Roast Duck with Celery Roots, Beets, and Asparagus

I recently heard about a new butcher shop in Alexandria, Virginia called Let's Meat on the Avenue.  They specialize in local pasture fed and naturally fed meat.  Obviously, I had to check it out.  It's a great little butcher shop, just what I've been looking for in the area.  The selection is good and you can get custom cuts and order specialty things that they don't always have.  While I went in looking for grass fed beef, I ended up getting a duck.  It wasn't local like most of the other meat (farm raised in Indiana), but I found I was in the mood for fowl.  If you are in northern Virginia or DC and appreciate meat with a traceable source that has put real thought and care into how they farm (as well as a butcher that understands that) this is the butcher shop for you!

Ingredients:

• Duck
• Brine
• Apple cider
• Kosher salt
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Juniper berries (lightly crushed)
• Pepper
• Celery salt
• Paprika
• Rub
• Kosher salt
• Cane sugar
• Paprika
• Cloves
• Black pepper
• Red pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Celery Salt
• Oregano
• Basil
• Celery Root
• Beets
• Asparagus
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Apple Cider

Procedure:

    Like most of the meat I've prepared in the last year, this started out with a brine.  I took some apple cider, added the ingredients listed, simmered it for about 45 minutes, and let it cool.  I removed the giblets from the duck, cut off a little excess fat and skin, and rinsed it well.  The brine and the duck met each other in a ziplock bag and moved to the fridge, where they together pursued perfection of flavor and texture for the next 24 hours.

    The next evening, I cut up a celery root, three beets, and a bundle of asparagus.  These were covered in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed in a baking pan with a little cider and a fowl roasting rack.  A fowl roasting rack holds a bird in a V-shaped rack a bit above the bottom of a roasting pan.  This keeps the whole bird in the air and allows the vegetables placed underneath to receive a slow shower of flavorful drippings. If you've never used celery root, I highly recommend it.  It is a large white root vegetable that you can prepare the same ways you can prepare potatoes.  However, they have a nice subtle celery flavor that blows potatoes out of the water.  They are an easy way to take a meat and potatoes kind of meal and kick it up to a higher level.  I only discovered celery root recently and it is my new favorite thing.

    Once the pan was prepared, I mixed up a rub of equal parts cane sugar and kosher salt, plus the seasonings listed above.  I took the duck out of the brine, rinsed it lightly, smeared it with a little olive oil, and covered it with the rub, including the cavity.  Remember that rubs are called 'rubs' for a reason - don't just sprinkle meat with it, really rub it in.  This grinds it into the skin and fat and keeps the rub from running off with the drippings while you cook.  Instead, the flavor infuses the meat and makes the skin slightly crusty and extremely tasty.  Once rubbed, the duck got its cavity stuffed with the rest of my fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, and garlic.

    I placed the duck breast down in the fowl roasting rack above the vegetables.  I've started cooking birds breast down whenever I remember to.  This lets all of the fatty, flavorful drippings seep through the prime meat, making it juicier and more succulent than when baked on its back.  I roasted the duck on the bottom rack at 325 for about 2 hours.  I then flipped it on its back and roasted another 30 minutes breast up because the back was perfectly done and the breast needed a little more heat.  

    While this description is long, roasting like this is quick and easy.  You only have to roughly chop the vegetables and the meat preparation is very fast.  The only time consuming part is the actual roasting, but that's a fairly passive undertaking.  

Resulting Deliciousness:  

    This duck turned out exactly how I wanted it to.  The skin was just a little crusty and had a powerful flavor that complimented the meat.  The celery root, beats, and asparagus were delicious - they held their own and did not just taste like drippings, as could easily happen with things like potatoes and carrots.  I was really happy with the way this turned out.  

    Duck is a naturally fatty and flavorful meat, and if you cook it too fast or don't let it drip, you risk ending up with a greasy meal.  This was not greasy at all.  The fat that did not drip off to enhance the vegetables stayed with the skin and took on the flavors of the brine and the rub.  That flavor made the difference between feeling like you were eating a nice piece of meat with a nasty strip of fat, and feeling like you were eating a well balanced, flavorful, well prepared cut.

Corn Statch Crepes

  Whenever I'm home, I try to get my mom to make crepes.  Since we both have Celiac Disease, we can't eat normal crepes made with wheat flour.  Fortunately, my mom has an old recipe for corn starch crepes.  We made them even before we knew we had to eat gluten free because they are easy, cheap, and taste better than most other crepes - which is saying something since we've had them in Paris crepe shops.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbs corn oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup corn starch

Procedure:

    These are extremely easy.  Just beat the eggs, then mix in everything else.  Heat up a small to medium skillet and add a little oil.  Pour about 1/8 of a cup of batter into the pan and swirl it around to cover.  Flip after about 45 seconds, cook another 45 seconds, and your first crepe is ready.  You don't need to re-oil the pan between crepes, it's good for a while.  Put the crepe on a plate, add a little filling, roll it up, and eat it.

Resulting Deliciousness:

    These crepes come out nice and thin and soft, and are good with any type of filling so you can use them for anything from breakfast to desert.  Some of our favorites are bacon, jelly/jam/preserves, cream cheese, scrambled eggs, cheese, etc.   

Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Gumbo

Making gumbo from the leftover turkey is a Thanksgiving tradition at our house.  It is a great way to shift the flavors away from the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy everyone's been eating for two days, and it is way more satisfying than a turkey sandwich.  It starts with making stock from the turkey bones and just keeps getting better:

Ingredients:

• Stock
• Turkey bones, stripped of meat, seasoned, baked
• Rosemary
  
• Thyme
  
• Black pepper
  
• White pepper
  
• Red pepper
  
• Dried cilantro
  
• Basil
  
• Oregano
  
• Sea salt
  
• Garlic salt
  
• Onion
• Green pepper
• Carrots
• Celery
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Sage
• Red pepper
• Black pepper
• Sea salt
• Garlic Salt
• Oregano
• Basil
• Paprika
• Water
• Turkey, pulled into bite sized or smaller pieces
• Kielbasa
• Celery
• Red pepper
• Onion
• Dad's spice mix (see Chicken, The Phantom Menace)
• White wine
• Roux
• GF Flour (Bob's Red Mill All Purpose mix) (~1/3 cup)
• Vegetable Oil (~1/4 cup) (or clarified butter)
• Black eyed peas
• Black beans
• Carrots
• Sugar
• Red pepper
• Water

Procedure:

Stock:

    After cooking a whole bird, or other meat that leaves you with a bunch of tasty bones, I like to make stock.  Homemade stock is extremely easy to make and way, way better than any store bought broth or bullion.  The key to good stock is baking the bones.  Once we were done with Thanksgiving dinner, we got all of the meat off the bones (you can leave skin and a little fat).  Don't be shy to put down the knife and use your fingers - you can only carve nice slices off so much, and you're going to want small pieces for the gumbo later anyway.  Once the bones are clean, put them in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet with sides to catch liquids - you don't want fat to drip onto the stove and start a fire.  Sprinkle the bones generously with salt, pepper, and any herbs and spices you like - garlic salt, celery salt, paprika, and rosemary work well.  Bake the bones at 350-400 for 1-2 hours.  They should be very browned, bordering on blackened, bot not burnt or charred.

    After the bones are baked, cram them into the bottom of a large pot.  Don't be afraid to use some force, breaking bones is good - it exposes the marrow even further than baking.  Add some roughly chopped vegetables - celery and onion are a must, I usually use a bell pepper and carrots as well, use whatever you like or look online for some more suggestions.  Only chop them roughly because you'll be straining them out later.  Also add herbs, spices and salt.

    Cover the mix with water and get it simmering.  Simmer uncovered until it reduces by about half - I think I let mine go for about 4 hours, and ended up with a little under half a gallon of stock.  Let it cool a little, and skim fat off the top a few times.  Strain out all the solids and you're left with a dark, flavorful stock.  The stock is very potent, so you can usually cut it with equal amounts water.  

     

Gumbo:

    To start the gumbo, get the black eyed peas and black beans cooking if you're starting with dried (not necessary if they are canned).  When Season the onions, celery, and red pepper with some of the spice mix and caramelize them in a pan with no oil.  When there is a good amount of residue and they are getting cooked, add some wine or other liquid to deglaze the pan.  Add the sliced kielbasa and cook until browned lightly.  Add the stuff in the pan and the beans to a large pot, add stock and water, and start it simmering.  Add the carrots and the pulled turkey.  Next, it's time to make the roux.  This is a somewhat delicate operation.  In a pan, start mixing the flour and oil on medium to high heat.  Stir it constantly while it slowly browns.  The roux is done when it is just bordering on burnt.  As soon as it is ready, add it to the big pot and stir it in.  Let the gumbo simmer for about an hour, or until you're too hungry to wait.  Taste it and add sugar, salt, pepper, or whatever else you think it needs.  Serve the gumbo in bowls on top of rice.

Resulting Deliciousness:

    The stock turned out very rich, very tasty.  After sitting overnight in the refrigerator, it was almost jelly-like, so it was pretty high in fat.  We cut it with about an equal amount of water for the gumbo.  The gumbo was fantastic.  Even after simmering for an hour or more, you could still taste the flavor of the brine in some of the dark turkey meat.  The fatty stock did not make the gumbo greasy, which can easily happen if you don't skim enough fat off of the stock, or don't cut it with enough water.  The flavors of the gumbo were perfect, everything blended well, and the meal left you feeling very satisfied.  I think the key to the blending of the flavors is the few tablespoons of sugar added at the end. 

Thanksgiving Desert: Pumpkin pie & Cranberry Apple Pie

The pies were great this year:

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin Pie:
• Whole Foods GF Pie Crust
• Libby's Pumpkin Pie Filling
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Eggs
• Cranberry Apple Pie:
• Whole Foods GF Pie Crust
• Top Crust -use your favorite or:
• 1 cup Bob's Mill All Purpose GF Flour Mix
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbs. quick tapioca
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups cranberries
• 1 1/2 cup apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 Tbs orange rind, grated
• 3 Tbs orange juice
• 2 Tbs butter, melted
• Whipped Cream:
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• Ice Cream

Procedure:

Pumpkin Pie:

    For the pumpkin pie, I took the lazy way out:  store-bought GF pie crust, and canned filling that tells you what to do.  Libby's Pumpkin Pie filling is GF, so  just follow the recipe on the can.  Easy as Pie.

    We usually do a GF almond flour crust, I'll post that at Christmas - it's a great bottom crust, but doesn't really work as a top crust.  

Apple Cranberry Pie:

    This recipe was given to my family by my mom's cousin, Donna.  Hopefully she's OK with it being posted online.  Anyway, for the filling, mix the sugar, tapioca, and salt and set aside.  Then, mix the cranberries, sliced apples, grated orange rind, orange juice, and butter.  Add the first mix to the second and mix.  Immediately pour into shell, cover with top crust, and bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes - the top shell should be brown and the apples should be cooked (feel with a knife).  If you don't put the filling into the shell and bake right away, the sugar will cause the fruit to juice and you'll end up with way too much liquid and a mushy pie (but it will still taste great).

    For the shell, use your favorite recipe or the one above.  We used Whole Foods GF shell and the top crust listed above.  We didn't use one of our better recipes, or xantham gum, so the top crust was crumbly and didn't end up looking very nice.  But, it did the job and tasted fine.

Whipped Cream:

    Pour heavy mixing cream in mixer, whip until it starts to firm up, add a splash of vanilla.  Add a little sugar to taste, about 2-4 tablespoons, while still mixing.  Don't over-mix, it will turn to butter.  It should just stand up on its own.  

Resulting Deliciousness:

    These pies turned out fantastic.  The pumpkin was just your normal pumpkin, solid, tasty, needs to be there on Thanksgiving.  However, the Apple Cranberry Pie is pretty much the best pie ever conceived by mankind, and it did not let us down this time.  In addition to the whipped cream, we served ice cream from Kilwin's with the pie.  Many Kilwin's ice creams have no gluten ingredients, you can see a list of ingredients and an allergen list at most stores.

Thanksgiving Dinner, 2008

This year was a small Thanksgiving for us, only about 8 people. But, we didn't use that as an excuse to make less food...

Ingredients:

• Turkey and derivatives:
  
• Brine
  
• Apple Cider
  
• Cranberry juice
  
• Water
  
• Rosemary
  
• Thyme
  
• Sage
  
• Sea salt (~10tbs)
  
• Black pepper
  
• White pepper
  
• Red pepper
  
• Paprika
  
• Stuffing
  
• Whole Foods Gluten Free Sandwich Bread (toasted and cubed)
• Onion
• Celery
• Green pepper
• Dad's spice mix (found on Chicken, The Phantom Menace post)
• White wine
• Pecan halves
• Craisins (raisins made from cranberries)
• Gravy
  
• Gluten Free Flour (we used Bob's Red Mill all purpose mix)
• Vegetable oil (just a little to brown the flour in)
• Turkey drippings, strained and separated
• Milk
• Salt & Pepper (lots, just keep adding until it tastes right to you)
• Side of Fruit
• Pineapple
• Grapes
• Cantaloupe 
• Side Salad
• Lettuce 
• Carrot shavings
• Red Peppers
• Artichoke Hearts
• Tomatoes
• Various dressings
• Green beans
• Green beans
• Chicken Broth
• Salt
• Pepper
• Steamed Vegetables
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Butter
• Garlic Salt
• Mashed Potatoes
• Potatoes
• Milk
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cranberry Sauce
• Cranberries
• Sugar
• Water

Procedure:

Turkey:

    This year, I brined the turkey overnight.  The brine consisted of about a gallon or so of liquid, split roughly between apple cider, cranberry juice, and water.  To that I added lots of sea salt, spices, and fresh herbs.  The brine simmered for about an hour and a half, long enough to infuse the herb flavors into the liquid, caramelize the sugars in the juices, and boil off some of the water.  I removed the giblets and rinsed the turkey well (I also had to cut off some fat and some of the giblets that were left in the cavity - the bird had been butchered in haste).  I placed the turkey in a huge ziplok bag made for brining turkeys and added the cooled brine.  This went in the fridge for about 15 hours, roughly an hour per pound.

    The morning of Thanksgiving, we took the turkey out of the brine, rinsed it briefly, and rubbed it with oil.  Then, we stuffed and trussed it and baked it at 325 until the internal temperature was 185 (about an hour for every 3 pounds).  Because we forgot to move the rack to the very bottom, the turkey started blackening early.  We covered it lightly with foil.  It looks pretty black in these pictures, but was not actually burned.  I'm not sure if the brining makes the skin blacken faster than normal, it may.  

Stuffing:

    My dad has gotten gluten free stuffing down pat.  We just use Whole Foods Gluten Free Sandwich bread, toasted and cut into cubes.  Another GF bread would be fine, but I would stay away from anything with oily or hard seeds (flax, poppy, etc), or large amounts of bean flour (too much flavor that doesn't really go with stuffing) - the closer to white bread you can get, the better - you want to soak up flavor with the bread, not add too much.  To start the stuffing, caramelize onions, celery, and green pepper with a little oil or butter and seasonings to your taste (we used my dad's general spice mix, found here).  Use a little white wine or other liquid to de-glaze the pan when it's almost ready.  Mix the vegetables with the bread cubes, pecan halves, and lots of melted butter.  It should be a moist, butter mix.  This goes into the turkey to become extremely delicious.  Some people prefer to make stuffing on the stove top.  I don't buy into that, but you could probably get good results that way, just using turkey drippings to add flavor instead of baking in the turkey.  I can see doing that so you can make more than you can fit in a turkey.  

Gravy:

    We usually make a white gravy.  You start by browning some GF flour with a little oil, making an unappetizing brown goo.  Add some turkey drippings, strained and separated.  Just keep mixing slowly and all the clumps of flour will go away.  Add some milk slowly, while stirring.  Add salt and pepper, until it tastes the way you like it.  You can add more drippings or milk as needed to get the balance right.

Mashed Potatoes:

    You should know how to make these.  Boil lots of peeled potatoes.  Drain.  Mash with milk, butter, salt and pepper.

Steamed Vegetables:

    My mom makes this all the time, easy and delicious.  Cover a large plate with a head of cauliflower, surround it with some cut up broccoli and carrots, pour some melted butter over it, sprinkle on some garlic salt, cover with saran wrap, and microwave for about 10-15 minutes, until everything is nice and soft.

Cranberry Sauce:

    Cranberry sauce is very easy to make, and much better than the canned stuff.  Just boil cranberries in sugar water until it tastes like cranberry sauce.  I don't remember the ratio of sugar and water, but I think its about equal amounts - bags of cranberries have the recipe on them.

Other sides:

    The other sides were just a tossed salad, some cut up fresh fruit, and green beans simmered in chicken broth.

Resulting Deliciousness:

    This Thanksgiving turned out very well.  The turkey was extremely flavorful, the brine worked just how I wanted it to.  The dark meat took on the flavor especially well, maybe because it has a larger skin surface area - to - meat ratio than white meat, or maybe because it is a little fattier and more flavorful to start with.  The stuffing turned out as good as it always does.  I think the GF bread, being higher in fat than normal bread, actually makes a better stuffing than any wheat-based bread stuffing I've ever had.  All of the sides turned out great, as always.  Next year (and at Christmas), I think I want to venture out to some new sides.

Gluten Free Thanksgiving Summary

This Thanksgiving was a blur of cooking, eating, and napping - in other words, a perfect vacation.  I'm breaking all of the recipes up into several posts.  Check back over the next day or two as I add them.  For now, here is a list of what we made and a few teaser pictures!  I'll make these links to the recipes once I get them written up.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Dinner

• Turkey (brined!)
  

• Gluten Free Stuffing
  

• Gravy
  
• Salad

• Steamed Veggies
  

• Green Beans
  

• Cranberry Sauce

• Fruit

Thanksgiving Desert

• Pumpkin Pie
• Apple Cranberry Pie
• Whipped Cream
• Ice cream 

Day After Thanksgiving Breakfast

• Cornstarch Crepes

Day After Thanksgiving Dinner

• Turkey Gumbo

Chicken Stew with Bombadil

Bombadil was back in town, along with some other friends, so I made some stew for everyone.  It turned out pretty decent, but the Bombadil show definitely stole the night.  

Ingredients:

• Ground Chicken
• Celery
• Onion
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Quinoa
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Black Beans
• Roasted Red Pepper
• Chicken Stock
• Apple Cider
• Cane Sugar
• Celery Salt
• Garlic Salt
• Black Pepper
• White Pepper
• Red Pepper
• Paprika
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Cloves

Procedure:

    To make this, I used the basic procedure for any stew: throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and hope for the best.  I browned the chicken with the onions and celery in a separate pan, and roasted a red pepper on a burner, but other than that, everything just went in the pot and simmered for about an hour and a half.

Resulting Deliciousness:

    I give this about a B-.  It was definitely tasty, and healthy, and the flavors were decently layered and went together well.  However, I was a little disappointed with the combination of textures.  It would have been better to cut the potatoes and cauliflower smaller.  If I was less lazy, it would have been really good to steam the cauliflower separately, put it in a blender with some butter or olive oil, then add it to the stew.  That would have smoothed things out and thickened the broth nicely.  Also, I burnt it a little.  I noticed quick and didn't stir up the burnt stuff on the bottom, so it wasn't ruined and most people couldn't tell.  All in all, it was good, and gave me some good ideas, but fell a little short of the bar I set for myself.

Chorizo Stew and Cornmeal Crunch

Ingredients:

• Forest Fed pork chorizo (www.forestfed.com)
• Turkey stock
• Tomatoes
• Quinoa
• Celery
• Black Eyed Peas
• Hominy
• Carrots
• Blackberries
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Cilantro
• Apple Cider
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Black pepper
• Cane sugar
• Honey

• Cornmeal Crunch : http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cornmeal-crunch-recipe.html

Procedure

    The cornmeal crunch is a recipe I got from another cooking blog, www.101cookbooks.com that I thought would go well with this stew.  The stew started with some cider and frozen turkey stock that I made a while back.  To that I added the quinoa, black eyed peas, tomatoes, blackberries, and all of the seasonings.  That simmered while I worked on the cornmeal crunch and preparing the chorizo.  The chorizo was coming out of its casings, so I just ditched the casings and browned the sausage with some celery and added that to the stew.  When the cornmeal was about half an hour from being done, I added the hominy.  Total, the stew simmered for about an hour.  Near the end, I picked out the rosemary, sage, and cilantro stalks, and skimmed off the fat that had risen to the top.

Resulting Deliciousness

    This stew was great.  The cornmeal crunch was much more flavorful that I thought it would be, and it complimented the stew perfectly.  The stew has a variety of textures and the flavors blended perfectly.  It is a nicely balanced, filling dish.  My only regret is the blackberries.  They simmered long enough to fall apart and become part of the blend, so you can't really taste them on their own, and their seeds are a distracting texture.  But, overall, a fantastic dinner!

Chicken, The Phantom Menace

*This is a family favorite created by my dad.  He did all of the cooking and writing, and gets all the credit.*

This dish was named in honor of the Star Wars movie which came out about the same time I started making it. It is anything but a menace. Quite the opposite, it is a great comfort food and as you will see from the ingredients, also healthy.

There a lot of steps to making this dish. I have from time to time tried to cut corners and combine steps, but I was never quite as happy with the results as when I follow the steps outlined below.

Step 1- Precook a small bag of black eyed peas- about 2-3 cups dried. I like to add a little salt and bullion to the water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes. I usually get this going so it can be cooking while I go through the other steps. This is actually one thing you can short cut on by buying canned black eyed peas, but it is really easy and inexpensive to go with the dried peas. This will make an excess quantity, so I freeze some for other dishes.

Step 2 – Toast about a quarter to a third of a cup of all purpose GF four in a large sauce pan. With the heat on medium high to high stir the flour continuously in the pan. This takes 5-10 minutes and can produce a lot of smoke as the flour browns. (You may have issues with smoke detectors. Be prepared to ventilate.) Stir briskly or it will burn and you’ll have to start over. Shoot for a nice dark brown like a good piece of toast.

Put this aside and rinse out the pan. You’re going to need it.

Step 3 – Collect and mix spices. This is about what I use:

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp coarse salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper ( more if you like hot stuff)

¼ tsp white pepper

1 tsp paprika

I feel like the white pepper is especially important for how it feels in the back of your mouth, but don’t over do it because it will give the dish a harsh taste.

Spice Mixture

Step 4 – Precook Chicken - I like to cut up chicken breasts into small pieces, maybe about an inch or so. I have also done this dish with chicken thighs, which worked very well too. Sprinkle about a quarter of the spice mixture on the cut up chicken and fry in some a few table spoons of peanut or olive oil. The idea is to just brown the outside a little, it will have time to cook through later. Set the chicken aside and wipe the pan out, at least so there are no small pieces of chicken left.

Chicken Pieces frying in the pan

Step 5 – Dice up vegetables – I like to use one Vidalia onion, 3-4 celery stalks and a bell pepper, green or red. Cut these up and put most of the remaining spice mixture on them.

Have about three cups of chicken stock or three cups of warm water with a couple of bullion cubes dissolved in it on hand. Also, have about a cup of white grape juice or white wine handy.

Brown these in the pan on high heat, stirring the while. A brown residue will build up on the bottom which you should scrape to prevent it from burning. From time to time deglaze the pan, first with white grape juice, then with some chicken stock when the residue builds up again. The vegetables should be well cooked and brown.

When you are satisfied that they are done add the remainder of the stock and a little more wine or grape juice.

Add in the other things you precooked, the chicken, the flour and one to two cups of the black eyed peas. I also like to put in carrots at this point. You can slice up a couple of large ones or throw in a bag of those baby ones. Add the rest of the spice mixture too.

If you used white wine instead of white grape juice add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Step 6 – Simmer and Serve – I usually like to let this mixture simmer for 30-60 minutes. Make sure the carrots are soft. Check the seasoning. Often I need to add a little more salt and/or sugar. Give it a stir from time to time. The flour and the starch from the peas generally thicken the dish well; about like gravy. If you want it thicker when you are ready to serve, bring it to a boil and add a table spoon of corn starch in a third of a cup of cold water

About 30 minutes before serving, peel and cook some potatoes. Cook in boiling salted water. When the potatoes are soft when stabbed with a fork they are ready. Drain the water, pore into a colander, put them back in the pot you boiled them in and mash along with butter, milk, salt and pepper. You can also use condensed milk at this step which makes them even creamier.

How many potatoes should you use? Take the number you think you will need and multiply by 2.5.

Plop down some mashed potatoes on a plate and ladle the menace over it. Damn !

This dish is ever better when reheated, and it freezes well too.

Pozole!

Sorry for the long delay in getting this post up.  I've been sick, then my computer ate its own face and had to get a new motherboard.  I'll try to get back in the habit of posting once every week or two.

A special thanks definitely goes out to Katie B. for suggesting pozole and giving me the recipe that I used as a starting point.  I think I did it justice and added my own spin.  Enjoy!   

Ingredients

• Forest Fed pork steak (shoulder meat from above the picnic roast) (http://www.forestfed.com/)
• Brine
• cider
• black pepper
• bay leaf
• kosher salt
• celery salt
• garlic salt
• cumin
• oregano
• basil
• Stock
• baked pork steak bones
• black pepper
• cumin
• cloves
• garlic salt
• cider
• water
• onion
• carrots
• celery
• pork steak fat
• cilantro
• garlic
• black pepper
• white pepper
• red pepper
• garlic salt
• celery salt
• kosher salt
• paprika
• oregano
• basil
• Pepper sauce
• Roasted red pepper
• Roasted poblanos
• Roasted jalepenos 
• Black beans
• Tomatoes
• Canned tomatillos (couldn't find fresh)
• Onion
• Celery
• Hominy
• Roasted poblano 
• Roasted jalapeno 
• Cider
• More of the same spices used in the stock to taste

Procedure

    First, I started the stock by putting everything together in a pot and getting it simmering.  While that got going, I made the brine by simmering the ingredients for about 25 minutes.  Meanwhile, I de-boned and trimmed the pork.  The trimmed fat got added to the stock, the bones got seasoned, placed on a cookie sheet, and baked at 400 for about 25 minutes a side, then added to the stock.  Once the brine had cooled, I put it in some bags with the pork and put it in the fridge.  The stock simmered for about 4 hours total, reducing it to a little less than half its original volume.  When it was done, I strained it and put the stock in the fridge.

    The next day, I began by roasting some poblano, jalepeno, and red bell peppers in the oven at 300 for about an hour, turning occasionally.  Once cool, I skinned and cleaned them.  While the peppers were roasting, I started the pozole by adding tomatoes, tomatillos, black beans, celery, diced onion, and spices to the stock and got it simmering.  I took the pork out of the brine, browned it on both sides in a pan, then cut it up into small pieces and added it to the soup.  Once the peppers were ready, I chopped up one poblano and one jalepeno and added them to the pozole.  The rest went into a food processor to make a hot pepper sauce.  The pozole simmered for about 2 hours total, with the hominy added with about 20 minutes left.

    To serve, I scooped the pozole into a bowl with a tortilla, and had extra tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, Mexican cheese, and my pepper sauce to add as desired.  

Resulting Deliciousness

    While it was only my first try, I think I am well on my way to becoming a pozolero (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole).  The meat was absolutely delicious, and the flavors of the soup were intense and well balanced.  The stock base was top notch and roasting the peppers was definitely the right move.  To improve, I'd like to make my own tortillas and serve it with more traditional garnishes like sliced radish, avocado, and Mexican cream.  I'd also like to experiment with more types of peppers, and try to pair it with some Mexican or South American wine or mezcal.  I also used the leftover soup as a chunky, very filling dip for thick tortilla chips.   

Chicken Enchiladas for the VP Debate

For the US VP Debate, I decided to make some spicy Mexican food and drink some wine.  Seemed like the patriotic thing to do.  Or something.

I haven't made these enchiladas in about a year, but used to make them all the time.  They turned out pretty good.  

Ingredients:

• tortillas
• ground chicken
• frozen red, green, and yellow pepper strips
• onion
• garlic
• can of black beans
• can of refried red beans
• can of diced tomatoes and peppers
• Mexican sour cream
• Mexican melting cheese
• Valentina's hot sauce (water chili peppers)
• Goya Salsita (ancho chili peppers)
• white pepper
• red pepper
• black pepper
• kosher salt
• garlic salt
• celery salt
• Casillero del Diablo - Carmenere 2007

Procedure:

    To start with, I caramelized the onions and peppers in olive oil with some garlic and the spices.  Once that was cooked, I added the ground chicken, which cooks pretty quickly.  When the chicken was getting there, I added some of the red wine and an ounce or two of each of the hot sauces.  Then I added the three cans - tomatoes, black beans, and refried red beans.  This all simmered until it started thickening up as the moisture evaporated.  Then I added a little of the cheese and some Mexican sour cream.  That finished off the enchilada filling.  I then put about two spoonfuls of filling in each tortilla, rolled them up, and put them in a baking pan.  Once the pan was full, I covered all the enchiladas with Mexican melting cheese.  This all went in the oven at 300 for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese was nicely melted.  Done!

Resulting Deliciousness:

    These enchiladas turned out a lot spicier than I usually make them.  I didn't realize it had been a long time since I ate some good spicy food.  It took a while for my palate to get used to it and be able to taste the flavors over the spice.  Once it did, these enchiladas were great.  The wine went much better with them than I thought it would.  It is a very flavorful wine and it complimented the spicy food quite well.  

Roasted Chicken, Roasted Veggetables, and Quinoa Pilaf

Last night, I cooked some of the best roasted chicken I've ever had.  Check it out...

Ingredients:

• Roasted Chicken
• one whole 5lb chicken
• garlic olive oil (garlic soaked in olive oil for a few days)
• rosemary
• rub
• kosher salt
• cane sugar
• red pepper
• white pepper
• black pepper
• garlic salt
• celery salt
• paprika
• cloves
• mustard powder
• oregano
• basil
• Roasted Vegetables
• potatoes
• carrots
• onion
• celery
• rub
• rosemary
• olive oil
• Cotes du Rhone Terre des Lauzeraies - a French red wine blend
• Woodchuck hard cider 
•  Quinoa Pilaf
• red quinoa
• frozen vegetables
• garlic
• sea salt
• oregano
• basil
• celery salt
• honey

Procedure:

Chicken and Potatoes

    To start with, I put a chicken roasting rack in a roasting pan.  This will hold the bird above the vegetables, keeping it all in the air and letting the drippings hit the rest of the food.  I then filled the bottom of the pan with the chopped up vegetables and seasoning.  Once that layer was ready, I smeared the chicken with garlic olive oil, rubbed on the rub, and set it on the rack.  Onions, rosemary, and half an orange got stuffed into the chicken's cavity and rosemary and garlic were placed on top.  All of this went into the oven at 325 for about 2-2.5 hours, until all of the meat reached at least 165F.

Quinoa Pilaf

    The pilaf is the same as I make all the time, and have posted before - just boil the quinoa as you normally would (same as rice), with a little extra water, frozen vegetables, and some seasonings.

Resulting Deliciousness

    This was some of the best roasted chicken I've ever made.  It was a little dry in a few places like the top of the breasts, but I'm spoiled since I'm constantly brining everything I make.  I wish I could have brined this, but I didn't buy the chicken in advance, so that wasn't really an option.  However, the rub and all the rosemary and garlic made this chicken absolutely delicious.  The skin was nice and crisp, and not dried out.  The vegetables were a little fatty from all the drippings and olive oil - next time I'll look for a bird that's a little less fatty and try not to go overboard with the oil.  The quinoa pilaf was excellent, as always.  I also really liked the red wine that I picked out.  It was on sale for $8 and the Whole Foods wine guy was right that it would go well with poultry.  

Turkey Cacciatori and Salad

Tonight, I made some turkey cacciatori and salad.  This was pretty similar to the chicken cacciatori  dinner I made for my friend's band, except for the type of meat, and this time I added carnberries and roasted red peppers to the sauce.

Ingredients:

Salad

• Romaine mix from Whole Foods
• Roasted red peppers
• Fresh mozzarella
• Avacado
• Tomato
• Balsamic vinegar reduction
• Olive oil

Pasta

• Ancient Harvest quinoa and corn rotelle
• Whole Foods (365) Tomato Basil pasta sauce
• Ground turkey thigh meat
• Onion
• Garlic
• Basil
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Balck pepper
• Salt
• Cane sugar
• Cranberries
• Roasted red pepper
• Honey

Procedure:

Salad

For the salad dressing, I made some balsamic vinegar reduction by simmering with cane sugar, honey, and a bay leaf.  I chopped up the rest of the ingredients and added them to a store bought salad mix.

Pasta

The pasta itself is a quinoa and corn pasta that I've never had before.  It tasted pretty good.  For the sauce, I carmelized some onion with the listed spices, added the turkey, and simmered it with some gewurztraminer.  Then, I added the store bought sauce.  While that simmered, I boiled some cranberries in sugar water and peeled some red peppers that I roasted earlier.  I added those and some sugar to the sauce and kept it simmering until the pasta and salad were ready.

Resulting Deliciousness:

The pasta and salad both turned out really well.  I've been into the flavor combination of cranberry with roasted red pepper, but I didn't add enough cranberries to really bring that out.  Gewurztraminer is more of a desert wine than something to cook and drink with pasta, but this one wasn't very sweet, so it worked out alright. 

North Carolina Barbecue

Ingredients:

• Pulled Pork Barbecue
• 9.245 lbs. of forest fed pork from Buffalo Creek Farm
• Brine
• Apple cider
• Kosher salt
• Bay leaves
• Oregano
• Basil
• Paprika
• Black Pepper
• Rub
• Raw cane sugar
• Brown sugar
• Kosher salt
• Cumin
• Cloves
• Black pepper
• White pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Chili pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• Paprika
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Mesquite wood chips

• Tomato Based Sauce
• Tomatoes
• Apple Cider
• Apple cider vinegar
• Roasted red peppers
• Brown sugar
• Honey
• Valentina's
• Kosher salt
• Chili powder
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Cayenne pepper
• Crushed red pepper
• Black pepper
• Oregano
• Basil
• Paprika
• Vinegar Based Sauce
• Apple cider vinegar
• White wine vinegar
• Raw cane sugar
• Kosher salt
• Crushed red pepper
• Chili powder
• Black pepper
• Garlic salt
• Potatoes
• New potatoes
• Roasted red peppers
• Butter
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Coleslaw
• Green cabbage
• Red cabbage
• Carrot
• Kosher salt
• Greek yogurt
• Mayonnaise
• Apple cider vinegar
• Caraway seeds
• Black pepper
• Beans
• Busch's beans
• Bacon
• Onion
• Celery
• Black pepper
• Brown sugar

Procedure:

Barbecue

On Thursday night, I pulled the pork out of the freezer to brine and thaw it.  To make the brine, I simmered all of the ingredients for about forty-five minutes and let it cool.  Once cool, it went into Ziploc bags with the pork.  This went in a pot, got covered, then went back in the freezer.  I pulled it out first thing in the morning to start thawing.  I got to Tim's place in Chapel Hill at about 5 or 6.  By then, the pork was pretty well thawed and brined.  I mixed all of the ingredients for the rub, removed the pork from the brine, and covered it with the rub.  The rub is equal parts of each of the sugars and the salt, then the spices to taste.  The rubbed pork went back in the fridge until it was go time.  The mesquite wood chips went into some water to soak for a few hours.

On Friday night / Saturday morning at 2am, I fired up the grill.  I put the pork in a pan on one side of the grill and some mesquite wood chips on the other.  I only used the burners on the wood chip side to keep the grill between 225 and 250 (F).  The soaked wood slowly smoldered to smoke the meat.  This went on, being checked and basted with apple cider every hour or so for the next 10 hours.  By then, the meat had reached about 170.  To be cooked, pork should reach over 140, but to be pulled it helps to reach about 190.  I ran out of time and had to go for 170.  It worked out fine, but it could have been easier to pull.

Barbecue Sauce - Tomato based

For a tomato based sauce, I simmered tomatoes, cider, and all the spices for about 2 hours.  I added this to about 3 roasted red peppers and pureed in a blender.  For the final touch, a little apple cider vinegar was added.

Barbecue Sauce - Vinegar based

This type of sauce is very simple.  Just combine equal parts apple cider vinegar and white wine vinegar, add a significant amount of sugar, then add spices per your taste.  This one turned out pretty spicy.  The flavor will mature, mix, and become smoother if this is left in the fridge for a day or two.

Baked Beans

Really good baked beans are very easy to make.  Just start with some good canned beans, make some bacon, and add it to the beans.  Use the bacon grease to caramelize some finely diced onion and celery and add that too.  If you want, add some more spices based on your taste - I added some pepper and some brown sugar.  Let that simmer for a while, and the beans are way better than they started.

Potatoes

I wanted another side, and was too lazy to make potato salad.  So, I boiled some new potatoes, drained them, added butter and seasonings, and about 3 pureed roasted red peppers.  This turned out to be a delicious side that went very well with the smoked flavor of the meat.

Coleslaw

Slaw is a must for any barbecue.  The key is the first step, which some people forget - salt the cabbage.  Cut up the cabbage, put several tablespoons of salt on it, cover, and set it in the fridge for about 3 hours.  This pulls moisture out, making sure that the cabbage won't get soggy from the liquids you're going to add.  After salting, thoroughly rinse all the salt off, add the carrot, a few tablespoons each of Greek style (drained) yogurt, mayonnaise, and apple cider vinegar, and a little pepper and caraway, mix, and you're good to go.  Just taste it and make sure the balance fits your palate.  

Resulting Deliciousness:

I didn't realize how in need of a good North Carolina barbecue I was.  This was fantastic in just about every way possible.  The sides all worked very well, and everyone had a great time.  That is what a barbecue is all about, and this certainly fit the bill.  The only part of this that I've ever made before was the beans.  The pork might have been the best meat I've ever had in my life... and that's saying something.  I am now, more than ever, a huge fan of feeding animals what they naturally eat.  This forest fed pork had more flavor and better texture than any barbecue I've ever had.  The sauce was entirely unnecessary (but turned out really good!).  If you've never had naturally fed or wild meat, go to www.eatwild.com and find a place near you to get some.  I was really happy the way the brining and my rub helped the flavor of the meat, but did not overpower it.  I think that's the problem with grain fed meat - it is high fat and low flavor - you can barely eat it without sauce or heavy seasoning.  Just remember that with naturally fed meat, it is generally less fatty and therefore easier to mess up with fast cooking methods like grilling.  With slow cooking, you pretty much can't go wrong.