, adding to the depth of flavor.
The first change that I made were in reducing the butter somewhat to improve the healthiness. Butter makes everything good, but there is no reason to go overboard. Ethiopians might also use spiced butter, niter kibbeh. Basically this is clarified butter with spices added. I don't have any and didn't really feel like making it. The berbere adds more that enough flavor by itself. I also doubled the amount of sauce. The sauce is frequently the best part of a dish, but most recipes give you too little. I like to have tons to pour over rice or dip bread into. Sauce is cheap. Finally, I tweaked the cooking of the beef so that it comes out juicy rather than dried out.
I used to shred ginger and mince garlic, but I find that the flavors are too easily cooked away, so I have gone to coarsely chopping them with much better results.
Beef Tibs
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cups chopped onions
2 Tbsp diced, peel ginger
1/4 cup diced garlic
1/4 cup berbere
Kosher salt
1 lb beef, diced into big chunks, as for making a kebab
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1) Melt butter and heat until at frying temperature, but being careful not to heat it too high and burn it.
2) Turn heat to medium and fry onions, ginger, garlic, and berbere. Be careful not to burn the spices or garlic.
3) Heat until the onions are fully softened and have incorporated the berbere.
4) Allow to cool slightly and puree in a food processor.
5) Salt the beef chunk liberally with kosher salt
6) Heat oil until just smoking in frying pan.
7) Fry the beef, searing the outside, but keeping juicy and not full cooked in the middle. This should take a minute or two, so you need to work quickly.
8) Add the onion paste back in the pan. Rinse any remaining paste into the pan with a little water.
9) Simmer a couple of minutes to finish cooking the beef. Don't go overboard, as the beef will get tough.
10) Serve over rice or scoop up with thin bread, like a pita or naan.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
BBQ in Cincinnati
I was pretty excited when Cincinnati magazine came out with an article about barbeque. I have grown to love BBQ lately, but I almost always seem to be disappointed. Well established food trucks, tried and true restaurants with a long pedigree, fancy places, run down places, it just seems like restaurants just can't get their BBQ right. Too fatty, flavorless, insipid sauces, too mushy, no meat, niggardly portions, just not right. So I thought great, finally some people who know food have gone around and picked out the very best places. I've been hitting a lot of the places on the list the last couple of months and, unfortunately, like so many restaurant reviews, they completely miss the mark. Half of the barbeque rated as the tip top of Cincinnati has been mediocre at best and down right awful at worst. The last place I went the ribs were completely flavorless and about the consistency of mashed potatoes. Everyone likes tender ribs, but the meat should at least resemble meat, not mush. I was so excited when I saw the wood piled up near the door, too.
So far, I have found two that I would visit again.
1) Eli's (elisbarbeque.com): Yes, everyone else in Cincinnati knows this place is awesome, so no earthshaking discovery here. The pulled pork is spectacular, full of flavor, tender, and moist. So, so good, and not expensive. Good portion too. The sides are top notch. They only have one sauce, but it is full of flavor and delicious. So many places in Cincy have a whole array of sauces. They all suck, but you have a lot of choices of suckiness. I am perfectly content with one good one. The ribs at Eli's I found OK, but not spectacular. Maybe I need to try them again. They were tasty, but just not like the pulled pork.
2) Alabama Que alabama-q.com: I only went once, but the smoked turkey tips were great. They were super lean and quite flavorful. Semi-healthy BBQ. The portions were quite large and only $8. They make their own real fruit teas, which is a bit bonus. My wife liked her smoked salmon. Unlike other places, their range of sauces are actually pretty good and the spicy is very spicy. You have been warned. The neighborhood is shall we say gentrifying, so a mix of poverty and young money. The sides seemed pretty decent (had collards and candied yams - very good). They have tables, but take out is the way to go.
3) B and W (corner of Kennedy and Montgomery in Kennedy Heights) Nice ribs, good firm texture to the meat, some grilled crispiness, relatively meaty, super-hot sauce was a good balance of heat and sweetness. Fairly broad menu. Also have turkey tips that I haven't yet tasted along with Jamaican dishes. This is another take out place
Ok, not great:
J and W Bar-B-Que (www.yelp.com/biz/j-and-w-bar-b-que-cincinnati): OK ribs, friendly people
Disappointments:
Pit to Plate (love the name, but ribs expensive, mediocre)
Jim Dandy's (overcooked, flavorless)
Smoq (too expensive, mediocre food on all levels)
Food truck in Madisonville east of Red Bank (need to get the name)
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Kala chana, Green chana, and the George Foreman grill
I've been cooking a bunch this weekend, but mostly recipes that I am trying for the first time out of cookbooks, so I don't have any recipes to report. I do have a few things to talk about, though.
First, I just discovered two great new ingredients - kala chana and green chana. "Kala" means black in Hindi and "chana" means chickpea or garbanzo bean. There is also chana dal, which is a lentil unrelated to the chickpea. I make a decent amount of chickpeas, as they are a pretty common bean used in India, the Middle East, Europe, and Mexico, among other places. They're good. They're meaty, they're tasty, they're cheap, and they are easily available. I can only take so many, though. Kala chana and green chana are two different version with a bit more flavor that are used in India. I haven't yet tried the kala chana, but I made some green chana last weekend and it tasted a bit like the cross between a black bean and a chickpea. A bit firmer, a bit more bean flavor.
They are available from Indian groceries dried and frozen. Frozen is a bit quicker, though I would guess more expensive (I didn't check). I bought dried. I simmered them about 45 minutes after adding 1/4 tsp of baking to accelerate cooking. I saw a reference to pressure cooking them. Frankly, simmering 45 minutes is a pretty easy task and I don't own a pressure cooker.
Don't be intimidated by Indian groceries. They smell funny and they have a lot of stuff you've never heard of. Don't worry about it. They got a lot of stuff you have heard of (kidney beans, chickpeas, cumin, coriander, mangoes, etc). Look around, grab what looks interesting, and pay. Often their products can be a lot cheaper, fresher, and better than what you find in the grocery store (though not necessarily).
Incidentally, if you are looking for regular chickpeas in an Indian grocery, they are called "Kabuli" chana. I guess Indians associate them with Afghanistan for some reason.
The other topic on my mind is the George Foreman grill. I remember when these were big and I still use mine, but I think that I will be putting it away for good. It is really a pretty stupid device. It is just a grill shaped hot plate. It does a shitty job cooking just about anything. I tossed some veggie burgers on it this weekend and it basically just slowly dried them out. Stupid. I ended up just pan frying them and they turned out really good. The George Foreman just doesn't get hot enough to induce a proper Mailliard reaction, so you don't really get any roasting. It goes back to that old Burger King commercial about how Burger King cooks their burgers over a flame instead of a hot plate like McDonald's. A hot plate isn't a grill. The food gets cooked, but in a bland, flavorless way. Might as well just throw it in the microwave. I am pretty wary of the non-stick coating on the George Foreman as well. Non-stick was invented by Satan to slowly poison us through our food. Evil, evil stuff.
First, I just discovered two great new ingredients - kala chana and green chana. "Kala" means black in Hindi and "chana" means chickpea or garbanzo bean. There is also chana dal, which is a lentil unrelated to the chickpea. I make a decent amount of chickpeas, as they are a pretty common bean used in India, the Middle East, Europe, and Mexico, among other places. They're good. They're meaty, they're tasty, they're cheap, and they are easily available. I can only take so many, though. Kala chana and green chana are two different version with a bit more flavor that are used in India. I haven't yet tried the kala chana, but I made some green chana last weekend and it tasted a bit like the cross between a black bean and a chickpea. A bit firmer, a bit more bean flavor.
They are available from Indian groceries dried and frozen. Frozen is a bit quicker, though I would guess more expensive (I didn't check). I bought dried. I simmered them about 45 minutes after adding 1/4 tsp of baking to accelerate cooking. I saw a reference to pressure cooking them. Frankly, simmering 45 minutes is a pretty easy task and I don't own a pressure cooker.
Don't be intimidated by Indian groceries. They smell funny and they have a lot of stuff you've never heard of. Don't worry about it. They got a lot of stuff you have heard of (kidney beans, chickpeas, cumin, coriander, mangoes, etc). Look around, grab what looks interesting, and pay. Often their products can be a lot cheaper, fresher, and better than what you find in the grocery store (though not necessarily).
Incidentally, if you are looking for regular chickpeas in an Indian grocery, they are called "Kabuli" chana. I guess Indians associate them with Afghanistan for some reason.
The other topic on my mind is the George Foreman grill. I remember when these were big and I still use mine, but I think that I will be putting it away for good. It is really a pretty stupid device. It is just a grill shaped hot plate. It does a shitty job cooking just about anything. I tossed some veggie burgers on it this weekend and it basically just slowly dried them out. Stupid. I ended up just pan frying them and they turned out really good. The George Foreman just doesn't get hot enough to induce a proper Mailliard reaction, so you don't really get any roasting. It goes back to that old Burger King commercial about how Burger King cooks their burgers over a flame instead of a hot plate like McDonald's. A hot plate isn't a grill. The food gets cooked, but in a bland, flavorless way. Might as well just throw it in the microwave. I am pretty wary of the non-stick coating on the George Foreman as well. Non-stick was invented by Satan to slowly poison us through our food. Evil, evil stuff.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Jamaican Brown Stew Fish
This weekend I tried out a recipe for Brown Stew Fish, a common Jamaican recipe. The recipe comes from the Jamaican cookbook I borrowed from my brother, "Jamaican Cooking" by Lucinda Scala Quinn. It turned out so well, I really don't recommend too many improvements. Good, good stuff.
A fundamental skill for this recipe is frying fish. Frying fish is tricky because there are so many ways to fail - burning it, leaving it raw in the middle, obliterating the fish, explosions of hot oil, etc. The first time I tried to fry battered fish, all the batter fell off and I ended up with a mess. The two key factors are 1) dry the fish as much as possible before frying and 2) get the oil really hot before adding the fish. On point 1), drying the fish limits the addition of water to the pan. Water causes the oil to explode and you run the risk of injuring yourself. Basically, the oil is 350 oF, but water boils at 212 oF, so as soon as water hits the pan, it turns to water vapor, greatly increasing in volume, exploding hot oil in all directions - very bad. Water also cools down the oil, preventing good frying, even boiling your fish instead of frying it.. Finally, wet breading will readily fall off, defeating the purpose of having breading in the first place. On point 2), having hot oil cooks the fish quickly, solidifying it before it has a chance to fall apart and limiting the time in the pan limits the amount of oil that the fish picks up. Nobody wants greasy Filet-o-Fish..
I left the scotch bonnet pepper whole. This way I didn't need to touch the pepper too much (and later touch my eyes-ouch) and it was easy to remove at the end. Even one pepper for the relatively brief cooking time was enough to give it a distinct spiciness.
I really liked adding vinegar based hot sauce in the end. The broth was delicious without it, but I think it added an additional depth. The hot sauce I prepared a couple of weeks ago worked great. Tabasco or Franks would also do the job.
The recipe called for 3lbs of fish. I used 2 and even one would be fine. With two pounds, the broth barely covered the fish. It sort of depend whether you want to emphasize the brown stew or the fish.
I used swai and perch as the fish. Both worked fine. Swai is a catfish from SE Asia. I thought it might be too mushy, but it worked great.
Make sure to thaw the fish thoroughly before cooking. This will get all the water out and allow you to cook the fish all the way through without leaving it raw in the middle.
Caribbeans like to rinse meats with citrus fruit before cooking. I think this is a waste of a lime and in the case of chicken, it is a good way to give yourself salmonella.
Fun fact: Allspice originates and is grown almost exclusively in Jamaica. All the allspice that people use in cuisines throughout the world come from Jamaica.
Jamaican Brown Stew Fish
1-2 lbs fish filets
vegetable oil
1.5 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 scotch bonnet or habanero chili, stem chopped off
1/2 tsp allspice
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 cups water
1/2 Tbsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup vinegar based hot sauce (optional)
1) Thaw fish completely and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the fish into pieces.
2) Add oil to a pan sufficient to cover the bottom completely and heat it until it just starts to smoke. I use a meat thermometer to monitor my progress. Once it maxes out, I know I am on my way.
3) Fry the fish ~3 minutes on each side. I should get nicely browned a slightly crispy. Keep monitoring the heat so the fish continues to cook quickly, but doesn't burn. Each time you toss another piece on, the oil cools off quickly.
4) Drain the fish on paper towels.
5) Discard the oil and add add 1-2 Tbsp fresh oil and heat over medium oil.
6) Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, allspice, and parsley.
7) Crank up the heat a bit and stir fry one minute.
8) Add water, salt, pepper, and fish.
9) Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, turn down the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes.
10) Toss in optional hot sauce and eat up.
A fundamental skill for this recipe is frying fish. Frying fish is tricky because there are so many ways to fail - burning it, leaving it raw in the middle, obliterating the fish, explosions of hot oil, etc. The first time I tried to fry battered fish, all the batter fell off and I ended up with a mess. The two key factors are 1) dry the fish as much as possible before frying and 2) get the oil really hot before adding the fish. On point 1), drying the fish limits the addition of water to the pan. Water causes the oil to explode and you run the risk of injuring yourself. Basically, the oil is 350 oF, but water boils at 212 oF, so as soon as water hits the pan, it turns to water vapor, greatly increasing in volume, exploding hot oil in all directions - very bad. Water also cools down the oil, preventing good frying, even boiling your fish instead of frying it.. Finally, wet breading will readily fall off, defeating the purpose of having breading in the first place. On point 2), having hot oil cooks the fish quickly, solidifying it before it has a chance to fall apart and limiting the time in the pan limits the amount of oil that the fish picks up. Nobody wants greasy Filet-o-Fish..
I left the scotch bonnet pepper whole. This way I didn't need to touch the pepper too much (and later touch my eyes-ouch) and it was easy to remove at the end. Even one pepper for the relatively brief cooking time was enough to give it a distinct spiciness.
I really liked adding vinegar based hot sauce in the end. The broth was delicious without it, but I think it added an additional depth. The hot sauce I prepared a couple of weeks ago worked great. Tabasco or Franks would also do the job.
The recipe called for 3lbs of fish. I used 2 and even one would be fine. With two pounds, the broth barely covered the fish. It sort of depend whether you want to emphasize the brown stew or the fish.
I used swai and perch as the fish. Both worked fine. Swai is a catfish from SE Asia. I thought it might be too mushy, but it worked great.
Make sure to thaw the fish thoroughly before cooking. This will get all the water out and allow you to cook the fish all the way through without leaving it raw in the middle.
Caribbeans like to rinse meats with citrus fruit before cooking. I think this is a waste of a lime and in the case of chicken, it is a good way to give yourself salmonella.
Fun fact: Allspice originates and is grown almost exclusively in Jamaica. All the allspice that people use in cuisines throughout the world come from Jamaica.
Jamaican Brown Stew Fish
1-2 lbs fish filets
vegetable oil
1.5 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 roma tomatoes, diced
1 scotch bonnet or habanero chili, stem chopped off
1/2 tsp allspice
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 cups water
1/2 Tbsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup vinegar based hot sauce (optional)
1) Thaw fish completely and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the fish into pieces.
2) Add oil to a pan sufficient to cover the bottom completely and heat it until it just starts to smoke. I use a meat thermometer to monitor my progress. Once it maxes out, I know I am on my way.
3) Fry the fish ~3 minutes on each side. I should get nicely browned a slightly crispy. Keep monitoring the heat so the fish continues to cook quickly, but doesn't burn. Each time you toss another piece on, the oil cools off quickly.
4) Drain the fish on paper towels.
5) Discard the oil and add add 1-2 Tbsp fresh oil and heat over medium oil.
6) Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili, allspice, and parsley.
7) Crank up the heat a bit and stir fry one minute.
8) Add water, salt, pepper, and fish.
9) Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, turn down the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes.
10) Toss in optional hot sauce and eat up.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Tomatillo salsa (like at Mazunte)
So my only restaurant review so far has been Mazunte. They take a while and I feel like I need to go somewhere a couple of times before I can write an accurate review. In the meantime, I've been trying to reproduce the tomatillo salsa from Mazunte. I knew it was very simple, most likely uncooked, and it is super tasty, so I figured that I could do the same. I poked through my Mexican cookbook (Marge Poore's "1000 Mexican Recipes") and looked at all the tomatillo recipes and found the simplest one requiring no cooking and whipped it up. Sure enough, it tastes pretty much the same and only took about 15 minutes to make. I found that it needs a touch more salt to bring out the flavors. I considered increasing the amount of chilies, but one is actually quite enough. I think Mazunte's is a bit lighter on the cilantro, so I entered a range in the recipe, depending on how much you like cilantro. It might be fine without it if you don't like it. Increase the garlic if you want. I found that the flavors really came together after aging for an hour or so. The cilantro flavor mellowed.
Tomatillos - you should be able to find them in your grocery, but if not, there is almost certainly a Mexican grocery near you. Mexicans are pretty much everywhere in America nowadays, even in small towns, and they need a place to buy the ingredients for the food they eat at home. Tomatillos are husk-tomatoes, green tomatoes with a think wrap around the outside. Tomatoes come from the New World and it isn't a bit surprise that there are a tremendous number of varieties. Tomatillos are a little sticky, so definitely need to be rinsed before use. Otherwise, they are less juicy than tomatoes and have a nice mildly sour taste to them. You'll swear that these is vinegar in this salsa, but all the sourness is from the acidity of the tomatillo.
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa (like at Mazunte)
1 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 serrano chili
1 clove garlic
1/4-1/2 cup cilantro
3/4 tsp salt
1) Through everything in a food processor and blend to a uniform sauce
2) Put in the fridge for 1h.
I wouldn't keep it too long, as it is so fresh. It is so yummy, I am sure you will eat it up in 24h.
Tomatillos - you should be able to find them in your grocery, but if not, there is almost certainly a Mexican grocery near you. Mexicans are pretty much everywhere in America nowadays, even in small towns, and they need a place to buy the ingredients for the food they eat at home. Tomatillos are husk-tomatoes, green tomatoes with a think wrap around the outside. Tomatoes come from the New World and it isn't a bit surprise that there are a tremendous number of varieties. Tomatillos are a little sticky, so definitely need to be rinsed before use. Otherwise, they are less juicy than tomatoes and have a nice mildly sour taste to them. You'll swear that these is vinegar in this salsa, but all the sourness is from the acidity of the tomatillo.
Fresh Tomatillo Salsa (like at Mazunte)
1 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 serrano chili
1 clove garlic
1/4-1/2 cup cilantro
3/4 tsp salt
1) Through everything in a food processor and blend to a uniform sauce
2) Put in the fridge for 1h.
I wouldn't keep it too long, as it is so fresh. It is so yummy, I am sure you will eat it up in 24h.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Pasta sauce with mushrooms and sausage
I've had a recipe for a pasta sauce that I have propagated for years, modifying slowly as I go along. I will typically make a big pot and put the sauce in the freezer to thaw and eat whenever I run out of food.
Something I have worked with lately is tailoring the herbs to proper implementation. Some herbs, like basil, are delicate and not conducive to long simmering. They are something that you add at the end. For people who brew, this is like added aroma hops at the end of the boil. If you continue to boil, you lose all the delicate aromas. Other herbs, like oregano and thyme, are hardy and the flavor components are oil soluble. These herbs you want to fry in oil and simmer a long time to get their full flavor. Once again, they are your bittering hops if you are a brewer. You need a long boil to fully extract their flavor.
Given that basil is so delicate, dried basil is more or less a waste of money. The drying process kills pretty much all the flavor of basil. Use fresh where you can. Use your dried basil to fertilize your garden.
Chili paste really gives this pasta sauce zing.
Pasta Sauce with Mushrooms and Sausage
1lb Italian sausage (I prefer hot)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, sliced
28oz diced tomatoes
48oz tomato puree
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar, such as balsamic or red wine
2 Tbsp chili paste
some chopped basil
black pepper to taste
1) Cook the sausage and drain off the grease.
2) Slice the sausage
3) Cook onions, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, and thyme with olive oil until softened, about medium heat
4) Add sausage, tomatoes, puree, salt, vinegar, and chili paste and simmer for 2-3 hours, until thick. It will start to sputter when it reaches the right consistency.
5) Add basil to taste.
Something I have worked with lately is tailoring the herbs to proper implementation. Some herbs, like basil, are delicate and not conducive to long simmering. They are something that you add at the end. For people who brew, this is like added aroma hops at the end of the boil. If you continue to boil, you lose all the delicate aromas. Other herbs, like oregano and thyme, are hardy and the flavor components are oil soluble. These herbs you want to fry in oil and simmer a long time to get their full flavor. Once again, they are your bittering hops if you are a brewer. You need a long boil to fully extract their flavor.
Given that basil is so delicate, dried basil is more or less a waste of money. The drying process kills pretty much all the flavor of basil. Use fresh where you can. Use your dried basil to fertilize your garden.
Chili paste really gives this pasta sauce zing.
Pasta Sauce with Mushrooms and Sausage
1lb Italian sausage (I prefer hot)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, sliced
28oz diced tomatoes
48oz tomato puree
1 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar, such as balsamic or red wine
2 Tbsp chili paste
some chopped basil
black pepper to taste
1) Cook the sausage and drain off the grease.
2) Slice the sausage
3) Cook onions, mushrooms, garlic, oregano, and thyme with olive oil until softened, about medium heat
4) Add sausage, tomatoes, puree, salt, vinegar, and chili paste and simmer for 2-3 hours, until thick. It will start to sputter when it reaches the right consistency.
5) Add basil to taste.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Hot sauce vindaloo: updated
Ah, vindaloo. My favorite Indian recipe and a recipe typically made very traditionally by restaurants, so very worth making yourself. It doesn't take more than a half an hour (excluding marinading time).
I love Indian food and cook it all the time. It is generally healthy, as it includes a lot of veggies and not a lot of animal fat. I feel a bit like an emperor when I eat it, as it includes heavy amounts of spices that previously were outrageously expensive and only royalty could afford them (at least in Europe). The spice trade literally drove the European exploration and colonization of the world. The Dutch, Portuguese, English, and French established towns all over Africa and Asia with the sole purpose of provisioning ships on the way to and from the Far East to trade for spices. Columbus braved the Atlantic not to explore, but to find a shorter route to acquire spices. Cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, and nutmeg were the heavy hitters. It's funny now that you see pepper on every table everywhere nowadays.
One factor that makes Indian food so special is the influence of foreign nations and foods. From the north came Turkic muslim invaders (the Moguls) and from the coasts came Europeans. I think most people know that India was ruled by Britain for many years, but few people know that Portugal had a colony on the west coast until the 1961. This colony, Goa, gave rise to a wonderfully delicious blend of Portuguese and Indian cooking with the best known dish being vindaloo, combining Portuguese vinegar and pork with Indian chilis and spices.
A lot of restaurants will add cream and butter to their vindaloo and go easy on the vinegar and chilies. While this is yummy, it really isn't authentic. Vindaloo is vinegar, pork, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, garlic, and lots of dried chilies. This makes for a light, intensely flavored sauce.
In the recipe below I am replacing the vinegar and chilies with hot sauce. I have adapted it from Raghavan Iyer's recipe in "660 Curries", my go to book for Indian cooking. It is an awesome book. His recipe calls for vinegar and 8 dried cayenne or Thai chilies if you want to reproduce it.
Note: vinegar will readily remove the seasoning from your pan, so be ready for this. Typically, the next time I stir fry anything, the seasoning is reapplied, so I don't worry too much about it. I just have to remember that my pan won't be functioning optimally. If you are concerned about this, use a non-reactive or non-stick pan. I would avoid cast iron unless you want a mega-supplement of iron.
Hot Sauce Vindaloo
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 Tbsp cumin, ground
1 Tbsp peeled and shredded ginger (I use a cheese grater)
8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cinnamon stick, ground
1 lb diced pig flesh
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 Tbsp cooking oil, such as canola
2 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1) Mix together cinnamon, hot sauce, cumin, ginger, salt, turmeric, and garlic.
2) Blend pork and sauce and allow to marinade 30 minutes to overnight.
3) Heat oil over high heat
4) Fry the pork and marinade until the liquid is cooked off, ~10 minutes. I play with with the heat here and keep stirring. At first, I crank up the heat to get rid of the liquid, then turn it down when I get close. Be careful to just get a crust at the bottom of the pan and to turn your crust into ash.
5) Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil, and simmer until the pork is tender, ~15 minutes.
6) Add cilantro and stir to mix.
7) Served over long grain rice, like basmati. You might need a lot of rice to temper the heat of the dish.
Verdict: It is good and tastes about right, but not as spicy as vindaloo usually is, even though my hot sauce is pretty hot. Next time, I might try some death sauce and see how it tastes.
I love Indian food and cook it all the time. It is generally healthy, as it includes a lot of veggies and not a lot of animal fat. I feel a bit like an emperor when I eat it, as it includes heavy amounts of spices that previously were outrageously expensive and only royalty could afford them (at least in Europe). The spice trade literally drove the European exploration and colonization of the world. The Dutch, Portuguese, English, and French established towns all over Africa and Asia with the sole purpose of provisioning ships on the way to and from the Far East to trade for spices. Columbus braved the Atlantic not to explore, but to find a shorter route to acquire spices. Cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, and nutmeg were the heavy hitters. It's funny now that you see pepper on every table everywhere nowadays.
One factor that makes Indian food so special is the influence of foreign nations and foods. From the north came Turkic muslim invaders (the Moguls) and from the coasts came Europeans. I think most people know that India was ruled by Britain for many years, but few people know that Portugal had a colony on the west coast until the 1961. This colony, Goa, gave rise to a wonderfully delicious blend of Portuguese and Indian cooking with the best known dish being vindaloo, combining Portuguese vinegar and pork with Indian chilis and spices.
A lot of restaurants will add cream and butter to their vindaloo and go easy on the vinegar and chilies. While this is yummy, it really isn't authentic. Vindaloo is vinegar, pork, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, garlic, and lots of dried chilies. This makes for a light, intensely flavored sauce.
In the recipe below I am replacing the vinegar and chilies with hot sauce. I have adapted it from Raghavan Iyer's recipe in "660 Curries", my go to book for Indian cooking. It is an awesome book. His recipe calls for vinegar and 8 dried cayenne or Thai chilies if you want to reproduce it.
Note: vinegar will readily remove the seasoning from your pan, so be ready for this. Typically, the next time I stir fry anything, the seasoning is reapplied, so I don't worry too much about it. I just have to remember that my pan won't be functioning optimally. If you are concerned about this, use a non-reactive or non-stick pan. I would avoid cast iron unless you want a mega-supplement of iron.
Hot Sauce Vindaloo
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 Tbsp cumin, ground
1 Tbsp peeled and shredded ginger (I use a cheese grater)
8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cinnamon stick, ground
1 lb diced pig flesh
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 Tbsp cooking oil, such as canola
2 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1) Mix together cinnamon, hot sauce, cumin, ginger, salt, turmeric, and garlic.
2) Blend pork and sauce and allow to marinade 30 minutes to overnight.
3) Heat oil over high heat
4) Fry the pork and marinade until the liquid is cooked off, ~10 minutes. I play with with the heat here and keep stirring. At first, I crank up the heat to get rid of the liquid, then turn it down when I get close. Be careful to just get a crust at the bottom of the pan and to turn your crust into ash.
5) Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil, and simmer until the pork is tender, ~15 minutes.
6) Add cilantro and stir to mix.
7) Served over long grain rice, like basmati. You might need a lot of rice to temper the heat of the dish.
Verdict: It is good and tastes about right, but not as spicy as vindaloo usually is, even though my hot sauce is pretty hot. Next time, I might try some death sauce and see how it tastes.
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