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!

                



Easy Like Sunday Morning

Growing up Sunday was the day for family.  Typical Sunday mornings included waking up and crawling into my parents bed for what started out as sleepy snuggles and ended in the week's best tickle fest.  My father always made a large breakfast of eggs, an over-abundance of white buttery toast and some sort of breakfast meat.  After a clean-up session with all hands on deck, the day progressed into yard work or a random home renovation.  Before we knew where the day had gone, we missed lunch and mom was preparing a large feast for our hungry bellies.  This meal always consisted of some sort of meat roast, fresh or blanched vegetables large amounts of pasta or potato and a salad.  Today Ryan and I have come to have the same schedule.  Being the only day we have sun-up to sun-down together we take advantage of the much needed family time.  Today we would like to share our dinner and inspire you too, to gather. 


When we eat red meat we like to make it amazing.  Grass fed is best and can be found for a decent price at your local butcher and higher-end supermarkets.  I hear you now, "I'm on a budget".  Please keep in mind you are, for a young family of four or five you're only going to look to get between 2 and 3 pounds.  This "rule of thumb" yields 3 generous steaks, one for each of the "adults" and one to split between the 2 or three kids.  The thing I didn't learn from my loving parents was portion control.  This is where your budget AND waistline benefit.  Today our table will hold strip steaks.  Known for being a good cut with decent marbling, ones with semi-bone in are fine but if you find them with the full bone...grab it and run. 

Steaks are a relatively thin piece of meat and are cooked over direct heat.  We like a grill on medium or a cast iron grill pan on your stove top turned to medium-high.  Let your steaks come to room temperature and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Ssprinkle liberally with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  As for rubs and marinades, if you insist on using them, now is the time to do so.  Steaks have a wonderful texture and flavor of their own, we suggest just the salt and pepper to enhance the somewhat expensive meat's flavor rather than cover up all that meaty goodness. 

Once you have placed your steak on the grill don't move it for 3-4 minutes, turning then 90 degrees for an additional 2-3 minutes.  FLIP ONCE, cooking an additional 4-6 minutes turning 90 degrees half way through cook time.  Once cooked remove your steak from the grill and let it set for 2-3 minutes to let all the juices come back from the cooked surfaces.  Depending on your grill or cook tops temp. this should set you at a good medium.  Lower the time for rare to medium rare(our fave) or up the time for well done.  In our opinions for well done steaks save yourself the money and just munch on one of the charcoal briquettes.  Finish the steaks off with a pat of butter(approx 1/2 teaspoon) and let it melt into the meat before serving and cutting.

With our steak dinner we will begin with a spring mix salad, homemade Greek garlic ranch and side dishes of  roasted sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil, dark agave, and scallion and lemon steamed broccoli.

We hope our steak info came in handy.  What did you make for your Super Sunday Family dinner?