Carne Adovada

Several years ago, I had to make a few trips to the State of New Mexico for work. That work took me to Santa Fe, which is about an hour's drive from Albuquerque. Those trips introduced me to the Hatch chile, as well as the wonderful cuisine made from the chiles.  Each work trip involved at least one stop to The Chile Shop.  At the end of each trip, I usually came home with a pound of ground chiles, both red and green.  Over time, those ground chiles have made it into a lot of the food I prepare, including eleven dishes that have made it onto this blog. 

For New Mexicans, the ground chiles are the foundation of dishes such as Carne Adovada.  Originally, cooks would marinate cubes or strip of pork in a crock or pot with chiles and bacterial cultures used in yogurt.  This marination/fermentation process imparted a slightly sour taste to the meat, which would then be stewed with onions, garlic and, of course, more chiles.  The result is a very rich dish of fork-tender pork nestled, if not swimming, in a red chile sauce that has just a hint of sourness. The recipe provided a very tasty and needed way to preserve the various cuts of a pig after being slaughtered. 

Cooks do not need to go through the marination process anymore, because refrigeration made fermentation unnecessary.  The rest of the cooking process remains relatively unchanged and the finished dish continues to be just as delicious.  

I found a very easy recipe for making Carne Adovada in Cooks Country Eats Local.  First, the recipe allows for the use of "chile powder" or "chili powder," rather than specifying a specific type of ground chiles, such as Hatch chiles or Guajillo chiles.  While the Hatch chile would provide the best result, a small bottle of standard store-bought chile works just fine.  The recipe also provided several steps -- browning the pork, sauteeing the onions, adding flour, raisins plumped with coffee and some lime juice -- that helps to develop the flavor of the chile sauce.  

The finished dish is amazing, and brought back the memories of my trip to Santa Fe.  If only the dish did not require a couple of hours to make, I'd add this to the rotation of dishes that I could make during the week. 

CARNE ADOVADA

Recipe from Cooks Country Eats Local, pp. 260-261

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup brewed coffee

1 (4 to 5 pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed of excess fat

     and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 onions, chopped

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1.  Prepare raisin mixture.  Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine raisins and coffee in small bowl.  Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and microwave until liquid begins to boil, 1 to 3 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes until raisins are plump.

2.  Prepare pork.  Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat until just smoking.  Brown half of pork, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to plate and repeat with remaining pork.  

3.  Prepare sauce.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from Dutch oven.  Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add flour, chili powder, oregano, chipotle and garlic raisin mixture, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil.  Working in 2 batches, transfer mixture to blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Return sauce to pot.

4.  Finish the dish.  Add browned pork to sauce in pot and transfer ot oven.  Cook, covered, until pork is fork tender, about 2 hours.  Skim fat from sauce, then stir in lime zest, lime juice and pepper to taste.  Serve.  Pork can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

ENJOY!

Green Fire Ribeye

It seems that chile heat is in vogue.  Turn on your television and your eyesight is burned with commercials for Wendy's Jalapeno Ghost Fries or Popeye's Ghost Pepper Wings.   The Ghost Pepper, officially known as the Bhut Jolokia, is one very spicy pepper.  The Scoville Rating for the Ghost Pepper, which is the official rating of piquancy, ranges somewhere from 855,000 units to 1,401,427 units.  By way of comparison, Tabasco sauce is approximately 10,000 units.

There is a part of me that loves the challenge of eating fiery foods.  I used to relish eating the spiciest food on the menu and my go-to dishes that I make usually involve combinations of various chiles.   However, as I have pursued cooking as a hobby, my desire to eat the fieriest food within reach has waned.  I think that, over time, it has become more about flavor than heat.  While I still love very spicy peppers and dishes, my attention has turned to ways in which I can highlight, complement or contrast the flavors of chiles.  It is very hard to pursue this goal when the chile, such as the Bhut Jolokia, could be used to simulate nuclear reactions in one's stomach.  

Consequently, I have looked to a wide range of other chiles, many of which have substantial, but not overpowering heat.  I have used Sanaam chiles, Piri Piri chiles, Scotch Bonnets, and others.   One of my most favorite chiles to experiment with is the Hatch chile.  It is definitely on the low end, with only about 1,000 to 2,500 units on the Scoville Scale. 

Sometimes less can be more.  When one uses a chile with a lower piquancy, it allows for other the flavors of other spices to shine in a rub or marinade.  This is what I tried to achieve with a recent rub that I made for a grilled steak.  I call it the "Green Fire" rub, because the backbone of the mix is ground green Hatch chiles.   I took advantage of the lower piquancy of the chiles to allow for other ingredients, such as coriander, garlic and cumin, to come through in the flavor of the rub.  The rub still packed a kick, because I made sure that a sizable amount of the ground chile was used.  About 1 teaspoon per per pound of meat.  This ensured a good amount of heat, without numbing taste buds or otherwise taking away from the dish.

GREEN FIRE RIBEYE

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 ribeye, about 1 pound

1 teaspoon ground green hatch chile

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

1. Apply the rub.   Combine all of the spices and herbs in a small bowl.  Apply the rub to all sides of the ribeye.  Let the ribeye stand at room temperature for about ten to fifteen minutes.

2. Grill the ribeye.  Heat the grill on high heat.  Grill the ribeye for about three minutes, shift by 90 degrees, and grill for about 3 minutes more.  Flip and repeat for a total of six minutes.  Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Green Chile Turkey Burgers

Lately, it has been difficult finding the time (and, quite frankly, the desire) to cook.  The past few months have been some very busy times in the Chef Bolek household.  While I continue to cook, the opportunities have been far less in number than I would like.  Sometimes, we are just too tired or it is just too late to make dinner, especially with a little toddler running circles around us.  

All of these challenges have led to an evolution of sorts in terms of my cooking.  Rather than looking for complicated recipes by which to challenge my skills, my focus has turned to simpler recipes.   Recipes that can be completed in 1/2 to 1 hour. These are not recipes that would pave my way onto shows such as Master Chef, but they are ones that fill our stomachs with some good and tasty food.  

Take, for example, a recipe for Green Chile Burgers that I found on Saveur's website. The recipe initially caught my eye because of the use of green New Mexico or Hatch chiles, which happen to be among my favorite chiles.  However, it is the fact that this is an easily and quick recipe that led to the making of these burgers.  The bulk of the preparation time spent on creating a very delicious chile sauce, which includes the roasting of the peppers and the combination of the ingredients.  In the end, you have some great burgers.

Finally, I decided to make one big change to the recipe.  Rather than use beef, I decided to make these burgers with turkey.  I wanted a leaner option, but I ensured there would still be sufficient flavor and moisture by using ground turkey thighs.  The thighs have a higher fat content that serves both purposes well.  There you have it ... Green Chile Turkey Burgers.  

GREEN CHILE TURKEY BURGERS

Recipe adapted from Saveur

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 pounds of ground turkey (preferably thigh meat)

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon of Hatch chile powder

1 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons of ketchup

4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed to a paste

2 tablespoons of canola oil

6 roasted Hatch chiles, peeled, stemmed, seeded and chopped

4 slices of cheddar cheese

4 slices of Swiss cheese

4 brioche buns, split and toasted

Instructions:

1.  Make the burgers.  In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, 1 tablespoon of chile powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  Form into four 8 ounce patties and chill in a refrigerator.

2.  Make the chile sauce. Whisk remaining chile powder, mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Refrigerate the sauce until needed.

3. Cook the burgers.  Heat oil in 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat; work in 2 batches.  Cook patties, turning once until a thick crust develops on both sides, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Top each with 1/4 of the roasted chiles, and 1 slice of each cheese.  Cover with lid to melt cheese.  To serve, place 1 patty on each bottom bun and spread the top buns with some of the sauce.  Cover burgers with the top bun and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Lone Star Ribeye

In some respects, more is better, at least in my opinion.  If I find a marinade or rub recipe, I will often look at the number of ingredients.  There are certainly some great recipes that incorporate only two or three ingredients.  A steak that is marinated in oil, garlic and sea salt will definitely be a tasty dinner.

However, I look for recipes that may incorporate six or more ingredients.  Those recipes can present much more of a challenge.  Each ingredient has to take in account all of the other ingredients.  You have to take into account the flavors, the "intensity" and proportions.  A rub with three ingredients is fairly easy to develop and manage.  A rub with nine or ten ingredients becomes much harder.  The goal is to make sure each ingredient can be ascertained as much in the final product.  If one is not careful, then he or she can "lose" an ingredient in the mix.  In that case, it is as if you never used it in the first place.  A spice mix of six ingredients may only taste like there were three.  The whole effort results in a loss.

Recently, I found a recipe for a "Lone Star" rub on a blog called "Grogs4Blogs."  Along with the recipe, there was a very good discussion of what makes for a good dry rub.  A good rub, just like a good wet marinade, can be reduced to a very simple and straightforward equation, which was described by Adam Perry Long, the author of Serious Barbecue.  The equation is as follows: Color Base + Salt + Sugar + Flavor + Heat.  

The ingredients of the Lone Star rub can be organized according to this equation.  The color base is paprika, which serves as a common base for many rubs used in grilling and smoking.  The salt and sugar are self-explanatory.  The flavor comes from the use of onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and cinnamon.  Onion and garlic powder are about as common of flavor elements as paprika is a color base.  Cumin is also used frequently in spice mixes. By contrast, cinnamon is much less common in spice mixes, especially those destined to be applied to large steaks that will end upon the grill.  Yet, the sweet and "spice" of the cinnamon was clearly detectable in both the rub and the finished product.  Finally, the heat was the chile spice.  The recipe did not identify any particular chile, which I usually take to mean that generic "Mexican chile" or "chile" spice you find in the spice section of most grocery stores.  When I made this recipe, I decided to use some ground New Mexican hatch chiles, which provided just enough heat to balance the flavor elements in the rub.

Although I found the recipe on the Grogs4Blogs website, the blogger relied upon a rub recipe from Jamie Purviance, who is a chef and cookbook writer.  Chef Purviance has his own website,which is associated with Weber Grills. 

I managed to find a couple of other websites that had Chef Purviance's Lone Star rub.  Those recipes tracked the one on Grogs4Blogs with one exception.  The other recipes included dried majoram.  This raised a question in my mind.  Why did the blogger at Grogs4Blogs leave out one of the ingredients in the mix.  Majoram is used in many herb and spice mixes such as Herbes aux Provence and Za'atar. It pairs well with onions and garlic, and other herbs like rosemary.  However, majoram does not pair as well with the other flavor and heat ingredients of the Lone Star rub, such as chile, cumin and cinnamon.  That may have been the reason why it was left out of the recipe.  

In any event, the next time I try this recipe, I might just add back in that 1/2 teaspoon of dried majoram to see if it adds to the flavor of the rub or just gets lost in the mix.

LONE STAR RIBEYE

Adapted from recipe published by Grogs4Blogs

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 dry-aged, bone-in rib eyes, 12 to 16 ounces and 1 2/3 inches thick
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 limes, cut into wedges (optional)

Directions:

1.  Prepare the steaks.   Combine all of the rub ingredients.  Brush the steaks with the olive oil and then apply the rub to all sides of the steak, massaging the rub into the meat.  Allow the steaks to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before grilling.

2.  Grill or cook the steaks.   Heat the grill on high or the heat the broiler in the oven.  Grill or broil the steak for about six minutes and then flip the steak.  Grill or broil for about 4 minutes more.  

3.  Finish the dish.  Remove the steaks from the grill or broiler and tent with foil.  Let the steaks rest for five minutes and serve with the lime wedges.

Chile Rubbed Salmon with Tomatillo, Jalapeno Pepper and Lime Juice

As I continued preparing a wonderful Valentine's dinner for my beautiful Angel, Clare, I had to think of a main course.  Clare loves salmon and, due to her pregnancy, she has not been able to eat as much of it as she would like.  All of the pregnancy guidelines say that it is important to eat certain fish.  Salmon is one of those fish, provided that it is wild salmon rather than farmed salmon.  There are many issues with respect to farmed salmon, which are better left for another post.  Fortunately, I have a lot of access to wild sockeye salmon.  So, I purchased two six ounce fillets and began to work on the recipe.

I had planned on following the same approach to planning this course that I used when I made my Roasted Root Vegetable Soup.  I planned on choosing ingredients that would complement each other, as determined by The Flavor Bible.  However, as I perused the section on Salmon, I came across a dish prepared by Zarela Martinez for her restaurant.  The dish was "Salmon Rubbed with Ground Red Chile and Lime and Pan Seared.  Served with a Tangy, Spicy, Tomatillo, Jalapeno and Lime Juice Sauce.  The dish caught my attention, and, I decided to make it.  The only problem is that I did not have a recipe.

So this recipe is my first effort to create Martinez's dish.  I made estimates of the amount of each ingredients for the salmon and the sauce.  For the salmon, I used ground Hatch chiles for the rub, but ground ancho chile and even cayenne pepper could be used.  For the sauce, I used a couple tomatillos with some onion, shallot and garlic to help add flavors and body to the sauce.  I did not add any more spices or herbs (other than salt and pepper) to keep the sauce rather simple. Finally, I decided to pair this dish with some saffron rice, which is just ordinary rice with a pinch of saffron added during the boiling stage.  

Overall, I think this dish worked out very well.  The sauce may need a little more work, especially with respect to consistency.  (The consistency of sauces continues to be an area that I need to develop.)  The flavor was there and it worked very well with the not only the salmon, but also the rice. 

CHILE RUBBED SALMON WITH TOMATILLO,

JALAPENO PEPPER AND LIME JUICE SAUCE

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 six-ounce sockeye salmon fillets

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or canola oil

3 tomatillos, de-husked, and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

1 shallot, diced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

2 cups of rice, made according to instructions

2 limes, juiced

1 pinch of saffron

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

Cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rice.  Prepare the rice according to the the instructions.  Before you begin to boil the water, add a pinch of saffron to the water.  Then continue as directed by the instructions.  

2. Prepare the sauce.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet.  Add the onions and saute until soft, about four to five minutes.  Add the shallot, garlic and oregano, saute for two minutes more.  Add the jalapeno pepper and saute for about three more minutes.   Season with a couple grinds of salt and pepper.  Add the tomatillos and continue to saute for about five to eight minutes, until the tomatillos begin to soften.   Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the ingredients to a blender.  Blend the ingredients until they are a liquid.  Tranfer the ingredients to a pot, season again with salt and pepper.  Cover and set aside. 

3.  Saute the salmon.  Heat the remaining oil in a pan.  Saute the salmon, skin side up, for about four minutes.  Flip the salmon and saute for about four minutes more or until done.  

ENJOY!

The Inferno Steak

This recipe is a story about how a Chef Bolek Original recipe is created.  In advance of an upcoming steak night, I decided to see if I could find an interesting steak recipe to make.  I start by looking at those chefs and cooks who I admire and trust, like Michael Symon, Bobby Flay and Steven Raichlen.  On this particular occasion, I was looking at Steve Raichlen's recipes when I came across two recipes, one for Hellfire Steaks and another for Steak from Hell.  I am someone who loves spicy food, so these recipes caught my attention.  Both recipes looked great, but, for me, they did not conjure the "fire" that I wanted.

I decided to create my own hellish steak recipe.  I immediately drew inspiration from outside of the culinary world: the first part of the 14th century poem, Divine Comedy.  Also known as Inferno, this part was written by Dante Alighieri to document the descent into hell.  That descent began at the gates of hell, which bore an inscription that ended with the words: "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", or "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."  That sounded like a fitting beginning for a hellish steak recipe.  After passing through the gates, Dante made his way through nine circles of suffering -- Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery -- with each circle representing a gradual increase in wickedness.

The nine circles got me to thinking.  Many people think of eating chiles as a kind of suffering ... with the heat and piquancy causing sweating and discomfort.  I decided to use nine different chiles to represent the nine circles of suffering, with each subsequent chile being more "wicked" (or spicier) than the last.   After a lot of thought, I selected the following chiles or peppers:

1.  Limbo: Paprika.  In Dante's Inferno, the first circle was "Limbo," which had been populated by people who, although not sinful, had not accepted God. This got me to thinking, although paprika is made from ground bell peppers or chiles, it is not "hot" or "spicy."  Indeed, paprika -- a ground spice used in many cuisines around the world -- seems to be the best spice to represent limbo.  There are two versions of paprika: hot and sweet.  I decided to use the sweet version of paprika, because this would serve as one of the bases for the rub.

2.  Lust: Hatch Chile.  The second circle was "Lust," populated by those who had been overcome by lust.  Followers of this blog know that I have often been overcome by my love of the Hatch chile. For that reason, it seemed appropriate to select that chile to for the "Lust" circle.  Hatch chiles are grown in New Mexico and are a key component to Southwestern cuisine.  They are also relatively modest when it comes to heat or spice, with only 3,500 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units.  (Scoville Heat Units measure the capsaicin, which is the chemical compound in chiles and peppers that provides the heat or spiciness.)   In addition to the heat, the Hatch chile also provides a little earthiness to the spice mix.

3.  Gluttony: Chipotle Chile. The third circle was "Gluttony," populated by individuals who overindulged in food and drink.  For me, the one chile that I would often overindulge in is the chipotle pepper.  Derived from the Nahuatl word, chilpoctli, which means smoked chili pepper, the chipotle is a smoke-dried jalapeno chile principally grown in the northern Mexican State of Chihuahua.  The chipotle chile is similar to the Hatch Chile in that it has anywhere from 3,500 to 8,000 Scoville Heat Units.  Also, like the Hatch Chile, the chipotle pepper serves two purposes in the rub:  to provide some heat and some smoke flavor. 

4.  Greed: Aleppo Pepper.  The fourth circle was "Greed," which is where people would find themselves if their greed for material things that deviated from the norm.  When it came to selecting the fourth pepper, I chose the Aleppo pepper.  The reason is simple: whenever I use Aleppo Pepper, in cooking, I always want more. Also known as the Halaby pepper, the Aleppo pepper is primarily cultivated in Turkey.  The pepper adds a little more smokiness, like an ancho or chipotle pepper, to the rub.  The Aleppo pepper also contributes a certain tartness, which adds a little complexity to the rub.  Finally, this pepper represents a slight increase in heat from the prior chiles, with about 10,000 Scoville Heat Units. 

5.  Anger: Sanaam Chile.  The fifth circle is "Anger."  This is where the rationale for choices become a little more pragmatic.  I chose the Sanaam chile, which is cultivated in India and used in Indian cuisine, for "Anger."  The reason is simple: its piquancy represents a four-fold increase in Scoville Heat Units over the Aleppo pepper.  The Sanaam chiles pack a weighty 40,000 Scoville Heat Units, as compared to the 10,000 units of the Aleppo Pepper.  This increase is also felt in the heat of the rub.

6.  Heresy: Aji Limo Rojo. The sixth circle is "Heresy."  This is one of the most difficult choices for chiles.  I selected the Aji Limo Rojo for this circle, although there is nothing heretical about the chile at all.  The Aji Limo is a chile grown throughout Central and South America, and it figures into cuisines from Panama to Peru.  These chiles come from the same family as the habanero, although they lack the intense heat of a habanero (or a scotch bonnet pepper).  The Aji Limo pepper can have anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 Scoville Heat Units.

7.  Violence: Dundicut Pepper.  The seventh circle is "Violence."  Once again, I had some difficulty in selecting the pepper.  Many peppers do "violence" to the stomachs of some people.  I ultimately chose the Dundicut chile, which is grown in Pakistan and widely used in Pakistani dishes.  This chile is very similar to a scotch bonnet pepper, but with a little less heat.  Nevertheless, the Dundicut represents a slight increase in Scoville Heat Units over the Aji Limo Rojo chile.  A Dundicut can have anywhere between 55,000 to 65,000 Scoville Heat Units. However, at least for me, both the look and taste of the Dundicut seem hotter and spicier than the Aji Limo Rojo.

8.   Fraud: Chile Pequin.  The eighth circle is "Fraud," where people who engage in conscious treachery or deception are punished.  The selection of the pepper was a little easier this time.  I chose the Chile Pequin.  This chile is very small, which deceptively suggests that it is not very hot or spicy.  However, the Chile Pequin can be anywhere from thirteen to forty times hotter than a jalapeno, with 70,000 Scoville Heat Units.   At this level, the primary purpose of the Chile Pequin is to provide heat to the spice rub. 

9.  Treachery: Piri-Piri.  The ninth and final circle is "Treachery."  As with the sixth and seventh circles, it was hard to rationalize a choice for this chile.  I ultimately decided to use the chile that was the most potent of all the chiles and peppers in our kitchen ... the Piri-Piri pepper.  Also known as the African bird's eye pepper, the Piri Piri pepper is grown and cultivated in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. The Piri-Piri pepper can have as much as 100,000 Scoville Heat Units, providing the highest amount of heat and spice of any of the peppers in the mix. 

While I am using nine different peppers and chiles, I still wanted to make a rub that is edible for many people.  For that reason, I steered clear of the extremely hot chiles, like Trinity Moruga Scorpion, Naga Viper and Bhut Jolokia peppers.  I also added some other spices to complement the heat of the peppers.  These spices include allspice, clove, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, and kosher salt.  Finally, I added a teaspoon of sugar.  The sweetness of the sugar helps to tamper the spice of the chiles.

THE INFERNO STEAK

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-4

The Inferno Rub

Ingredients:

2 marrow bones

2 bone-in ribeyes, cowboy style

1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon of onion powder

1/2 tablespoon of paprika powder

1/2 teaspoon of Hatch chile powder

1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder

1/4 teaspoon of Aleppo powder

1 dried Sanaam chile, ground

1 dried Dundicut chile, ground

1 dried Aji Limo Rojo, ground

1 dried Chile Pequin, ground

1/4 teaspoon of Piri Piri powder

1/4 teaspoon of allspice

1/4 teaspoon of cloves

1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

Directions:

1.  Roast the marrow bones.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover one end of the marrow bones with foil and stand them up foil side down.  Roast the marrow bones for forty-five minutes.  Remove the marrow and the oils into a small bowl.

2.  Prepare the steaks.  Combine all of the chile and peppers in a bowl, along with the allspice, cloves, coriander, turmeric, salt and sugar.  Mix well. Using a brush, baste the steaks with the oil and marrow from the bones.  Season the steaks with the rub, applying the rub to all sides of the steaks.  Set aside for a few minutes.

3.  Grill the steaks.  Heat a grill on medium high heat.  Place the steaks on the grill.  Grill for five minutes and rotate ninety degrees.  Grill for five more minutes.  Flip the steaks and grill for five minutes.  Rotate the steak ninety degrees.  Grill for five minutes more and remove the steak.  Let the steak rest for a few minutes.  Slice the steak and serve immediately. 

ENJOY!

Raging Pig Pulled Pork

As my beautiful wife can tell you, I love pulled pork.  It is probably my favorite kind of barbecue.  Every year, I try to smoke a couple of pork shoulders, using different rubs, mops and sauces.  As much as I love to barbecue, it takes a lot of time.  By July, I would have been able to smoke at least two pork shoulders.  Unfortunately, this year, I have been very busy and have not been able to dedicate a day to barbecue ... until just recently. 

I decided that I had to make the time to smoke a small pork shoulder.  I chose a pork shoulder that weighed about four and one-half pounds.   The question first turned to the rub.  I have a lot of ground hatch chile peppers, which I decided to use as the base.  I found a recipe for a Southwestern Style Chile Rub in Cheryl and Bill Jamison's classic barbecue book, Smoke & Spice.  Their recipe called for 1/2 cup of New Mexican chiles and 1/2 cup of ancho chile pepper.  Given that I would be smoking the pork, I did not think that I needed the ancho chile.  After all, ancho chiles do not have a lot of heat, their primary use is to provide some smoke flavor.  I also dialed back the New Mexican chiles to 1/3 of a cup of medium hatch chiles, but I added a healthy tablespoon of hot and an another, equally healthy tablespoon of extra hot chiles.  I also added some rub basics -- salt, onion powder, and garlic powder -- along with a tablespoon of dried oregano.  I decided to call this my "Raging Pig" Rub, for reasons that will become clearer as you read this post. 

I then turned my attention to the mop sauce.  Once again, I consulted Smoke & Spice, which had a recipe at page 46.  I decided to use their beer mop sauce.  The Jamisons did not identify any particular beer to use for the mop, it called only for twelve ounces of beer.  I opened the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of the only beer that we had at the time ... Flying Dog's Raging Bitch Belgian Style Pale Ale.  That beer transformed an ordinary mop sauce into a Raging Bitch Beer Mop Sauce.  

The beer also inspired the name for the pulled pork ... Raging Pig Pulled Pork. I would soon discover, however, that there was more to the "rage" than the beer.  While I was pulling the pork,  I sampled a couple of bites from different parts of the shoulder.  Each bite was accompanied with a spicy kick, which sometimes resembled an afterburn, lingering long after the taste.  In the end, the two parts to this barbecue experience -- the Hatch Chile Rub and the Raging Bitch Beer Mop Sauce -- gives rise to Raging Pig Pulled Pork.

RAGING PIG PULLED PORK

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves Many

Ingredients (for the Hatch Chile Rub):

1/3 cup of hatch chiles, medium

1 tablespoon of hatch chiles, hot

1 tablespoon of hatch chiles, extra hot

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of onion powder

1 tablespoon of oregano (preferably Mexican)

3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon of kosher salt or sea salt

Ingredients (for Smoking Pork):

1 pork shoulder (preferably boston butt), around 4-5 pounds

Apple wood chunks for smoking.

Ingredients (for the Raging Bitch Beer Mop Sauce):

12 ounces of beer

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Directions:

1.  Marinate the pork.  Combine all of the rub ingredients.  Rub the mix over all of the pork, making sure that the entire shoulder is covered, including any crevasses in the meat.  Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

2.  Smoke the pork.  Place the apple wood in a bucket for at least one to two hours before you start the smoking.  Start a fire in a smoker (using a chimney) and bring the temperature to 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add one or two pieces of apple wood to the charcoal.  Add the pork.  Smoke the pork for about 1 and 1/2 hours per pound of pork.

3.  Mop the pork.  Prepare the mop sauce.  After about four hours,  remove the lid of the smoker and mop the pork a couple of time.  Return the lid.  Repeat this process about every half hour until the pork is done.  

4.  Finish the dish.  When the pork nears the appropriate temperature (190 degrees Fahrenheit), pull the pork out of the smoker, wrap with foil and let sit for about fifteen minutes.  Remove the pork from the foil and pull, shred or chop the pork. 

So far, I made a simple pulled pork sandwich ... slice of tomato, slice of red onion, topped with pulled pork.  I did not use a sauce because I wanted to taste the pork itself.  It was a very delicious sandwich. 

PAIRING THIS RECIPE

This recipe calls for a good beer to be paired with the barbecue.  Given the spiciness of the rub, I would go for something a little lighter and crisper.  A pilsner or a pale ale would work well with this barbecue.  A couple of options include:

Schlafly Beer -- Pale Ale

Pale Ale

St. Louis, MO, USA

Flavors with hops and malts, well-balanced

Abita -- Save Our Shores

Pilsner

New Orleans, LA, USA

Flavors have a hint of hoppiness

ENJOY!

Acme's New Mexican Rub for "Roadrunner" (Chicken)

I was a big fan of Looney Tunes as a kid.  (Actually, I still am a big fan of the show.)  I love watching the whole crew ... Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky the Pig, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.  Recently, however, the last two characters got caught up in a recipe that I was thinking about.  The Roadrunner always outwitted the hapless Wile E. Coyote, whose odd contraptions for catching the elusive bird invariably backfired and left the predator in pain.  Why not make a recipe "inspired" by both Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.

My mind went to work like one of Coyote's Rube Goldberg-inspired contraptions.  It went something like this: Roadrunners are the state bird of New Mexico.  The State of New Mexico is known for its Hatch chiles.  I have pounds of ground Hatch chiles in our cupboard.  The chiles have varying degrees of piquancy.   I could add some of each different chile in succession.  I also then add other base rub ingredients -- like paprika, ground garlic, ground onion, salt and pepper -- to create a spice mix.  I could then apply that mix to the bird using melted butter.

I envisioned the end result, a New Mexican chile rub, as something that Wile E. Coyote would have purchased from Acme when the "Genius" thought about what he would do when he caught the Roadrunner.  Wile E. Coyote would baste the Roadrunner with the rub and grill/roast/broil the bird.  After removing the bird from the heat and putting it on a platter, the Coyote would sit down at a table, tie the bib around his neck, grab his fork and knife and dig in to the enticing meat.  As he chewed the first bite, steam slowly would leak out of his ears and quickly followed by flames shooting out of his mouth.  Once again, Acme would let down the Coyote, allowing the Roadrunner to burn Wile E. Coyote, "Genius," one last time.

ACME'S NEW MEXICAN RUB FOR "ROADRUNNER"

(CHICKEN)

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 chicken quarters (thighs and legs)

1 teaspoon of ground paprika

1/2 teaspoon of ground garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of ground Hatch red chile (mild)
1/2 teaspoon of ground Hatch green chile (hot)
1/4 teaspoon of ground Hatch red chile (very hot)

2 tablespoons of butter

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rub.  Combine all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix well.  Melt the butter and add the spice mix until the consistency is that of a wet rub.  Apply the spice mix/butter to all sides of the chicken, including under the skin.  

2.  Bake/broil the chicken.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for twenty minutes.  Flip the chicken and cook for fifteen minutes more.  Finish the chicken by placing the chicken under the broiler, skin side up, for three to five minutes or until the chicken skin is crispy and browned.

Just a few remaining thoughts.  If you want to grill the chicken, I would suggest using olive oil instead of butter.  I would also make the consistency of spice mix more like a liquid paste than a wet rub.  Also, while this recipe calls for three different chiles, the end result is very spicy.  It was the right level of piquancy for me (no smoke or flames), but it may be a little too spicy for others.  You can always add a little less of the ground chiles (and a little more paprika) to tone down the heat of the recipe.

Finally, the disclaimer.  The Roadrunner is only the inspiration for the dish.  Do NOT attempt to go hunt an actual roadrunner for this recipe. I say this for two reasons.  First, you are not Wile E. Coyote. If you have any doubts, just look in the mirror.  Second, Federal law protects roadrunners (Geococcyx Califorianus) and makes it illegal to hunt the bird.  If you want to hunt something, track down organic, hormone free, cage-free chicken at your local grocery store.   

 PAIRING THIS RECIPE

For this recipe, the best pairing is with beer.  Personally, I enjoyed the chicken with a pale ale, which is probably the best beer to have with this dish.

D.C. Brau -- The Public Pale

American Pale Ale

Washington, D.C., USA

Flavors are balanced hop and malts, with some citrus

ENJOY!

Green Hatch Chile Rubbed Bison Cowboy Steak

Recently, while I was on vacation, I decided to visit the bison ranch at Gunpowder Bison and Trading.  I wanted to see bison and, while I was there, buy a cut of bison meat that I usually do not have access to at my local grocery stores. I have previously posted about watching the bison, so now it is time to blog about the cut of meat I decided to buy.

Bison meat stands apart from cattle or beef.  Unlike most cattle, who may be penned for much of their lives, bison are allowed to roam fields.  The bison graze on grasses and hay for most of their lives, only feeding on grains for a brief period before they are slaughtered.  The fact that bison eat grass is often reflected in their fat, which has a more yellowish color than the white beef fat.  This yellow color is due to the beta-carotene found in the fat.  

The presence of beta-carotene is not the only thing that sets apart bison meat from regular beef.  Bison meat has two times as much protein as regular beef, primarily due to the lower fat content of the meat.  In addition, bison meat has less calories, fat and cholesterol than, not just beef, but also pork and chicken.  The lower amounts of fat in bison meat does present a drawback ... namely, there is a greater chance of overcooking the meat.  Therefore, whenever one is cooking bison, it is important to keep an eye on the meat to ensure that it does not overcook and dry out.  

As I stood before a wall of freezers containing over a dozen types of cuts, I wanted to buy a cut that I had never cooked with before and that would be good for grilling.  I ultimately decided on the "cowboy steak."  This cut of beef arose in the 1960s or 1970s, and, it is nothing more than a ribeye still attached to the rib.  Unlike a bone-in ribeye, where the bone is cut just below the ribeye, a cowboy steak retains much more of the bone, which is frenched to leave the bone exposed.  This cowboy steak is probably the most expensive piece of meat that I have ever bought, but it cooked very well and, with this simple Green Hatch Chile rub, it was very delicious. 

GREEN HATCH CHILE RUBBED BISON COWBOY STEAK

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1 bison cowboy steak (about two pounds)
1 teaspoon of ground green hatch chile
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rub and marinate the steak.  Mix all of the ingredients for the rub together, with the exception of the olive oil.  Add the olive oil and stir until it becomes a loose paste.  Drizzle the rub over each side of the cowboy steak and rub the paste into the meat.  Let the steak marinate at room temperature while the grill heats up to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Grill the steak.  Cook the steak for about five minutes, turn it ninety degrees and cook for five minutes more. Flip the steak and cook for five minutes.  Rotate the steak and cook for five minutes more.  At this point, check the steak for doneness by pressing with your finger in the center of the steak.  If the steak gives a lot, let it cook for a few more minutes.  If the steak seems to give a little, remove it and wrap it in foil for five minutes.  Slice the steak and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Hatch Chile Rubbed Cowboy Steak

I have pounds and pounds of dried, ground hatch chiles, with different levels of piquancy ... medium, medium hot, hot and extra hot.  I love hatch chiles and use them usually as substitutes whenever a recipe calls for cayenne pepper or the generic "red pepper." 

It had been a little while since I had a steak night.  With my wife meeting some friends for dinner, I decided that I would make up for lost steaks by preparing a hatch chile rub for a "cowboy steak."  I have often wondered what exactly is a "cowboy steak."  If you peruse the recipes on the Internet, as I have, it could be a strip steak, a ribeye, a boneless ribeye, or something else.  At some restaurants, a cowboy steak sets itself apart by usually having a big bone at the end.  In the end, I decided that I would use a bone-in ribeye, which actually turned out to be the perfect cut for this recipe. 

The hatch chile rub that I prepared is rather spicy.  It is one tablespoon of medium hatch chile powder, one teaspoon of medium hot hatch chile powder, and one-half teaspoon of extra hot chile powder, along with various amounts of dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and salt.   All in all, it was fine for someone who likes a lot of heat when he eats.  If heat is not your thing, consider using only a teaspoon of the medium, one-half teaspoon of hot and a quarter teaspoon of extra-hot.  You can add some paprika to fill the void.  That is the one great thing about rubs, the permutations when it comes to different spices or different amounts are endless. 

HATCH CHILE RUBBED COWBOY STEAK

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 two pound bone-in ribeye

1 tablespoon of medium hatch chile powder

1 teaspoon of medium-hot hatch chile powder

1/2 teaspoon of extra hot hatch chile powder

1 tablespoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

2 teaspoons of salt

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rub.  Combine the chile powders, onion powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, dried thyme and salt.  Mix well.  apply the rub on all sides of the steak, including any crevices in between the fat and beef.  

2.  Grill the cowboy steak.  Heat the grill on medium high to high heat.  Grill the steak for about five minutes and turn ninety degrees.  Grill for five more minutes and flip.  After five minutes, turn ninety degrees and grill for five minutes more.  Cook until desired doneness, with medium rare being about 145 degrees and medium being 160 degrees. 

ENJOY!

Rockfish with a Trio of Sauces

Recently, I was inspired to create a dish for Clare that brought together three different sauces, each with its own flavor.  I should say at the outset, that, as an amateur cook, I still have a lot to learn, particularly about presentation.  However, the only way to learn is to try and keep trying.

In this case, each of the three sauces is built around a pepper -- a red pepper, a yellow pepper, and a green pepper.  Beginning with the pepper, I added a couple of ingredients to give each sauce a unique flavor.  The red sauce is the hot one, with garlic and hatch chilies added to the red pepper.  The yellow sauce is flavored with curry powder, providing a different kind of spice.  Finally, the green sauce is a pepper basil sauce, with flecks of basil permeating through the entire sauce. Thus, a trio of sauces that are kind of like a traffic light -- red, yellow and green.

The sauces are served cold, and the idea is to take a forkful of the rockfish with a little of the sauce with each bite.  The idea is to alternate between the sauces so that each taste of rockfish is different.  This dish is a work in progress and, if I can make some refinements, I will post an updated recipe.

ROCKFISH WITH A TRIO OF SAUCES

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 pound of rockfish

1 red bell pepper

1/2 tablespoon of ground red hatch chiles

1 clove of garlic

1 yellow bell pepper

1/2 tablespoon of curry powder

1 green bell pepper

8 large basil leaves

16 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Make the red sauce.  Puree the red pepper, garlic and ground red hatch chile powder.  Strain the mixture to remove the excess water.  Return it to the food processor and then add about four tablespoons of olive oil slowly while working the processor.

2.  Make the yellow sauce.  Puree the yellow pepper and the curry powder.  Strain the mixture to remove the excess water.  Return it to the food processor and then add about four tablespoons of olive oil slowly while working the processor.

3.  Make the green sauce.  Puree the green pepper, ground black pepper, and basil .  Strain the mixture to remove the excess water.  Return it to the food processor and then add about four tablespoons of olive oil slowly while working the processor.

4.  Cook the fish.  Heat four tablespoons of oil in a saute pan on medium heat.  Add the rockfish with the flesh side down and saute the fish for about six minutes.  Flip the fish and continue to saute for about six minutes more.  Flip the fish once again and check to see if it is finished.  If the fish is not cooked through, continue to cook it for a few more minutes.

ENJOY!

New Mexican Green Salmon with Dirty Devil Corn

I've been to Santa Fe, New Mexico several times for work, and each time I go, I try to visit The Chile Shop on my free time.  The Chile Shop, as its name suggest, sells all things chile.  Apart from my desire to buy a bunch of ristras to hang around the house, which would be difficult to carry onto a plane, I always purchase a pound or two of different chile powders.  The spiciness of the chile powder can range from a very mild chile to a very hot chile.  Personally, I usually stock three powders: a medium red Hatch chile, a medium-to-hot green Hatch chile, and a very hot Native Nambe chile. 

These chile powders often serve as inspiration for dishes, such as my New Mexican Green Salmon and Dirty Devil Corn. The inspiration for each is based upon a chile powder.  The Green Salmon is based upon the use of the green Hatch chile in the rub.  The Dirty Devil chile is based on the use of either red hatch chile or Native Nambe chile.  (I used red Hatch chiles in this recipe).  No recipes were used in making these dishes; I came up with these dishes on my own.  For that reason, the measurements are approximate.  But that is a good thing, because you can add or subtract to accommodate your tastes and preferences.

NEW MEXICAN GREEN SALMON STEAKS 

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of green Hatch chile powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of adobo

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon of rosemary
salt
pepper
olive oil
4 salmon steaks (see tip below)

Directions:

1.  Combine the green Hatch chili powder, cumin, adobo, garlic powder, thyme and rosemary.  Rub the salmon steaks with olive oil.  Salt and pepper the steaks.  Sprinkle the rub over the all of the steaks, including the sides.  Place the steaks in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

2.  Heat the grill to high.  Remove the steaks a couple minutes before placing them on the grill.  Place the steaks on the grill for three minutes.  Turn the steaks 90 degrees and let them cook for a couple minutes more.  Flip the steaks and let them cook for a couple of minutes and then turn 90 degrees.  Cook for a couple of minutes and then remove.

TIP:  Always know what type of salmon you are buying in the store.  Most salmon sold in stores is farm-raised.   This salmon is not the healthiest to consume, because of use of pesticides and antibiotics by farmers.  It is okay to consume in limited amounts, but you should always look for wild-caught salmon.  Sockeye, Coho and King Salmon from Alaska, Washington and Oregon is the best choice.

DIRTY DEVIL CORN

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 ears of corn,cleaned
2 tablespoons of medium Hatch chile powder (or Native Nambe if you like it really hot)
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of adobo
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of rosemary
salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro

Directions: 

1.  Combine the chili powder, cumin, adobo, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Take the stick of butter and rub all sides of the corn liberally.  Sprinkle the diced garlic over the corn.  Then sprinkle the combined rub all over the corn.  Wrap each ear of corn in foil.

2.  Heat the grill to high.  Cook for five minutes over the grill and turn.  Cook for about five minutes more.

3,  Remove the corn from the foil.  Sprinkle the chopped cilantro over the corn and serve.

ENJOY.