Pork or Beef Marinade

22 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Recipe By: Bob Young, Wine and Food

So you say it has been 80 degrees for the past 3 days? And your BBQ looks lonesome? And the smoker is empty? Then, I say, “Time to fire ’em up!”. But you don’t have, or need another, good marinade. Well, here is one I have used with Rib-Eye. A hard copy is here: Mixed-Up Wine Marinade. But, to give you an idea, here is the recipe:

Mixed-Up Wine Marinade

2 2/3 c Red Wine
2 2/3 c Red Wine Vinegar
2/3 c Olive Oil
1 1/2 T Rosemary, dried
6 med Garlic cloves

1. Chop the garlic fine.

2. Combine all ingredients in a sealed container. Use a submersible mixer to
combine all ingredients. Place in the refrigerator for 8 hours or more.

3. Place the Boston Butt or Brisket into a large non-reactive container.
(You should use a jacquard on the meat) Cover the meat with the marinade and
refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours, turning as necessary.

4. Remove the roast(s) from the refrigerator and allow to come up to room
temperature.

5. In the mean time, prepare the smoker to 225° F using Alder or Mesquite.

6. Remove the meat from the container, reserving the marinade for basting,
and place in smoker. Slow cook until the center of the roast(s) reaches
160°F. Baste as necessary to maintain moisture. Remove from the smoker and
let rest for 30 minutes before slicing or pulling the meat.

Cooking Tip: Just a note – You want to slooooow cook these roasts. If 225°F
seems to be cooking too fast, reduce the temperature. It should take about 8
hours to cook.

This is not a hard recipe, but it is a good one! I asked Robin today is she wanted a Brisket or Pulled Pork sometime in the near future and if she wanted to go and pick something out at our local distributor: YES!

2 Classic Sauces

22 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes

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Let’s see …. The kitchen remodel is done, the concrete is poured, the IWC is over (except for medal deliveries). What to do? Jerri Nelson (Idaho Hotel, Silver City, ID) asked me a while ago for a wine reduction sauce. Here are two of them and they are slightly different from each other, but will both work well with pork tenderloin or center cut chops or with beef. If you do not have this resource, help the economy and purchase it. Amazon (dot) com is an excellent source. The Sauce Bible: Guide to the Saucier’s Craft, David Paul Larousse, 1993. ISBN: 13: 978-0-471-57228-2.

Wine Merchant Butter (Beurre Marchand de Vin)

1 Shallot, minced
1 T Parsley, Minced
1 c dry Red Wine
½ lbs Butter, unsalted and soft
1 c Beef Stock
pinch White Pepper

1. Simmer the shallot and wine until reduced by half. Add the stock and continue to reduce until 2 Tablespoons of liquid remain.
2. Whip the reduction along with the remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended.
3. Wrap the butter and store in a refrigerator.

Marchand de Vin indicates a dish seasoned with red wine and shallot reduction. Any grilled or broiled meat can be garnished with this rich butter.

Mango-Port Sauce

1 ripe Mango
2 c Heavy Cream
1 Shallot, Minced
4 T Unsalted Butter, ¼ inch chunks
½ c Port Wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ t Sugar

1. Peel, pit and purée the mango in a food processor.
2. Simmer the shallot and port wine until about 2 Tablespoons remain. Add the mango purée and sugar and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add the cream and blend well, and simmer until reduced by one-third or until the sauce reaches the desired thickness.
4. Add the butter and blend continuously, until fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside in a warm place until ready to use.

Hint: When making butter based sauces and reducing with wine, Do Not exceed 130ºF to guard against the sauce breaking. Mango-Port Sauce is good with any grilled or broiled beef or pork, especially a tenderloin or Rib-Eye.

If you would like hard copies from the web, here are the links:
1. Wine Merchant Butter (Beurre Marchand de Vin)
2. Mango-Port Sauce

Good Luck with the sauces and Cheers!

Bob’s Birthday Dinner

02 Thursday Apr 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Celebrations, Food, Recipe By: Bob Young

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It’s not always that someone reaches the age of 67, but I did today. Actually, it’s a celebration that has lasted since Sunday and may go through this Friday.
On Sunday, Sophia, Carlynne, Robin, Mac and Marnie and I all went to Brick 29 in Nampa for a Birthday Brunch.

The selection is always great. But do make reservations – They get extremely busy!

(Robin was really laughing at something!) But then on 1 April, Robin and I fixed dinner in our NEW kitchen! Please note the Fresh bread and the 2004 Ravenswood Teldeschi Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley (CA). An awesome wine! Rich and full; deep, dark purple color.

The wine went very well and stood up to the Roasted Potatoes and Onion with Garlic, Sage and Thyme; the Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic; the Rib Eye Steaks. Such an awesome dinner. Did I mention that we made this here, at home, in our NEW kitchen?

I tried a new marinade with the Rib Eye before I grilled it.

Big Red Marinade

1 1/2 c Red Wine
1 1/2 Red Wine Vinegar
1/3 c Olive Oil
4 t Rosemary, dried
5 Garlic cloves, minced
3 t Thyme, dried
Rib-Eye steaks

The night before grilling, combine all ingredients of the marinade and blend with an immersion blender. Place the Rib-Eye Steaks in a zip lock bag. Place in the refrigerator and turn at least twice. Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before grilling. Grill on a hot grill.

What an awesome couple of days! Thank-You everyone for such a great time!

Lamb Paella

28 Saturday Mar 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes

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To celebrate National Spanish Paella Day, I just had top make a Lamb Paella. It really turned out good!! And it went very well with the Basque Sheepherder’s Bread, recipe in a prior post.

Here is the Lamb Paella. The recipe is printed below.

It was good to have Geno and Debra to try this with me. We will probably see this again, some day!

Authentic Lamb Paella

· Olive Oil (enough to cover the bottom of the paella pan)
· 1 med Yellow onion, diced
· 6 cloves Garlic, chopped
· 2 lbs Lamb, cut into chunks
· 2 Chorizos, diced
· ¼ lbs Green Beans (Spanish-bachoqueta)
· 4 med Roma Tomatoes, ripe and chopped
· 2 Roasted Red Bell pepper, cut into strips – roast your own
· 2 Roasted Yellow Bell pepper, cut into strips – roast your own
· 1 t Saffron
· 2 t of smoky Paprika
· 8 cups Beef stock, warmed to 190 degrees F
· 3 c Spanish Rice
· Sea Salt ( to taste)

First, add the olive oil to the paella pan and cook the onion and until it is translucent over med low heat. Add the garlic and stir. Add the lamb and cook until lightly browned. Add the diced chorizos and cook for 4 minutes. Then add the green beans and cook them together with the meat. While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pan and fry the chopped tomatoes and roasted peppers until they look a little pasty, quickly adding the paprika and saffron, stirring quickly and immediately adding the beef stock until it is almost to the top of the paella pans edge.

Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high simmer and tasting for salt. After 20 minutes we add the rice, distributing it evenly, making sure the rice is covered with liquid. The heat should be medium high, not interrupting the boil. It takes about 20 minutes for the paella rice to cook. Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pans, just change its position so that the heat gets to all parts equally. All the stock should be absorbed when finished. Take the paella off the heat and let stand for about 10 minutes covering the top with newspaper. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the rice grains should be loose, not clumped together or having a mushy texture.

For a fantastic table presentation, small wedges of lemon can decorate the border and branches of Romero (aromatic herbs) in the middle. Now you are ready to dig into your paella with wooden spoons and eat directly from the paella pans!

There it is. Cooking time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Not in the recipe – for the final 10 minutes, add about one-half cup of a red table wine and let the rice absorb it. This recipe will easily serve 10 – 12 people.

Basque Sheepherder’s Bread

27 Friday Mar 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food Prep, Photos, Recipe By: Bob Young

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Today is National Spanish Paella Day! Really it is! I talked to Robin this morning and they are going to try to make Winnemucca, NV tonight and get some paella. But, one can not have paella without Basque Bread. I think I found a recipe. Check out the slides – they follow the recipe, more or less!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Basque Sheepherders Brea

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here is the recipe:

Basque Sheepherders Bread

1 1/2 c 160 degree tap water
5 T Butter, soft and at room temperature
1/4 c Clover honey
1 1/4 t Kosher Salt
1 1/4 T Active Dry Yeast
3 1/2 c All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 c Whole Wheat Flour
Salad oil

In a large bowl, combine hot water, butter, honey and salt. Stir until butter is melted; let cool to about 110 degrees. Stir in yeast; cover and set in a warm place until bubbly, about 15 minutes. Beat in about 1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat flour to make a thick batter. Stir in about 3 ½ cups of All Purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Scrape dough onto a floured board. Knead until smooth and satiny, 10 to 20 minutes — adding as little flour as possible to prevent sticking. Place dough in a greased bowl; turn over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled — about 1½ hours.

Punch dough down and knead briefly on a floured board to release air. Shape into a smooth ball. With a circle of foil, cover the inside bottom of a 5-quart cast iron or cast aluminum Dutch oven. Grease foil, inside of Dutch oven, and lid with oil. Place dough in Dutch oven and cover with lid. Let rise in a warm place until dough pushes up lid by about ½ inch, about 1 hour. (Watch closely.) Bake, covered, with a lid in a 375-degree oven for 12 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove bread from oven and turn onto a rack to cool. You might need a helper. Peel off foil and turn loaf upright. Makes one 2 1/4 pound loaf.

So there’s the bread. Now for the Lamb Paella and the wine. Yum-O!

Fasnachts

13 Friday Feb 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Food Prep, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes

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OK, you say, what is a “Fasnachts”? And as my Dad or his Mother would say, “You get to soon oldt and to late schmart!” so here is some information on Fasnachts. (It’s really a family tradition for me – Robin does not like to make the ones with mashed potatoes because it takes a long time. This recipe does not take as long.)

“Fasnachts, Fastnachts or Faschnachts are a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day, the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were produced as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat and butter, which were forbidden during Lent. Some English-speaking Protestants tend to refer to the day as Shrove Tuesday, and many consume pancakes as an alternative.
The German word Fasnacht literally translates as “chamfering night”. Authentic fasnachts are typically cut into squares or rectangles, producing a chamfered edge, as opposed to doughnuts which are round with holes in the center.
In parts of Maryland, the treats are called Kinklings, and is only sold in bakeries on Shrove Tuesday. The German version is made from a yeast dough, deep fried, and coated or dusted in sugar or cinnamon sugar; they may be plain, or filled with fruit jam. Pennsylvania Dutch fasnachts are often made from potato dough, and may be uncoated, or powdered with table sugar or dusted with confectioner’s sugar.
The term now is synonymous with the Carnival season in southern Germany, Switzerland, Alsace and Austria. Although usually written “Fastnacht”, there are many local spoken varieties Fasnacht, Fassenacht, Fasnet etc.

Depending on where you are from the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday has different celebrations but one thing they all have in common is food. Fausnaught is the German word for Donut, Paczi is the Polish equivalent, Pounchki (punchki) is also Polish Version, but in any event we all go out and get our Carb load before the fasting associated with Lent. What any of this has to do with Sexy Girls taking off their shirts I don’t know, but if you load up on Paczki’s you will be quite large, as a traditionally made Paczki Calories can run you well over 800 a piece. More modern versions may actually be better for you as they would not be made with Lard, and Egg Yolks only. So “Laissez les bons temps rouler!” which is cajun/French for Let the Good times Roll. Or in this case Donut.

Fasnacht

Makes 50 fasnacht

¼ cup warm water
1 pkg. yeast
2 tbsp. sugar
2½ cups lukewarm milk
4½ cups flour
4 eggs, beaten
½ cup lard, melted
1 cup sugar
dash of salt
5 ½ cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Mix next three ingredients together, then add to yeast mixture. Set in warm place and let rise overnight.
In the morning add next four ingredients. Add last batch of flour slowly; it may not all be needed. Dough should be sticky but able to be handled.
Let rise until doubled, approximately 2 hours.
Roll out and cut with biscuit or doughnut cutter, with or without a center hole. Let rise 1 hour.
Deep fry in hot oil at 375 degrees for several minutes, turning until brown on both sides.

Among the PA Germans, Shrove Tuesday (day before Ash Wednesday) is known as Fassnacht Day (night before the fast). In a symbolic effort to rid their homes of leavening agents and to feast before Lent, many PA Germans cooks spend part of their day making Fassnachts. The cakes are made of yeast dough, and tradition requires that they be shaped in squares or rectangles, with slits cut in them.”

I think this year I will make some.