Tag Archives: Food

Dec18

Sriracha Buffalo Chicken Wings

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Wings plated with Beer

I love sassy stuff. Sriracha is a staple in my house. So is Frank’s Hot Sauce. This recipe is easy and delicious too. If you want to make it healthy, you can use the sauce as a marinade and grill the wings. I opted for the fry method here, but I do grill them too.

Sauce:

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce

2/3 cup Sriracha Sauce (Rooster on the bottle)

3 tablespoons Vik’s Garlic Fix 

1 tablespoon Sweet Onion Sugar 

Place all in a pan and simmer while frying the wings.

sauce

I used Drummets, they have more meat on them and they are readily available here. When we lived in Hawaii they were impossible to find. I wonder what they do with all of the other wing parts…. cat food?

In a large deep pan, heat oil to 400 and then adjust the heat to maintain 350-400 degrees while frying.

Fry in small batches so the wings do not stick together.

This should take about 6-8 minutes, remove when golden brown.

wings fried

Drain.

Place in a pan once all are fried and pour the sauce over and stir to make sure the wings are completely covered with sauce.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Serve with celery, carrots and blue cheese dressing. FINGER LICKING good.

wings plated

Want another great wing recipe: Here I recreated Husk’s Sweet Tea Brined Smoked Kentuckyaki Chicken Wings. 

And here is a post from my friend Scotty Harris, who lives near Buffalo about wings… he insists there is no such thing as Buffalo Wings, they are just wings to him.

Dec13

Candied Bacon, Beyond Delicious

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bacon candy

File this one under DELICIOUS! This recipe could not be easier, especially if you have access to the flavored sugars mentioned. But you can also make your own by adding chile powder to raw sugar. The Spice and Tea Exchange of Charleston is part of a larger company with many franchise stores around the US. They also sell everything on their corporate website. I have provided links for the sugars in case you would like to order them. You can also play around with other flavors, but this is a terrific combination.

1 package of bacon, I used thick cut black pepper bacon

3 tablespoons of Spice and Tea Exchange Sweet Onion Sugar

1 tablespoon of Spice and Tea Exchange Habanero Sugar

DSC_0019

  • Place the bacon strips close together on a broiler pan
  • Sprinkle the bacon with the sugars and fresh ground black pepper
  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy

You may want to double this recipe… it is impossible to resist eating these.

All of the grease will go down to the bottom pan and after you pour that out clean up is easy.

 

Dec9

Grilled Pink Grapefruit

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Grilled grapefruit on salad

I have two grapefruit trees. Both are heavy with yellow and pink orbs. So, when I was grilling chicken the other night, I decided to see what would happen if I grilled some. The results were amazing. The heat brought out the juices in the already juicy fruit and set the sweetness soaring. I used the wonderful Salted Caramel Sugar from The Spice and Tea Exchange of Charleston where I work, but you could use Sugar in the Raw with success.

grapefruit peeled

All you have to do is remove the skin and pith from the grapefruit, this is achieved in much the same way as doing orange supremes. Cut off the top of the grapefruit so you can clearly see where the pith meets the fruit. Then do the same on the bottom. Using a sharp knife, cut away the pith and skin in slices (you can save these for twists in your beverages) and once you have removed the skin, cut thick slices and place on a plate.

grapefruit slices

Just before grilling, top with the sugar and place the unsugared side on the grill. It only takes a few minutes to get grill marks. Flip and sugar the grill marked side. When the sugar has melted and started to caramelize, remove and serve immediately or cool and cut into quarters for salads.

Chicken Orzo Salad grapefruit

Nov29

Bloody Mary Chicken

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This recipe could not be easier. BUT it requires a secret ingredient that you can only buy at the Spice and Tea Exchange. It is a Bloody Mary Spice Blend. One of the many blends I make at work. It contains just about every thing you need to make a good Bloody Mary except the tomato juice and vodka. Here is a list of the ingredients (all of which you can also buy separately at our store): black pepper, sea salt, celery seed, garlic, horseradish powder, Worcestershire powder & tomato powder. By utilizing this unique blend of spices, herbs and concentrated powders you can make a fast and easy dinner, in fact I gave my husband the directions and he did the marinade while I was at work. When I got home, I just tossed a salad, grilled the chicken, mashed some sweet potatoes, drizzled them with maple syrup and added some of my Cognac Cranberry Compote.

Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons STE Bloody Mary Blend

Juice and Zest of one lemon (I used Meyers from my tree)

1/4 cup Olive Oil (I used smoked olive oil that I make myself)

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Method: 

Mix together the first three ingredients, put the chicken in a zip lock plastic bag, pour the marinade in. Allow to marinate for 6-8 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat your grill and then grill the chicken till the interior reaches 165 degrees. Remove, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve and smile!

Oct31

Tacos al Pastor

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One of my all time favorite Mexican foods is a street food, Tacos al Pastor or literally “tacos de trompo” . It started in Puebla Mexico, where many middle eastern immigrants came and sold their own rotisserie meat, the doner kabob.  Now, all over Mexico they have stands where the pork and pineapple that have been marinating are stacked on a huge skewer and cooked in a vertical rotisserie and then the meat and pineapple is shaved off and served on a tortilla with onions, cojita and cilantro.

When I lived in Chicago I could just go to the Carceneria and buy however much I wanted of the velvety red marinated pork and pineapple and take it home and make the tacos straight away. Here in South Carolina it takes a little more work to produce the meal… but the results are outstanding. If you too like this dish, or want to try it, you can, no matter where you live. The first thing you will need is annatto, or if you live in a place with Hispanic groceries, you can buy the achiote paste commercially made. I have always been able to buy the paste, but here in Charleston…. no soap, so I learned to make my own.

It is easy and I actually like it better than the commercial paste. I froze the extra paste in a ZipLock bag. Annatto is the seed of the achiote tree and is used in Hispanic & Caribbean cooking for color and flavor. I work at the Spice and Tea Exchange of Charleston and we sell annotto, so that was easy for me. If you cannot find it near you,  we also sell it on our website. Once you have the paste made, then you make the marinade. Because of  the pineapple juice in the marinade, you do not want the meat to marinate more than 4-6 hours. Then you cook the slices of meat and pineapple and serve them the same way I described above. I usually serve them with lime slices and sometimes crema (Mexican table cream).

Tacos Al Pastor

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup pineapple juice
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for cooking, or home rendered pork lard
  • One 1-ounce package achiote paste (or make your own, see recipe below)
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
  • 4 chipotles in adobo sauce (you can also freeze what is left in the can for another time)
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 2 pounds boneless pork butt, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick slices, then into 1/2-inch-wide strips and then in 1/2 inch chunks
  • 12 fresh 6-inch white corn tortillas
  • 1 red onion, 1/4-inch dice
  • 1/2 a fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, 1/2-inch dice (0r you can use chunky canned pineapple)
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves coarsely chopped
  • Cotija cheese, crumbled, for serving
  • Hot sauce, creama and lime quarters


Method:

Puree 3/4 cup of the pineapple juice, the vegetable oil or lard, achiote paste, adobo sauce, chipotles, garlic and salt in a food processor. Mix the pineapple juice mixture with the pork in a freezer bag and move around to coat. Marinate the pork in the fridge, 1 to 3 hours.

Preheat a cast-iron skillet or grill to medium-high heat. *Note: if you are doing this on a grill, leave the meat in strips and then chop after cooking. Lightly oil the skillet and add the tortillas, toasting, about 30 seconds per side. Remove the tortillas and store in a towel to keep warm.

Raise the heat under the skillet to high and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or lard. Remove the pork from the bag and wipe off any excess pineapple juice mixture. Cook the pork in batches, until charred and cooked through.

Remove the pork from the skillet. Add half of the onions and the fresh pineapple and quickly cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup pineapple juice and the chopped pork back to the skillet with the juices.

Place the pork, pineapple and onion mixture in the tortillas. Top with the remaining onions, cilantro, cotija and hot sauce.

Home made Achiote Paste

Ingredients

    • 6 tablespoons annatto seeds
    • 1 tablespoon toasted cumin seeds
    • 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
    • 1 tablespoon toasted black pepper corns
    • 5 allspice berries (these can also be toasted)
    • 1 teaspoon sea salt (I use smoked salt)
    • A pinch of nutmeg
    • 6  whole cloves
    • 6 garlic cloves
    • Juice & zest of 3 limes or lemons
    • Enough olive oil to make the paste (about 1/4 cup)

Directions

  1. Put all spices and dry ingredients into a spice grinder, and grind until you have a fine powder.
  2. Take the powder and put it into the  bowl of a food processor and add the garlic, lemon juice, zest and the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until you get a thick paste which binds together, in a putty like consistency.
  3. Separate into Tablespoon size portions and freeze individually.
  4. When you want to use it, you can mix the TB size portion with 10 cloves of garlic crushed, and 1/2 cup of 50/50 orange juice & lemon juice and marinate pork or chicken overnight.
  5. Some recipes say to add tequila, but that is an Americanization of this Yucatecan specialty. However, I have done it and it is good.

*NOTE* Annato seeds are very, very hard, and are difficult to grind with a mortar and pestle, use the grinder or it won’t make a paste. They DO, and WILL stain your grinder, and anything you happen to spill it on, be careful. You can double, or multiply this recipe as you wish, and I usually make enough for a year’s worth at a time. It freezes well.

Sep21

Refrigerator Pickles: Easy Bread and Butter Cucumbers and Okra

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Easy, delicious and a perfect way to preserve some of the last of this summer’s produce, in this case some cucumbers and okra. Refrigerator pickles are great, crispier and fresher tasting than their canned cousins.  This is a recipe that is both sweet and tart, much like Bread and Butter Pickles. Put them on your burgers, alongside sandwiches and use the okra in Bloody Marys. Add them to a cheese plate or charcuterie platter. It is SO easy and you do not need a whole bushel of produce and lots of equipment to make these, just some clean jars, a knife (or food processor) and the ingredients. Here is the recipe to make 3 quart jars. It only takes about 30 minutes working time to do these. Well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

2 onions, thinly sliced

8 medium cucumbers thinly sliced (I used the food processor to make fast work of slicing)

4 cups okra ( I did the okra in one jar and the cukes in two others, but you could do more cukes if you are okra adverse).

3 cups of water

3 cups of cider vinegar

6 cups sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

2 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons celery seeds

2 tablespoons pickling spice

2 teaspoons grains of paradise

2 teaspoons juniper berries

crushed red pepper to taste

6 cloves of garlic (2 per jar)

6 sticks of cinnamon (2 per jar)

Method: 

Slice cucumbers and okra.

The food processor makes slicing a breeze and maintains consistent size

Place in a jar with 2 sticks of cinnamon and 2 cloves of garlic slightly bruised

Pack the jars tightly

Pack the jars tightly. This can also be done in a plastic container.

Cook all remaining ingredients to a boil and then simmer for four minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Pour the pickling liquid over the vegetables and close jars. Allow to cool completely, then place in refrigerator. The pickles will be ready to eat in 24 hours. You can use a variety of vegetables to make pickles, peppers, carrots, jicama, sugar snap peas, asparagus, okra, even peaches.

Sep10

Trip to Indonesia with Shrimp Sate and Peanut Sauce

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Several years ago we were aboard a boat off the shore of Bonaire, a Dutch Territory off of the coast of Venezuela. The island has a huge Indonesian influence because the Dutch once held Indonesia as a colony. We were served this tasty sate and the owner of the boat gave me her simple recipe. It is very easy to make. We had some interesting meals in Bonaire, including Iguana Stew, but I did not ask for that recipe. Sate can be made with pork, chicken, beef or seafood. It is basically slices or in this case, whole shrimp that is marinated in a lemon  & sweet soy marinade, then grilled and served with a peanut sauce. The peanut sauce is delicious on rice or other dishes too. I served  the Shrimp Sate with a cucumber salad and fried rice.

Sate with Peanut Sauce

Yield: 6 appetizer Servings or two entree servings

MEAT
1 1/2 lb Pork, chicken tenders or steak cut into ½ inch strips, 1 pound of fresh shrimp  or for vegetarians use extra firm tofu

MARINADE
2 ea Lemons
2 ea Garlic cloves, diced
4 tb Indonesian soy sauce (this is sweet soy sauce, slightly heavier than regular soy sauce).

PEANUT  SAUCE
4 tb Peanut butter
1 tb Lemon juice
1/2 c Honey
1/2 ts Hot red sauce  (Sambal Orelek or “Rooster Sauce”)
1/4 c Half and half or Coconut Milk (unsweetened)

6 leaves of Kafir Lime slivered and chopped.


Cut chicken meat into strips or peel shrimp. Make marinade by combining juice from lemons with garlic, soy sauce and salt. Pierce meats and marinate 2 to 4 hours. Save the marinade to use in the peanut sauce. Weave meats onto skewers and broil or barbecue until meat is done. Do not overcook.

To prepare the peanut sauce, combine peanut butter, lemon juice, honey and hot sauce with reserved marinade, and heat at low temperature until well blended, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add half and half. Return sauce to heat and warm through, stirring constantly.

Serve the skewers on platter and pour sauce into bowl. Meat is dipped in the sauce as you eat.

Aug22

Best Fried Chicken EVER: French Laundry Style

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This is the first fried chicken I have had since moving to Charleston. Nothing says the south quite like fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Thomas Keller of the French Laundry  fame serves this chicken at Ad Hoc every Tuesday. This is quite simply the best fried chicken ever. I have tweaked it a bit from the original recipe after making it a few times. Less bay leaves, added peppers, fresh turmeric, honey in the buttermilk and some other changes. The brine maintains texture and flavors the chicken. It is delicious hot or cold. The buttermilk and honey impart a tang and sweetness. The coating fries perfectly if you maintain the temperature of the oil.
You need to start this ahead of time, it takes two days to make. The first 24 hours is brining in the refrigerator, but the active time for frying the chicken is no longer than any other recipe of fried chicken.
In my house it is for special occasions, as each piece is about 500-700 calories depending on if you eat the skin (and WHY wouldn’t you?).

For the Brine:

1 gallon water
1c kosher salt
1/2cup of honey
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 bay leaves
2 heads of garlic cut in half
¼ cup yellow mustard seeds
1 finger of fresh turmeric grated (2 Tablespoons of ground turmeric if you cannot find fresh)
1 small hand full of whole black peppercorns
2 large stalks of lemon grass bruised
5 large rosemary sprigs
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch parsley
Zest, juice and rind of 3 Meyer lemons
5 habanero chiles cut in half
4-6 # of chicken parts (Split breasts are quite large these days, so if you find yours extra large, use a cleaver and cut each breast in half)

For Frying:
6c flour
3T garlic salt
5T onion powder
2 T paprika
4t cayenne
1T fresh black pepper
2t kosher salt (I use smoked Hawaiian salt)
6c buttermilk
1/2 cup of honey
12c peanut oil (or freshly rendered lard)

Method:

Place all of the brine ingredients in a large pot and heat till the sugar and honey melt. Remove from stove and allow to cool. To speed this process up, you can use ¾ gallon of water and then add 4 cups of ice cubes after cooking.
When completely cool add chicken parts. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Mix together the honey and buttermilk.
Buttermilk Bath
Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels
Add to the honey and buttermilk and allow to soak for at least one hour and up to 12 hours.
Heat the oil/lard in a very large deep pot to 300˚, try to maintain this heat during cooking, do not let the oil get too hot.
Mix together the flour and seasonings in a large pan.
One piece at a time, take each chicken piece out of the buttermilk mixture, coat with flour, shake off excess and then dunk again in the buttermilk and coat again in flour.

Set the chicken pieces on a large baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to one hour.

Start frying, two to three pieces at a time, do not crowd the chicken. It would be even better to do it one piece at a time so the oil maintains the 300˚ temperature, but that is time consuming. Use a candy thermometer to maintain the temperature as close to 300˚ as possible. When the chicken is golden brown (about 12 minutes for legs and thighs, 7 minutes for ½ breasts) use an instant read thermometer to check doneness. It should read 160 ˚. Remove and place on a sheet pan in a warming oven no warmer than 120 degrees.

 

Serve while warm.

Aug21

Making Perfect Potato Chips; Bet you can’t eat just one!

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Somethings are so simple and yet we don’t often take time to make them. Potato Chips are one of those things. Sunday morning I decided to do BLT sandwiches for brunch. I thought about making hash browns or fried potatoes as a side and then suddenly a light bulb came on , Potato Chips! Having  just moved, I had already unpacked the necessary tools. I had the big pot of peanut oil, the mandoline and some potatoes. I had some of what I call “Devany Seasoning.” It is an all purpose flavor enhancer with smoked salt, smoked paprika, pepper, a bit of sugar and whatever spices I am cleaning out when I make it. This is so simple, I can hardly call it a recipe, it is much more of a method. There are just a few hints as to how to do this. First I put the bacon in the oven so it would be ready for the sandwiches when the chips were finished frying.

Mise en place for BLT

As in all cooking, get everything out that you will need, Mise en place is the culinary term for having every thing ready and in place before you start preparing a meal. It is probably the single most important thing you can do when preparing a dish. We can probably thank Escoffier for this, as he was famous for running an efficient kitchen. Once everything is set   in place, start cooking.

Ingredients: 

Russet Potatoes, washed well. I leave the skins on. You will be cutting these paper thin, you may as well skip the peeling and go for the nutrition that is in the skin. You can also do this with other root vegetables such as  sweet potatoes, taro and even carrots.

Peanut or Canola oil in a large deep pot or fryer. Peanut oil has a high burning point and is great for frying. You can find it for a really good price in stores that sell turkey fryers.

Seasoning. You can use sea salt, BBQ seasoning or other flavors. Next time I am using truffle salt.

Equipment: 

You will need a mandoline to cut the chips into very thin slices. It can be done with a knife, but it is doubtful that you will be able to consistently cut uniform paper thin slices. If you do not already own a mandoline, there are many inexpensive models available.

If you do not own a deep fryer, you will need a large deep pot. This prevents splattering.

You will also need a rack to drain the chips on. I use a steam table pan and rack, but you can use a sheet pan with a cookie rack. If you do not have a rack, you can use paper towels, but do change them out as they get drenched with oil.

A fat thermometer is quite helpful. This looks like other instant read thermometers, but it has a very long probe and can be attached to the side of the pan. This is a tool that is helpful for making jams, candy & cheese. I use mine a lot. You need to maintain a consistent heat of 350 degrees. If you do not have one of these, you can eyeball it, but you will have much better success if you use a thermometer.

A spider to remove the chips from the oil.

Method: 

Pre-heat the oil to 350 and then turn the heat down slightly to maintain that temperature.

Using the mandoline on the thinnest setting possible, evenly slice the potatoes, one at a time. One potato will take 4-5 frying sessions. You do not want to crowd them.

In batches, gently drop the slices , one at a time into the oil. Turn them using the spider and separate any that are touching each other. Note, these cook very fast, you must give them your full attention while frying.

Place the chips on the draining rack and IMMEDIATELY season. Doing the seasoning immediately will make it adhere better.

Once the chips have cooled slightly they can be placed in a bowl. If you are making them ahead of use,  wait till all are completely cool and then place them in an airtight container. They never last very long at our house, but they do keep well for several days if you need to do them in advance.

Home made fries with a BLT. Mr. Garlic approves