Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Out of the Box- Hot Sauce, Marinades, Rubs, and Sauces













I took a road trip yesterday with a chef/baker friend, and we had many reasons for the locale we picked- Rehobeth Beach, DE.

  1. To check out a travel trailer, Burros and Scamps- 
  2. (she is a vendor of Randi's Gourmet, and has taken it on the road)
  3. Girls day out- we all need the laughs to shake off the stress of daily life, girl talk
  4. Beach front property- our chairs sunk deep into some sand and surf
  5. Peppers- one of her wholesalers warehouse is not far from the beach
  6. New material for my food blog- to keep burnout from going up in flames
I was in need of some new marinade and rub ideas and we love hot sauce, so I was excited to also get a wholesale case price. We go through a case in six months. And our taste buds are still in tact.

Done deal on all above, and on the way home we ate at a new middleeastern aka Turkish restaurant and dragged our palates home afterward.

I can tell you, tasting 100 bottles of this and that, 1-6 million Scoville peppers can get to you after only six bottles, but what did we discover- a can of whip cream will cleanse your taste buds! Who knew! It keeps better than milk.

 Discovery. The way to go when you hit the road.

My first bottle- Fat Cat. He will be assisting me with a pork loin in the next post!

(above pic is only one of six cases she and I left with- my photo, and no sauce was gifted for this post)

Friday, June 21, 2013

Salmon Candy Remix












A few years ago hubs and I went fishing for Salmon in the Pulaski River in up-state NY. We came home with so much, I had to find a way to preserve it and give it away as gifts, so I made Salmon Candy. Then it was a few years before I tried it again. Same recipe, same good flavor.

There are a variety of recipes out there for this, but I have taken a combo of ideas and created my own. Brown Sugar, orange juice, ginger, pinch of salt and pepper, and mix together in glass dish and place fix skin side up, or remove skin. Then smoke over wood chips of choice- I used alder (see below).

This time I wanted a quick version because I have not been feeling well, lack of appetite from a lung infection, and need to cook for hubs and son. No one gets in my kitchen, well, they are busy and I am more available to play.

My new version is brown sugar, orange-ginger-pepper (dry seasonings-zest), and fish stock brine- rinse fillets, pat dray, and place them down skin side up into mixture for hour and half.


Now pat them dry again, then use same mixture above minus fish stock, but add olive oil and a few drops of liquid smoke, and then spoon over fillets.

Slow cook in preheated oven- 250 degree oven for 45 min. Do not overcook; it will dry out, you want some moisture. 

Served with sushi rice timbale with sesame seed garnish and spicy tahini dressing for greens.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Canadian Mussels and Raclette Eating














 My Chef friend Randi joined us for a Raclette Dinner. We began with mussels, and then we cooked shrimps, scallops, and vegetables (which were pre-steamed).

I picked four goat milk cheese, and one raclette cheese slices to place on toast under the broiler.
  Goat milk brie- soft
   "        "      semi-soft gouda
   "        "      hard parm like
   "        "      racklette

Some of the soup from the mussels were placed in a small pitcher and was poured over the toast, cheese added with any other ingredients you wished. It was a fabulous meal. We served two wines- Gewürztraminer and Riesling; both slightly dry and sweet. Nothing too sweet.











2 lbs fresh mussels
1 onion 4 garlic cloves
1 small green pepper
 1 cup tomato pasta sauce, preferably spicy
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup water

Method

Rinse mussels and pull off  (Whole Foods has them already prepared and toss any that are open). Otherwise discard any that are open. Slice onion in half, then into thin wedges. Mince garlic. Lightly oil a large pasta pot and place over medium heat. When hot, add onion and garlic. Stir occasionally until onion starts to soften, about 3 min. Chop pepper. Add tomato sauce and basil to pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Stir in mussels and cover. Stir in pepper and water after mussels have cooked 3 min. Continue cooking until mussels open, 3 to 4 min more. Discard any mussels that don’t open. Serve mussels and sauce in large deep soup bowls with crusty bread to dip.