Chili Verde (2)

I know I haven't been posting, in reality I haven't been doing much original cooking.  It's been a busy year in a number of ways.  However, my office decided to have a carry in over several days so I decided to do a Chili Verde.  Now I have a recipe for one that I like and has been well received in the past, but I couldn't get my favorite Chili Verde ingredient, Tomatillos.  Instead of being in the dumps over it, I decided to do a little experimenting and take a new approach.  In addition it got me posting again here :-)

So the ingredients:

• 10 Anaheim Chiles
• 3-4 lbs of Pork Shoulder
• 2 Onions
• 6 Garlic cloves 
• 2 Tbs cumin seeds
• 1 Tbs white pepper
• 4 cups of Chicken Broth

I know,  a pretty light ingredient list, but I was really figuring this as a good starter and something to build on.  Once I was tasted the end result, I won't be doing much different the next time.

OK, now on to the cooking:

• Roast the chiles on a gas flame, charring the skin.  Place the chiles in a plastic bag or a tightly covered bowl and allow to steam for about 10 minutes.  Once steamed, the skin pretty well peels right off.  So peel and seed the chiles.  Rough chop and set aside.  Note, you can used canned green chiles, but they cannot compare in flavor to roasted fresh chiles!
• While the chiles are steaming, place the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan and roast for a couple pf minutes.  As soon as you can smell them, get them off the heat and out of the pan.  Be quick because they can burn quickly once they become fragrant.  Place in a spice grinder and reduce to a powder. 
• Trim the pork shoulder and cut the meat into 1 in cubes.  Save the bone.  Salt and pepper the meat and then brown in batches using a little olive oil.  I used a large dutch oven.  Save the meat in a bowl to also capture any juices following the browning.
• Rough chop the onions and saute in a little oil in the dutch over.  Scrape the bottom of the pan as the onions soften and release liquid.  This should take about 5 minutes or so.  I am not after browning as much as I am softening. 
• Finely chop the garlic and add to the onion.  
• Then add the cumin and white pepper.  Stir for about 30 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add in the roasted chiles.
• Add enough chicken broth to deglaze the pan, then add the rest of the broth.
• Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about an hour.  The meat should be right at the stage of falling apart!
• If it seems fatty, you can scoop the solids out with a spider and run the broth through a gravy separator.  If it seems thin, you can crank up the heat and reduce it a bit.  Your own experience will tell more than I can at this point.  

It worked well.  If it seems thin and maybe more like a soup, it goes well over rice.  I usually thicken the broth a bit through cooking rather than any thickening agents.  I like it plain!  It's not very spicy hot, which is OK once in a while.  I think I might experiment with some mixed green chiles.  But as a simple straight forward recipe., it worked surprisingly well.

Grilled Tri-Tip

Tri-tip is a great cut of beef.  It's not too expensive, and loaded with flavor.  I've fixed it a number of ways, including grilling using the direct heat method (right over the coals).  I've roasted it, braised it, cooked it in a pressure cooker.  Yesterday I grilled using the indirect method and it worked great!

Basic method is simple.  I coated it in a rub and let it sit for several hours in the fridge.  Then indirectly cooked it for about an hour with some hickory wood.  After the hour I hit it with a few things to help keep it moist and wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil and kept it in the grill for 2 hour hours.  It was terrific.

First up the rub, equal parts kosher salt, white pepper, onion powder, paprika, and brown sugar.  I used about 2 Tbs each.  Then rubbed a 2-3 lb tri-tip on all sides and wrapped tight in plastic wrap and relegated it to the fridge. 

About 4 hours before dinner, I put the meat on the counter to warm up nearer to room temp, then I set up the grill.  I use a large kettle grill, charcoal.  I started about a chimney full, about 2.5 scoops with my cut-down gallon milk jug.  I let them get well started and then split the in half to each side of the grill.  I added an aluminum pan inbetween the two piles, added a couple of pieces of hickory chunks that had been soaking in water for about an hour.  I make sure I have two smaller pieces well soaked, smaller because they slip into openings in my grill grate easily.  Then I put on the grate, let it get hot and brush it and coat with some vegetable oil.  Then I position a thermometer probe to read the temp right in the middle of the grill, just below where the food will be placed.  I half close the lower air vents and almost completely close the upper.  I am after 225-240F, no hotter or you will dry out the meat.

I put on the cover and let it get nice and smokey while watching the temp.  At the point the meat is still on the counter.  Once I am sure the grill isn't getting too hot, I put it on the meat, fat side up, right over the aluminum pan and close it quickly.  For the first half hour, I watch the temp very carefully, keeping it no higher than 240 using the upper air vents for control.  It's not a fine-tuned as a good smoker, but I don't smoke meats that often to need one.  As long as you are careful, a kettle grill works fine.

After a half hour I take the the cover off and check out the coals and the wood.  I usually have to add the reserve pieces of wood and maybe a couple of briquettes.  I also brush the surface of the meat with a little apple juice.  I like the slight carmelization you get from the sugar in the juice.  It also helps I try not to add too much charcoal because the fire can get too hot to quickly.  If that happens, I close the bottom air vents further and keep trying to regulate using the upper vents.

A couple of interesting things.  I never turn the meat.  We are cooking using the indirect method, not searing, so turning the meat isn't needed.  Plus if you put the fat layer on the bottom, it will just melt off and not tenderize and flavor the meat.

OK, after the first hour the meat has absorbed all the smoke you need.  So get a large piece of aluminum foil.  I like the heavy duty, wider than normal sheets.  Overlapping smaller sheets tends to leak.  OK, I lay it out between a couple of hot pads, this way I can create depression for the meat.  I pull it off the grill and hit it with a couple of pats of unsalted butter, about a quarter cup of brown sugar, and a quarter cup of apple juice.  Seal it up very tight and put it back on the grill.  The additional ingredients are what help keep it very moist.  In all honesty the first time I did this recipe, I did overcook it a bit, but it was still nice and juicy.

Every half hour I check the coals and keep it going, adding just a few briquettes at a time.  Again, you are looking for low and slow!

After 2 more hours, it would be ready.  Smoked tri-tip as tender and juicy as a good brisket.  Let it rest about 15 minutes and slice it across the grain into 1/4 inch slices. While it's resting, you can take the liquid from the foil packet and reduce it on the stove by about half and it makes a great sauce.  If you don't feel like doing that. get a large bowl, pour in some of the liquid from the foil packet and as you slice the meat, put it in the bowl. 

Chicken and Rice Salad?

I saw a recipe over on Cooking.com for a Chicken and Rice Salad, but after reading it, the ingredient list made it more of a main course -- and everyone liked it, especially keeping the lemon vinaigrette on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of pine nuts (Toasted for 5-8 minutes in a dry frying pan -- make sure you keep them moving, they can go from toasting to burnt in a hurry.)
• Two lemons
• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 6 green onions (sliced into about 1/2 inch pieces on the bias)
• 1 cup of peas (I like using frozen peas and then just blanching them to defrost rather than cook to soft)
• 1 preparation of Basmati Rice, yes, that recipe again. What can i say, I love it!
  
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Regular Olive Oil (to brown the chicken)
• Salt
• Pepper

Recipe:

• First up, get the rice cooking according to the Basmati Rice recipe. It should be ready once the chicken is done and everything else is cut and ready to mix.
• Heat a tablespoon of regular olive oil in a saute pan (one with a lid).
• Salt and pepper the chicken breasts. You can do this with breast tenders or dark meat, but watch the cooking time. The breasts stay nice and juicy, the tenders tend to over cook quickly if you aren't careful.
• Brown the breasts on two sides, about 3 minutes per side.
• Add the stock once the breasts are browned and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• While the chicken in simmering, zest the lemon.
• Blanch the peas. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling, salted water until they are defrosted. If they are fresh, blanch for only about 2 minutes -- tops. I am not a fan of mushy peas unless I am pureeing them.
  
• Juice two lemons
• Slice the scallions
• Turn the breasts and simmer for another 7 minutes. I look for an internal temp of 165F. Once there I kill the heat and let it rest in the cooking liquid for 5-10 minutes.
• While the chicken is resting, whisk 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil into the lemon juice to make a vinaigrette. Once you have the right consistency, add the zest. Reserve for serving.
• Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid and slice into 1/4 inch slices across the grain of the chicken.
• Put the rice in a large bowl, add the chicken, scallions, peas and pine nuts. Mix well. Serve with a side salad.

The vinaigrette can be used on the salad or the chicken and rice mix, or both. What I found was that some people liked it really light, others preferred more lemon. Using it more like a sauce gave them the option. It really came together quickly, not a bad work night meal.

You might have noticed that I mention toasting the pine nuts in the ingredient list, but never actually toast them while prepping and cooking the dish. That wasn't an oversight. When toasting nuts, I always do them alone and before I do anything else. When you are juggling three pans (rice, chicken, and the peas), slicing the scallions, zesting and juicing the lemons I have found that it's too easy to take your eyes off the nuts for even 30 seconds too long. That's how quickly they can burn, especially in a dry pan and over medium or high heat. So I always get that out of the way.

I did have one serving leftover, so I had it for dinner tonight. I wanted to taste it as a salad, the way the original recipe suggested, and it was good. My only issue was that the chicken was sliced a bit on the large side for a salad, so I did wind up heating it up for dinner. I might try it again for a summer-y salad and halve the amount of chicken as well as cut into small cubes.

One surprising success. My granddaughter has decided that she is my sous chef and even though she made a face after tasting the lemon vinaigrette, she did try it on the dish and enjoyed it! She is nearly the pickiest eater in the house. My wife liked the dish, but avoiding the lemon completely.

Pork Tenderloins (2)

I've had some success with braising pork tenderloins, but I wanted to roast them and I went looking for a way to roast them and still keep them moist. This was a knock-off on a recipe I saw Rachael Ray do a couple of years back but I never tried. I think she did hers with a pork loin roast, but I was looking for something for tenderloins, so I borrowed the approach of high heat and short cooking time. It roasted the outside well and the cook time was so short the inside didn't dry out. I tried this method, which worked very well.

Ingredients:

• 2 pork tenderloins
• 1 tbs Fennel seeds
• 1 tbs rubbed Sage
• 1/2 tbs kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Directions:

• Grind the fennel seeds until a coarse powder
• Add the sage, salt, and white pepper and grind until well mixed
• Trim silver skin from the tenderloins
• Pre-heat oven to 500F and position a rack in the bottom of the oven
• Dry the tenderloins and rub with the spice mixture.
• Sit in a shallow roasting pan and place in the oven
• Cook for 10 minutes, turn over and rotate the pan and cook for another 8-10 minutes
• Aim for 150F-155F, then remove from the oven, place the tenderloins on a cutting board and cover with foil for about 10 minutes. The temp should rise to about 160F-165F.
• Slice in 3/8 inch slices and serve.

I did up some sauteed onions with a couple of cloves of chopped garlic tossed in for the last 30 seconds of cooking. I used a combination of butter and olive oil and browned the onions nicely. I served this on top of the pork and it helped keep the pork slices, more like medallions nice and hot and the buttery sauce from the onions went well with the pork.

The meat was nice and moist, and I did have an afterthought, but I didn't do it (this time). I thought afterward that the brown bits in the bottom of the roaster would make a good pan sauce. Add some stock, water, or white wine and deglaze the pan over a stove top burner. Reduce the liquid down and hit it with a pat of unsalted butter right at the end or maybe add the sauteed onions -- then season to taste and serve over the pork.

It went over quite well, even my graddaughter liked it -- and she is a picky eater. It worked well. I think oiling the surface of the meat and even letting it marinate with the dry rub on it might add to the taste. Well all that is for the next time.

Update: I was re-reading this post and realized that the idea of oiling the tenderloin is a bad idea. Oil + 500F = smoke! Since my objective is moisture, I think I will brine the tenderloins the next time and keep the surface dry. If anyone else has a good idea for roasting tenderloins and keeping them moist and tender, please pass it on. I was able to cut it with a fork, so this method was good, but I am always looking for more.

Caprese Pasta Salad

I love a nice Caprese Salad. Slices of tomato, slices of mozzarella, chiffonaded basil and a nice light balsamic vinaigrette or even just a sprinking of good olive oil. So I was looking for a more summery version, something a little lighter and a bit different.

So I tried to turn a Caprese into a pasta salad and it worked well. I used Rotini pasta because I like the surface area for holding the vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs of cooked rotini (curly pasta)
  
• 1 lemon
• 6 oz mozzarella
• 8 basil leaves
• 6 plum tomatoes
  
• Extra virgin olive oil
  

Assembly:

• While the rotini is cooking, seed the tomatoes and rough chop them
  
• Dice the mozzarella into small pieces
• Chiffonade the basil (Roll up the leaves as a group and thinly slice into ribbons)
• Zest the lemon into a mixing bowl, then squeeze the juice into the bowl.
• While whisking, slowly add about 1/2 - 2/3 a cup of olive oil into the lemon juice/zest to make your dressing. It's a nice light lemon vinaigrette, and not too much so it's never overdressed.
  
• Drain and cool the pasta. It doesn't have to be cold, just not boiling hot. I don't like to melt the cheese.
• Poor the pasta right over the tomatoes, add the cheese and basil, then stir together while adding about 1/2 of the dressing.
  
• Key step here . . . TASTE it. You might need a little salt, you might need to add more dressing. only you can make that determination, so don't be afraid! One piece of advice, if you are going to keep it overnight, save any dressing you don't add right away.
  
• You can serve immediately, which is how I prefer it. It can keep in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
  

If you are going to keep it overnight, I suggest draining any liquid the next day. The tomatoes may lose a lot of liquid. Then taste and add some more dressing if needed.

Enjoy!

Parker House Cinnamon Rolls

I took Alton Brown's Parker House Roll Recipe and turned it into Cinnamon Rolls and it worked perfectly! My wife smacked me on the back of the head and told me not to make them again -- which tells me they were successful.

Filling:

• 8 oz light brown sugar
• 1 tbs of melted unsalted butter
• 1/8 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tbs of cinnamon

Topping:

• 3 oz of softened cream cheese
• 5 oz of powdered sugar
• 3 tbs of milk
  

The Rolls:

• OK, so make the dough exactly how you do the Parker House Rolls and do the first rise. During the rise - mix up the filling ingredients.
• Get out a 12x9x3 inch pan and spray with cooking spray.
  
• Remove the dough from the bowl and roll out to a rectangle, about 16 by 10 inches.
• Spread the filling over the dough evenly, leave the bottom half-inch of so uncovered. This will aid in sealing it when you roll it up.
• Starting from the top, roll the dough into a log. Seal the bottom edge with a bit of pressure.
• Cut into 12 equal pieces and place on their side in the pan. Spread out into a 3 x 4 layout, leaving space for rising around and between each rolls.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about 45 minutes. They should nearly double in size. They will rise a little more in the oven. Mine ended up rising above the edge of the pan after cooking.
  
• Melt 1 tbs of unsalted butter right at the end of the final rise.
• Just before putting the rolls in the oven, brush with the butter on the top for browning.
  
• Pre-heat the oven at 400F.
• Cook the rolls for about 14 min, turning the pan at the halfway point. You might need more or less time depending on your oven.
  
• While it's cooking, mix the frosting ingredients together. I find adding the sugar slowly to the milk/cream cheese works well.
  
• Let cool for 10 minutes or so then frost and enjoy!
  

Spicy Smoked Ribs

Three simple steps, Brine the ribs, marinate in the spice rub, and cook slow!

Brine ingredients:

• 1/2 cup table salt or 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 quarts of water
• 2 racks baby back ribs (about 2 pounds each), or loin back ribs

Brining:

• Dissolve salt and sugar in the 4 quarts cold water in stockpot or large plastic container.
• Submerge ribs in brine and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Don't go much past 2 hours and certainly not overnight. The ribs are too thin and would absorb too much salt.
• While the ribs are brining, mix the spice rub.
  
• Remove ribs from brine and thoroughly pat dry.

Spice rub:

• 1 tablespoon hot, smoked paprika
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder (homemade preferably, Ancho Chile Powder if not)
  
• 1 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

If you are looking for a less spicy rub, eliminate the cayenne, switch the paprika from hot to sweet, and double the brown sugar. If it still seems to spicy, use a regular chili powder instead of ancho or homemade.

Marinating:

• When ribs are out of brine and dried, rub each side of racks with 1 tablespoon spice rub; refrigerate racks for at least an hour, or you can wrap tightly in plastic wrap and marinate overnight.
• While the rubs are marinating, soak several pieces of lemon-sized pieces of wood. Soak for about an hour. I prefer hickory or apple wood for ribs.
  

Barbeque the Ribs:

• Open bottom vents on grill about 3/4 of the way. Ignite a decent pile of charcoal. I do use briquettes because lump is hard to find and tends to be expensive. Now I use a cut-down gallon milk jug to scoop up the charcoal. I counted it a few times and a typical scoop is about 25 briquettes. For this recipe I start with two scoops, so about 50 briquettes.
• Depending on the humidity, it should take about 20-30 minutes to get a nice light coat of ash. Push the coals to one side and put two or three pieces of the wood on top.
  
• Position an disposable aluminum pan on the opposite side.
• Put on the grill grate and cover for 5 minutes to heat up the grill grate.
• After 5 minutes, scrape and oil the grate.
• Lay the ribs over the aluminum pan (it's for catching any drippings) and position the top vent, wide open, right over the ribs. An alternative is to use a rack to stand them up. Just make sure they are not directly over the coals.
  
• Stick a probe thermometer down the vent until it's about half between the cover and the ribs. DO NOT TRUST the thermometer in the hood of your grill. They are notoriously unreliable.
• Grill temp should register about 350F. If it goes higher, close the bottom vent some. Once you get it settled, it should slowly drop over the next 90 minutes to 2 hours. Grill temp should be about 225F after 90 min - 2 hours. Don't let it drop much further of you might have to re-start your coals -- which sucks.
  
• Flip the ribs over and reverse the racks so the one nearest the fire is now the one furthest away. Add about 10 more briquettes and another piece of wood.
• Continue to cook for about 90 minutes, turned and switching the ribs about every 30 minutes. Only add more charcoal as needed. The grill temp should be between 225F and 250F. Adjust the lower vents as needed. I have found that if you cannot keep the grill temp down at this point, wrap the ribs tightly in aluminum foil and cook that way. There has already been enough smoke in the ribs, this cooking is more to finish the ribs to the point of being almost fall off the bone.
• How do you tell they are done? First is temp, you should be looking for about 160F in a meaty part of the ribs. Also, when you pick them up with tongs, hold them up from the short edge with the tongs about 1/3 of the way down the rack. The rack should bend about 40 degrees. This is the nearly falling off the bone stage. If you pick it up and the rack collapses, they are a little overdone. I know A lot of people want it to be falling off, but I like a little bite left in them. I want it to come off the bone with a slight tug when I bite into it. If I need a fork to eat it because the bones come right out, then I feel that I just took away half the fun of eating ribs.
• Once done, wrap in aluminum foil, if you haven't already done so, and let rest on a cutting board about 10 - 20 minutes.
• To serve I like to cut into either single bone or double bone portions. I think it depends on my audience.