A great standard BBQ sauce to use with Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers, BBQ Chicken Pizza, or any other standard summer fare.
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 chipotle chile from canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced with seeds
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; stir 30 seconds. Stir in all remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until reduced to 1 1/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Salsa Verde
As mentioned yesterday, we've been looking for a good taco recipe. In the process of searching for one, it goes without saying that we stumbled across some pretty bad tacos. One of them was a fish taco recipe.
Now, I've had good fish tacos. These, however, required about two hours of preparation for an entirely underwhelming product. On the plus side, however, the salsa recipe that was paired with the tacos turned out to be a real winner. Paul especially likes the smoky grilled flavor of the vegetables.
A couple of things to note: if you like spicy salsa, use the serrano chiles, without the seeds. If you're a masochist, leave the seeds. If you like spicy things, but don't want to burn yourself, use jalapenos. They'll be just fine. Also, if you're like me, remember to wear gloves when chopping up the peppers! My hands burned for hours afterwards, and I had to sit around with my fist in a glass of milk to aleviate some of the pain. A margarita helped some more.
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed
1 small onion, quartered through root end
3-6 serrano chiles (HOT), or 2-4 jalapeno chiles (just hot)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp sugar
Coarse kosher salt
2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Thread garlic onto skewer. Grill garlic, tomatillos, onion quarters, and chiles until dark brown spots form on all sides, about 9 minutes for onion, 6 minutes for tomatillos and chiles, and 4 minutes for garlic. Cool.
Peel garlic. Trim core from onion. Scrape some of burnt skin off chiles; stem. Seed chiles. Coarsely chop onion, chiles, and garlic.
Transfer tomatillos and all vegetables to blender. Add cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon sugar; puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Carefully add tomatillo mixture (juices may splatter). Stir until slightly thickened, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add broth and 2 Tablespoons lime juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture measures 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and more sugar and lime juice. Can be made ahead.
Originally from Bon Appetit Magazine.
Now, I've had good fish tacos. These, however, required about two hours of preparation for an entirely underwhelming product. On the plus side, however, the salsa recipe that was paired with the tacos turned out to be a real winner. Paul especially likes the smoky grilled flavor of the vegetables.
A couple of things to note: if you like spicy salsa, use the serrano chiles, without the seeds. If you're a masochist, leave the seeds. If you like spicy things, but don't want to burn yourself, use jalapenos. They'll be just fine. Also, if you're like me, remember to wear gloves when chopping up the peppers! My hands burned for hours afterwards, and I had to sit around with my fist in a glass of milk to aleviate some of the pain. A margarita helped some more.
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed
1 small onion, quartered through root end
3-6 serrano chiles (HOT), or 2-4 jalapeno chiles (just hot)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp sugar
Coarse kosher salt
2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Thread garlic onto skewer. Grill garlic, tomatillos, onion quarters, and chiles until dark brown spots form on all sides, about 9 minutes for onion, 6 minutes for tomatillos and chiles, and 4 minutes for garlic. Cool.
Peel garlic. Trim core from onion. Scrape some of burnt skin off chiles; stem. Seed chiles. Coarsely chop onion, chiles, and garlic.
Transfer tomatillos and all vegetables to blender. Add cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon sugar; puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Carefully add tomatillo mixture (juices may splatter). Stir until slightly thickened, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add broth and 2 Tablespoons lime juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture measures 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and more sugar and lime juice. Can be made ahead.
Originally from Bon Appetit Magazine.
Friday, June 29, 2007
10 minute cooking school meets 50 minute movie deadline
When I was in the 4th grade, I got my first set of glasses. When I left the doctor's office I was astonished to see individual leaves on trees and little bumps in the sidewalk. I didn't really think about how the world was supposed to look. Last night I had another eye opening experience, thanks to youtube, Troublemaker Studios, and Robert Rodriguez's "10 Minute Cooking School."
With a movie showtime hanging over my head, I and a friend tried to squeeze this meal's square peg into a 1 hour 10 minute "prep + cook + enjoy" round hole (later we discovered it was more like an oblique spheroid, so it nearly fit).
You will never buy store bought tortillas again. I promise you.
Robert Rodriguez's Homemade Tortillas
2 cups flour
1/4 cup fat (either butter or lard, in his video he uses 1/8 cup of each)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup warm water
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and butter (this is what I used) in a mixing bowl. Mix.
The powder will get a little clumpy, but not terribly so. After the ingredients are mixed, slowly start adding the water until it gets doughy. Fool around with this, as I still haven't gotten it quite down.
When the dough looks like it's going to hold a shape, start pulling small handfuls out to roll into golf ball sized bits. Roll them up and set them down for a few. This made about 1 dozen little balls for me. If they aren't sticking together well enough, get your hands wet while rolling them.
Now it's time to start on your filling as these sit.
Mrs. Renfro's Salsa meets Mr. K's chicken
1 jar Mrs. Renfro's jalapeno salsa (green)
1 lb chicken
freshly ground black pepper
chili flakes
1 cup rice
You can get the same effect but making your own salsa (or just adding some diced tomatoes, and spices to the rice - but I was short on time). Cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces, pepper them, add a little salt, and toss them all in a pot with your cup of rice and about 2 cups of water. Turn to high heat. You folks know what's going to happen here. When the water boils, add anywhere from 6-8 oz. of the salsa to the rice + chicken mixture. Cover, reduce heat to low, and set a timer for 20 minutes. Now let's get those tortillas goin'.
Your flour balls have sat long enough, time to roll those suckers out. Get a clean flat surface, some flour, and a rolling pin (don't have a rolling pin? Neither do I. Wash off a beer bottle and cover the outside with flour - it works just as well). Get a griddle or large skillet heated up (med-high heat).
Squish the flour balls into discs and lightly dust both sides with flour. Also, make sure you throw a little flour down on your surface - you don't want them sticking. Roll them out into flat tortilla shapes and set aside. If your griddle is ready, grease it up with some butter and toss them on. You want them to get brown on both sides, RR says "watch them bubble up, that means your baking powder is working. Flatten them out and flip. When they're done toss them in a tortilla holder and cover them up."
I just used paper towel and a 9 x9 cake pan; worked fine.
Your tortillas should be done, your chicken and rice should be finished, all you need now is to throw a little cheese or sour cream on there and you have yourself a quick, decent meal. It was pretty fantastic. We even made it to the movie on time.
What's really great about the tortillas is that they are surprisingly easy to make and they taste noticeably better than their store-bought counterparts (mostly the texture, they aren't rubbery at all). I can't wait to try homemade hardshell tacos with these guys.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Guacamole
Not being that big a fan of guacamole in general, I was a little skeptical about making it. This recipe is pretty great though and managed to convert me into a fan.
Guacamole
4 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded
1 tsp ground cumin
1 ripe, medium Roma tomato, seeded, diced
1/2 cup minced sweet white onion
2 serrano chilies, seeded, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Hot pepper sauce, sea salt, white pepper to taste
Cut avocado in large chunks and mash coarsely in large bowl with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and blend gently-leaving some small chunks is fine. Taste and adjust seasoning with more pepper sauce, salt and pepper if desired.
Guacamole
4 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded
1 tsp ground cumin
1 ripe, medium Roma tomato, seeded, diced
1/2 cup minced sweet white onion
2 serrano chilies, seeded, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Hot pepper sauce, sea salt, white pepper to taste
Cut avocado in large chunks and mash coarsely in large bowl with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and blend gently-leaving some small chunks is fine. Taste and adjust seasoning with more pepper sauce, salt and pepper if desired.
Monday, June 18, 2007
First entry: black & bleu burgers w/ mango chutney
I know a few folks who've threatened to start a food blog for awhile. Today is the day I provide momentum for the great amateur cooks I know and say "here is your forum."
Never content to sit idly by, I will kick off this guy by providing a few recipes from over the weekend. One was quite good, the other needs work:
Black and Bleu Burgers (needs work)
Freshly ground pepper
kosher salt
Gorgonzola cheese
Hamburger Meat
This is real simple, you wrap the hamburger around a serving of the cheese and add salt and pepper to the outside. I like to put a ring of pepper around the outside of the burger, too.
The problem with this recipe is that the cheese bleeds out before the burger is done. The burgers are moist, but you barely taste the cheese. Of course, you could add the cheese to the top of the burger, but that's a lot like giving up.
Mango Chutney (the good) - originally from Good Eats
4 lbs mangoes (ripe but not too soft)
1 large red onion
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup ginger root, peeled & minced
Vegetable oil
8 oz unsweetened pineapple juice (we've found this is hard to find, so we usually get crushed
pineapple chunks and use the juice and a few pieces of pineapple to make up the difference)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
4 oz cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper
Peel and pit the mangoes, it's a pain. The mango pit is a very hard obelisk in the center of the mango, you'll cut around that and discard. The pieces should be small bit sized chunks, you want this to look like relish at the end. Cut up your onions, peppers, and ginger root.
In a bowl combine the sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice, and curry.
Heat up the oil (about 3 Tbsp, but you can eyeball it) and add the chili flakes. Let those go for about a minute on a medium to low heat and then add the onions. After the onions have been coated and softened, you can add the ginger and bell pepper. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes and then add the mangoes.
After another minute or two add the mixture from the bowl and simmer for about 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced (stirring often). Add salt and pepper to taste (I usually go heavy on the pepper). Add the raisins and chopped nuts to the chutney and transfer to an ice bath. Serve cold as a side dish or use as a topping for burgers.
Never content to sit idly by, I will kick off this guy by providing a few recipes from over the weekend. One was quite good, the other needs work:
Black and Bleu Burgers (needs work)
Freshly ground pepper
kosher salt
Gorgonzola cheese
Hamburger Meat
This is real simple, you wrap the hamburger around a serving of the cheese and add salt and pepper to the outside. I like to put a ring of pepper around the outside of the burger, too.
The problem with this recipe is that the cheese bleeds out before the burger is done. The burgers are moist, but you barely taste the cheese. Of course, you could add the cheese to the top of the burger, but that's a lot like giving up.
Mango Chutney (the good) - originally from Good Eats
4 lbs mangoes (ripe but not too soft)
1 large red onion
1 bell pepper
1/4 cup ginger root, peeled & minced
Vegetable oil
8 oz unsweetened pineapple juice (we've found this is hard to find, so we usually get crushed
pineapple chunks and use the juice and a few pieces of pineapple to make up the difference)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
4 oz cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper
Peel and pit the mangoes, it's a pain. The mango pit is a very hard obelisk in the center of the mango, you'll cut around that and discard. The pieces should be small bit sized chunks, you want this to look like relish at the end. Cut up your onions, peppers, and ginger root.
In a bowl combine the sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice, and curry.
Heat up the oil (about 3 Tbsp, but you can eyeball it) and add the chili flakes. Let those go for about a minute on a medium to low heat and then add the onions. After the onions have been coated and softened, you can add the ginger and bell pepper. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes and then add the mangoes.
After another minute or two add the mixture from the bowl and simmer for about 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced (stirring often). Add salt and pepper to taste (I usually go heavy on the pepper). Add the raisins and chopped nuts to the chutney and transfer to an ice bath. Serve cold as a side dish or use as a topping for burgers.
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