Mole Verde Zacatecano

I have reminisced in the past about moles, those wonderful sauces that are most commonly associated with Mexican cuisine.  Three Mexican States lay claim to the origin of the mole ... Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala.  However, moles have come an integral part of not just the cuisine of these three states, but also other Mexican states, including the central Mexican State of Zacatecas.

Zacatecas lacks many of the resources of other Mexican states, which is reflected in Zacatecan cuisine.  For example, the moles of Oaxaca or Puebla may have more than a dozen, wideranging ingredients.  By contrast, the moles of Zacatecas are far more minimalist.  These moles use only a handful of ingredients, most of which are relatively common, such as cilantro, tomatillos, onions, and jalapenos.

For these reasons, a Zacatecan mole provides a good starting point for a cook like myself.  My goal, at some point in the future, is to make the seven moles of Oaxaca.  However, before undertaking such a challenge, I need some practice.  There is no better way to practice than with a simplified version of the mole.  Not only did this dish teach me about the ingredients and processes used to make a mole, but it reminded me that oftentimes, something simple can be just as delicious, if not more, than a complicated dish. 

MOLE VERDE ZACATECANO

Adapted from Saveur.com

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the Chicken):

3–4-lb. whole chicken, cut into 4-8 pieces

1/2 cup chopped cilantro stems

2 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. whole black peppercorns

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

Ingredients (for the Mole):

8 oz. tomatillos, peeled and chopped

2 jalapeños, stemmed and chopped

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

2 tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 8″ flour tortillas, toasted

3 tbsp. canola oil

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken.   Place the chicken, along with the cilantro, salt, peppercorns, garlic, onion, bay leaf, and twelve cups water, in a 6-qt. saucepan and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender, about thirty minutes.

2.  Reserve the cooking liquid.  Remove chicken from saucepan and strain liquid through a fine strainer; reserve 4 cups, and save remaining liquid for another use. Set chicken and liquid aside.

3.  Begin the mole.  Heat tomatillos and jalapeños in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until darkened and thick, about ten minutes. Transfer to a blender with cilantro, salt, garlic, tortillas, and one cup reserved cooking liquid; puree.

4. Continue to make the mole.  Heat oil in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add tomatillo sauce and fry, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a paste, about five minutes. Whisk in remaining cooking liquid and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, until reduced and thickened, about thirty minutes.

5.  Finish the dish and plate.  Add chicken pieces and cook until heated through, about ten minutes. Serve with Mexican rice and tortillas.

ENJOY!

Big Bob Gibson's Eight-Time World Championship Pork Shoulder, with Eastern Carolina and Memphis Barbecue Sauces (Savage Boleks' Barbecue 2011)

Seeking a change from the grind of working on the L & N Railroad, Bob Gibson first opened his barbecue joint in 1925.  He began with pork and hickory wood.  Over the years, he and generations of Gibsons who followed have built Big Bob Gibson's into something of an institution in Decatur, Alabama.  By the time I made it there, more than eighty-five years after it first opened, Big Bob Gibson's serves not only pork, but beef, and chicken as well.

I still remember the day that Clare's parents took us to Big Bob Gibson's restaurant in Decatur, Alabama.  I ordered the big platter of barbecue, sampling pulled pork, brisket and ribs, along with sides.  I wanted to taste as much of Big Bob Gibson's barbecue as I could.  While I could not finish the large plate of food that had been placed in front of me, it was probably some of the best barbecue that I have ever tasted.  (I realize I have opened myself to challenges about what is the "best" barbecue, my response to all of them is bring some of your best barbecue by and I will try it.You may win me over, but I need to taste it first!)

Recognizing how much I loved Big Bob Gibson's barbecue, Clare's parents bought me the Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, which is full of recipes for different types of barbecue, along with hints and suggestions from Big Bob Gibson's pit master, Chris Lilly.  What immediately got my attention is Big Bob Gibson's Eight Time World Championship Pork Shoulder. If I had to choose a favorite BBQ, it would be pulled pork.  I love brisket, ribs, and links, but there is something about pulled pork.  If given the choice, it is almost always the BBQ that I order.

THE PORK SHOULDER

So naturally, the type of barbecue that is most associated with the Savage Boleks' BBQ is pork shoulder.  My Angel and I have two annual Savage Boleks' BBQs and both times I did the base preparation of the pork shoulders using the hints, advice and recipes provided by Chris Lilly and Big Bob Gibson.  For the most recent BBQ, I used the Big Bob Gibson's Eight-Time World Championship Pork Shoulder recipe.  I smoked the pork shoulders using a combination of 50% hickory and 50% apple wood. I also added apple juice to the liquid bowl.  As I pulled the pork shoulder and tasted the meat for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by the smoky, yet sweet flavor of the meat.  Overall, my efforts were a great success.

BIG BOB GIBSON'S EIGHT-TIME WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

PORK SHOULDER

Source and adapted from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, at 53-54 

Serves a lot of people

Ingredients (for the Dry Rub):
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons garlic salt
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon black pepper 

Ingredients (for the Injection):
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

Ingredients (for the Vinegar Mop):
1 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
2 slices of lemons

2 pork butts, about 7 pounds each 

Directions:
1.  Mix all of the ingredients for the dry rub in a small bowl and set aside. 

2.  In a separate bowl, combine all of the injection ingredients and blend together until the sugar dissolves.   Using a meat syringe or flavor injector, inject the meat evenly at 1-inch intervals from top to side, using the entire amount of the injection solution.  Once the solution has been injected into the meat, apply the dry rub to the meat in an even coating.  Make sure that the dry rub adheres to the meat.  Wrap the pork in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator overnight.

3.  On the day of the smoking, mix all the ingredients for the vinegar mop in a small bowl. Set aside.

4.  Remove the pork from the fridge while you start the smoker. If using a Weber Smokey Mountain, use hardwood charcoal.  After you have gotten the charcoal lit, use a mixture of hickory and apple wood chunks.  Once the smoker reaches 225 degrees, add the pork shoulders to the smoker.  Smoke the pork shoulder at 225 degrees to 250 degrees until the meat reaches 190 degrees, after about 10 to 11 hours. In the last few hours, usually beginning with the seventh or eighth hour, begin to baste the meat with the vinegar mop.  Baste the meat every hour thereafter.

5.  Remove the pork from the smoker and let rest for 30 minutes. Pull the pork, reserving any visible fat.  I generally smoke the meat the day prior to the barbecue and, when reheating the meat before the party, I mix in some of the fat to help keep the meat moist. Sprinkle on some of the leftover vinegar mop, mixing with your hands to incorporate.

THE BARBECUE SAUCES

For each Savage Boleks' BBQ, I try to make different barbecue sauces to go with the pork shoulder.  For the first BBQ, I made Big Bob Gibson's own sauce, which I made from scratch using the recipe from the cookbook. Unfortunately, I did not make enough and it was gone very quickly.  For the second annual barbecue, I decided to make two sauces.  The first sauce was a vinegar-based Eastern Carolina Sauce, which was inspired by our recent vacation in the Outer Banks.  The second sauce was a tomato-based Memphis sauce.  I thought this sauce would provide our guests with two good options -- between a tart sauce and a sweet sauce.  Both sauces are from the June/July edition of Saveur Magazine.

EASTERN CAROLINA BARBECUE SAUCE

From Saveur, No. 139 (Jun./Jul. 2011) at 112.

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. crushed red chile flakes

1 tbsp. hot sauce

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

½ tsp. paprika

Directions:

1.  Combine the vinegars, sugar, chile flakes, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and paprika in a storage container.

2.  When you are going to use the sauce, heat it in a pot until it is warm.  Add the sauce to the pork by spoonfuls until you have enough to flavor the pork.

MEMPHIS-STYLE WET SAUCE RECIPE

From Saveur, No. 139 (Jun./Jul. 2011) at 112.
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup

⅔ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. ground black pepper

1½ tsp. mild hot sauce

1½ tsp. onion powder

1½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

Directions:

1.  Bring the ketchup, vinegar, both sugars, juice, Worcestershire, pepper, hot sauce, onion and garlic powders, mustard, and 1 cup water to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan. 

2.  Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Overall, the Second Annual Savage Boleks' BBQ was a great success.   Everyone enjoyed the pulled pork and the barbecue sauces, even combining the sauces together to create an Eastern Carolina/Memphis pulled pork sandwich.  Eventually, I will turn my attention to the Third Annual Savage Boleks' BBQ, but I have still have a year to prepare for that.  Until next time ...

ENJOY!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Savage Boleks' BBQ 2011)

My beautiful Angel, Clare, and I are trying to establish a yearly barbecue.  The plan is to smoke pork shoulders and make pulled pork sandwiches, which serve as the centerpiece of the barbecue.  However, I also include a second protein.  Last year, for the first annual Savage Boleks' Annual BBQ, it was D.C. half smokes.  For 2011, the supporting role for the Second Annual Savage Boleks' Annual BBQ was the Jamaican Jerk Chicken.  I originally intended to use the Jerk Chicken recipe that I used for my Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge. That recipe is an amalgam of a couple of recipes for Jerk Chicken.  It worked well for one batch, but I was a little nervous about using to make a lot of chicken.  So, I decided to revert to the principal recipe that I used, which was really easy to double or triple or even septuple (or whatever is the word for doing something seven times).

In the end, I still departed from the original recipe. When it came time to making the rub, I increased the amounts of  ground cinnamon, ground pepper and thyme.  Instead of using a teaspoon or two of each, I used a tablespoon or two. This makes the recipe a little less Jamaican because allspice is usually the most prominent spice used in the rub.  Still, the additional cinnamon and black pepper helped to increase the sweetness and spiciness of the rub used to marinate the chicken.  A true Jamaican jerk recipe also calls for Scotch Bonnet peppers (or habanero peppers), which have a very high rating on the Scoville Scale, with anywhere from 100,000 Scoville Heat Units to 350,000 Scoville Heat Units.  (By contrast, a regular green pepper has 0 Scoville Heat Units and a jalapeno pepper has between 2,500 and 8,000 Scoville Heat Units).  Knowing that everyone does not like foods as spicy as I do, I decided that I would use the minimum number of peppers (2 per batch) allowed for in the recipe.  (Actually, I used slightly less than 2 per batch.) I also seeded the peppers and removed the veins along the side of the peppers to help reduce the piquancy of what are some of the hottest peppers out there. 

JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN (SAVAGE BOLEKS' BBQ 2011)

Adapted from Whats4Eats.com

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 pounds of chicken (such as legs or thighs)

1 bunch of scallions

3-6 cloves of garlic minced

1-2 tablespoons of minced ginger

2-6 Scotch Bonnet chile peppers, minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon of Kosher salt

1 tablespoon of ground allspice

2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon of dry thyme

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup of lime juice

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil

Directions:

1.  Marinate the chicken.  Add all the ingredients to a large, non-reactive bowl, refrigerate and marinate for at least 2 to 3 hours, preferably overnight.

2.  Grill the chicken.  Wipe off excess marinade and grill the chicken pieces over a slow fire until cooked through.  The cooking times will vary depending upon the size of the chicken pieces and the number that you are grilling at the time. 

Grilling the chicken provides a great char to the chicken that contributes to the overall experience of eating this chicken.  If you cannot grill the chicken, you can roast the pieces in a 350°F oven until cooked through, which should take thirty to forty-five minutes.  I've roasted the chicken and it still turns out delicious.

After having prepared this chicken for a lot of guests, I have to say that the dish turned out well.  The unique twist of increasing the cinnamon and black pepper gave the chicken a rather unique, but very good, taste. While Jamaicans may take issue with the twists, I think that experimenting with recipes in this way is one of the greatest things about cooking.  Fortunately, it worked out well in this case.  

ENJOY!

Nicaraguan-Style Churrasco

I was searching for a good beef recipe and I came across one recipe for Nicaraguan-style Churrasco.  For most people, the word "Churrasco" conjures images of Brazilian or Argentinian barbecue, with "gauchos" walking around with endless skewers of meat.  That, of course, is sort of an Americanized version of Churrasco brought to life as "Brazilian barbecue."  More to the point, however, the cuisine of many Latin American countries include Churrasco, usually with their own twists.  There are versions of Churrasco in Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Generally, Churrasco is grilled meat and, in Latin America, the meat is beef.  (Interestingly, there is a version in Portugal -- Frango de Churrasco --  that involves chicken.)  In Nicaragua, Churrasco is typically cuts from a beef tenderloin, topped with a chimichurri sauce.  The recipe I found calls for a five pound tenderloin.  While I love meat and can eat a lot of it, five pounds is a little to much for me.  I was planning for a steak night, not Man v. Food.  So, as I was standing at the meat counter at my local grocery store, I decided to go with a grass-fed, bone-in ribeye.  People who follow this blog know my love for grass-fed beef.  In the end, while the Churrasco may be Nicaraguan in style, the cut of beef is all Chef Bolek. 

I made a couple of revisions based on the comments left by people about the recipe.  The original recipe calls for the use of jalapeno peppers and oregano in making the chimichurri sauce, but a comment left from someone from Managua said that, in Nicaragua, they do not use those ingredients.  Instead, he said that Nicaraguans just use olive oil, salt, garlic, vinegar and parsley.  So, I followed the comment when making the chimichurri.  In the end, the chimichurri has a nice garlic flavor to it (which you could reduce by leaving out one or two cloves) and is a perfect complement to the grilled meat.

NICARAGUAN-STYLE CHURRASCO

Adapted from Food Network
Serves 2

Ingredients (for the Beef):

1 1.5 to 2 pound bone in ribeye steak
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Ingredients (for the Chimichurri):
6 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup of flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup of curly parsley

1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Ground pepper to taste.

Directions:

1.  Preheat the grill.  Preheat the grill on medium-high heat.

2.  Make the chimichurri sauce.  Combine the garlic, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, salt and some black pepper in a food processor.  Process the garlic and parsley, adding first the vinegar and then the oil.  Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings (salt and/or pepper) as desired.

3.  Grill the ribeye.  Lightly oil the grill grates and add the ribeye.  Cook for about four to five minutes and turn ninety degrees.  Cook for another four to five minutes.  Flip the steak.  Cook for an additional five minutes and turn ninety degrees.  Continue to cook for a few more minutes.

4.  Plate the ribeye.  Cut the meat into strips.  Plate with the bone and spoon the chimichurri sauce over the meat.  Pour the remaining sauce into ramekins for guests.

The cooking times are for one steak and should produce an end result between medium rare and medium. If you use two three-quarter to one-pound steaks, simply cut the cooking times in half (about two to two and a half minutes for each step).

Overall, this is a great dish and I particularly like the simplified version of the chimichurri sauce.  I need to work on the sauce a little, which is okay for me because that means I'll be having steak again.  I may use that five pound tenderloin and invite a bunch of people over as guests to share in the experience.

ENJOY!

For more about Churrasco, check out Wikipedia.

Hot Wings with Blue Cheese Yogurt Sauce

Occasionally, I watch the show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."   In each episode, Bobby Flay challenges a cook or chef known for making the best of a particular dish.  In one episode, Bobby challenges the "Wing King," Drew Cerza to a throwdown to determine who makes the best wings.

People who know me know I love wings.  At first, I loved wings with the hottest sauce that was served.  I still remember one bar I went to in my home town where I had an informal challenge with the cook.  He would make the wings as hot as he could and I would eat them.  The showdown came one day, when I was with my dad at the bar.  The waitress brought out the wings, with her arms fully extended (so as to avoid breathing the fumes).  I ate all of the wings, and, in the end, the cook expressed amazement.  I remember his words well, "damn, I used an entire bottle of Tabasco sauce to make those."  

Today, I still like hot wings, but, now I am more interested in sauces with complex flavors, rather than simply sauces that are the hottest that I could find.  This recipe calls for the use of various chiles, namely  ancho, hatch and chipotle.  These chiles add not only heat, but a smoky flavor as well.  And, while Drew Cerza may have beaten Bobby Flay in the throwdown, I think that Bobby's recipe is the better one. 

HOT WINGS WITH BLUE CHEESE YOGURT SAUCE

Adapted from a recipe by Bobby Flay
Serves many

Ingredients for the Wings:

3 pounds of chicken wings

3 tablespoons of ancho chile powder

1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of pureed chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon of Hatch chili powder

1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

2 tablespoons of honey

1 stick of unsalted butter

Ingredients for the Sauce:

Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese

2 tablespoons of finely grated red onion

2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro

Salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Make the blue cheese sauce.   Combine the yogurt, blue cheese, onion and cilantro in a small bowl and then salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate for at least thirty (30) minutes prior to serving.

2.  Prep the dry rub for the wings.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add the 1 tablespoon of ancho chili powder and garlic powder in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lay the wings on a baking tray and sprinkle the powder over the wings.  Cook the wings for at least 30 minutes or until done.

3.  Prepare the sauce for the wings.  Bring the vinegar, chipotle puree and 2 tablespoons of ancho chili powder and the Hatch chili powder to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Whisk in the mustard, salt, honey and butter until smooth.  Add the wings and mix to cover and coat.

I should note that when I made these wings for my most recent Super Bowl party, I forgot to put out the Blue Cheese Yogurt Sauce.  Still, the wings came out well.  You could definitley taste the smokiness of the sauce thanks to the chipotles and anchos.  The wings were not as hot as I expected they would be.  I used a medium Hatch pepper, but I could have made it hotter by using either a medium-hot to hot pepper.  If you choose to use a hotter pepper, you should be mindful about the amount that you use in the sauce.

ENJOY!

Around the World in 80 Dishes: Cuba

After having Hushuur in Mongolia, my culinary adventures take me half-way around the world to ... Cuba. The cuisine of Cuba reflects its history and culture, influenced by a melange of Caribbean, Spanish and African foods and cooking techniques.  The European influences are more predominant in Western Cuba, while the Caribbean and African influences are more present in Eastern Cuba.  And, for my personal culinary challenge, I decided to draw from the entire island with a main dish of Ropa Vieja, with a side of Congri (red beans and rice).  And, for good measure, I decided that I would also make my own Cuban sofrito.

I've had Ropa Vieja at Cuban or Latin American restaurants before, so the dish is not new to me.  However, I've never made that dish before.  I have also never made Congri or my own Cuban sofrito before.  So, this challenge represents some firsts for me and, as you will see, there will not be any lasts.

THE MAIN DISH

Ropa Vieja means "old clothes" in Spanish and it is a dish that is not only enjoyed in Cuba, but also in Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.  This dish originated in the Canary Islands of Spain, which served as the last stop before the voyage to the Caribbean and the first stop when returning from the Caribbean.  In the Canary Islands, the dish was made with beef, chicken or pork, with garbanzo beans and potatoes.  However, in Cuba, it is just made with the meat, no beans or potatoes are added. 

In making this dish, I worked off of two recipes, which had different ways of preparing the dish.  The first way to prepare the dish (which is done by 3 Guys from Miami) is to prepare the meat separately from the sauce.  The second way (which is done by Taste of Cuba)  is to prepare the meat and cook it in the sauce.  The second recipe also included the use of sofrito, which I wanted to make as part of this challenge.  So, I combined both recipes, by first preparing the meat separately by simmering it in a broth with vegetables for a couple of hours and then preparing the sauce in the same pot, thereby enabling me to use the broth and browned bits in the sauce.  I also used some sofrito, in addition to the vegetables called for in the recipe, to give extra flavor to the sauce.

ROPA VIEJA

Adapted from 3 Guys from Miami and Taste of Cuba

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients (for the beef):
2 pounds of flank steak
5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
Flour for dusting

Ingredients (for the sauce):
2 onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
1 can of crushed tomatoes
4 ounces tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, mashed with 1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of red wine (I used Tempranillo)
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
Olive oil for sauteing
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
6 ounces of sofrito (see recipe below)

Directions:

1.  Brown the flank steak.  Dust the flank steak with flour, as well as salt and pepper the beef.   Heat the olive oil to medium high.   Brown the flank steak in a dutch oven or a deep cast iron pot.

2.  Simmer the steak with the vegetables.  Add enough water to surround the meat without covering it.  Add the onion, garlic and green pepper.  Simmer covered for about two hours. 

3.  Shred the steak.  When the meat is fork tender, then it is done.  Remove the meat to a platter and shred it. Discard the vegetables but save the broth.

4.  Prepare the sauce.  In the same pot that you cooked the meat, add additional olive oil for sauteing and heat to medium high.  Add the sofrito, along with the onions, garlic, and green pepper.  Saute until all of the vegetables are tender, which should be about ten minutes. Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, red wine and bay leaf.  Also add a few ladles of the broth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Let the sauce simmer for ten minutes.  Add the shredded beef and continue to simmer for about ten more minutes.  

THE SIDE DISH

Ropa Vieja is usually served with or on top of rice. As with prior challenges, I try to make a complete meal whenever I can, including side dishes and beverages if possible.  One of the most common rice and bean dishes is Moros y Christianos (Moors & Christians), which is made with black beans and white rice.  However, as I noted above, I wanted to draw from the entire island of Cuba with this challenge.  The Ropa Vieja, with its European history, represents the western part of Cuba.  I needed a recipe that represents Cuba Oriente, or the eastern part of Cuba.

So, I decided to make Congri, which is a variant of Moros y Christianos.  Instead of using black beans, recipes for Congri call for the use of red beans.  This dish is very easy to make, especially if you use canned beans instead of dried beans, which saves time in terms of cooking the beans.  It is also a very fragrant dish, as the oregano and thyme, combined with the tomatoes, will fill the kitchen with wonderful scents. 

CONGRI (Cuban Red Beans and Rice)

Adapted from Whats4Eats

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
2 cups red beans
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cup of rice
1 3/4 cup of chicken broth
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

Directions:

1.   Saute the vegetables.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium flame. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes.

2.  Add ingredients.  Add the tomato sauce, beans and herbs.  Simmer for ten minutes.

3.  Add more ingredients.  Stir in the rice, broth and vinegar.  Season everything with salt and ground pepper.  Bring to a boil and the reduce, cover and simmer for about fifteen to eighteen minutes.

4.  Let the rice stand.  Remove from the heat and let stand for five to ten minutes.  Stir lightly and serve.

THE EXTRA

A sofrito is the term for the combination of finely cut ingredients that are sauteed in oil.  In Spanish cooking, a sofrito is the combination of garlic, onions and tomato, which are sauteed for a period of time in olive oil.  In Cuba, a sofrito has one additional ingredient ... green bell peppers. You could also add other ingredients, such as white wine, cumin or cilantro, but the basic recipe calls for five ingredients: garlic, onion, tomato, bell pepper and olive oil.  So, I stuck with that recipe, which is used by cooks and chefs as the basis for many dishes, including Ropa Vieja.

CUBAN SOFRITO

Adapted from Whats4eats

Makes 1 1/2 cups 

Ingredients:
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1/8 cup of olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Saute the vegetables.  Heat 1/8 of a cup of olive oil over medium.  Add the onions and garlic.  Saute until the onions are translucent.

2.  Continue to cook the vegetables.  Add the diced tomato.  Stir and continue to cook until it reduces a little.

3.  Add olive oil.  Remove heat and stir in the 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Overall, I think this meal was a great success.  I was able to prepare the Vieja Ropa very well, cooking the flank steak to a point that it shredded easily.  Preparing the flank steak separately from the sauce also made the whole process a lot easier, reducing the mess of trying to pull the steak out of the sauce to shred it.  It also provided me with an additional ingredient to flavor the sauce, namely the broth in which the steak and vegetables had been cooking for two hours.  And, as for the final product, the Vieja Ropa was very good, the cumin balanced well with the tomato, although the flank steak was a little chewy.

The Congri was excellent.  The rice was cooked perfectly and was a very good counterpart to the red beans.  This dish can be modified to make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth or vegetable stock for chicken broth.  You could also use water instead of broth or stock, although I think that will lessen the favor of the dish.  I will definitely make this meal again, especially the Congri. Until next time....

ENJOY!

For more information on Ropa Vieja, check out Wikipedia and for more information on sofrito, check out Wikipedia.

Handmade Fettuccine with the Bolek Family Tomato Sauce and Chef Bolek's Lamb Meatballs

For many years, my grandparents would make a pasta dinner entirely by hand.  They made the pasta from eggs, semolina and flour.  They made the sauce with fresh tomatoes, including tomatoes grown by my grandfather in his garden.  And, they would make the meatballs and sausage by hand.

My grandparent's "workshop," so to speak, was in their basement, where they had a big pasta table, a second stove and a second refrigerator, not to mention a walk in pantry.  When making pasta for a big dinner, such as our multiple-course dinner on Christmas Eve, the preparations and work began many hours in advance.

I do remember, as kids, my sister and I helped our grandparents make the pasta. Obviously not wanting us around a hot stove making sauce, or working with raw meat, our grandparents assigned us to help them with the hand-crank pasta machine.  We dutifully cranked out fettuccine pasta, setting the stage for what was always a great meal. 

 THE PASTA

As my grandparents grew older, they stopped making most of the meal by hand.  When they stopped making pasta they began to rely upon fresh or boxed pasta from the grocery store.  As for myself, I did not make pasta again by hand for more than twenty years.  It was not until after a culinary Renaissance (that is, my trip through Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany), that I started making pasta on my own.  I took a class at L'Academie de Cuisine, which provided me with some basic instruction on the old volcano technique; and, ever since then, I've basically taught myself to make pasta by hand.  

I am still a novice, usually making pasta with one egg and two or three cups of flour at a time. I also stick to basic pastas, such as fettuccine, linguine or ravioli.  These restrictions slow down the process, but I avoid a lot of headaches, such as the mess from eggs leaking out onto the counter. The following recipe is the simple recipe that I use to make basic fettuccine.

HANDMADE FETTUCCINE
Makes about a quarter pound of pasta.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2-3 cups of flour

Directions:

1.  Make a mound with the flour and a well in the middle of the mound.  Reinforce each side of the mound with the back side of a spoon.  Crack the egg into the middle of the mound.

2.  With a fork, carefully begin to beat the egg.  As you are beating the egg, add a little flour at a time into the egg.  Continue beating and adding flour until the dough begins to form.  This may take a little while.  Always be mindful of the sides of the well and make sure that there are no cracks where the egg can escape.

3.  Once the dough has formed enough to pick up (it may still be a little runny), scoop up the dough into one of your hands and cover it with flour.  Continue to work the dough into a ball in your hands by adding flour until there is no more "liquid."

4.  Return the dough to a floured surface and begin to kneed the dough with the palm of your hand and your fingers.  Continue to kneed the dough for about ten minutes or until the dough no longer seems "wet."  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap to sit for about ten minutes.

5. Follow the directions on your hand-crank machine, running the dough on the widest setting and working toward the narrow setting. Sprinkle flour onto the dough if you feel any "wet" spots.

6.  Let the dough sit for a couple of minutes.  Then use the attachment for whatever type of pasta you would like to make.

7.  As you cut the pasta using the attachment, make sure that the pasta noodles are separated from one another by either hanging the noodles on a pasta rack or arranging the noodles in a way that will prevent them from sticking together as they dry.  You should also sprinkle flour over the noodles, which will help to keep the noodles separate.

Although the pasta may be "basic" in technique, the end product is a pasta that is light and actually somewhat airy, especially if you are able to run the pasta through the thinnest setting on the pasta machine before cutting it into fettuccine.  You should let the pasta dry before using it in a meal.  Also, because an egg is used in making the pasta, you should refrigerate or freeze the pasta if you are not planning to use it the same day.

THE BOLEK FAMILY TOMATO SAUCE

The process of making pasta is only the beginning; it is like preparing the canvas in order to paint a work of art.   And, for chefs and cooks alike, the "paint" is the sauce.  In my family, the tradition is to make a smooth sauce, one laced with herbs and spices and whose velvety texture coats the noodles in a thin layer of goodness.  My grandparents always made a smooth sauce, and my Mom follows in that tradition.  Although I have experimented with a more chunky sauce (that is, a sauce with bits of tomato, onions, garlic and other vegetables, like carrots), I have to say that there is nothing like what I now call the Bolek Family Tomato Sauce.


The mention of the herbs and spices brings me to the difficult part.  This sauce recipe has been passed down from generations in my family and, the one thing that each generation has in common is that no one measured the herbs and spices that went into the sauce.  There was no attempt to reduce the basil, oregano, garlic powder, or crushed red pepper to cups, tablespoons or teaspoons.  Rather, whether it was my grandmother, my Mom or myself, we rely upon our senses, both of smell and taste, to determine what is the right amount.  You begin by adding a good amount of each spice (but not too much) and continue to add herbs and spices as the sauce cooks, to reach the taste that you want.  

THE BOLEK FAMILY TOMATO SAUCE

Serves Many

Ingredients:
2 cans of tomato puree
3 cans of tomato paste
Dried basil, to taste
Dried oregano, to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Pour the two cans of tomato puree into a big pot.  Fill each can with water to get the remaining tomato puree out of the can and pour it into the pot.  Add the tomato paste, one can at a time.  Whisk the puree into the sauce before adding the next can of tomato paste.

2.  Add the herbs and spices.  The only general rule is that I add 2 parts of basil for 1 part of oregano.

3.  Let the sauce cook for a couple of hours to reduce.

CHEF BOLEK'S LAMB MEATBALLS

And, last but not least, there are the meatballs.  Traditionally, meatballs are with a mixture of ground beef, pork and veal.  For that reason, supermarkets sell ground meat for "meatballs" that often includes all three types of meat.  There are also endless variations on the other ingredients used to make meatballs, such as using different types of breadcrumbs, cheeses and binding agents, such as milk and eggs.  Generally, I try to keep the meatballs simple ... using meat, Italian breadcrumbs, and an egg.

As for the meat, I prefer using ground lamb for two reasons.  The first reason is that meatballs are a  mainstay in Abruzzese cuisine (with Abruzzo being the region from where my relatives emigrated) and are featured in many dishes such as Maccheroni alla Chitarra and Minestra Maritata.  The second reason  is that lamb is much more predominant in Abruzzo than beef and veal.  When my relatives lived in Abruzzo, shepherds tended to sheep and lamb more than cows.  The relative scarcity of beef meant that it was reserved for special occasions.  I'm sure that the situation is different today, with modern distribution networks and refrigerated storage making beef much more available than in the past. 

So, whenever I make meatballs, I pay homage to the past in Abruzzo by using lamb, in a simple recipe that requires only bread crumbs, eggs, herbs and spices.  As with the Bolek Family Tomato Sauce, the amount of herbs and spices added to the ground lamb is not measured, but done using a "gut sense" as to what is just enough to make a good meatball.  (And, for me, that is to make sure that the meatballs have a good, spicy kick to them.)   

CHEF BOLEK'S LAMB MEATBALLS
A Chef Bolek Original
Serves many

2 pounds of ground lamb
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 egg
Dried basil, to taste
Dried oregano, to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Mix the ground lamb, breadcrumbs, egg, herbs and spices in a bowl.  Make sure to mix everything well so that the herbs and spices are spread throughout the meat and that every meat ball will have an adequate amount of flavor.

2.  Make medium-sized meatballs by taking an amount of the mixture that is smaller than a tennis ball but much bigger than a golf ball.  You are looking to make meatballs that are about two inches to two and one half inches in diameter.  Put another way, you should get about twelve meatballs per pound and, for this recipe, you should get about twenty-four meatballs. 

3.  Heat a pan on medium heat.  Add several meatballs to the pan at a time.  Brown the meatballs until the pinkness of the meat is no longer evident on the outside of the meatballs.  You should not cook the meatballs entirely on the pan.  Instead, once they are browned, remove them and place them on a paper towel to collect the excess oil and grease.

The reason why you should never cook the meatballs entirely on the pan is that you should always add the meatballs to your sauce.  By adding the meatballs to the sauce, you will give that sauce a lot of extra flavor. The herbs and spices in the meatballs, as well as the lamb meat itself, will reinforce the herbs and spices in the sauce.  (And, for that reason, if you are planning to have meatballs with your pasta and sauce, you may want to add a little less of the herbs and spices when you make the sauce). 

Making a meal by hand -- the pasta, sauce and meatballs -- is a lot of work.  But it is rewarding work, because the end product is an amazing meal.  This is a meal that has been shared and enjoyed by family and friends on Christmas Eve for decades.

And, for this year (2010), I was fortunate enough to make it for family and friends on Christmas Eve.  I also lucky enough to have the able assistance of my beautiful wife, Clare, her parents and my parents.  Their assistance in making the pasta, the sauce and the meatballs contributed to the great success of the dinner on Christmas Eve.  I am very grateful for all of their help in making this meal, as well as their company as we dined together for the holiday.

ENJOY!

Around the World in 80 Dishes: Jamaica

After a very delicious stop in Bangladesh, I proceeded to the next destination on my culinary adventures ... Jamaica.  I've always been interested in Jamaican food, especially Jerk Chicken.  I was riveted to the television as Anthony Bourdain was standing on a Jamaican street with his guide, watching as street vendors cooked the chicken.  I would tell myself that I have to make this chicken.

"Jerk" is a method of cooking chicken that originates with the indigenous inhabitants of the island of Jamaica, the Arawaks.  Originally, the cooking method involved smoking the chicken over pimento wood, or the wood from the allspice tree.  Over time, the method evolved to its present form in which the chicken is grilled in pit barrels or steel drums. But for those who not have a steel drum in their backyard (or, for that matter, who do not have a backyard), really good jerk chicken can be made using a stove.

As is often the case with cooking, there are many different recipes for a rub or dish, with each recipe being slightly different from the next.  The reason is that there is no one jerk rub recipe.  Everybody has their own recipe with their own twists or modifications.  To make this rub, I relied upon a couple of recipes, which had common ingredients like allspice, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, oil and thyme.  Other recipes may also add cloves, citrus juice (orange or lime), and nutmeg.  But, to be a true Jerk recipe, the rub must include allspice.  This recipe is simply my basic version of a Jamaican Jerk rub.  Next time, I will probably add more, like 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, maybe some lime juice and even a teaspoon or two of dark rum.  Who knows, it is always fun to tinker with recipes.

THE MAIN DISH

JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN

Makes about 1 cup of jerk rub

Serves about 7-10 people

Ingredients:
1 bunch of scallions, minced
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of minced ginger
2 Scotch Bonnet peppers (or Habanero peppers), sliced, seeded
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of allspice
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of black pepper
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 cup of soy sauce (I used dark soy sauce, and cut the amount in half)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
7 pounds of chicken

Directions:

1.  Prepare the jerk sauce.  Add all of the ingredients except the liquids (soy sauce and oil) to a food processor.  Run the processor a few times to mix the ingredients.  Begin running the processor and add the soy sauce in a slow stream.  Then  add the oil in a slow stream.

2.  Marinate the chicken.  Pour the rub in a non-reactive bowl.  Add the chicken and make sure the chicken is covered.  Let it marinate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

3.  Preheat the grill.  With the chicken having marinated for a few hours or overnight (see rub recipe above), begin to start a fire for the grill.  You want to get the grill to about 350 to 400 degrees F.  Rub the grates with oil, so the chicken will not stick to the grates.

4.  Grill the chicken.  Add the grill to the chicken, skin side down. Cook until the chicken is about 165 to 170 degrees and the juices are clear and not pink. Transfer the chicken to a platter and loosely tent with foil and let rest for about 15 minutes.  Alternatively, you can cook it in the oven at about 350 to 375 for about 50 minutes. 

THE BEVERAGE

Of course, a spicy dish like Jerk Chicken needs a cool drink to go with it.  I found a recipe for a non-alcoholic ginger beer (no fermentation required) which was easy to make.  I fiddled with the amounts but the recipe is adapted from one found at Whats4eats.com.

GINGER BEER

Serves many

Ingredients:
1 pound of ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
3 cups of water
3/4 cup of sugar
Juice from 2 to 3 lemons and/or limes
At least 5 cups of club soda

Directions:

1. Add the ginger, sugar and 3 cups of water to a blender and blend well.  Let the blended mixture rest for a couple of hours or overnight.

2.  Strain the blended mixture through a fine mesh strainer.

3.  Add the club soda to the mixture until there are 2 quarts or 8 cups of the beverage.

*     *     *

Once again, I think this cooking adventure was a big success.  I really liked the jerk rub, which was full of flavors and spice from the peppers was really good.  Jerk chicken is definitely a good meal to share with friends, whether for a dinner or a party.  As with everything that I have made, I will make this meal again. Until next time....

ENJOY!

Big Bob Gibson's Memphis-Style Championship Red Sauce

For our first barbecue, I decided to smoke a lot of pork shoulder based on the recipes of Big Bob Gibson's, a well-known BBQ joint in Decatur, Alabama.  Big Bob Gibson started cooking barbecue in 1925 and four generations have continued his passion.  Knowing that I also love BBQ, my in-laws, Frank and Geri Savage, took Clare and I to Big Bob Gibson's.  After a great meal of three different types of barbecue, I purchased some of the rub used by the restaurant.  And, later, Frank and Geri bought me the Big Bob Gibson's cookbook as a gift, which fueled my desire to cook my own barbecue.

The cookbook includes a recipe for Memphis-Style Championship Red Sauce, which I knew would be the perfect accompaniment to the pork shoulder, which had been rubbed with Big Bob Gibson's rub.  Many people asked me about the sauce, and some even asked for the recipe.  I have to admit that I mostly followed the recipe, adding a little more garlic powder.  So, here is the recipe straight from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book at page 220:

MEMPHIS-STYLE CHAMPIONSHIP RED SAUCE

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups ketchup

1 cup water

3/4 cup vinegar

3/4 cup tomato paste

3/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup corn sugar

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

4 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons molasses

4 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon apple sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon dried mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (I used a little more)

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions: 
Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and blend well.  Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer over a medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.  Allow the sauce to cool.  It stores in a tightly sealed container for 2 weeks in a refrigerator.

ENJOY.

Maccheroni alla Chitarra con Polpettini d'Agnello

Maccheroni alla Chitarra con Polpettini d'Agnello is a classic dish from the region of Abruzzo. The dish has three components: (1) the pasta, (2) the sauce and (3) the lamb meatballs. This recipe takes several hours to make, principally because of the time needed to cook the sauce and really intensify the flavors within that sauce. This recipe also calls for handmade pasta, using the rather unique "chitarra," which is a traditional pasta maker from Abruzzo. I have made this dish several times and, each time, I tweak the sauce and the meatballs to bring out new tastes and give each meal its own personality.

The Tomato Sauce

The recipe begins wtih the tomato sauce, which is slow cooked for at least three to four hours, but I prefer to cook it five or more hours. The sauce cooks down over the long period of time, concentrating the flavors of basil, oregano, crushed red peppers and tomatoes. It is a simple sauce, based on the recipe handed down in my family. To make the sauce, you need:

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of tomato puree

3 cans of water (use one the paste can for one and the puree can for two)

Dried basil, to taste

Dried oregano, to taste

Crushed red pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Crushed black pepper, to taste

2 cloves of garlic, diced

Olive oil

In a large pot, heat the garlic in the olive oil. Saute the garlic and, after a couple of minutes, add the paste, puree and water. Mix the ingredients well. Then add the basil, oregano, onion powder, salt and pepper gradually, tasting it as you go along. Let the sauce simmer for about 3 to 4 hours, checking it occasionally for taste and to ensure that it does not cook down too much.

Lamb Meatballs

The meatballs can be made of beef, pork, or veal; however, I really like ground lamb. When the herbs and spices are added to the meat, it really adds several layers of flavors that complement the lamb. These meatballs can convert anyone who is wary of eating lamb because of any preconceived notions about that "lamb" taste. To make the meatballs you need the following:

Approx. 2 lbs of ground lamb

1 cup of bread crumbs

1 egg

Dried basil, to taste

Dried oregano, to taste

Onion powder, to taste

Garlic powder, to taste

Crushed red pepper, to taste

Crushed black pepper, to taste

Salt to taste

Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly. Take the mixture and form a medium-size ball with your hands. After forming the meatballs, brown the meatballs in a frying pan with a couple of teaspoons of oil. After the meatballs are browned, pat them down to remove the excess oil. Then add the meatballs to the tomato sauce.

Chitarra Pasta

This recipe calls for handmade pasta, no boxed pasta, no electric pasta makers. Although the recipe is simple, it can be difficult in execution.

4 cups of flour
3 eggs

Create a volcano with the cups of flour and break the eggs into the the center of the volcano. Make sure that the "walls" of the volcano are thick enough to hold the eggs in the center. Take a fork and begin to beat the eggs gently. As you are beating the eggs, begin to incorporate the flour from the sides of the mountain, starting at the top. Continue to add flour until you have a consistent paste. As the mixture comes together, form it into a ball.

Clean the workspace and then sprinkle flour over the working surface. Gently knead thedough until it becomes smooth and elastic. Make sure that there are no sticky spots in the dough (as a sticky dough will simply clog the pasta machine). Once the dough has been kneaded, begin to run it through a handcrank pasta machine at the widest setting. Repeat this five or six times. Then run the pasta through each of the other settings on the pasta machine, except for the last setting.

Once you have finished with the second-to-last setting, lightly sprinkle it with flour and set aside for a couple of minutes. Then cut the pasta into segments.

If you have a chitarra, place the pasta on top of the strings. Using a small rolling pin, gently run the pin up and down the pasta until it falls through the strings. Repeat for each segment.

To cook the pasta, place it in a pot of boiling water (with salt added). Cook the pasta for a couple of minutes. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.

ENJOY!