Alligator ribs and pork butt that we smoked last weekend (not shown, but also smoked- boudin and chicken wings): I will say this, I don't think I'll do the gator ribs again. They were just... Weird. They looked, smelled, and had the consistency of pork. But it tasted of fish. Like, really strongly of fish. It was cool to do, I guess, but I'll stick to the other parts of the gator from now on. Either that, or soak them a few days before hand in milk to remove the gaminess.
I had a really successful cooking day yesterday. Moroccan Chicken Tagine (Ok, I didn't cook this in a tagine at all as I couldn't get to my folks to steal theirs. It came out beautifully in a large frying pan, but it would be scrumptious in a tagine.) Ingredients: 500g chicken breast, diced 1 onion, sliced 1 capsicum, sliced 225g aubergine (egg plant), diced 100g button mushrooms, halved/sliced 4 garlic cloves, minced 280g canned chickpeas 55g dried apricots, chopped into little tiny pieces (or you could substitute dates) 1tsp cumin 2 cinnamon sticks (I used 2 tsp of ground cinnamon) 1tbsp flour (probably slightly more) 500ml chicken stock 1 tbsp tomato puree Optional - 3 tsp Harissa paste (I used chili jam to good effect) Coriander to garnish Method: 1. Start frying your onion and capsicum. When they are approaching done (softer and slightly translucent), add in the chicken and garlic. Halfway through browning the chicken, add the cumin and cinnamon. 2. Once chicken is browned (well, technically whitened, but you know what I mean), add flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add aubergine and mushroom and cook for another 2 minutes, still stirring. Add chicken stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer. 3. Add chickpeas and apricots. Add Harissa / chili jam if using. Simmer until the sauce is the desired consistency and the chicken is tender. (Recipe suggested 15 minutes, but I did closer to 40). Serve garnished with coriander. This was fantastic. I will probably serve this at my next dinner party, possibly with flatbread and mango chutney. Highly recommended.
My wife listed her favorite dishes that I make, and surprisingly they all involve alcohol. Surprisingly, because she doesn't drink. Bourbon pork tenderloin, white wine sauteed shrimp, or brandy pot roast. Liquor adds a unique taste that even the non-drinkers appreciate.
Marinate a tenderloin for a few hours with- 1/4 cup of soy sauce, olive oil, and bourbon of your choice (i prefer Evan Williams) along with a couple tablespoonso of red pepper flakes, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Grill it from there. I know people are scared to death of unburned pork, but eating medium cooked pork is not the health crisis it once was. Cooking well done is doable, but you won't pickup the flavor subtleties overcooking.
Smoked wings over hickory in the UDS ( Ugly Drum Smoker ) Take the wings and put em in a ziplock bag with 1 cup of oil, 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ rub, mix it up good and leave them in the fridge for a few hours. On the smoker @ 350 for about an hour Spoiled for size Spoiler
[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQ0VOJmCbg[/youtube] Ok, so I just tried this method that was posted in the drunk thread, and the steak came out fucking fantastic. My kitchen? Not so much. Full of smoke. I was using safflower oil, so it's not like I was using an oil with a low smoke point. Can you just not go as full bore as he says? Turn down the stove/oven a bit? Any advice would be sweet.
Finished up the final touches on my new ECB (El Cheapo Brinkmann) charcoal smoker over the weekend and smoked a fatty for a couple of hours in it last night during the initial burn-in and seasoning. So far the smoker looks like it may turn out alright. I have to seal it up a bit more, but it maintained a 200-225* temp for a few hours so I am optimistic that it will hold temps steady. Down the road it will be replaced with a Weber Smoky Mountain, but for a third of the cost after modifications, the price is right. On a related BBQ note, I received a 7-pack sampler of rubs from Simply Marvelous over the weekend. The past few years I have mainly used Rudy's Rub, so I figured I would switch it up a bit. Bonus points for getting 10% off the order using the coupon code "Brethren" as well as fast shipping. I put my order in last Wednesday and the package was on my steps Saturday morning. Oh, and all of the rubs smell fantastic. <a class="postlink" href="http://simplymarvelousbbq.com/7-pack-rubs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://simplymarvelousbbq.com/7-pack-rubs</a>
Since I posted the video, here's my best guess, as I had the same problem the first few times. The first issue I can think of is that if you're using a cast iron pan, it may not have enough of a baked on seasoned finish to it, so that's causing the excessive smoke. If you're using a newer cast iron pan, you may want to try getting a better coating on it. The easiest and most delicious way to do this is to just use your pan to make bacon a few times and then dumping off the excess bacon grease and doing a very light wipe and then back in the over at 350 degrees for an hour. Repeat as necessary or until you run out of bacon. If you go that route, I would also suggest straining and saving the bacon grease if you can and using that in place of the safflower oil. I personally use bacon grease or clarified butter (ghee) in place of vegetable or nut oils when I make my steaks. They tend to not only give a better taste to the steak, but also have a much higher smoke point then even the safflower oil, which would also help with your original issue.
My buddy just got back from a rock fishing trip so we cooked a bunch of it last night and gave it to the neighbors and then fried some whole fish for ourselves. You can do this with any fish, these ones were a bout 1.5 pounds each. Fish that has never been frozen is in a league of its own, you need to gut and gill the fish as well as scale it be sure to make latteral cuts in the fish for better cooking , we then put cornstarch (not corn meal corn starch) salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic and a few other spices in a large plastic bag and rolled it. It was then fried in oil for 3 minutes at 350 degrees until the skin was crispy. Top with soy and sweet and sour and enjoy. If you attempt this be sure to do it outside where you have lots of room and be sure you have a pot or wok that holds 2 gallons of oil.
My buddy just got back from a rock fishing trip so we cooked a bunch of it last night and gave it to the neighbors and then fried some whole fish for ourselves. You can do this with any fish, these ones were a bout 1.5 pounds each. Fish that has never been frozen is in a league of its own, you need to gut and gill the fish as well as scale it be sure to make latteral cuts in the fish for better cooking , we then put cornstarch (not corn meal corn starch) salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic and a few other spices in a large plastic bag and rolled it. It was then fried in oil for 3 minutes at 350 degrees until the skin was crispy. Top with soy and sweet and sour and enjoy. If you attempt this be sure to do it outside where you have lots of room and be sure you have a pot or wok that holds 2 gallons of oil.
Made these last night: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Garlic-Glazed-Meatballs/Detail.aspx Really easy and really good. Ingredients 2 eggs 3/4 cup milk 1 cup dry bread crumbs 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 2 teaspoons salt 2 pounds ground beef 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon butter 3/4 cup ketchup 1/2 cup honey 3 tablespoons soy sauce Directions In a large bowl combine eggs and milk. Add the bread crumbs, onion and salt. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place in two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter until tender. Stir in the ketchup, honey and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain meatballs; add to sauce. Carefully stir to evenly coat. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes Yields 12-15 cupcakes Cupcake Ingredients 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (Ghirardelli 60% Cacao) 1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (like Hershey's Special Dark) 3/4 cup hot, strong brewed coffee 3/4 cup (4 1/8 oz) bread flour 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 6 T Canola oil (1/4 cup + 2 T) 2 large eggs 2 tsp white vinegar 1 tsp vanilla extract Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache Ingredients 2.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/8 cup smooth peanut butter 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Peanut Butter Butter Cream Ingredients 1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening 1/3 cup butter 3/4 cup peanut butter 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 cups (approx. 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar, sifted 4-6 tablespoons milk Ganache Instructions Combine chocolate and peanut butter in a small heatproof bowl; set aside. Combine cream and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Pour cream over chocolate mixture and let sit until chocolate is mostly melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Chill for approximately 30 minutes until set. Cupcake Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk until smooth the chocolate, cocoa, and hot coffee together. Refrigerate until it's cool, about 20-30 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. Retrieve the large bowl of chocolate/cocoa/coffee from the fridge. Add the eggs, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Whisk to incorporate. Add all of the flour mixture, and whisk until smooth. The batter will be slightly runny, similar to brownie batter. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, filling 3/4 full. Next, top each cupcake in the center with a rounded teaspoon of ganache. Place on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 15-19 minutes, until the cupcakes are firm to the touch on top. A traditional toothpick test won't work here due to the ganache center. Remove from the oven and let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Icing Instructions Cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using. Yields 3 cups of icing. (Angel's Note: This made way more icing than I needed, because I don't like tons of frosting on my cupcakes.)
Has anyone tried frog legs before? I'm planning on driving an hour to the international market to pick some up tomorrow, however my wife is certain I won't like them. She says they're slimy and stringy but I'm determined to crisp them up.
Yeah, my mom deep fried them and lied to be about them being chicken. I knew otherwise because of the packaging in the trash. But anyway. If you fry them they will be fine. Everything tastes great when fried. What were you planning on doing with them?
They taste like rainwater at best, swampy chicken at worst. Same texture and moisture as chicken. No slime, no string. Though the animal looks like the legs should be slimy. Fry them, or there's a French recipe floating around where you dust them in flour, sautee them, then make a quick white wine/lemon pan sauce. If you're going that far to market, don't stop at just frog legs. There are all sorts of aquatic life forms to terrify your wife with.