Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I Come From Comfort

As my heart is heavy thinking of the community of Chardon and all involved with the tragedy yesterday, I hug my school ager tight before he catches the bus.  My little one tells me she is ready to eat lunch and my emotions are always a barometer for what I eat.  Most of the time will power comes into play and discipline has to take up the slack.  I look in the cupboard and see some whole wheat apple pie bread my husband brought home from Great Harvest.  Darn him for tempting me with carbs, but today my heart needs some help.  Today the kids and I feast on grilled cheese.

I remember my dad eating a slice of good sharp cheddar with his homemade apple pie, and so I began. As I fire up the Foreman I slice the bread, pull fresh deli cheddar out of the fridge and found the left over turkey bacon from Sunday's breakfast.  Butter is definitely in the question but moderation, I'm not completely unadulterated.

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Assembling my sandwich I realized how we come together as humans when we need it and the food we love is there for us to gather around and soothe us while we fellowship.  Friends, food is the magnet that brings us together in a paramount events.  Sometimes fun, sometimes somber...always a comfort.

Gather the ones close to you, put some soup in a crock, a pan of saucy pasta in the oven or some grilled cheeses on the grill and Comfort each other.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Somr Like It Hot: Part Three

The final type of chile you typically can find at a supermarket is canned or jarred.  I use the chopped canned green chiles, usually found in the Latin foods aisle, to put some oomph into scrambled eggs, and as a wonderful additive when making Spanish rice.  As this blog goes on you will see canned green chiles used from time to time.  Jarred or canned pickled jalapeños on the other hand you will probably not see.  To me they are floppy mushy nuggets of spicy vinegar, and much prefer to pickle my own fresh chiles for any application they may be applied.  As Alton Brown may say” they are definitely not ………well you know”.  If you need their convenience or happen to have a different opinion they usually can be found by the pickles at the supermarket.  The recipe that I am going to share with you uses canned chipotles in adobe sauce. 
 A chipotle is a smoked jalapeño that has been essentially pickled in a tomato, vinegar, and spice sauce called adobo. I know double standard, they’re both pickled jalapeños but I’m a BBQ guy and love just about anything smoked.  In addition the chipotle tends to retain more of its original texture and as a bonus you get the wonderful adobo sauce along with the peppers.  Canned chipotles are usually available in the Latin foods section of your supermarket.  The recipe I am going to share with you is for BBQ pork pizza.  It has a ton of intense flavors going on but the canned chipotles used really shine through.  When we make this here at our house we usually make it on the gill, but since not everyone is as bonkers as us to be tending a fire in 30 degree weather I’ll give the recipe to ya in oven form.  Note: if you have a convection setting on your oven, this will simulate BBQ style crisp on the outside and moistness on the inside.


BBQ Pork Pizza
Pork
 1 Chipotle pepper in adobo, seeds removed and roughly chopped
     ½T of the adobo sauce from the chipotles
                              1C BBQ sauce
                               ½ C cider vinegar
                               3T   frozen apple juice concentrate
                               1# pork loin roast
                                ½ red onion cut into quarters
                                2 cloves grarlic
                                                                            Pizza 
                                1# pizza dough
                                1 c  BBQ sauce
                                1 Chipotle pepper in adobo, seeds removed and roughly chopped
        ½T of the adobo sauce from the chipotles
                                 1T  brown sugar
                                 ½ red onion thinly sliced
                                 2 c  shredded queso fresco or Monterey jack cheese
                                 4T  cojita or parmesan cheese, grated
Directions: for the pork,combine the chipotles, the adobo, BBQ sauce, vinegar, and juice concentrate in an oven safe Dutch oven or pot.  Place on the stove and heat until bubbly.  Remove from heat and add the pork loin (fat side up), onions, and garlic to the pot.  Cover and place into a preheated 350 degree oven for 5-6 hours.  Remove pork from pot and let cool slightly.  Using two forks, shred meat into small pieces.  Place back into pot and keep warm until used, or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Conversely you could use any type of prepared pulled pork.  Note: This recipe will not create the tenderest pulled pork ever. The best cut of pork to use in this recipe would be a Boston butt roast, but it will require approximately  double the other ingredients, take 8-10 hours to cook, and produce enough pork for like 10-15 pizzas.  Of course you could have pizza tonight and pulled pork tomorrow! 
Now, for the pizza. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Roll the dough out on a 16”pizza stone or well oiled sheet pan, and let rise in a warm place forn15-20 min.  Meanwhile, combine the chipotles, adobo, BBQ sauce, and brown sugar into a food processor and pulse till well mixed.  Once the dough has sat, using a pastry brush, spread an even coating of the BBQ sauce mixture onto the entire crust (you’ll probably have plenty left over, serve it as a dipping sauce).  Spread the prepare pork and sliced onion across the pizza (not gonna give you amounts.   You know how much swine you like!).  Liberally sprinkle with the cheeses and then bake for 11-13 minutes.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes after removing from oven.  For added heat feel free to add sliced fresh jalapeño and/or more of the chipotles cut into strips before topping with cheese.
This has been a long spicy week, but chiles are dear to my heart.  I love their heat and flavor, and I hope you now will too.  So, now go forth and be spicy….and have yourself a tasty day!

                



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Some Like it Hot: part Two

 Today
we move on to dried chiles.  In a previous post I promised a recipe on how to make you own chili powder.  Remember that chile (with an E) powder is nothing more than ground dried chiles whereas chili (with an I) powder is a mix of spices including chile powder, salt, cumin, garlic, and onion powder.  Let’s start with making the chile (with an E) powder.  You will need dried chiles. I recommend ancho chiles as they have a very pleasant fruity taste and are fairly mild as chiles go, but any dried chile will work for this recipe. You should be able to find several varieties of dried chiles at your supermarket typically in the produce department or the Latin foods aisle.  If yours does not carry dried chiles try a Latin food market or at the very least they can be found online just search for “dried chile”.  Once you have obtained your chiles the next thing you will need is some way to grind them.  The very best and easiest method is to use an electric coffee grinder, which is a small investment at 15-20$ (note: if you already have one to grind coffee you’ll still want an additional one of these just for grinding spices as once you’ve ground a spice in the grinder you won’t  enjoy the coffee you grind in it).  You could also use the traditional pestle and mortar, or you can use your food processor.  
Now that you have the goods to make your chile powder the first thing you want to do is cut the tops off the chiles and shake out the seeds. Then take your kitchen shears and cut the chiles into small strips. Place the strips into a preheated pan over medium heat and toss frequently for 1-2 minutes.  You only want to gently heat the chiles, not cook them or more to the point burn them.  Let the chiles come to room temperature then place them in your chosen grinding device and pulverize those suckers into a fine powder.  Now this seems like a whole lot for something you can just pick up a jar of.  TRUST ME! Try this once and you’ll never look at commercial made chill powders the same.
Sweet and Smoky Chili Powder
                        3T   fresh ground chile (with an E) powder
                        2T  Granulated garlic
                        1T smoked paprika
                        1T each,  cumin, dried oregano, onion powder, Spanish paprika, and kosher salt
                        1/2T  dark brown sugar
                        1 tsp  each, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, and ground mustard
Directions:  Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Transfer to an airtight container, and store in a cool, dry, dark place.

Come back for one more and you will be hot to trot.


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Some Like It Hot: Part One

My last post there was mention of chili, and I had promised to post about CHILE’s. Not the restaurant, which I do not recommend, but the actual fruit.  This promises to be one hot post! 
Chile’s are fruit of plants in the genus Capsicum, and like tomatoes are in the nightshade family. Relatively speaking chiles are new to the European and Asian kitchens being brought back to Spain by Columbus in 1493 and spreading from there.  On the other hand chiles have more than likely been cultivated for human consumption since 6000BC in their native South America.  Chiles range in flavor from the fruity taste of a bell pepper to the nuclear heat that is the calling card of the ghost pepper.    Chiles get their distinctive bite from chemical compounds called capsaicinoids.  These compounds, primarily capsaicin, bind with pain receptors in the mouth that sense heat.  Once activated by the capsaicinoids, these receptors send impulses to our brain  telling it we have eaten something hot. The heat of a Chile is rated in scoville units.  A scoville unit , or SU  is basically how many times a given amount of dried chile must be diluted in a sugar water solution before the heat is undetectable.  The scale goes from 0 SU of a bell pepper to 15,000,000 SU of pure capsaicin. Now, this scientific measurement is nice and all but the truth of the matter is the exact heat of a chile pepper is a function of numerous things. Things like the soil they were grown in, the weather they matured in, how long they have sat after being picked, and the list can go on and on.  The take home is a general rating of heat you can expect from a given pepper in relation to other peppers.   Now, there are 3 basic forms you will find chiles in the local supermarket: fresh, dried, and canned.  Fresh are just that, the fresh grown chile in its natural unaltered form. Some examples are jalapeño, bell, poblano, and habenero.   When a fresh chile is dried it gets a new name and usually takes on a different flavor than the chile in its fresh form.  The dried chile also tends to be hotter than its fresh counterpart.  A dried chile example is the Ancho pepper which is a dried poblano.  As for canned/jarred there are 3 most common items found in our local supermarkets. 1) is pickled jalapeño we are all familiar with being served on nachos at the ballpark 2.) is canned chopped green chiles and 3.) the chipotle pepper, a smoked jalapeño that is usually found in a tomato/spice mixture known as adobo.  I am going to give you all 3 different recipes using the three different forms of chiles, in three different posts.  
Lets start with fresh.  This recipe is for a condiment known as firewater.  This stuff is amazing as an additive to chili’s and soups or on your morning eggs. Pretty much anyplace you might use hot sauce you can substitute the broader flavor and milder heat of firewater.  The recipe is going to call for jalapeños and Serrano peppers, but you can use hotter chiles to increase the heat or milder chiles to decrease it.  When working with fresh chiles it is always a good idea to wear disposable gloves to keep the capsaicin containing oils off your fingers and subsequently out of your eyes and other sensitive areas.  Also, while it is true the seeds of a chile have more heat than the flesh, the majority of the capsaicin in a chile is contained in the white pithy ribs found inside the chile.  So if you are cutting up chiles (which this recipe doesn’t call for) you can further reduce the heat by discarding the ribs and seeds or leave them in for a greater zing! 
Firewater
Ingredients:
5   whole jalapeño chiles
2   Serrano chiles
3   cloves garlic, crushed slightly
3 T   fresh oregano
      Or substitute 2tsp. dried
1T + 1tsp  crushed red pepper, divided
1tsp   kosher salt
3C boiling water
Directions:  rinse off the chiles and make 4 or 5 slits the length of each chili leaving the tops and point ends uncut.  Place the chiles, garlic, oregano,1 T crushed pepper, and salt into a large jar or container with a lid.  Pour the boiling water over the ingredients and close the jar.  Leave the jar on your counter overnight or for 10-12 hours.  Pour the water into a clean jar, while straining out the solids.  Add another tsp of the crushed red pepper to the jar (or for less heat leave out).  Store the firewater in your refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Hungry for more?  Look here for part two, coming soon.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Lett-uce Eat Braised Pork

In my quest to eat really good food but cut out some calories, I started to toy with the idea of lettuce wraps.  I remember my first bite of the odd concoction.  The lettuce was cold, wet and a little hard.  The meat was way too saucy and ran everywhere.  I hated the fact that I looked like a child when I was done eating them.  Oh how we've learned to wrap since then.  There are so many elements that go into this flavorful, lo-cal, Asian inspired dish.  Read on fellow calorie conscious, point counting foodie, we to can eat...

First off and I think most importantly, you need to make some amazing pulled pork.  Slow roasted swine is a delicacy in our home.  It is low in calories, high in protein and full of flavor.  This particular little piece of piggy was braised in Dr. Pepper.  I know, you're probably turned off now.  I was too.  Chef Ryan did not have me at 23 flavors.  I asked why not diet and I was told that he didn't like the idea of the fake sugars, I was satisfied and let it be.  Put a 3-4 pound boneless pork loin in a dutch oven or large oven safe pot fat side up.  Pour in roughly 3 cups of Dr. Pepper or enough to cover the bottom third of the roast.  Add one small onion, sliced.  Two cloves of garlic peeled.  Two chipotle peppers in adobo plus one tablespoon of the adobo.  One tablespoon each of cumin, salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Place your pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.  Once that has happened turn off the heat and put the lid on and place it in a 350 degree oven.  Braise the roast for 4 to 6 hours flipping the roast over half way through.  Add more Dr. Pepper as necessary to ensure 3/4 of the loin is covered at all times.  I like to have this prepared a day or 4 ahead of time.  Heck pull it out of the freezer from the pulled pork sandwiches you had last month.

Secondly, the lettuce.  I love butter for wraps.  It comes in a bright green and a deep purpley version too.  I like to pull this out of the fridge, wash and pat dry first.  By the time you are ready to "meat" them, they have come to room temperature.  Easy.

Third I make the dressing.  I despise store bought dressing.  It is so easy to make just about any kind with ingredients you have anyway.  It's fresh, yummy and you can make just enough for that night...or not.  Just be sure to use it within the week if it is creamy base.  I love mixing flavors like I mix hair color.  Think of food like the yin and yang, light and dark, sweet and salty and then throw in something small and unexpected that makes you happy just for fun. For this dish I combined half cup safflower oil, a quarter cup rice vinegar, about 2 tablespoons of good course ground mustard, 2 Tablespoons of teryaki sauce (you can use reduced sodium soy too),  one minced garlic clove and a pinch of ground ginger.  Whisk, shake, blend, ninja...emulsify.

Brown rice takes for-ev-er to cook but is worth it.  I am crazy about soft, moist and nutty brown rice.  Mixing also is crazy.  This took me a while to figure out, so listen up and I'll save your sanity and your pans.  Four cups water to one cup rice.  Bring the water to a boil with nothing in it.  Add the rice, stir and turn down to med low for up to 30 minutes for simmering.  While that is going on I shredded carrots, and finely sliced red pepper.

Now it is time to assemble.  Rice in the middle of the plate.  One cup is a serving.  Lettuce down, place pork in the middle, no more than an ounce to an ounce and a half.  Carrots and a couple of peppers on top.  Drizzle your awesome homemade dressing and sprinkle some sunflower seeds and enjoy.  For my weight watchers this meal works to be 10 points.  A small price to pay for such a satisfying meal so chow down. 

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Monkeys can make Monkey Bread

Our children adore the $.46 box of mac and cheese I buy them.  On occasion instead of fat free milk I put heavy whipping cream in it.  J.R., 6 and Charlee, almost 3 eat the whole box themselves.  This post is not about mac n cheese, I will let Ryan tackle that one.  Instead I am going to talk about getting the children involved in the kitchen.

We are always trying new recipes and ideas out in what we like to call the BlaZe test kitchen.  Always talking about recipes, calories, points(weight watchers) and ingredients our children have really become quite comfortable in the kitchen, almost too much.  Many times I find Charlee sitting on the ceramic tile floor eating out of the strawberry container or helping herself to some cheese cubes and grapes...no really.  We have also found J.R. making some strange creations that would probably make some pregnant woman happy.  The most recent of these was the other day for lunch.  He had toasted an everything bagel thin and smeared it with cream cheese, slapped some salami on there, but didn't stop.  To top it off he squirted some mayo around and around and drizzled some chocolate sauce.  Kiddie Mole?  I think not.  Not only did he eat it all he wanted to make me one for breakfast the next morning.  Thank God Ryan filled me in on the creation or I may have let him do it.  I blamed it on my weight watchers, too many points Monkey, sorry.

This though has monkey written all over it! (Not to mention its reduced fat!)  This is my version of the famed monkey bread.

2 rolls of reduced fat biscuits
6 strips of turkey bacon (uncooked)
1/2 c of walnuts or pecans
1/2 c brown sugar
1T of Dark Agave
2 med to large bananas
2T butter

I'm a fan of making this at the table.  Preheat oven to 350.  Side note, if you convection bake this bread will get crispy on the exposed areas.  Set the kids down and give them each a plastic knife.  Open the biscuits for them and instruct them to cut them into chunks (1" ish).  As they cut the chunks put them in a mixing bowl. the measurement are just a guideline, don't get too upset if there is more. (less is another story!)  Kids aren't going to be spot on and that is what makes this fun.  The turkey bacon and bananas also get cut into 1 inch chunks and tossed into the bowl.  All this cutting and plastic knife work makes kids happy, just make sure they don't eat the turkey bacon, ew.  I tell the "monkeys" mommy needs to chop the nuts because I'm the only one crazy enough to.  Anyhow the rest as you guessed gets dumped in and drizzled with the butter.  Stir and dump into a greased bread or bunt pan.  Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

There are tons of other ways to safely invite your kids into the kitchen so be creative and open.  Their little hands add love and sometimes flavor.  Tell us you children's favorite foods.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Inside The Bowl, The lowdown on Chili

The super bowl  is this Sunday, and in honor of the big game I’ve decided to write about one of the quintessential  super bowl party foods; Chili.  Now, the best place to start with just about anything is the beginning. 
Chili more than likely started with the Gauchos of the Mexican plains. Initially a simple mixture of available meat in a spicy chile sauce, it was adopted by the cowboys of the American southwest, and in typical American fashion made bigger and more complex.  The cowboy’s camp cooks took that simple mixture and added tomatoes, aromatics, and additional spices to make what today’s chili purist would call ambrosia.  Traditional chili is a far cry from the simmering pots of ground meat and beans most of us have on our stoves.  True chili purists will tell you that chili is chunk meat in a thick and spicy tomatoes and chile broth.  They look down on those of us that would even dare consider adding vegetables, or beans, and the meat definitely must be whole chunks nothing so sissified as ground meat!  OK, for anyone sweating bullets that I am going to tell them they need to remove the beans from their chili or there mortal soul will burn…..relax. I am far from a purist.  I love to experiment with different ingredients, and every pot of chili I make contains beans of some sort.  In fact I think the greatest thing about a popular food like chili is all the variety.  Traditional, red eye, green, white, turkey, buffalo, vegan and about 400 other versions exists to tempt our palates and our imagination.  In our house we have tried dozens upon dozens of additional ingredients to our basic chili recipe. Some of them keepers, some of them…..well, not so much. Here is a list of some of the keepers.
·        Honey
·        Lager beer
·        Whisky
·        Chocolate (really! Try it some time. Dark is better than milk)
·        Molasses
·        Maple syrup
·        Ground up corn chips
·        Bacon (duh!)
·        Strong brewed coffee
·        Crushed pineapple
·        Diced zucchini and summer squash
·        Tomatillos instead of tomatoes
·        Beans: black, red, pinto, kidney, navy, great northern, black eyed
Another way to broaden you chili's horizons is to vary the meat you use.  Our favorite combo is ground sirloin, pork, and venison, but if it squeaks, squawks, flys, swims, slithers, or walks you can probably grind it up and make chili out of it.  Please show some restraint though. I know you’re excited to perfect that chili recipe but let’s leave the neighbor’s cat to the Chinese takeout guy.  I promise I am going to give you a recipe here but I have one last thing to mention.  This recipe is going to call for chile, C-H-I-L-E powder. This is different from chili, C-H-I-L-I powder.  Chili powder is the reddish brown powder found in just about every American spice cabinet. It is a mixture of ground dried chiles, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Chile powder on the other hand is just the ground up dried chiles.  My recipe calls for the Chile with an “e” version.  Chile powder can be found at Latin food stores or at specialty spice stores.  In a future post I show you how to make your own.  If you don’t want to buy another spice, or are unable to find chile powder, chili powder can be substituted in the same quantity but be sure to leave out the salt and cumin or those flavors will overpower the chili. 
2# ground meat (I suggest sirloin and pork)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onion diced
2 ribs celery finely diced
1 poblano pepper diced
1 each red and green bell pepper diced
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 16oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt added if you can find it)
3 T tomato paste
1 can each: black beans, pinto beans, and light red kidney beans (we use dried, also a future post)
3T Ancho Chile powder (or regular chili powder)
1T cumin
1T granulated garlic
1T oregano
1/2T Onion powder
1tsp cayenne powder
2T brown sugar
2T kosher salt
2T beef bullion
2C water
1/4C masa(a corn flour widely available at many grocery stores) or ground up corn chips

In a large pot brown the meat, and drain reserving 4 or 5 tablespoons of the drippings.  Return the reserved drippings and add the garlic, onion, celery and peppers cooking over medium heat until tender.  Return the meat, and add the tomatoes and tomato paste.  Drain and thoroughly rinse the beans adding them to the pot.  Then add the chili powder through the bullion stirring the pot well to mix.  In a separate bowl add the water to the masa and mix well.  Add the masa to the chili pot.  Cover and simmer for at least one hour before serving.  Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese, sour cream, and thinly sliced fresh jalapeños.
Use this recipe as a starting point and experiment on your own.  Go find the next greatest ingredient and invite us over for a bowl!  I hope we have inspired you.  Leave us a message and let us know what your secret ingredients are, or what the most bizarre thing you have put in that chili pot was!