Sometimes I surprise myself.
Today’s Memorial Day BBQ effort was one of those events that you can't plan in advance—it just happens. We cooked ribs on the grill by the neighborhood pool.
In addition to charcoal and hickory chips, we also used up a bunch of ice, rum, and tequila in the blender poolside and entertained some innocent bystanders as our neighbors wandered into the proceedings. Can you say “drive-by BBQ?”
I barely got to eat any of the ribs myself. Oh well...
By cooking ribs, I don’t mean that I stripped the plastic wrap off the ribs and tossed them on the grill—no sir, I gave my baby back pork ribs a day at the health spa. If I were a rib, I would have been quite happy doing what my ribs did today.
Here’s what I did with (to) my ribs…
First there was a nice BRINE BATH:
1-1/2 gallon of water (enough for three or four racks of ribs)
½ cup of kosher salt
½ cup of sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
(Increase the proportions of the ingredients if you need more water)
Put the brine together in a large covered boiler (mine was a three gallon pot.) Open your rib packaging and rinse the ribs off under cold water in the sink. Place the ribs on a cutting board and carefully strip off the “skin” membrane on the back side (the concave side.) Also cut away any extra chunks of fat and membrane that you don’t want to eat. By now your ribs should look very pretty.
Place your ribs in the brine, put the pot in the refrigerator, and let them swim around overnight, or for at least six hours (mine went about eight hours.)
When you are ready to cook your ribs, pull them out of the brine and place them in a pan or on a cookie sheet to drain for a few minutes. Pat them dry with a clean dish rag.
Next my ribs had a nice RUBDOWN:
1/8 cup black pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Mix up the rub in a mixing bowl, then store it in a small jar or plastic container until you are ready to use it. Sprinkle the rub over the ribs and rub it in with your fingers.
Then my Ribs went into a HOT SAUNA:
Now Your ribs need to go on the grill to cook. Don't use a gas grill (OK, if you must, you must), but don't just pile a bunch of charcoal brickettes up and light them using "Gulflight" lighter fluid...that stuff stinks. I use an electric grill starter and for these ribs you want to use indirect heat. After the coals are hot, push the charcoal over to the sides of the grill and cook the ribs over a pan of water in the center. I stood my rib racks up on their sides vertically, leaning against each other for support.
Now here is the important part--regulate your grill temperature to somewhere between 200 deg F and 250 deg F. Use those vents and dampers on the grill, don't just stand there and complain, burning off your eyebrows and the hair on your knuckles. (Sorry, I guess that ladies don't have hair on their knuckles?)
If you will keep the temperature under control, you can expect to spend between 2-1/2 and 3 hours fooling around at the pool or otherwise waiting while the ribs get nice and tender. Pour yourself a drink and relax...this is supposed to be vacation, not work, you know?
For my ribs "suntan lotion," I made some Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce:
½ cup light (or dark) brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard powder
1 tbsp dried ginger
½ tbsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
3 cups catsup
¼ cup black strap molasses
¼ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
I took the rib racks off the grill at about the 2-1/2 hour point and brushed them all over with a thick coating of the BBQ sauce, then put them back on the grill for the final half hour of cooking.
By the time my ribs had finished, I had collected a couple of kids and five other adults that had designs on sampling the results of my efforts.
We broke out the slaw, potato salad, and sliced up a fresh pineapple and ATE. (Did I mention the home-made Key Lime Pie for desert?)
Regards Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Boston Baked Beans
Continuing our Memorial Day and Summer Cookout theme, I decided to attack home made baked beans. I’m not talking about opening a can of Bush’s beans or other store bought beans and adding brown sugar and stuff.
Nooooooooo sir… I’m into pain.
I want to make real authentic home made Boston Baked Beans. After doing some checking around on the Internet it became fairly obvious that the recipe is simple, it just takes all day to make your beans properly.
I really liked the simplicity of this 1940’s Gourmet Magazine recipe for Boston Baked Beans. I also referred to this recipe.
I ended up using these ingredients:
1 lb dried navy beans
1 pork neck bone
2 tbs butter
½ onion, finely chopped
½ tsp dried English mustard
¼ tsp paprika
½ cup black strap molasses
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
The night before you want to cook your beans, place them in a 4 quart boiler and add enough cold water to cover about an inch. I fooled around and started soaking my beans at 4:00 AM and let them soak till noon. Change your water once while your beans are swimming and pick through the beans to remove any dark or “stung” beans that might be less than appetizing to eat.
After the beans have soaked for at least six hours, place the boiler on the stovetop and fire up the heat to medium high. Bring the beans to a slow boil and add your pork neck bone and a couple of twists of fresh ground black pepper
Step away from the stove and let your beans boil for at least one hour. Mine could have cooked a little longer, so I suggest cooking 1-1/2 to 2 hours if you like your beans really tender.
Now dice your onion really fine. Some people like to put big chunks or “rings” of onion in their baked beans. Not me, but to each their own. Cut your onion the way you like.
I also like my onion sautéed, so I melted a couple of table spoons of butter in a small boiler and cooked my onions until they were clear and tender. You can use your onions raw, however, if you want to.
When the beans are done boiling, turn off the heat and let them cool down a little. Now dip a half cup of the water off of the beans and add to the onions in the other boiler. Stir in the light and dark brown sugar, the paprika, the mustard, and the molasses. A little salt and a couple twists of fresh black pepper can’t hurt—you decide how much.
Fish out your pork neck bone and place it aside (don’t toss it in the trash-you’ll need it later. Now drain your cooked beans in a colander, reserving the liquid. Dump the beans back in the boiler, stir the onion/sugar/spice/molasses mixture into the beans and add about ½ cup of the reserved water.
Now, if you don’t have an oven safe bean pot, use a covered casserole dish that is at least 4” deep. Also, if you don’t want to spend an hour cleaning the dish and the lid, I suggest spraying both with a non-stick cooking spray.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place your pork neck bone in the middle of your bean pot and pour the bean mixture in around it. Just for fun I drizzled the top of the beans with some more molasses ‘cause I like molasses.
Cover the dish, place it in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F.
Wander off to the pool or go watch TV, checking back once an hour to see how your beans are baking. Notice how the color changes to a nice dark redish brown?
Hey, you there...get your spoon out of those beans!
Each time you check your progress, add a ¼ cup of your reserved bean cooking liquid to the baking beans to keep everything from drying out. After four hours, remove the lid and cook your beans another thirty minutes to an hour.
When you think the beans are done, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for ten or so minutes, then plate them up with your slaw, slice your meat(loaf) and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Nooooooooo sir… I’m into pain.
I want to make real authentic home made Boston Baked Beans. After doing some checking around on the Internet it became fairly obvious that the recipe is simple, it just takes all day to make your beans properly.
I really liked the simplicity of this 1940’s Gourmet Magazine recipe for Boston Baked Beans. I also referred to this recipe.
I ended up using these ingredients:
1 lb dried navy beans
1 pork neck bone
2 tbs butter
½ onion, finely chopped
½ tsp dried English mustard
¼ tsp paprika
½ cup black strap molasses
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
The night before you want to cook your beans, place them in a 4 quart boiler and add enough cold water to cover about an inch. I fooled around and started soaking my beans at 4:00 AM and let them soak till noon. Change your water once while your beans are swimming and pick through the beans to remove any dark or “stung” beans that might be less than appetizing to eat.
After the beans have soaked for at least six hours, place the boiler on the stovetop and fire up the heat to medium high. Bring the beans to a slow boil and add your pork neck bone and a couple of twists of fresh ground black pepper
Step away from the stove and let your beans boil for at least one hour. Mine could have cooked a little longer, so I suggest cooking 1-1/2 to 2 hours if you like your beans really tender.
Now dice your onion really fine. Some people like to put big chunks or “rings” of onion in their baked beans. Not me, but to each their own. Cut your onion the way you like.
I also like my onion sautéed, so I melted a couple of table spoons of butter in a small boiler and cooked my onions until they were clear and tender. You can use your onions raw, however, if you want to.
When the beans are done boiling, turn off the heat and let them cool down a little. Now dip a half cup of the water off of the beans and add to the onions in the other boiler. Stir in the light and dark brown sugar, the paprika, the mustard, and the molasses. A little salt and a couple twists of fresh black pepper can’t hurt—you decide how much.
Fish out your pork neck bone and place it aside (don’t toss it in the trash-you’ll need it later. Now drain your cooked beans in a colander, reserving the liquid. Dump the beans back in the boiler, stir the onion/sugar/spice/molasses mixture into the beans and add about ½ cup of the reserved water.
Now, if you don’t have an oven safe bean pot, use a covered casserole dish that is at least 4” deep. Also, if you don’t want to spend an hour cleaning the dish and the lid, I suggest spraying both with a non-stick cooking spray.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place your pork neck bone in the middle of your bean pot and pour the bean mixture in around it. Just for fun I drizzled the top of the beans with some more molasses ‘cause I like molasses.
Cover the dish, place it in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F.
Wander off to the pool or go watch TV, checking back once an hour to see how your beans are baking. Notice how the color changes to a nice dark redish brown?
Hey, you there...get your spoon out of those beans!
Each time you check your progress, add a ¼ cup of your reserved bean cooking liquid to the baking beans to keep everything from drying out. After four hours, remove the lid and cook your beans another thirty minutes to an hour.
When you think the beans are done, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for ten or so minutes, then plate them up with your slaw, slice your meat(loaf) and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Hawaiian Cold Slaw
With Memorial Day rapidly approaching, Pat and I are getting the urge to expand our grilling and Summer cooking menu. Easy, light flavors, and simple “mass quantities” of foods designed to feed our guests lunch at the pool or be cooked and/or served at late afternoon cookouts.
I had to spend some time working on a set for a play at the local theater on Saturday so I charged Pat with coming up with a big batch of cold slaw for a couple of meals this weekend.
What she came up with is based on this recipe for Hawaiian Coleslaw.
As usual, we made a few modifications—adding fresh ginger root and substituting some red cabbage (we like the color.)
3 cups fresh, shredded green cabbage
1 cup fresh, shredded red cabbage
1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger (use fresh ginger if you have it)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (use freshly grated if you have it)
1 tbsp. orange juice
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
This is pretty much a no-brainer recipe. Shred your cabbage by hand or with the food processor. Drain the oranges and pineapple, reserving the juice.
Toss the cabbage with the ginger, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Redneck Tip: You can sprinkle a little of the reserved juices into the mix if you like your slaw juicier.
Add the drained fruit and toss well.
Now add the mayo, and toss some more. Cover and let the slaw sit overnight if you have the time—it will taste a lot better the next day.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
I had to spend some time working on a set for a play at the local theater on Saturday so I charged Pat with coming up with a big batch of cold slaw for a couple of meals this weekend.
What she came up with is based on this recipe for Hawaiian Coleslaw.
As usual, we made a few modifications—adding fresh ginger root and substituting some red cabbage (we like the color.)
3 cups fresh, shredded green cabbage
1 cup fresh, shredded red cabbage
1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger (use fresh ginger if you have it)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (use freshly grated if you have it)
1 tbsp. orange juice
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
This is pretty much a no-brainer recipe. Shred your cabbage by hand or with the food processor. Drain the oranges and pineapple, reserving the juice.
Toss the cabbage with the ginger, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Redneck Tip: You can sprinkle a little of the reserved juices into the mix if you like your slaw juicier.
Add the drained fruit and toss well.
Now add the mayo, and toss some more. Cover and let the slaw sit overnight if you have the time—it will taste a lot better the next day.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, May 22, 2005
"Kicked Up" Meatloaf--Cooking Reruns
Today is a nice spring Sunday, with weather suitable for spending the afternoon at our swimming pool. Pat made a big batch of Hawaiian Cold Slaw yesterday, and I'm cooking Boston Baked Beans which will be in the oven for about five hours while I also cook my nose in the sun at the pool.
To go with our slaw and baked beans, I'm cooking a re-run recipe that I posted back around Thanksgiving. I found it on the Food Network website. The recipe is called Emeril’s “Most Kicked Up Meatloaf Ever.”
I made some modifications based on having dried spices rather than fresh. I've cooked it several times and found it to produce excellent results. No Catsup Required...
The modified ingredient listing, making enough for four to six people, looks like this:
3 tablespoons butter (or bacon drippings)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup ketchup, plus 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Heavy cream
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1-1/4 pound ground chuck (try 90% lean—I used 80% and it was too greasy)
1/3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Three or four medium potatoes, quartered (I omitted the potatoes since we had beans & slaw)
1 6oz jar green giant button mushrooms
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
In a large heavy skillet, heat the bacon dripping over medium heat. Add all but about 4 tbsp of the chopped onion, the celery, and all but 2 tbsp of the bell pepper to the skillet and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes or so.
Add one tsp garlic, the thyme, rosemary, and the parsley and cook an additional 2 minutes. Set skillet aside to cool. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F.
Redneck Tip: Tilt your skillet slightly and spoon off any extra bacon grease that you can.
In a large mixing bowl, transfer the cooled vegetable mixture and add the eggs, the mustard, 1/3 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, the cream, and mix well. Then add the breadcrumbs, ground chuck, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is uniformly combined (no dry spots,) but don’t over mix.
Turn the whole blob out into a greased oval corningware casserole dish (I used an oval, 3” deep dish,) shape into a loaf with your hands. If you are using them, place your quartered red potatoes around the loaf in the dish.
In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the onion, garlic, the red bell pepper, ¼ cup ketchup, the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and simmer for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Pour the mixture over the top of the meatloaf, sprinkle the button mushrooms on top of that, smooth out with a spoon, and toss the whole thing in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes.
Redneck Tip: At the hour mark, start checking every five minutes or so because you don’t want to burn the top of the loaf.
When you think it is done, turn off the oven and take the meatloaf out and set on a rack to cool for ten minutes or so. Put your plates in the oven for a minute to warm.
When the loaf has cooled a bit, put your warmed plates on chargers, slice the loaf, spoon out some of everything onto your plates, and serve with your slaw and baked beans or other vegetable on the side. No ketchup required!
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
To go with our slaw and baked beans, I'm cooking a re-run recipe that I posted back around Thanksgiving. I found it on the Food Network website. The recipe is called Emeril’s “Most Kicked Up Meatloaf Ever.”
I made some modifications based on having dried spices rather than fresh. I've cooked it several times and found it to produce excellent results. No Catsup Required...
The modified ingredient listing, making enough for four to six people, looks like this:
3 tablespoons butter (or bacon drippings)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup ketchup, plus 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Heavy cream
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1-1/4 pound ground chuck (try 90% lean—I used 80% and it was too greasy)
1/3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Three or four medium potatoes, quartered (I omitted the potatoes since we had beans & slaw)
1 6oz jar green giant button mushrooms
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
In a large heavy skillet, heat the bacon dripping over medium heat. Add all but about 4 tbsp of the chopped onion, the celery, and all but 2 tbsp of the bell pepper to the skillet and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes or so.
Add one tsp garlic, the thyme, rosemary, and the parsley and cook an additional 2 minutes. Set skillet aside to cool. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F.
Redneck Tip: Tilt your skillet slightly and spoon off any extra bacon grease that you can.
In a large mixing bowl, transfer the cooled vegetable mixture and add the eggs, the mustard, 1/3 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, the cream, and mix well. Then add the breadcrumbs, ground chuck, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is uniformly combined (no dry spots,) but don’t over mix.
Turn the whole blob out into a greased oval corningware casserole dish (I used an oval, 3” deep dish,) shape into a loaf with your hands. If you are using them, place your quartered red potatoes around the loaf in the dish.
In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the onion, garlic, the red bell pepper, ¼ cup ketchup, the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and simmer for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Pour the mixture over the top of the meatloaf, sprinkle the button mushrooms on top of that, smooth out with a spoon, and toss the whole thing in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes.
Redneck Tip: At the hour mark, start checking every five minutes or so because you don’t want to burn the top of the loaf.
When you think it is done, turn off the oven and take the meatloaf out and set on a rack to cool for ten minutes or so. Put your plates in the oven for a minute to warm.
When the loaf has cooled a bit, put your warmed plates on chargers, slice the loaf, spoon out some of everything onto your plates, and serve with your slaw and baked beans or other vegetable on the side. No ketchup required!
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Monday, May 16, 2005
Pulled Pork Butt Barbeque
I was strolling past the meat counter at the local grocer the other day and noticed that they had Boston Butt Pork Roasts for half price--$0.98 per pound. I left the store with a five pounder in my cart.
My Butt sat in the fridge for a couple of days (sorry, I just couldn’t resist writing that without actually talking dirty) while I researched how to make pulled pork and my own barbeque sauce.
There are literally hundreds of opinions and recipes covering the subject in cookbooks, on TV shows, and on the internet, but the best ones all involve brining the pork before it is cooked and using a spice rub while it is cooked. Then, once you’ve brined your Butt and rubbed your Butt, you can grill your Butt, smoke your Butt, or roast your Butt in the oven. (Again sorry folks, I just couldn’t resist…)
Since we wanted to spend Sunday afternoon at the pool while the pork slow cooked, I chose roasting in the oven as my method du jour.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to cook your Butt…snicker…snicker
For the Brine:
1 gallon of water (more if you have a bigger Butt than mine…heh)
¼ cup of kosher salt
¼ cup of sugar
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
(Increase the proportions of the other ingredients if you need more water)
For the Rub:
1/8 cup black pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper
For ”Kansas City” style Barbeque Sauce:
½ cup light (or dark) brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard powder
½ tbsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
3 cups catsup
¼ cup black strap molasses
¼ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
½ tsp Gravymaster flavoring/seasoning
First things first. The day or night before you’re going to cook your Butt you need to make up the brine.
I put the brine ingredients together in our largest 3 gallon boiler, stirred it all up, and put my Butt inside after trimming off the excess fat and any muscle “sheath” that is on the outside (hey, no comments please…)
Place your brined Butt in the refrigerator overnight, or at least six hours. I brined my Butt at about 3:00 AM and let it sit in the brine until noon the next day. It can actually stay in the brine for as long as two whole days.
Next make up the rub for your Butt. Simply mix all of the ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. I put mine “Butt rub” in a small jar so that I could save any left over for another Butt.
When you are ready to cook your Butt, pull it out of the brine, rinse it off real good in the sink, and place it on a platter to drain. Now pat your Butt dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towels. Dry off the platter also.
Now sprinkle your Butt rub all over your Butt and rub your Butt rub into the surface of your Butt with your hands (that has to be the record for the number of times I will write the word Butt” in one sentence in this recipe.)
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Preheat an appropriate sized Dutch-oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Now place your Butt in the Dutch-oven and sear it well on all sides.
Once your Butt is seared, turn it over on it’s side and add a ½ cup of liquid to the bottom of the pot. You can use water if you want, but I used a little white wine and some left over chicken stock that I had sitting in the fridge. A lot of juice will cook out of the meat while it is heating, but the wine/stock mixture adds some flavor and it just seemed like a good idea to me.
Toss your Butt in the oven and go watch TV or go to the pool…I sun burned my nose this afternoon waiting on my Butt to cook.
Now is the time to make your Barbeque sauce if your aren’t using store bought sauce. By the way, everyone knows that real men don’t use store bought sauce.
Put the brown sugar, mustard powder, and the spices in a heavy skillet over medium low heat. Add the Catsup, molasses, water, and vinegar, and stir everything together.
Keep you heat low enough to avoid boiling your sauce. You need to treat it like a roux or a gravy and stir almost continuously. It needs to cook at least thirty minutes while you pay close attention to it. Once it thickens to where you want it, turn off the heat and let it coast.
Keep cooking your Butt until the meat flakes apart easily. I turned my Butt over in the Dutch oven once while it was cooking to keep both sides of my Butt juicy (for some reason that sounds wrong…never mind…)
A general rule is to cook your Butt in the oven about one hour per pound—on the grill it takes about 1-1/2 hours per pound.
Once your Butt is cooked (as opposed to your Goose), pull it out of the pot and place it on a clean platter to rest for a few minutes. My Butt was tired after all that work.
Now tear your Butt up with a knife and fork, place it on top of a couple pieces of light bread on plates with some slaw and potato salad, top with barbeque sauce, pour yourself a cold beer, AND EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
(P.S, I actually got to write the word “Butt” 33 times in this recipe. Oh, to be thirteen years old again.)
UPDATE: May 16, 2005
After the meat cools, pick though it with your fingers to remove the fat and stuff you don't want to eat (I'm like Jack Spratt--I eat no fat) and place it in a covered container, adding the rest of your barbeque sauce, stirring everything up, and storing it in the fridge.
It heats up well in a small skillet to make sandwiches over the next few days, or you can freeze it for a few weeks.
My Butt sat in the fridge for a couple of days (sorry, I just couldn’t resist writing that without actually talking dirty) while I researched how to make pulled pork and my own barbeque sauce.
There are literally hundreds of opinions and recipes covering the subject in cookbooks, on TV shows, and on the internet, but the best ones all involve brining the pork before it is cooked and using a spice rub while it is cooked. Then, once you’ve brined your Butt and rubbed your Butt, you can grill your Butt, smoke your Butt, or roast your Butt in the oven. (Again sorry folks, I just couldn’t resist…)
Since we wanted to spend Sunday afternoon at the pool while the pork slow cooked, I chose roasting in the oven as my method du jour.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to cook your Butt…snicker…snicker
For the Brine:
1 gallon of water (more if you have a bigger Butt than mine…heh)
¼ cup of kosher salt
¼ cup of sugar
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup apple cider vinegar
(Increase the proportions of the other ingredients if you need more water)
For the Rub:
1/8 cup black pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1-1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper
For ”Kansas City” style Barbeque Sauce:
½ cup light (or dark) brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard powder
½ tbsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
3 cups catsup
¼ cup black strap molasses
¼ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
½ tsp Gravymaster flavoring/seasoning
First things first. The day or night before you’re going to cook your Butt you need to make up the brine.
I put the brine ingredients together in our largest 3 gallon boiler, stirred it all up, and put my Butt inside after trimming off the excess fat and any muscle “sheath” that is on the outside (hey, no comments please…)
Place your brined Butt in the refrigerator overnight, or at least six hours. I brined my Butt at about 3:00 AM and let it sit in the brine until noon the next day. It can actually stay in the brine for as long as two whole days.
Next make up the rub for your Butt. Simply mix all of the ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. I put mine “Butt rub” in a small jar so that I could save any left over for another Butt.
When you are ready to cook your Butt, pull it out of the brine, rinse it off real good in the sink, and place it on a platter to drain. Now pat your Butt dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towels. Dry off the platter also.
Now sprinkle your Butt rub all over your Butt and rub your Butt rub into the surface of your Butt with your hands (that has to be the record for the number of times I will write the word Butt” in one sentence in this recipe.)
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Preheat an appropriate sized Dutch-oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Now place your Butt in the Dutch-oven and sear it well on all sides.
Once your Butt is seared, turn it over on it’s side and add a ½ cup of liquid to the bottom of the pot. You can use water if you want, but I used a little white wine and some left over chicken stock that I had sitting in the fridge. A lot of juice will cook out of the meat while it is heating, but the wine/stock mixture adds some flavor and it just seemed like a good idea to me.
Toss your Butt in the oven and go watch TV or go to the pool…I sun burned my nose this afternoon waiting on my Butt to cook.
Now is the time to make your Barbeque sauce if your aren’t using store bought sauce. By the way, everyone knows that real men don’t use store bought sauce.
Put the brown sugar, mustard powder, and the spices in a heavy skillet over medium low heat. Add the Catsup, molasses, water, and vinegar, and stir everything together.
Keep you heat low enough to avoid boiling your sauce. You need to treat it like a roux or a gravy and stir almost continuously. It needs to cook at least thirty minutes while you pay close attention to it. Once it thickens to where you want it, turn off the heat and let it coast.
Keep cooking your Butt until the meat flakes apart easily. I turned my Butt over in the Dutch oven once while it was cooking to keep both sides of my Butt juicy (for some reason that sounds wrong…never mind…)
A general rule is to cook your Butt in the oven about one hour per pound—on the grill it takes about 1-1/2 hours per pound.
Once your Butt is cooked (as opposed to your Goose), pull it out of the pot and place it on a clean platter to rest for a few minutes. My Butt was tired after all that work.
Now tear your Butt up with a knife and fork, place it on top of a couple pieces of light bread on plates with some slaw and potato salad, top with barbeque sauce, pour yourself a cold beer, AND EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
(P.S, I actually got to write the word “Butt” 33 times in this recipe. Oh, to be thirteen years old again.)
UPDATE: May 16, 2005
After the meat cools, pick though it with your fingers to remove the fat and stuff you don't want to eat (I'm like Jack Spratt--I eat no fat) and place it in a covered container, adding the rest of your barbeque sauce, stirring everything up, and storing it in the fridge.
It heats up well in a small skillet to make sandwiches over the next few days, or you can freeze it for a few weeks.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Almond Tarragon Chicken Salad
Ok, we’ve all been through this process at one time or the other.
Its approaching noon on a weekday morning (or a weekend morning if you don’t work from home) and your significant other says “I’m Hungry…”
What do you do? A) Ignore their request (bad idea) B) go to the local deli to pick up a sandwich, or C) make something interesting to eat.
Well, for me, option A was out of the question, option B was a possibility, but I chose option C and made something to eat yesterday morning.
The idea came from an ad in the sale paper from a local grocery store—almond tarragon chicken salad. Pat thought that it tasted GOOD.
Here is what I did to make enough chicken salad for four sandwiches:
The Ingredients:
Two boneless chicken breasts—cooked as you like them (we used leftovers)
2 tbsp dried Tarragon (or fresh tarragon if you have it)
1 or 2 stalks of celery, diced very fine
½ cup sliced almonds
2 hard boiled eggs
5 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
½ tbsp white truffle oil
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
The preparation:
Dice up your cooked chicken breasts very fine. Toss the chicken into a medium mixing bowl. Now dice up the boiled eggs and toss them in with the chicken.
Redneck Tip: Contrary to popular belief, it does NOT matter if the chicken or the egg comes first—at least in this recipe.
Crumble up the sliced almonds and add them to the bowl, along with the celery, the truffle oil, and all of the spices. Now stir everything up really good. I SAID STIR IT UP GOOD. (Stir some more if you have any doubt.)
Now add the mayo and stir everything again. Refrigerate until you are ready to make chicken salad sandwiches, else you can eat it as a side dish with burgers or dogs or whatever.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Its approaching noon on a weekday morning (or a weekend morning if you don’t work from home) and your significant other says “I’m Hungry…”
What do you do? A) Ignore their request (bad idea) B) go to the local deli to pick up a sandwich, or C) make something interesting to eat.
Well, for me, option A was out of the question, option B was a possibility, but I chose option C and made something to eat yesterday morning.
The idea came from an ad in the sale paper from a local grocery store—almond tarragon chicken salad. Pat thought that it tasted GOOD.
Here is what I did to make enough chicken salad for four sandwiches:
The Ingredients:
Two boneless chicken breasts—cooked as you like them (we used leftovers)
2 tbsp dried Tarragon (or fresh tarragon if you have it)
1 or 2 stalks of celery, diced very fine
½ cup sliced almonds
2 hard boiled eggs
5 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
½ tbsp white truffle oil
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
The preparation:
Dice up your cooked chicken breasts very fine. Toss the chicken into a medium mixing bowl. Now dice up the boiled eggs and toss them in with the chicken.
Redneck Tip: Contrary to popular belief, it does NOT matter if the chicken or the egg comes first—at least in this recipe.
Crumble up the sliced almonds and add them to the bowl, along with the celery, the truffle oil, and all of the spices. Now stir everything up really good. I SAID STIR IT UP GOOD. (Stir some more if you have any doubt.)
Now add the mayo and stir everything again. Refrigerate until you are ready to make chicken salad sandwiches, else you can eat it as a side dish with burgers or dogs or whatever.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Pork Tamale Filling
(Putting it all together)
I’ve written pretty extensively about beef tamales earlier. They take a good deal of time to make, but I believe that if you use a great filling that they are well worth the effort.
If you’ve been following along and cooking with my recent posts, by now you should have one or more pounds of pre-cooked pork tenderloin, cooled on a plate, along with a pot of really tasty stock with vegetables cooling in the fridge.
Take your stock out of the fridge and spoon the congealed grease off of the top. Now dip out a couple of cups of the liquid, along with a cup of the carrots, onions, etc. and process the mixture in your blender or food processor. You want the vegetables in little bitty teeny tiny chunks.
Place the pork tenderloin on the cutting board and slice it across the grain into ½” pieces. If you did things right it should crumble into shreds while you’re doing this step. If not, tear the slices up into small pieces with your fingers.
Next comes the final seasoning—Menudo. I think that Menudo is Mexican for “every darn savory spice in your pantry” or something like that because that’s what’s in it. I found this recipe on the internet. I didn’t have all of the spices and I didn’t want SEVEN CUPS of Menudo seasoning, so here’s what I made up:
2-1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
½ tsp powdered mustard
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
This should be more than enough seasoning for the pork and the chicken. I added three table spoons worth to my one pound of shreded pork.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium low heat on the stove top.
Add your pork/spice mixture and sauté briefly, then add your processed stock and one can of chicken stock. You can also dice up some canned Chipolte peppers in Adobo sauce and add them to the mix at this point if you want. Careful with the Chipolte’s—they’re hot…
Stir everything up and let it simmer until the mixture is the consistency of “sloppy joes.” You want it wet, but not “dripping wet.”
When the mixture has reduced, you can either let it cool and place it in the fridge overnight, freeze it, or jump back to the beef tamale recipe and substitute “pork” every where you see “beef”.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
I’ve written pretty extensively about beef tamales earlier. They take a good deal of time to make, but I believe that if you use a great filling that they are well worth the effort.
If you’ve been following along and cooking with my recent posts, by now you should have one or more pounds of pre-cooked pork tenderloin, cooled on a plate, along with a pot of really tasty stock with vegetables cooling in the fridge.
Take your stock out of the fridge and spoon the congealed grease off of the top. Now dip out a couple of cups of the liquid, along with a cup of the carrots, onions, etc. and process the mixture in your blender or food processor. You want the vegetables in little bitty teeny tiny chunks.
Place the pork tenderloin on the cutting board and slice it across the grain into ½” pieces. If you did things right it should crumble into shreds while you’re doing this step. If not, tear the slices up into small pieces with your fingers.
Next comes the final seasoning—Menudo. I think that Menudo is Mexican for “every darn savory spice in your pantry” or something like that because that’s what’s in it. I found this recipe on the internet. I didn’t have all of the spices and I didn’t want SEVEN CUPS of Menudo seasoning, so here’s what I made up:
2-1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp granulated garlic
1 tbsp onion powder
½ tsp powdered mustard
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
This should be more than enough seasoning for the pork and the chicken. I added three table spoons worth to my one pound of shreded pork.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium low heat on the stove top.
Add your pork/spice mixture and sauté briefly, then add your processed stock and one can of chicken stock. You can also dice up some canned Chipolte peppers in Adobo sauce and add them to the mix at this point if you want. Careful with the Chipolte’s—they’re hot…
Stir everything up and let it simmer until the mixture is the consistency of “sloppy joes.” You want it wet, but not “dripping wet.”
When the mixture has reduced, you can either let it cool and place it in the fridge overnight, freeze it, or jump back to the beef tamale recipe and substitute “pork” every where you see “beef”.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Monday, May 09, 2005
I'm Back From Mexico--Part II
(It’s all a state of Mind—or insanity)
Now there is chicken…
Whole chicken, cut into pieces—about four pounds (more birds if you got them and have a big enough pot, just multiply the other ingredients)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, pealed
3 stalks of celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice
2/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 tsp powdered “herb ox” beef bouillon
10 cups hot water (enough water to cover your bird parts)
Once again, this is really simple to do. Take a big breath and don’t panic. All you need is one six or eight quart boiler.
Set the boiler on the stove top and turn the heat up to medium-low. Add your olive oil, the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are clear and tender, then add the garlic and cook a few minutes.
Mix your bouillon powder with the hot water and let it sit on the side while you continue cooking.
Now turn the heat up to medium and add your bird parts and the water/beef bouillon mixture and stir every thing up. Turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and step away from the oven.
Cook the bird until it starts to fall apart, at least two hours. When the meat is done to your satisfaction, pull it out on the side and let it cool. Let your stock cool separately, and spoon the fat off of the top.
By now you should have a bunch of Chicken (and pork if you followed the previous recipe) as well as some really fine stock, so let’s look at the possibilities…
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
Now there is chicken…
Whole chicken, cut into pieces—about four pounds (more birds if you got them and have a big enough pot, just multiply the other ingredients)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, pealed
3 stalks of celery, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice
2/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 tsp powdered “herb ox” beef bouillon
10 cups hot water (enough water to cover your bird parts)
Once again, this is really simple to do. Take a big breath and don’t panic. All you need is one six or eight quart boiler.
Set the boiler on the stove top and turn the heat up to medium-low. Add your olive oil, the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are clear and tender, then add the garlic and cook a few minutes.
Mix your bouillon powder with the hot water and let it sit on the side while you continue cooking.
Now turn the heat up to medium and add your bird parts and the water/beef bouillon mixture and stir every thing up. Turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and step away from the oven.
Cook the bird until it starts to fall apart, at least two hours. When the meat is done to your satisfaction, pull it out on the side and let it cool. Let your stock cool separately, and spoon the fat off of the top.
By now you should have a bunch of Chicken (and pork if you followed the previous recipe) as well as some really fine stock, so let’s look at the possibilities…
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
I'm Back From Mexico
(It’s all a state of Mind)
Cinco de Mayo has past now. As a result of our celebration of Mexican Independence Day, I’ve spent a LOT of time looking into “Mexican” cooking over the past couple of weeks. So much time that I think Pat is getting tired of Mexican.
That will never happen to me. As I’ve said earlier—I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD.
I’ve watched the Food Network shows on Mexican cooking and I have dreamed about black beans and tortillas. Here is the main thing that I have learned about cooking Mexican style. Mexican food is really simple—it’s just different from southern American food or Cajun food or Italian food or whatever.
The good news is, while it doesn’t have to cost much per portion served, it is hard to make just a little Mexican food for two. Seriously, Mexican seems to be best done in larger quantities, and some of it takes a good deal of time to do properly, so you don’t want to try to make just three tamales or one burrito or whatever.
Instead of cooking a single dish with a single meat, I’m starting to do my Mexican cooking in a process of cooking up one or two meats (pork, beef, or chicken), then making different dishes by further processing the basic meats as the filling ingredient for finished product.
What I’m going to do now is describe what I’ve been doing over the past few days to make the meat fillings for a couple of dishes, and the byproducts, some soup and other side dishes.
First there is pork…
Pork tenderloin—about one pound (more if you got it, just multiply the other ingredients)
2 tbsp olive oil
½ yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, pealed
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp powdered “herb ox” beef bouillon
4 cups hot water (enough water to cover your pork tenderloin)
This is really simple to do, so don’t panic. All you need is one six quart boiler.
Set the boiler on the stove top and turn the heat up to medium-low. Add your olive oil, the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are clear and tender, then add the garlic and cook a few minutes.
Mix your bouillon powder with the hot water and let it sit while you continue cooking.
Now turn the heat up to medium. Push the veggies to the side and toss your pork tenderloin in and sear it on all sides.
Once you have a nice “color” on the meat, add the water/beef bouillon mixture and stir every thing up. Turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and step away from the oven.
Cook the pork until it starts to fall apart, about two hours. When the meat is done to your satisfaction, pull it out on the side and let it cool. Let your stock cool separately, and spoon the fat off of the top.
NOW, THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL TALK ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PORK, AS WELL AS COOKING UP SOME OTHER MEATS FOR USE IN YOUR MEXICAN COOKING…
Black Bean and Corn Soup
I made this little dish up on my own, accidentally. I dumped a can of rinsed black beans and a small can of whole kernel corn into a boiler for the purpose of making a ‘vegetable medley” side dish, and ended up making soup after storing the mixture in the fridge for a couple of days.
(1) 15-1/4 ounce can of black beans, rinsed well
(1) 8-1/4 ounce can of whole kernel yellow corn
a few pieces of roasted red bell pepper
diced onion or scallions if you like
hot sauce to taste
a few twists of fresh black pepper
1 cup of liquid stock from the pork tenderloin mixture cooked as described above
If you try too hard, you can screw this recipe up. Otherwise, open the cans, throw everything in the pot, and cook it for an hour--longer if you have the time.
Eat the results, and shut up while I write up the other recipes...
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
Cinco de Mayo has past now. As a result of our celebration of Mexican Independence Day, I’ve spent a LOT of time looking into “Mexican” cooking over the past couple of weeks. So much time that I think Pat is getting tired of Mexican.
That will never happen to me. As I’ve said earlier—I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD.
I’ve watched the Food Network shows on Mexican cooking and I have dreamed about black beans and tortillas. Here is the main thing that I have learned about cooking Mexican style. Mexican food is really simple—it’s just different from southern American food or Cajun food or Italian food or whatever.
The good news is, while it doesn’t have to cost much per portion served, it is hard to make just a little Mexican food for two. Seriously, Mexican seems to be best done in larger quantities, and some of it takes a good deal of time to do properly, so you don’t want to try to make just three tamales or one burrito or whatever.
Instead of cooking a single dish with a single meat, I’m starting to do my Mexican cooking in a process of cooking up one or two meats (pork, beef, or chicken), then making different dishes by further processing the basic meats as the filling ingredient for finished product.
What I’m going to do now is describe what I’ve been doing over the past few days to make the meat fillings for a couple of dishes, and the byproducts, some soup and other side dishes.
First there is pork…
Pork tenderloin—about one pound (more if you got it, just multiply the other ingredients)
2 tbsp olive oil
½ yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, pealed
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp powdered “herb ox” beef bouillon
4 cups hot water (enough water to cover your pork tenderloin)
This is really simple to do, so don’t panic. All you need is one six quart boiler.
Set the boiler on the stove top and turn the heat up to medium-low. Add your olive oil, the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are clear and tender, then add the garlic and cook a few minutes.
Mix your bouillon powder with the hot water and let it sit while you continue cooking.
Now turn the heat up to medium. Push the veggies to the side and toss your pork tenderloin in and sear it on all sides.
Once you have a nice “color” on the meat, add the water/beef bouillon mixture and stir every thing up. Turn down the heat to medium low, cover the pot, and step away from the oven.
Cook the pork until it starts to fall apart, about two hours. When the meat is done to your satisfaction, pull it out on the side and let it cool. Let your stock cool separately, and spoon the fat off of the top.
NOW, THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL TALK ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PORK, AS WELL AS COOKING UP SOME OTHER MEATS FOR USE IN YOUR MEXICAN COOKING…
Black Bean and Corn Soup
I made this little dish up on my own, accidentally. I dumped a can of rinsed black beans and a small can of whole kernel corn into a boiler for the purpose of making a ‘vegetable medley” side dish, and ended up making soup after storing the mixture in the fridge for a couple of days.
(1) 15-1/4 ounce can of black beans, rinsed well
(1) 8-1/4 ounce can of whole kernel yellow corn
a few pieces of roasted red bell pepper
diced onion or scallions if you like
hot sauce to taste
a few twists of fresh black pepper
1 cup of liquid stock from the pork tenderloin mixture cooked as described above
If you try too hard, you can screw this recipe up. Otherwise, open the cans, throw everything in the pot, and cook it for an hour--longer if you have the time.
Eat the results, and shut up while I write up the other recipes...
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
Monday, April 25, 2005
Beef Tamales
In anticipation of Cinco de Mayo, I’m declaring the next four weeks our official Unofficial Mexican Food Month here at the Redneck Gourmet. I can do this because 1) its my blog and 2) I really like Mexican cuisine.
When I was a kid, I had the opportunity to visit Mexico a couple of times with my parents on vacation. As a result, I learned to like Mexican food at an early age. Oddly enough, there was a pretty good Mexican restaurant in our little town in south Alabama in a time prior to the modern invasion of Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal. Now you can’t turn a corner in most cities without finding a Mexican restaurant, but back then they were few and far between in the southeastern US.
One item was published on the menu at our local El Palacio Restaurant which was hardly ever available…
TAMALES.
For some reason their kitchen had trouble making tamales or they couldn’t get all of the ingredients or something—but for whatever reason they were only able to serve them about one out of ten times we dined there.
Maybe it was the psychological effect of being a scarce commodity or something else in addition to their wonderful texture and flavor, but for whatever reason, in my mind…
I absolutely love tamales.
I recently decided to learn how to make them, and it isn’t easy. But let me tell you, IT’S MOST DEFINITELY WORTH THE EFFORT!
This guy’s Website is the primary basis of my efforts this afternoon. To be fair, I also have to give this web site credit for explaining the process and linking me to other sites.
Having said all of that, as usual I’m going to change things to suit my own tastes and to make enough food for two people with a reasonable amount of leftovers (most published recipes make a zillion tamales.)
Tamales consist of a precooked meat filling, surrounded by a soft, ground corn shell made from something called Masa, which is traditionally steamed in a corn husk wrapper. The corn husks are a bit of a pain to work with and cost a little extra, but I found a good substitute—parchment paper. According to my reading, you can also use waxed paper, aluminum foil, or even paper coffee filters. The key is to wrap the assembled tamales in something to keep them together during the steaming process.
I have to admit that at first glance at the label on the bag of Masa is a little frightening. “Ground corn and lime” it says. Lime? Not limes like the green fruit called limes…I mean lime like the caustic chemical lime. I’m thinking to myself that I’m making tamales, not fertilizing the yard here, so what’s with the lime--you know?
Well, I’ll have to take their word for it. Apparently the lime is common in processing corn products like hominy corn and making mesa. Tastes OK to me, by the way.
Go figure.
So here is what you need to make eight large tamales:
(2) Cups masa
(2) Tbsp corn oil
1-1/8 cup water
(1) Tsp baking powder
(1) Tsp salt
For the filling:
¾ lb beef brisket or London broil
1/8 cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Fresh-ground black pepper
(2) Tbsp lard
½ medium onion sliced thin
(4) Cloves garlic, pealed and smashed flat
(10) Black peppercorns
(1) Can of beef stock
(2) Cups of water
½ tbsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
(1) 7oz can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce
First things first. Rinse off your piece of beef and pat dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towels. Take a large meat fork and stab the beef on both sides about twenty or thirty times to make room for the marinade to soak in.
Don’t hurt yourself in the process.
Slice the slab into 1” wide strips, toss the strips into a large zip lock bag, and pour the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper inside. Press the air out of the bag and zip it closed, then massage the liquid to mix with and saturate your beef. Toss it on the kitchen counter and get the rest of your tools and ingredients ready to work with. The meat needs to marinade for at least a half hour. I let mine go a full hour. Pick up the bag every fifteen minutes and squeeze everything around to ensure that the beef and marinade is mixed real good.
To make your tamales, you are going to need a 6 quart boiler with lid, a four quart boiler with steamer basket and lid, and a large cast iron skillet.
After the meat has been marinated, place the 6 quart boiler over medium heat and toss in the beef to sear and brown on the outside. Once browned, melt the lard, then add the can of beef stock, two cups of water, the onions, garlic, peppercorns, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Bring everything to a low boil, add the cover, and cook for a couple of hours until the meat is tender and starts to fall apart. By now the liquid should have reduced by about 1/3rd. Turn off the heat and let things cool a bit.
Once the meat has cooked, pick out the larger chunks and reserve in a bowl on the side. Pour the contents of the boiler through a colander, reserving the liquid. Pick through the colander for chunks of meat you missed, and then discard the onions and garlic.
Heat the cast iron skillet over medium heat. Shred your beef into the skillet and combine with the cumin and cayenne pepper. Add the Chipotle peppers is you like (be very careful because they are spicy HOT!) As the meat starts to sizzle, pour in a little of the reserved liquid (I used about a cup.) Cook while stirring until you have a mixture about the consistency of “sloppy Joes.” Now turn off the heat again.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the Masa with the baking powder and salt and stir well. Now add the corn oil and start adding the water a little at a time as you stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. You want to make a very stiff mixture that is slightly moist but still holds together when you press it out flat in your hand.
Put about an inch of water in your boiler and set it with the steamer basket on the stove over medium heat.
Now cut your parchment paper (mine was 12”x16” sheets) into 6”x8” rectangles. Spoon out enough of your Masa mixture to cover 4”x6” of that area. I pressed my mixture out with my hand onto the parchment, then covered it with another sheet of parchment and pressed until I got a slab about 3/16” thick. To make it a proper rectangle, tear off pieces as you work and press them where you need them, then take a knife and cut the edges nice and smooth.
This isn’t geometry class, so fool with your Masa until you are happy, then spoon out about three big teaspoons full of your meat mixture in the center. Roll the finished tamale up across in the narrow direction of the paper and then fold the two ends over once. Believe it or not, I STAPLED the paper wrappers on my tamales closed like Steve did over at Hog On Ice.
You’re in the home stretch now so stay with me here. Place your finished tamales in the steamer basket standing upright. If your basket isn’t tall enough (like mine was,) place them at least at a 45 degree angle, supported by a small juice glass or other support. Place the lid on the steamer basket, tilted slightly open to let steam escape.
Now let the tamales steam for at least 45 minutes. Step away from the stove and give yourself a nice round of applause. Mix yourself a margarita if you like. I actually made beef enchaladas, spicy mexican corn, and stuffed colored bell peppers along with my tamales, so look for more recipes later this month as I work out the details.
Serve your tamales by placing them on the plate and unwrapping them, watching out that you don't burn your fingers if they just came out of the steamer basket. Place a little salsa or adobo sauce on the side, pour a fresh margarita, and EAT!
Enjoy Y'all,
The Redneck Gourmet
When I was a kid, I had the opportunity to visit Mexico a couple of times with my parents on vacation. As a result, I learned to like Mexican food at an early age. Oddly enough, there was a pretty good Mexican restaurant in our little town in south Alabama in a time prior to the modern invasion of Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal. Now you can’t turn a corner in most cities without finding a Mexican restaurant, but back then they were few and far between in the southeastern US.
One item was published on the menu at our local El Palacio Restaurant which was hardly ever available…
TAMALES.
For some reason their kitchen had trouble making tamales or they couldn’t get all of the ingredients or something—but for whatever reason they were only able to serve them about one out of ten times we dined there.
Maybe it was the psychological effect of being a scarce commodity or something else in addition to their wonderful texture and flavor, but for whatever reason, in my mind…
I absolutely love tamales.
I recently decided to learn how to make them, and it isn’t easy. But let me tell you, IT’S MOST DEFINITELY WORTH THE EFFORT!
This guy’s Website is the primary basis of my efforts this afternoon. To be fair, I also have to give this web site credit for explaining the process and linking me to other sites.
Having said all of that, as usual I’m going to change things to suit my own tastes and to make enough food for two people with a reasonable amount of leftovers (most published recipes make a zillion tamales.)
Tamales consist of a precooked meat filling, surrounded by a soft, ground corn shell made from something called Masa, which is traditionally steamed in a corn husk wrapper. The corn husks are a bit of a pain to work with and cost a little extra, but I found a good substitute—parchment paper. According to my reading, you can also use waxed paper, aluminum foil, or even paper coffee filters. The key is to wrap the assembled tamales in something to keep them together during the steaming process.
I have to admit that at first glance at the label on the bag of Masa is a little frightening. “Ground corn and lime” it says. Lime? Not limes like the green fruit called limes…I mean lime like the caustic chemical lime. I’m thinking to myself that I’m making tamales, not fertilizing the yard here, so what’s with the lime--you know?
Well, I’ll have to take their word for it. Apparently the lime is common in processing corn products like hominy corn and making mesa. Tastes OK to me, by the way.
Go figure.
So here is what you need to make eight large tamales:
(2) Cups masa
(2) Tbsp corn oil
1-1/8 cup water
(1) Tsp baking powder
(1) Tsp salt
For the filling:
¾ lb beef brisket or London broil
1/8 cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Fresh-ground black pepper
(2) Tbsp lard
½ medium onion sliced thin
(4) Cloves garlic, pealed and smashed flat
(10) Black peppercorns
(1) Can of beef stock
(2) Cups of water
½ tbsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
(1) 7oz can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce
First things first. Rinse off your piece of beef and pat dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towels. Take a large meat fork and stab the beef on both sides about twenty or thirty times to make room for the marinade to soak in.
Don’t hurt yourself in the process.
Slice the slab into 1” wide strips, toss the strips into a large zip lock bag, and pour the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper inside. Press the air out of the bag and zip it closed, then massage the liquid to mix with and saturate your beef. Toss it on the kitchen counter and get the rest of your tools and ingredients ready to work with. The meat needs to marinade for at least a half hour. I let mine go a full hour. Pick up the bag every fifteen minutes and squeeze everything around to ensure that the beef and marinade is mixed real good.
To make your tamales, you are going to need a 6 quart boiler with lid, a four quart boiler with steamer basket and lid, and a large cast iron skillet.
After the meat has been marinated, place the 6 quart boiler over medium heat and toss in the beef to sear and brown on the outside. Once browned, melt the lard, then add the can of beef stock, two cups of water, the onions, garlic, peppercorns, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Bring everything to a low boil, add the cover, and cook for a couple of hours until the meat is tender and starts to fall apart. By now the liquid should have reduced by about 1/3rd. Turn off the heat and let things cool a bit.
Once the meat has cooked, pick out the larger chunks and reserve in a bowl on the side. Pour the contents of the boiler through a colander, reserving the liquid. Pick through the colander for chunks of meat you missed, and then discard the onions and garlic.
Heat the cast iron skillet over medium heat. Shred your beef into the skillet and combine with the cumin and cayenne pepper. Add the Chipotle peppers is you like (be very careful because they are spicy HOT!) As the meat starts to sizzle, pour in a little of the reserved liquid (I used about a cup.) Cook while stirring until you have a mixture about the consistency of “sloppy Joes.” Now turn off the heat again.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the Masa with the baking powder and salt and stir well. Now add the corn oil and start adding the water a little at a time as you stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. You want to make a very stiff mixture that is slightly moist but still holds together when you press it out flat in your hand.
Put about an inch of water in your boiler and set it with the steamer basket on the stove over medium heat.
Now cut your parchment paper (mine was 12”x16” sheets) into 6”x8” rectangles. Spoon out enough of your Masa mixture to cover 4”x6” of that area. I pressed my mixture out with my hand onto the parchment, then covered it with another sheet of parchment and pressed until I got a slab about 3/16” thick. To make it a proper rectangle, tear off pieces as you work and press them where you need them, then take a knife and cut the edges nice and smooth.
This isn’t geometry class, so fool with your Masa until you are happy, then spoon out about three big teaspoons full of your meat mixture in the center. Roll the finished tamale up across in the narrow direction of the paper and then fold the two ends over once. Believe it or not, I STAPLED the paper wrappers on my tamales closed like Steve did over at Hog On Ice.
You’re in the home stretch now so stay with me here. Place your finished tamales in the steamer basket standing upright. If your basket isn’t tall enough (like mine was,) place them at least at a 45 degree angle, supported by a small juice glass or other support. Place the lid on the steamer basket, tilted slightly open to let steam escape.
Now let the tamales steam for at least 45 minutes. Step away from the stove and give yourself a nice round of applause. Mix yourself a margarita if you like. I actually made beef enchaladas, spicy mexican corn, and stuffed colored bell peppers along with my tamales, so look for more recipes later this month as I work out the details.
Serve your tamales by placing them on the plate and unwrapping them, watching out that you don't burn your fingers if they just came out of the steamer basket. Place a little salsa or adobo sauce on the side, pour a fresh margarita, and EAT!
Enjoy Y'all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Funky Southwestern Chicken & Beef a la Europe
(OK you make up a name if you can do better)
Today was another lazy day on St. Simons. Beautiful weather, but with a high in the mid sixty degree range and a moderate breeze it was too cool for the pool or beach. I didn’t set foot near a grocery store, for a change, so I worked out of the fridge and the pantry to prepare dinner tonight.
This recipe is entirely of my own making so I take total responsibility if you don’t like the outcome. I call it Funky Southwestern Chicken and Beef because the presentation on the plate looks like a dish from the southwest with the cornhusks lying under the portions, but the seasoning is definitely not Tex-Mex. Pat and I were impressed with the results.
Here is what you will need to make dinner for two:
One small beef tenderloin
One boneless, skinless chicken breast
Two ears of fresh yellow corn in the husk
Three medium Yukon gold potatoes
One package Knorr Chicken gravy
Worcestershire sauce
Dried Thyme
Dried Rosemary
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper
¼ stick of butter
¼ slab of cream cheese
Half & half
The preparation:
Peal the outer leaves of the corn husk off of each ear of corn, leaving three or four layers of husk intact and wrap the corn in aluminum foil. Place the corn in a 350 degree oven for about one hour.
Rinse off your chicken and beef and pat dry. (You can use all chicken or all beef if you wish for the recipe.) Place the pieces of meat in a bowl and pour about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce over each piece. Now sprinkle each with a little Thyme, Rosemary, Paprika, and Cayenne Pepper. Let everything marinade for 20 minutes or so.
Scrub your potatoes and cut them into even pieces about 1” thick. The reason you cut them evenly is to ensure that everything cooks and gets done together. Place them on the stove in a medium boiler with enough cold water to cover, plus about ½”. Wait until you place your meat in the oven before you kick on the heat on the potatoes.
After the corn has cooked for about forty minutes, spray a medium baking dish with Pam spray and place the meat in the dish in the oven beside the pieces of corn.
Turn on the eye on the stovetop under the potatoes to medium and bring them to a low boil.
Prepare your gravy according to the package instructions, except add a few sprinkles of Thyme and Rosemary, then keep it warm on the side.
After the corn has cooked for an hour, remove it from the oven and leave it in the foil to stay warm on the side. Turn the broiler on to 450 degrees and ensure that your dish containing the meat is in the center of the rack. Let it keep cooking for another ten minutes or so.
Check your potatoes and when they are “fork tender,” turn off the heat and let them coast.
Now take the meat out of the oven and turn off your broiler. Toss your plates (oven proof, of course) into the oven to pre-heat.
Strain up your potatoes in a colander and place the drained chunks, skin and all, into a medium mixing bowl. Add the butter, the cream cheese, a few splashes of half and half, and a few twists of pepper and mash everything up with a wooden spoon. Leave the potatoes a little chunky if you like.
Unwrap the corn and peal the husk off the ears, reserving three or four sections of husk from each ear for garnish on your plates. Cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife and toss the kernels in a bowl with a little olive oil and butter. Add a few twists of pepper.
Slice the meat into thin slices, then remove the plates from the oven and place them on chargers. Arrange the corn husks on each plate in a “fan” shape, then spoon half of the mashed potatoes into a nice pile at the base of the fan on each plate. Spoon the corn around the edge of the potatoes and arrange the sliced meat around the outside edge of the fan.
Drizzle hot gravy over the potatoes and meat, toss the plates on the table, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Today was another lazy day on St. Simons. Beautiful weather, but with a high in the mid sixty degree range and a moderate breeze it was too cool for the pool or beach. I didn’t set foot near a grocery store, for a change, so I worked out of the fridge and the pantry to prepare dinner tonight.
This recipe is entirely of my own making so I take total responsibility if you don’t like the outcome. I call it Funky Southwestern Chicken and Beef because the presentation on the plate looks like a dish from the southwest with the cornhusks lying under the portions, but the seasoning is definitely not Tex-Mex. Pat and I were impressed with the results.
Here is what you will need to make dinner for two:
One small beef tenderloin
One boneless, skinless chicken breast
Two ears of fresh yellow corn in the husk
Three medium Yukon gold potatoes
One package Knorr Chicken gravy
Worcestershire sauce
Dried Thyme
Dried Rosemary
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper
¼ stick of butter
¼ slab of cream cheese
Half & half
The preparation:
Peal the outer leaves of the corn husk off of each ear of corn, leaving three or four layers of husk intact and wrap the corn in aluminum foil. Place the corn in a 350 degree oven for about one hour.
Rinse off your chicken and beef and pat dry. (You can use all chicken or all beef if you wish for the recipe.) Place the pieces of meat in a bowl and pour about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce over each piece. Now sprinkle each with a little Thyme, Rosemary, Paprika, and Cayenne Pepper. Let everything marinade for 20 minutes or so.
Scrub your potatoes and cut them into even pieces about 1” thick. The reason you cut them evenly is to ensure that everything cooks and gets done together. Place them on the stove in a medium boiler with enough cold water to cover, plus about ½”. Wait until you place your meat in the oven before you kick on the heat on the potatoes.
After the corn has cooked for about forty minutes, spray a medium baking dish with Pam spray and place the meat in the dish in the oven beside the pieces of corn.
Turn on the eye on the stovetop under the potatoes to medium and bring them to a low boil.
Prepare your gravy according to the package instructions, except add a few sprinkles of Thyme and Rosemary, then keep it warm on the side.
After the corn has cooked for an hour, remove it from the oven and leave it in the foil to stay warm on the side. Turn the broiler on to 450 degrees and ensure that your dish containing the meat is in the center of the rack. Let it keep cooking for another ten minutes or so.
Check your potatoes and when they are “fork tender,” turn off the heat and let them coast.
Now take the meat out of the oven and turn off your broiler. Toss your plates (oven proof, of course) into the oven to pre-heat.
Strain up your potatoes in a colander and place the drained chunks, skin and all, into a medium mixing bowl. Add the butter, the cream cheese, a few splashes of half and half, and a few twists of pepper and mash everything up with a wooden spoon. Leave the potatoes a little chunky if you like.
Unwrap the corn and peal the husk off the ears, reserving three or four sections of husk from each ear for garnish on your plates. Cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife and toss the kernels in a bowl with a little olive oil and butter. Add a few twists of pepper.
Slice the meat into thin slices, then remove the plates from the oven and place them on chargers. Arrange the corn husks on each plate in a “fan” shape, then spoon half of the mashed potatoes into a nice pile at the base of the fan on each plate. Spoon the corn around the edge of the potatoes and arrange the sliced meat around the outside edge of the fan.
Drizzle hot gravy over the potatoes and meat, toss the plates on the table, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Pasta Machine
If you are considering buying one--Don't.
If you already have one, buy a rope or chain, take it to the lake or ocean, and use it for a boat anchor...
More later
If you already have one, buy a rope or chain, take it to the lake or ocean, and use it for a boat anchor...
More later
PiZZa!!
I love good pizza. Not just any pizza, I want good pizza.
Truly good pizza is hard to find. You have to drive to New York City, Chicago, or obscure places like Sidestreet Pizza in Tryon, North Carolina if you want to eat a good pizza pie. There is also a place in the Atlanta suburbs called New York Pizza Exchange that makes an excellent pizza and saved us a few round trips on Delta Airlines to get pizza when we lived in nearby Vinings, Georgia.
If you have never had what I consider to be good pizza, you are missing a real culinary treat. This means that if you eat pizza you are probably happy having Pizza Hut, Dominoes, or Pappa John’s deliver some mishy-mash of cheese stuffed crust with cinnamon sticks and a large bottle of flat soda to your door for $13.98 (such a deal) with a coupon. Every time I try this approach, I swear to myself that I’ll never do it again.
My other home pizza solution has been to modify a store bought frozen pizza like those produced by the DiGiorno division of Kraft Foods. You may have done this drill yourself—take a basic three meat thick crust pizza, toss on some extra mozzarella cheese, black olives, sliced mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese, and pop it in the oven.
The result? OK Pizza. Not good…just OK.
I’ve recently solved my pizza cravings because I’ve learned how to make my own pizza crust. While the crust takes a while, the toppings are a no-brainer. The guys and gals over at The Artisan.net gave me all I needed to know about making pizza dough and I’ve done it twice in the past week and believe me when I tell you that this recipe works.
It’s not something that you can do in thirty minutes after you get home from work and the kids are screaming, but you can do it on a Saturday afternoon when you have the time to let the dough rise.
I said LET THE DOUGH RISE. The first time I made the recipe I was hard headed and rushed the process, didn’t let the dough rise fully, and used all of the dough to make one really fat, 2” thick crust 14” pizza. The dough tasted fine, but it was way too much crust for a single pizza.
This afternoon I took my time, let the dough rise properly, and made two thick crust 13” pizzas. Mama Mia…It Worked—I can hardly believe that I made these pizzas.
Here is what I did:
For the Dough Starter—
¾ cup plain flour (not self rising)
¼ cup warm water
1 pack of fast acting yeast
For the main dough—
2-1/4 cups plain flour
1 cup room temperature water
1 tsp salt
For the Tomato Sauce (enough for two pizzas)—
(1) 8 oz can Hunts No Salt Tomato Sauce
(1) 6 oz can tomato paste
½ can Beef broth
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried turmeric
A couple twists of fresh ground black pepper
Toppings—Take your pick, you know what you like…I used
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sliced pepperoni
Spicy Italian Saussage
Sliced black olives
Sliced button mushrooms
Marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
Sun dried tomatoes
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Crumbled Feta cheese
Making the dough—
Just like the web site I referenced says, making the dough is a two part process.
First you make the starter by combining the warm water and the yeast in a small glass measuring cup. Stir the mixture up and let it set for ten minutes. This activates the little yeast beasties and gives them a chance to stretch their legs and get ready to do some work for you.
Once you have a ¼ cup of hungry yeast, howling for something to eat, pour your water yeast mixture into a small mixing bowl containing ¾ cup of flour. Take a wooden spoon and stir everything up until the dough starts to pull away from the walls of the bowl. Knead the dough a little with your fingers, shape into a ball, and then cover the dough with a clean dishtowel and let it rise for thirty to forty-five minutes. Fix yourself a drink and get the rest of your ingredients ready. Watch a little TV if you want.
When you starter has risen, add your 1 cup of water into your starter and stir it all up to dilute. In a large mixing bowl combine the 2-1/4 cups of flour and the 1 tsp salt and mix thoroughly. Now add your starter/water mixture to your flour/salt mixture and mix it all together with a wooden spoon or, if you’re brave like me, with your bare hands.
Redneck Tip: Wash your hands, then dry them and pour a teaspoon of olive oil into one hand and oil your hands before working with the flour. This will cause the dough to not stick as badly.
Keep working your dough until it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Lightly dust the clean countertop or a large cutting board with flour, then turn out your blob of dough and knead it for a few minutes. I’m not going to try to tell you exactly how to knead dough here, it’s not rocket science, but it is important to work your dough to mix the ingredients but not over work it—else it will be tough. As I’ve said earlier, practice makes perfect.
Now divide your dough into two even balls, cover them with clean dishtowels, and allow them to rise from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The dough should double in size, so you can adjust your “rise” time based on what your eyeballs tell you.
While you are waiting, make your sauce by combining the tomato sauce, tomato paste, beef broth, and spices in a small boiler over low heat. Heat until you want to use some, but don’t boil.
When you are close to having the dough ready, kick the heat on your oven up to 500 degrees F. The web site says use a pizza stone. Sorry folks, but I don’t have one…YET. I’m going to get one, but in the mean time I use a vented aluminum pizza pan. The idea here is to allow the bottom of the crust to cook well and become crispy. The pan works pretty well in my opinion, but I am going to go buy a pizza stone shortly.
When your dough has adequately risen, uncover it, move it to the side, and re-flour your work surface. Now place your dough in the center of the work area and fold the dough back onto itself from four directions, trying to maintain a round shape. Now kneed the dough gently and work it out with your hands (or use a rolling pin) into a 13” or 14” round shape, maintaining a thicker rim and a thin middle section.
I actually picked my crust up and worked it with my knuckles in the air like the pizza guys do on TV. If you tear a little hole in it, just place it back on the work surface and pinch the hole closed. When you are happy with your crust or afraid to mess with it further, place it on your pan (or stone.)
Now this step is important. Drizzle a little olive oil over the center of the crust, omitting the outside edges if you want them crispy. Smear the oil around with a spoon or your fingers to evenly coat the crust. This oil is important in order to keep the tomato sauce and other juices from soaking into your crust while it cooks.
Now smear four or five tablespoons of tomato sauce over the center of your crust. Use a large wooden spoon to evenly spread the sauce over the area—not too thick. I like to cook my pizza with a thin coating of sauce and place extra sauce on the side on the table.
Sprinkle a layer of Mozzarella cheese over the sauce, add your other ingredients, and another layer of cheese if you want.
Now you are on the downhill stretch. Toss your pizza in the oven, pour yourself a glass of wine, and do a few dishes while it cooks. My oven takes about 20 minutes at 500 degrees.
Pull the pizza out and place on a cutting board, place your extra sauce in a bowl on the table, slice your pizza, toss it on plates, top of the wine glasses, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Truly good pizza is hard to find. You have to drive to New York City, Chicago, or obscure places like Sidestreet Pizza in Tryon, North Carolina if you want to eat a good pizza pie. There is also a place in the Atlanta suburbs called New York Pizza Exchange that makes an excellent pizza and saved us a few round trips on Delta Airlines to get pizza when we lived in nearby Vinings, Georgia.
If you have never had what I consider to be good pizza, you are missing a real culinary treat. This means that if you eat pizza you are probably happy having Pizza Hut, Dominoes, or Pappa John’s deliver some mishy-mash of cheese stuffed crust with cinnamon sticks and a large bottle of flat soda to your door for $13.98 (such a deal) with a coupon. Every time I try this approach, I swear to myself that I’ll never do it again.
My other home pizza solution has been to modify a store bought frozen pizza like those produced by the DiGiorno division of Kraft Foods. You may have done this drill yourself—take a basic three meat thick crust pizza, toss on some extra mozzarella cheese, black olives, sliced mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese, and pop it in the oven.
The result? OK Pizza. Not good…just OK.
I’ve recently solved my pizza cravings because I’ve learned how to make my own pizza crust. While the crust takes a while, the toppings are a no-brainer. The guys and gals over at The Artisan.net gave me all I needed to know about making pizza dough and I’ve done it twice in the past week and believe me when I tell you that this recipe works.
It’s not something that you can do in thirty minutes after you get home from work and the kids are screaming, but you can do it on a Saturday afternoon when you have the time to let the dough rise.
I said LET THE DOUGH RISE. The first time I made the recipe I was hard headed and rushed the process, didn’t let the dough rise fully, and used all of the dough to make one really fat, 2” thick crust 14” pizza. The dough tasted fine, but it was way too much crust for a single pizza.
This afternoon I took my time, let the dough rise properly, and made two thick crust 13” pizzas. Mama Mia…It Worked—I can hardly believe that I made these pizzas.
Here is what I did:
For the Dough Starter—
¾ cup plain flour (not self rising)
¼ cup warm water
1 pack of fast acting yeast
For the main dough—
2-1/4 cups plain flour
1 cup room temperature water
1 tsp salt
For the Tomato Sauce (enough for two pizzas)—
(1) 8 oz can Hunts No Salt Tomato Sauce
(1) 6 oz can tomato paste
½ can Beef broth
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried turmeric
A couple twists of fresh ground black pepper
Toppings—Take your pick, you know what you like…I used
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sliced pepperoni
Spicy Italian Saussage
Sliced black olives
Sliced button mushrooms
Marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
Sun dried tomatoes
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Crumbled Feta cheese
Making the dough—
Just like the web site I referenced says, making the dough is a two part process.
First you make the starter by combining the warm water and the yeast in a small glass measuring cup. Stir the mixture up and let it set for ten minutes. This activates the little yeast beasties and gives them a chance to stretch their legs and get ready to do some work for you.
Once you have a ¼ cup of hungry yeast, howling for something to eat, pour your water yeast mixture into a small mixing bowl containing ¾ cup of flour. Take a wooden spoon and stir everything up until the dough starts to pull away from the walls of the bowl. Knead the dough a little with your fingers, shape into a ball, and then cover the dough with a clean dishtowel and let it rise for thirty to forty-five minutes. Fix yourself a drink and get the rest of your ingredients ready. Watch a little TV if you want.
When you starter has risen, add your 1 cup of water into your starter and stir it all up to dilute. In a large mixing bowl combine the 2-1/4 cups of flour and the 1 tsp salt and mix thoroughly. Now add your starter/water mixture to your flour/salt mixture and mix it all together with a wooden spoon or, if you’re brave like me, with your bare hands.
Redneck Tip: Wash your hands, then dry them and pour a teaspoon of olive oil into one hand and oil your hands before working with the flour. This will cause the dough to not stick as badly.
Keep working your dough until it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Lightly dust the clean countertop or a large cutting board with flour, then turn out your blob of dough and knead it for a few minutes. I’m not going to try to tell you exactly how to knead dough here, it’s not rocket science, but it is important to work your dough to mix the ingredients but not over work it—else it will be tough. As I’ve said earlier, practice makes perfect.
Now divide your dough into two even balls, cover them with clean dishtowels, and allow them to rise from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The dough should double in size, so you can adjust your “rise” time based on what your eyeballs tell you.
While you are waiting, make your sauce by combining the tomato sauce, tomato paste, beef broth, and spices in a small boiler over low heat. Heat until you want to use some, but don’t boil.
When you are close to having the dough ready, kick the heat on your oven up to 500 degrees F. The web site says use a pizza stone. Sorry folks, but I don’t have one…YET. I’m going to get one, but in the mean time I use a vented aluminum pizza pan. The idea here is to allow the bottom of the crust to cook well and become crispy. The pan works pretty well in my opinion, but I am going to go buy a pizza stone shortly.
When your dough has adequately risen, uncover it, move it to the side, and re-flour your work surface. Now place your dough in the center of the work area and fold the dough back onto itself from four directions, trying to maintain a round shape. Now kneed the dough gently and work it out with your hands (or use a rolling pin) into a 13” or 14” round shape, maintaining a thicker rim and a thin middle section.
I actually picked my crust up and worked it with my knuckles in the air like the pizza guys do on TV. If you tear a little hole in it, just place it back on the work surface and pinch the hole closed. When you are happy with your crust or afraid to mess with it further, place it on your pan (or stone.)
Now this step is important. Drizzle a little olive oil over the center of the crust, omitting the outside edges if you want them crispy. Smear the oil around with a spoon or your fingers to evenly coat the crust. This oil is important in order to keep the tomato sauce and other juices from soaking into your crust while it cooks.
Now smear four or five tablespoons of tomato sauce over the center of your crust. Use a large wooden spoon to evenly spread the sauce over the area—not too thick. I like to cook my pizza with a thin coating of sauce and place extra sauce on the side on the table.
Sprinkle a layer of Mozzarella cheese over the sauce, add your other ingredients, and another layer of cheese if you want.
Now you are on the downhill stretch. Toss your pizza in the oven, pour yourself a glass of wine, and do a few dishes while it cooks. My oven takes about 20 minutes at 500 degrees.
Pull the pizza out and place on a cutting board, place your extra sauce in a bowl on the table, slice your pizza, toss it on plates, top of the wine glasses, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Pork Pasta Primavera
(with vegetables)
I love being able to toss things together on the spur of the moment. Pat’s heading back to Chicago this morning and we have a fridge full of extra “stuff” I’ve bought as a result of having her working from home the past few weeks.
Before we wandered out to the pool yesterday afternoon (yes—we’re already working on our sun tans in April here on St. Simons,) I browsed through the freezer and the pantry and here is what I came up with for dinner for two.
The ingredients:
1 medium pork tenderloin (1/3 to 1/2 lb?)
1 cup of frozen English peas
1 crown of broccoli
1 chunk of cauliflower
1 medium carrot, sliced
8 oz colored Rotini pasta
For the Primavera Sauce
¼ stick semi sweat unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic, crushed and diced very, very fine
A few twists of fresh ground black pepper
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped fine
¾ cup grated fresh Pecorino Romano Locatelli Cheese (Parmesan will also do)
The process:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Redneck Tip: Be very careful with your use of salt in everything as the cheese is VERY salty in the Primavera Sauce.
Rinse the pork tenderloin and pat dry with a dishtowel or paper towel. Marinade the pork in a little balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce or whatever, seasoning with pepper (no salt.)
While your pork is swimming, chop the broccoli and cauliflower into small pieces and toss the pieces along with the peas into your steamer basket over an inch of water in a boiler on the stovetop. Kick the heat up to medium.
Place a four quart boiler with two quarts of water for the pasta on the stovetop over medium heat, adding a DASH of salt and a little butter or olive oil.
When your oven is up to temperature, place the pork tenderloin in a greased dish in the oven and cook until the meat is 160 degrees F.
Redneck Tip: Use a meat thermometer, not your finger or tongue, to determine the temperature of the Pork….Duuuhhh.
Melt half the butter for the Primavera Sauce in a two quart boiler over medium low heat.
When your Pork reaches 140 degrees F and your water is boiling, put your Rotini pasta in the boiler and cook about 8 minutes or until al dente.
Redneck Tip: Al Dente is Italian for “how you like it”—no actually it means “to the tooth” i.e. firm, not soft or mushy.
Meanwhile, back with the sauce, after the butter has melted, stir in the cream and egg yolk, and whisk for another minute. Now add the garlic and cheese and keep stirring until the cheese melts.
Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter and parsley and add a few twists of fresh pepper. Take the boiler off of the eye and keep stirring so that it doesn’t overheat.
Turn off the heat on the pasta and vegetables and pull your pork out of the oven and let it rest. Put a couple of pasta bowls into the oven to preheat
Strain up the pasta and toss with a little olive oil. Now add the vegetables to the pasta and toss with your Primavera sauce.
Slice the pork tenderloin into thin slices and serve on top of the pasta vegetable mixture.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
I love being able to toss things together on the spur of the moment. Pat’s heading back to Chicago this morning and we have a fridge full of extra “stuff” I’ve bought as a result of having her working from home the past few weeks.
Before we wandered out to the pool yesterday afternoon (yes—we’re already working on our sun tans in April here on St. Simons,) I browsed through the freezer and the pantry and here is what I came up with for dinner for two.
The ingredients:
1 medium pork tenderloin (1/3 to 1/2 lb?)
1 cup of frozen English peas
1 crown of broccoli
1 chunk of cauliflower
1 medium carrot, sliced
8 oz colored Rotini pasta
For the Primavera Sauce
¼ stick semi sweat unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic, crushed and diced very, very fine
A few twists of fresh ground black pepper
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped fine
¾ cup grated fresh Pecorino Romano Locatelli Cheese (Parmesan will also do)
The process:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Redneck Tip: Be very careful with your use of salt in everything as the cheese is VERY salty in the Primavera Sauce.
Rinse the pork tenderloin and pat dry with a dishtowel or paper towel. Marinade the pork in a little balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce or whatever, seasoning with pepper (no salt.)
While your pork is swimming, chop the broccoli and cauliflower into small pieces and toss the pieces along with the peas into your steamer basket over an inch of water in a boiler on the stovetop. Kick the heat up to medium.
Place a four quart boiler with two quarts of water for the pasta on the stovetop over medium heat, adding a DASH of salt and a little butter or olive oil.
When your oven is up to temperature, place the pork tenderloin in a greased dish in the oven and cook until the meat is 160 degrees F.
Redneck Tip: Use a meat thermometer, not your finger or tongue, to determine the temperature of the Pork….Duuuhhh.
Melt half the butter for the Primavera Sauce in a two quart boiler over medium low heat.
When your Pork reaches 140 degrees F and your water is boiling, put your Rotini pasta in the boiler and cook about 8 minutes or until al dente.
Redneck Tip: Al Dente is Italian for “how you like it”—no actually it means “to the tooth” i.e. firm, not soft or mushy.
Meanwhile, back with the sauce, after the butter has melted, stir in the cream and egg yolk, and whisk for another minute. Now add the garlic and cheese and keep stirring until the cheese melts.
Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter and parsley and add a few twists of fresh pepper. Take the boiler off of the eye and keep stirring so that it doesn’t overheat.
Turn off the heat on the pasta and vegetables and pull your pork out of the oven and let it rest. Put a couple of pasta bowls into the oven to preheat
Strain up the pasta and toss with a little olive oil. Now add the vegetables to the pasta and toss with your Primavera sauce.
Slice the pork tenderloin into thin slices and serve on top of the pasta vegetable mixture.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Salsa
(More fun with the food processor)
I love salsa, but in my opinion, it is not worth the price you pay for it in the grocery store. I break down and buy some every now and then, but I find that making my own Salsa is easy, fun, and very cost effective—especially since I got my food processor.
I’ve made three kinds of salsa in the past two weeks. Actually, two kinds—I just left the garlic out of part of one to satisfy my girl Pat’s taste buds.
Basically, salsa consists of a variety of things found on the fruit and vegetable isle of the grocery store, all ground up and seasoned with some spices and a little vinegar. For instance, there is…
Plain Salsa:
Into the food processor toss the following:
Two medium tomatoes, cut into large cubes (seeded if you want to)
One seeded jalapeno pepper (or leave the seeds in if you want more “heat”)
One quarter medium onion, cubed.
As much garlic as you can stand—at least one clove (I like two or three)
A few sprigs of fresh Cilantro
Two or three table spoons of white vinegar
Salt to taste
A couple of twists on the old pepper mill.
Start out with the seasonings and the onion and garlic so that it will spread out and not end up as a few large mind blowing chunks in someone’s mouth. Place the garlic, salt, pepper, vinegar, and jalapeno pepper in the basin of your food processor and grind on high speed until you get a fine paste. Now scrape down the walls of the basin.
Now throw in the tomatoes and cilantro and press the “Pulse button” on the food processor until everything is cut up to the consistency you want.
If you want chunky salsa for use on tacos, burritos, or as a side on a plate of Mexican food, then make it chunky by going easy on the pulse button.
If, however, you prefer that thin, watery stuff that they throw in front of you with tortilla chips when you sit down at the local “Casa de Pedro Cantina” or wherever you go to get your fix of Mexican food, then turn the food processor on high and go take a shower.
When you get back you’ll have thin, watery salsa that tastes exactly the same but has no texture and character. I happen to like texture in my salsa.
A trick I’ve learned is to put part (two thirds or so) of your major ingredients including all of the spices and seasonings into the basin of the food processor, chop it all up fairly fine, then throw in the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, or whatever you are using and then carefully hit the pulse button a few more times. This way you get a variable consistency including a flavorful base of flavor to please your taste buds and tongue, with larger chunks included to give your molars something to do. I like to get my entire mouth involved with my cooking.
Next we have Tomatillo Salsa:
Tomatillos look like a small green tomato in a brown paper wrapper. They are a relative of the tomato, but have a tart flavor with a little ‘bite” like a mild pepper.
The local grocer has a Tomatillo salsa that they sell for about four dollars. I love it, but I think that I can figure out how to make it myself. Here is what I did…
Six two inch Tomatillos, with the brown wrapper removed
One quarter of a medium onion
One or Two seeded jalapeno peppers (or leave the seeds in if you want more “heat”)
As much garlic as you can stand—at least one clove (I like two or three)
A few sprigs of fresh Cilantro
Two or three table spoons of white vinegar
Salt to taste
A couple of twists on the old pepper mill.
Again, put the onion, garlic, vinegar, and spices into your basin and puree to a paste. Scrape down the sides of the basin, then add four or five of the Tomatillos (and some more onion if you want) and pulse the food processor to you get the consistency you want.
Now do another cycle by adding the last Tomatillo(s) (and yet more onion—ummm, ummm, good) and pulse until it looks right.
As always, I suggest that you TASTE WHAT YOU JUST MADE. So, TASTE YOUR SALSA.
Does it need anything? More salt? A little more vinegar?
Then add it, then place your salsa in a bowl and toss it in the fridge for an hour or so.
When you get ready to watch “the big game” or the NASCAR race, grab yourself some chips and then EAT!
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
I love salsa, but in my opinion, it is not worth the price you pay for it in the grocery store. I break down and buy some every now and then, but I find that making my own Salsa is easy, fun, and very cost effective—especially since I got my food processor.
I’ve made three kinds of salsa in the past two weeks. Actually, two kinds—I just left the garlic out of part of one to satisfy my girl Pat’s taste buds.
Basically, salsa consists of a variety of things found on the fruit and vegetable isle of the grocery store, all ground up and seasoned with some spices and a little vinegar. For instance, there is…
Plain Salsa:
Into the food processor toss the following:
Two medium tomatoes, cut into large cubes (seeded if you want to)
One seeded jalapeno pepper (or leave the seeds in if you want more “heat”)
One quarter medium onion, cubed.
As much garlic as you can stand—at least one clove (I like two or three)
A few sprigs of fresh Cilantro
Two or three table spoons of white vinegar
Salt to taste
A couple of twists on the old pepper mill.
Start out with the seasonings and the onion and garlic so that it will spread out and not end up as a few large mind blowing chunks in someone’s mouth. Place the garlic, salt, pepper, vinegar, and jalapeno pepper in the basin of your food processor and grind on high speed until you get a fine paste. Now scrape down the walls of the basin.
Now throw in the tomatoes and cilantro and press the “Pulse button” on the food processor until everything is cut up to the consistency you want.
If you want chunky salsa for use on tacos, burritos, or as a side on a plate of Mexican food, then make it chunky by going easy on the pulse button.
If, however, you prefer that thin, watery stuff that they throw in front of you with tortilla chips when you sit down at the local “Casa de Pedro Cantina” or wherever you go to get your fix of Mexican food, then turn the food processor on high and go take a shower.
When you get back you’ll have thin, watery salsa that tastes exactly the same but has no texture and character. I happen to like texture in my salsa.
A trick I’ve learned is to put part (two thirds or so) of your major ingredients including all of the spices and seasonings into the basin of the food processor, chop it all up fairly fine, then throw in the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, or whatever you are using and then carefully hit the pulse button a few more times. This way you get a variable consistency including a flavorful base of flavor to please your taste buds and tongue, with larger chunks included to give your molars something to do. I like to get my entire mouth involved with my cooking.
Next we have Tomatillo Salsa:
Tomatillos look like a small green tomato in a brown paper wrapper. They are a relative of the tomato, but have a tart flavor with a little ‘bite” like a mild pepper.
The local grocer has a Tomatillo salsa that they sell for about four dollars. I love it, but I think that I can figure out how to make it myself. Here is what I did…
Six two inch Tomatillos, with the brown wrapper removed
One quarter of a medium onion
One or Two seeded jalapeno peppers (or leave the seeds in if you want more “heat”)
As much garlic as you can stand—at least one clove (I like two or three)
A few sprigs of fresh Cilantro
Two or three table spoons of white vinegar
Salt to taste
A couple of twists on the old pepper mill.
Again, put the onion, garlic, vinegar, and spices into your basin and puree to a paste. Scrape down the sides of the basin, then add four or five of the Tomatillos (and some more onion if you want) and pulse the food processor to you get the consistency you want.
Now do another cycle by adding the last Tomatillo(s) (and yet more onion—ummm, ummm, good) and pulse until it looks right.
As always, I suggest that you TASTE WHAT YOU JUST MADE. So, TASTE YOUR SALSA.
Does it need anything? More salt? A little more vinegar?
Then add it, then place your salsa in a bowl and toss it in the fridge for an hour or so.
When you get ready to watch “the big game” or the NASCAR race, grab yourself some chips and then EAT!
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Food Processor!
(And Asian Coleslaw)
There are some things in life that I have resisted owning, often times for good reason. Even if my bank account was bulging at the seams, I’ve generally resisted certain extravagances in favor of working my way up through the learning curve in an effort to truly understand the fundamental concepts of a given endeavor.
I once bought a $700 water ski, even though I had only owned a boat capable of pulling a skier for about a year. That exercise turned out OK because in water skiing, cost equates with quality and performance and I advanced a lot faster in my slalom skiing efforts as a result of owning my fancy ski.
I’ve done all of my cooking to date using a chef’s knife and a few inexpensive smaller knives for chopping, dicing, paring, julienne, and otherwise mutilating my cooking ingredients. I literally spent hours last spring chopping up cabbage and other vegetables to make large quantities of three types of slaw to take to a single cookout.
I believe that I know how to use a chef's knife and it has been my primary tool in prep work for years. Not anymore, because my mother gave me a food processor last weekend.
I love it.
Unless someone stops me, I’m just libel to grind up everything in Glynn County Georgia in the next few weeks. Last night I made a version of coleslaw that I found in an old issue of Bon Appetit magazine.
Here is what you need:
½ head green cabbage
¼ head red cabbage
1 carrot
¼ large red bell pepper
¼ large yellow bell pepper
3 green onions
For the Dressing:
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp golden brown sugar
1 tbsp minced pealed fresh gingerroot
¾ tbsp minced garlic
Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small mixing bowl and let stand covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Now break out that gleaming new food processor and get going making small pieces out of large pieces. Slice the cabbage and bell peppers down to pieces that will fit in your food processor “chute.”
Run the vegetables through the food processor according to the manufacturers’ instructions. When the container gets full, dump the contents out into a large mixing bowl to make more room. Once everything is chopped up, reach in the mixing bowl with your hands and mix everything up nice and evenly.
Redneck Tip: Wash your hands, fool.
Now drizzle your dressing over the vegetables and toss everything again to coat evenly. Place in the refrigerator to chill. While your slaw is chilling, cook a burger or a hotdog or fry up some chicken, break out your slaw, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
There are some things in life that I have resisted owning, often times for good reason. Even if my bank account was bulging at the seams, I’ve generally resisted certain extravagances in favor of working my way up through the learning curve in an effort to truly understand the fundamental concepts of a given endeavor.
I once bought a $700 water ski, even though I had only owned a boat capable of pulling a skier for about a year. That exercise turned out OK because in water skiing, cost equates with quality and performance and I advanced a lot faster in my slalom skiing efforts as a result of owning my fancy ski.
I’ve done all of my cooking to date using a chef’s knife and a few inexpensive smaller knives for chopping, dicing, paring, julienne, and otherwise mutilating my cooking ingredients. I literally spent hours last spring chopping up cabbage and other vegetables to make large quantities of three types of slaw to take to a single cookout.
I believe that I know how to use a chef's knife and it has been my primary tool in prep work for years. Not anymore, because my mother gave me a food processor last weekend.
I love it.
Unless someone stops me, I’m just libel to grind up everything in Glynn County Georgia in the next few weeks. Last night I made a version of coleslaw that I found in an old issue of Bon Appetit magazine.
Here is what you need:
½ head green cabbage
¼ head red cabbage
1 carrot
¼ large red bell pepper
¼ large yellow bell pepper
3 green onions
For the Dressing:
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp golden brown sugar
1 tbsp minced pealed fresh gingerroot
¾ tbsp minced garlic
Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small mixing bowl and let stand covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Now break out that gleaming new food processor and get going making small pieces out of large pieces. Slice the cabbage and bell peppers down to pieces that will fit in your food processor “chute.”
Run the vegetables through the food processor according to the manufacturers’ instructions. When the container gets full, dump the contents out into a large mixing bowl to make more room. Once everything is chopped up, reach in the mixing bowl with your hands and mix everything up nice and evenly.
Redneck Tip: Wash your hands, fool.
Now drizzle your dressing over the vegetables and toss everything again to coat evenly. Place in the refrigerator to chill. While your slaw is chilling, cook a burger or a hotdog or fry up some chicken, break out your slaw, and EAT!
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Lentil and Pasta Soup
I found myself hungry and in a hurry the other night. As usual, I started poking around my pantry and I came across a package of dried lentils I had bought on sale several months ago.
Being from the south, I have to admit that Lentils are a bit foreign to me. Pinto beans, black eyed peas, butter beans and butter peas, crowder peas—I love every form of legume including the peanut, but I’ve only eaten lentils maybe a half dozen times in my entire life. All I had ever heard of was lentil soup, so I made some. It was easy
¼ to ½ of an onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, diced very fine
1 carrot, pealed and diced fine
1 stalk of celery, diced fine
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 can beef stock
1 can chicken stock
2-3 cups hot water (you be the judge—got company coming over?)
1 cup (about ½ package) dried lentils
½ cup orzo pasta
Heat the olive oil in a four quart boiler over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrot and celery and keep stirring. Now add the garlic and cook until the onions are clear.
Toss in the thyme, the bay leaf, the spices, the beef stock and the chicken stock and turn up the heat to medium. Cook everything for another ten minutes or so until it reaches a low simmer. Now add the lentils and 2 cups of water. Stir it all up, bring it back to a simmer and cover with a lid.
Cook for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat so that the mixture doesn’t boil.
When the lentils are tender, add the Orzo pasta and let it all cook for another fifteen minutes. Add a little more water or stock if things get too thick. Taste your soup and add a little kosher salt if you want.
Turn down the heat, ladle out some soup into a bowl, grab some soda crackers, and EAT.
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Being from the south, I have to admit that Lentils are a bit foreign to me. Pinto beans, black eyed peas, butter beans and butter peas, crowder peas—I love every form of legume including the peanut, but I’ve only eaten lentils maybe a half dozen times in my entire life. All I had ever heard of was lentil soup, so I made some. It was easy
¼ to ½ of an onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, diced very fine
1 carrot, pealed and diced fine
1 stalk of celery, diced fine
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 can beef stock
1 can chicken stock
2-3 cups hot water (you be the judge—got company coming over?)
1 cup (about ½ package) dried lentils
½ cup orzo pasta
Heat the olive oil in a four quart boiler over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrot and celery and keep stirring. Now add the garlic and cook until the onions are clear.
Toss in the thyme, the bay leaf, the spices, the beef stock and the chicken stock and turn up the heat to medium. Cook everything for another ten minutes or so until it reaches a low simmer. Now add the lentils and 2 cups of water. Stir it all up, bring it back to a simmer and cover with a lid.
Cook for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat so that the mixture doesn’t boil.
When the lentils are tender, add the Orzo pasta and let it all cook for another fifteen minutes. Add a little more water or stock if things get too thick. Taste your soup and add a little kosher salt if you want.
Turn down the heat, ladle out some soup into a bowl, grab some soda crackers, and EAT.
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Cheese Stuffed Shells With Tomato Meat Sauce
I’ve been cooking variations on this dish for about eight years now. The original recipe came off of the Muellers Pasta Manicotti box. When I first started cooking it I was quite intimidated by the concepts involved because I was early in my cooking career, but it is really not that hard to make—it just takes a little time and the results are definitely worth the efforts.
Last night I threw together a variation on my standard tomato sauce by tossing in some ground beef and Italian sausage. You can use the hollow tubular Manicotti shells or the Jumbo Shells that look like seashells. Either one yields basically the same dish, but the Jumbo Shells are easier to stuff. Here is what you will need…
Tomato Meat Sauce:
1 tsp extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced fine
(1) 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
(1) 14.5 oz can pureed tomatoes
(1) Can beef stock
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried parsley
½ tbsp dried basil
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika
½ lb lean ground chuck
1 link Italian sausage
For the Stuffing:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
One 8 oz package Mozzarella cheese
Two 15 oz packages Ricotta Cheese
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
½ cup chopped parsley
Topping:
One 8 oz package mozzarella cheese
Start the sauce first. Pour the olive oil into the bottom of a six quart boiler over medium low heat. Dice your onion and toss it in the oil and cook for a few minutes, then throw in you garlic and cook until the onions are clear.
Add the canned tomatoes to the onions and garlic, then add the beef stock and stir it all up. Next add the spices and bring everything to a low simmer and cook for a half hour, stirring every now and then.
While your sauce is simmering, lightly brown your ground beef and sausage in a medium skillet. Drain off any grease that cooks out of the meat.
Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, the mozzarella cheese, the parsley, the beaten eggs, and the spices. Stir everything up to mix well and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
After the sauce has cooked for a half hour or so, add the browned meat and stir it all up. Keep cooking at a low simmer.
After the sauce has cooked and reduced for a while, place a six quart boiler on the stove and fill with four quarts of salted water. Add a splash of olive oil. Bring the water to a boil and add your pasta (shells or manicotti.) Cook according to the package instructions, about 14 or 15 minutes. Don’t get all excited and stir the pasta too much because you will tear these big old shells if you are not careful.
Drain the shells through a colander, and toss them with a little olive oil, again being careful to not tear them up while handling them. Now set them aside to let them cool.
Turn off the heat on the sauce and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, get out a 9” x 13” Pyrex baking dish, and grease the inside of the dish. Now, while the oven is preheating, stuff your shells with the cheese mixture. Wash your hands and don’t be afraid to get the mixture on you while you work with it. For the Manicotti, I find that you can use the handle end of a butter knife as a “plunger” to push the cheese mixture into the shell from each end. Work over the bowl and keep stuffing until some of the mixture comes back out the other end.
The jumbo shells are easier to stuff because you can just spread them open with your thumb and fingers and spoon the stuffing into each shell. Place your stuffed pasta in uniform rows in the bottom of the baking dish. I usually get five shells side by side in about five or six rows. Don’t worry about using all of your shells—just stuff the number that you need to fill the bottom of the baking dish.
Now evenly spoon the tomato meat sauce over the stuffed shells to cover, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top, and pop the dish in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.
Step back from the stove and give yourself a nice round of applause. Now rinse off your pots and pans and load the dishwasher while you drink a glass of wine in anticipation of dinner.
When the shells are done, pull the dish out of the oven and allow it to cool for ten or fifteen minutes. Place a couple of large pasta bowls in the oven to warm.
With a large spatula, cut and lift out two or three stuffed shells and some sauce and place in the center of the pasta bowls. Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top, grab a fork and napkin, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Last night I threw together a variation on my standard tomato sauce by tossing in some ground beef and Italian sausage. You can use the hollow tubular Manicotti shells or the Jumbo Shells that look like seashells. Either one yields basically the same dish, but the Jumbo Shells are easier to stuff. Here is what you will need…
Tomato Meat Sauce:
1 tsp extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced fine
(1) 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
(1) 14.5 oz can pureed tomatoes
(1) Can beef stock
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried parsley
½ tbsp dried basil
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika
½ lb lean ground chuck
1 link Italian sausage
For the Stuffing:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
One 8 oz package Mozzarella cheese
Two 15 oz packages Ricotta Cheese
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
½ cup chopped parsley
Topping:
One 8 oz package mozzarella cheese
Start the sauce first. Pour the olive oil into the bottom of a six quart boiler over medium low heat. Dice your onion and toss it in the oil and cook for a few minutes, then throw in you garlic and cook until the onions are clear.
Add the canned tomatoes to the onions and garlic, then add the beef stock and stir it all up. Next add the spices and bring everything to a low simmer and cook for a half hour, stirring every now and then.
While your sauce is simmering, lightly brown your ground beef and sausage in a medium skillet. Drain off any grease that cooks out of the meat.
Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, the mozzarella cheese, the parsley, the beaten eggs, and the spices. Stir everything up to mix well and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
After the sauce has cooked for a half hour or so, add the browned meat and stir it all up. Keep cooking at a low simmer.
After the sauce has cooked and reduced for a while, place a six quart boiler on the stove and fill with four quarts of salted water. Add a splash of olive oil. Bring the water to a boil and add your pasta (shells or manicotti.) Cook according to the package instructions, about 14 or 15 minutes. Don’t get all excited and stir the pasta too much because you will tear these big old shells if you are not careful.
Drain the shells through a colander, and toss them with a little olive oil, again being careful to not tear them up while handling them. Now set them aside to let them cool.
Turn off the heat on the sauce and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, get out a 9” x 13” Pyrex baking dish, and grease the inside of the dish. Now, while the oven is preheating, stuff your shells with the cheese mixture. Wash your hands and don’t be afraid to get the mixture on you while you work with it. For the Manicotti, I find that you can use the handle end of a butter knife as a “plunger” to push the cheese mixture into the shell from each end. Work over the bowl and keep stuffing until some of the mixture comes back out the other end.
The jumbo shells are easier to stuff because you can just spread them open with your thumb and fingers and spoon the stuffing into each shell. Place your stuffed pasta in uniform rows in the bottom of the baking dish. I usually get five shells side by side in about five or six rows. Don’t worry about using all of your shells—just stuff the number that you need to fill the bottom of the baking dish.
Now evenly spoon the tomato meat sauce over the stuffed shells to cover, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top, and pop the dish in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.
Step back from the stove and give yourself a nice round of applause. Now rinse off your pots and pans and load the dishwasher while you drink a glass of wine in anticipation of dinner.
When the shells are done, pull the dish out of the oven and allow it to cool for ten or fifteen minutes. Place a couple of large pasta bowls in the oven to warm.
With a large spatula, cut and lift out two or three stuffed shells and some sauce and place in the center of the pasta bowls. Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top, grab a fork and napkin, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Genuine Imitation Chicken Curry
I cooked some really good Indian Curry a couple of years ago and promptly lost the recipe. It might be on our other notebook computer, but I was too lazy to fire it up and take a look.
Any way, it came out pretty well (the curry, not the computer) and watching Jamie Oliver, “The Naked Chef on Food Network last night brought my desire for Curry rushing back to me.
Take a gander at what Jamie did, but don’t get all impressed because I couldn’t find half of the ingredients here on our little island necessary to make his Curry. What I did do is sorta make up my own “Genuine Imitation” Curry tonight, and it came out yummy.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
½ tbsp mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic, diced
¼ cup fresh ginger, pealed and diced (ok, ok, as much fresh ginger as you want)
½ medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
½ medium red bell pepper, julienned
½ medium yellow bell pepper, julienned
¼ tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp chili powder (optional, be very, very careful--you don’t hurt your self)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups hot water
1 14 oz can coconut milk
½ tbsp green curry paste
1 bunch green onions (scallions for all you Yankees)
Salt to taste
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of rice per person
You need three pots to do this recipe--A 6 quart boiler for the curry, a 2 to 4 quart boiler (depending on the quantity) for the rice, and a large heavy skillet to stir-fry the chicken in.
Toss all three vessels on the stove and put 2 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet and the same amount in the large boiler. Turn the heat on the large boiler up to medium and leave the skillet cold for now.
While your oil is heating, dice your garlic, onion, ginger, and julienne your bell peppers.
After your oil has heated in the boiler, toss in the mustard seeds and let them toast. As they start to pop like popcorn, toss in your onion and turn down the heat slightly while stirring. Cook everything for a couple of minutes, then toss in the ginger and the garlic and keep stirring for a few minutes.
Now add your bell pepper. Keep stirring until the onions are clear.
Add your canned diced tomatoes, the coconut milk, two cups of water, and bring everything to a low simmer. Add the green curry paste and the green onions. Stir.
Cook for about ten minutes, then taste your curry and carefully add your salt.
While the curry is simmering, go slice your chicken breasts into ½ inch strips, then cut the strips in half. Place them in a bowl and squeeze the juice of ½ lemon over the pieces, then drizzle lightly with olive oil. Let the chicken stand for twenty or thirty minutes.
After the chicken has marinaded, preheat your skillet and the 2 tsp of olive oil on medium low heat, then add your chicken and stir-fry until it is lightly done (pink in the middle.)
Add the chicken pieces to the curry, stir it all up, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and let everything cook for another half hour or so.
Cook your rice according to the package instructions and keep covered to stay warm.
Put your bowls in the oven to warm.
Check back by and stir the curry mixture every ten minutes to ensure that it isn’t burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Put the heated bowls on chargers, add some rice, spoon the curry over the top, grab a napkin, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Any way, it came out pretty well (the curry, not the computer) and watching Jamie Oliver, “The Naked Chef on Food Network last night brought my desire for Curry rushing back to me.
Take a gander at what Jamie did, but don’t get all impressed because I couldn’t find half of the ingredients here on our little island necessary to make his Curry. What I did do is sorta make up my own “Genuine Imitation” Curry tonight, and it came out yummy.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
½ tbsp mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic, diced
¼ cup fresh ginger, pealed and diced (ok, ok, as much fresh ginger as you want)
½ medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
½ medium red bell pepper, julienned
½ medium yellow bell pepper, julienned
¼ tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp chili powder (optional, be very, very careful--you don’t hurt your self)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups hot water
1 14 oz can coconut milk
½ tbsp green curry paste
1 bunch green onions (scallions for all you Yankees)
Salt to taste
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of rice per person
You need three pots to do this recipe--A 6 quart boiler for the curry, a 2 to 4 quart boiler (depending on the quantity) for the rice, and a large heavy skillet to stir-fry the chicken in.
Toss all three vessels on the stove and put 2 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet and the same amount in the large boiler. Turn the heat on the large boiler up to medium and leave the skillet cold for now.
While your oil is heating, dice your garlic, onion, ginger, and julienne your bell peppers.
After your oil has heated in the boiler, toss in the mustard seeds and let them toast. As they start to pop like popcorn, toss in your onion and turn down the heat slightly while stirring. Cook everything for a couple of minutes, then toss in the ginger and the garlic and keep stirring for a few minutes.
Now add your bell pepper. Keep stirring until the onions are clear.
Add your canned diced tomatoes, the coconut milk, two cups of water, and bring everything to a low simmer. Add the green curry paste and the green onions. Stir.
Cook for about ten minutes, then taste your curry and carefully add your salt.
While the curry is simmering, go slice your chicken breasts into ½ inch strips, then cut the strips in half. Place them in a bowl and squeeze the juice of ½ lemon over the pieces, then drizzle lightly with olive oil. Let the chicken stand for twenty or thirty minutes.
After the chicken has marinaded, preheat your skillet and the 2 tsp of olive oil on medium low heat, then add your chicken and stir-fry until it is lightly done (pink in the middle.)
Add the chicken pieces to the curry, stir it all up, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and let everything cook for another half hour or so.
Cook your rice according to the package instructions and keep covered to stay warm.
Put your bowls in the oven to warm.
Check back by and stir the curry mixture every ten minutes to ensure that it isn’t burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Put the heated bowls on chargers, add some rice, spoon the curry over the top, grab a napkin, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Friday, February 18, 2005
Late Night Boiled Shrimp Salad
My girl Pat’s travel schedule has recently changed and she gets to come home on Thursday nights rather than leaving Chicago’s O’Hare airport on a 6:00 AM flight on Friday mornings. The only problem is that she doesn’t get home until about 11:30 PM and she doesn’t have time to eat dinner making the connections to St.Simons.
Last night I was tasked with making her something to eat that was rather light in nature and easy for me to put together.
My standard solution…SHRIMP!
Luckily, we keep a couple of pounds of frozen shrimp in our freezer at all times and we have a pretty well stocked fridge and pantry, so here is what I came up with…
Salad:
A couple of dozen 35-55 count frozen (or fresh) shrimp
½ tbsp Old bay seasoning
¼ tsp Red pepper flakes
Baby field greens (or salad greens of your choice)
One can of pear halves
One can of mandarin orange slices
Ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese if you like)
Dressing:
1/8 cup Good balsamic vinegar (16 year old if you got it)
Extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
Black pepper to taste
Cocktail sauce:
½ cup catsup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp prepared horseradish (or to your taste)
Black pepper to taste
First, toss a couple of bowls into the freezer to chill.
Set a medium boiler with a couple quarts of water on the stove to boil. Season the water with the Old Bay Seasoning and red pepper flakes.
While your water is coming to a boil, make up your dressing and cocktail sauce.
For the dressing, whisk together the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil—a little at a time—until you have a good emulsion. Add the olive oil SLOWLY and whisk rapidly (without getting it on your shirt or the ceiling) until it is sort of foamy. You got it?
The cocktail sauce is easy—catsup in a small mixing bowl, then the Worcestershire, lemon juice, horseradish and pepper. Stir it up.
By now the water should be boiling, so toss your shrimp into the water along with the leftover lemon halves after you have juiced them.
While the shrimp are boiling, let’s jump over to the salad.
Pull the salad bowls out of the freezer and put a couple of hands full of greens in each bowl. Place the mandarin oranges and pear halves around the edge of the salad and drizzle the dressing evenly over the plate. Place a scoop of ricotta cheese in each pear slice (I like lots of cheese.)
Don’t let your shrimp boil longer than three to five minutes or they will get tough. Drain the shrimp and toss them into a bowl of ice cubes to stop the cooking and chill slightly.
Now pour yourself a glass of wine and rest for a minute while your shrimp chill.
Divide the shrimp evenly (OK, OK, I actually get more shrimp than Pat) in the center of the salad plates, top off your wine glass, put everything on the table with the cocktail sauce, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Last night I was tasked with making her something to eat that was rather light in nature and easy for me to put together.
My standard solution…SHRIMP!
Luckily, we keep a couple of pounds of frozen shrimp in our freezer at all times and we have a pretty well stocked fridge and pantry, so here is what I came up with…
Salad:
A couple of dozen 35-55 count frozen (or fresh) shrimp
½ tbsp Old bay seasoning
¼ tsp Red pepper flakes
Baby field greens (or salad greens of your choice)
One can of pear halves
One can of mandarin orange slices
Ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese if you like)
Dressing:
1/8 cup Good balsamic vinegar (16 year old if you got it)
Extra virgin expeller pressed olive oil
Black pepper to taste
Cocktail sauce:
½ cup catsup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp prepared horseradish (or to your taste)
Black pepper to taste
First, toss a couple of bowls into the freezer to chill.
Set a medium boiler with a couple quarts of water on the stove to boil. Season the water with the Old Bay Seasoning and red pepper flakes.
While your water is coming to a boil, make up your dressing and cocktail sauce.
For the dressing, whisk together the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil—a little at a time—until you have a good emulsion. Add the olive oil SLOWLY and whisk rapidly (without getting it on your shirt or the ceiling) until it is sort of foamy. You got it?
The cocktail sauce is easy—catsup in a small mixing bowl, then the Worcestershire, lemon juice, horseradish and pepper. Stir it up.
By now the water should be boiling, so toss your shrimp into the water along with the leftover lemon halves after you have juiced them.
While the shrimp are boiling, let’s jump over to the salad.
Pull the salad bowls out of the freezer and put a couple of hands full of greens in each bowl. Place the mandarin oranges and pear halves around the edge of the salad and drizzle the dressing evenly over the plate. Place a scoop of ricotta cheese in each pear slice (I like lots of cheese.)
Don’t let your shrimp boil longer than three to five minutes or they will get tough. Drain the shrimp and toss them into a bowl of ice cubes to stop the cooking and chill slightly.
Now pour yourself a glass of wine and rest for a minute while your shrimp chill.
Divide the shrimp evenly (OK, OK, I actually get more shrimp than Pat) in the center of the salad plates, top off your wine glass, put everything on the table with the cocktail sauce, and EAT.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
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