Sriracha Bloody Mary Oyster Shooters

Okay, so the glassware doesn't work.  I find that one of the biggest problem with rental properties is the lack of adequate glassware.  That problem became very obvious when I decided to make oyster shooters while on vacation.  My beautiful family and I rented a place in the Outer Banks, right on the shore.   It was the perfect location.  A couple of miles from my favorite local seafood source.  (That is another blog post.)  A couple of blocks from a great little seafood market, the Austin Fish Company. 

I paid a visit to that market with my father-in-law, and, we walked away with 100 medium neck clams (still another blog post), and a pint of oysters.  The oysters came from Virginia, which was a little of a surprise.  After a couple long walks on the beach, I came across a lot of oyster shells, including some very large ones.  Still, Virginia is close enough to be local for me.  With oysters in hand, we headed back to the rental house to prepare the oyster shooters.  

As for the particular type of shooter, I had a couple things to work with ... Bloody Mary mix and Sriracha.  Combine those two ingredients together and one gets Sriracha Bloody Mary Oyster Shooters.  However, as I noted before, the rental house did not have any shot glasses.  The rental house was a block from a Brew-Thru, which had shot glasses.  Those shot glasses are great for vodka by itself, but they they didn't seem like good ones for an oyster shooter.  (In fact, they are not good oyster shot glasses. They were single shot glasses and you need at least a double shot glass to fit the oyster and the liquid.)  All I had left were round bottomed glasses, which are probably better suited for water or used as a tumbler glass for wine.  

All of this got me to thinking, what would make a good oyster shooter glass.  Clearly, an ordinary shot glass will not work.  I have my doubts that a double shot glass cold really work.   My three prior attempts at oyster shooters -- Oyster Shooters with Tomato, Limes and Chiles, Mexican Oyster Shooters and Andalusian Style Oyster Shooters -- have left me with one firm conclusion ... the best glassware for oyster shooters are the glasses you get from brewery taprooms after doing a tasting.  The glasses are usually hold about five ounces, which is good to hold one (or two) oysters plus the liquid.  All of the prior photos of oyster shooters have used glasses from breweries.  Maybe I just need to visit a few more taprooms that offer souvenir glasses for those who take a tour or order samples.  If I do it enough, maybe I'll eventually have enough glasses for a dozen oyster shooters.  To top it off, I'll come up with an oyster-beer shooter.  The circle will be complete.  

SRIRACHA BLOODY MARY OYSTER SHOOTERS

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves many

Ingredients:

2 cups Bloody Mary mix

1 pint of oysters

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 bunch of scallions, white parts and green parts thinly sliced

Minced cilantro or celery leaves for garnish

Directions:
Pour the Bloody Mary mix into a large bowl.  Mix in the lemon juice, lime juice, horseradish and Sriracha sauce.  Add the white portions of the scallions and mix.  Pour 2 tablespoons of the mix into a shooter glass, add 1 to 2 oysters, and garnish with the green parts of the scallions and cilantro (or celery).

ENJOY!

Glazed Roast Loin of Pork

Over the holidays, my amazing family and I paid a visit to Colonial Williamsburg.  I have always been a very big history buff, and, spending some time along the main road (East Duke of Glouchester Street) is a very enjoyable time for me.  While I like visiting the different period shops, it is the taverns that really get my attention.  Places like Josiah Chowning's Tavern and the Kings Arms Tavern.  Each trip inevitably includes a visit for a meal at one of those establishments.  As I sit in the restaurant, I try to let my mind wander a little and picture what it would have been like  during the Revolutionary War era.  

The history buff and the cooking buff could not pass up an opportunity to buy The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook.  And, after every visit to the colonial town, I get the urge to make something out of the book.  I have already made Hoppin John, which was for New Year's Day.  The claim that eating Hoppin John on that day is supposed to bring good luck. 

Well, this year, I decided to double down on the wish for good luck.  It is also claimed that eating pork on New Year's Day is supposed to bring good luck as well.  So, I decided to make this Glazed Roast Loin of Pork dish from the Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook.  The cookbook does not provide any backstory to this dish, such as whether it was actually served at the taverns during the mid to late 1700s.  However, it does provide some insight.  While residents in early Virginia favored beef, travelers passing through the area preferred pork.  (Cookbook, pg. 120.)  However, the hot temperatures during the summer made it very difficult to have fresh pork on hand for dishes like this roast loin of pork.  The pork would be salted and smoked, which became the foundation of the famous Virginia ham.  However, in the winter, hogs would be slaughtered, which would allow for fresh pork to be stored for a short period of time, such as around the New Year. 

Although I mostly stuck to the recipe, I ended up not cooking the loin as long as it called for in the instructions.  The reason is that my loin was slightly smaller than the six pound loin called for in the recipe.  This also prevented the roasted loin from getting a good color from the glaze.  Nevertheless, the end result was very good, especially when the pork is dipped in the apple brandy sauce.   

GLAZED ROAST LOIN OF PORK

Recipe from The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook (page 131)

Serves 6

Ingredients (for the apple brandy glaze):

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/4 cup apple brandy

Ingredients (for the apple brandy sauce):

3/4 cup apple jelly

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 small onion grated

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon bottled horseradish, drained

1/2 cup apple brandy

Ingredients (for the roast):

1 whole pork loin (6 pounds), with chine bone separated

     (not removed entirely from the bone, at room temperature)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon 

Directions:

1.  Prepare the glaze.  In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard, salt, pepper, cloves, allspice and apple brandy.  Mix well.

2.  Make the sauce.  In a small saucepan, combine the apple jelly, lemon peel, lemon juice, onion, ginger, horseradish and brandy.  Warm over low heat until the jelly has dissolved.  Cool and set aside. 

3.  Roast the pork.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  On an oiled rack in a large roasting pan, place the pork roast. Roast until the internal temperature registers at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit on a meat thermometer, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Thirty minutes before the end of the roasting time, skim and discard the fat from the roasting pan, leave the drippings.  Brush the pork with the glaze several times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking.  Transfer the roast to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.  

4.  Finish the sauce.   Skim off and discard all of the fat from the pan, leaving the drippings.  Set the pan on the top of the stove and pour in the sauce.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to pick up any roasting bits from the bottom of the pan.  Taste for seasoning and strain into a warmed sauce boat.  Cut the loin into thick slices and pass the sauce on the side. 

ENJOY!

Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q Chicken with White Sauce

As a recreational (and novice) chef and pitmaster, I have spent a lot of time trying to learn all about the different styles of barbecue.  Much of the barbecue literature is fixated on the well known styles of barbecue, such as Texas brisket or eastern Carolina whole hog.  There are many other styles of barbecue, some of which you have to discover by either going to the locale or trying to bring that style to your kitchen.

One such example of a barbecue style is that found in the State of Alabama.  Pitmasters in Alabama smoke pork, ham and chicken, using sauces that are reminiscent of other southern styles, such as the Carolina vinegar sauce.  However, Alabama has a barbecue sauce that is unique to that State's barbecue.  It is a white sauce, used to dip smoked chickens right before serving.  That sauce originated with Big Bob Gibson, who opened a barbecue joint in Decatur, Alabama back in 1925. 

As the story goes,  Big Bob Gibson served pork and chicken at his restaurant.  Gibson used an Eastern Carolina vinegar sauce for his pork, but he needed something for his chicken.  The sauce had to help keep the moisture in his chickens, which were smoked for about 3 hours.  Big Bob Gibson developed a white sauce using mayonnaise.  The sauce gave the chicken a "peppery, vinegary" flavor that helped to keep the chicken moist.  Gibson served this white sauce alongside the Carolina vinegar sauce when he opened his store in 1925.

More than 80 years later, my beautiful Angel's parents took me to Big Bob Gibson's to experience barbecue in Alabama.  I ordered a sampler, which did not include the chicken with white sauce.  I have to admit that, at the time, I was a little skeptical of the white sauce.  Added to that skepticism was my general distaste for mayonnaise.  Consequently, I never tried it at Big Bob Gibson's restaurant.

But, as I noted above, there is the option of bringing the style to your kitchen.  Recently, I decided to  set aside my general distaste for mayonnaise and try the Big Bob Gibson's recipe.  I spatchcocked a couple of whole chickens and put them in the smoker.  I followed the "simple technique" used by the pitmasters at Big Bob Gibson's, namely smoking the chickens over hickory wood, basting the chickens with oil, and then dipping the smoked chickens in that white sauce.   The flavor of the hickory smoke was present in the chicken, especially in the dark meat.  The skin did crisp up, but not to what I would have liked.  (I always need some room for improvement; and, in this case, it is working on how to crisp the skin better.)  

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The white sauce combines mayonnaise with vinegar, prepared horseradish, apple juice and lemon juice.  The vinegar and horseradish give the sauce the kick that one would expect (in my humble opinion) from a barbecue sauce.   That kick gets a little boost from cayenne pepper, but the horseradish is what does the trick for me.  While I followed the recipe in this case, I think that I would add a little more horseradish the next time.    

One final note, the consistency of the white sauce was a little more like a mop sauce than what I would consider to be a barbecue sauce.  That probably explains why the chicken is submerged in the white sauce.   When the chicken was served, I included some of the white sauce in a ramekin or bowl for dipping.

BIG BOB GIBSON BAR-B-Q CHICKEN

WITH WHITE SAUCE

Recipe from Chris Lilly, Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, page 119

Serves 4 to 8

Ingredients (for the chicken):

2 whole butterflied chickens

1 tablespoon of salt

1 cup oil (vegetable, olive, lard)

2 tablespoons black pepper

Ingredients (for the white sauce):

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup apple juice

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the fire.  Build a fire (wood or a combination of charcoal and wood) for indirect cooking by situating the coals on only one side of the cooker, leaving the other side void.  Preheat the cooker to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Smoke the chickens.   Dust each whole chicken evenly with salt.  Place the chickens over the void side of the cooker, with the skin side  up.  When the skin on the chicken is golden brown, about 1 1/2 hours, turn the chickens skin side down, basting both sides with the oil.  Sprinkle the cavities of each chicken with pepper.  Cook the chicken for an additional 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add more wood to the fire as needed to replenish the supply of coals and maintain a temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

3.  Prepare the white sauce.  While the chicken is being smoked, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and blend well.  

4.  Finish the dish.  Pour the white sauce into a narrow deep container and position it next to the cooker.  Remove each chicken from the cooking grate and submerge it into the pot of white sauce.  Remove the chicken from the sauce, cut each chicken in half between the breasts and then quarter by cutting between each breast and thigh.

ENJOY!