Power of Pickling Update

Here is a quick follow up about the beets after two days chilling in the fridge. I just tasted them and they are better than the first day! These are awesome! I hope you guys get a chance to make these beets! Woo hoo! Would I eat them on the first day and be happy? You bet! However, waiting for those flavors to really come together certainly didn't hurt. :)

I have another post forthcoming, so stay tuned for that.

Thanks so much to all of you who are reading, commenting or using these recipes for your own! You make this blog so much fun for me! I am so grateful.

Power of Pickling

When the topic of pickling arises, it seems the first thing that most people think of is the large variety of pickles you might see on any store shelf. However, pickling has become much more than that and one where you can use the canvas of spices, seasonings, and vinegars to become a Picasso of Pickling.

For this post I want to talk about two simple, easy, but totally customizable ideas for expanding your pickling related palate. This is just the tip of the iceberg, pickling can go far beyond these two ingredients we are going to discuss. But, for now, we are going to start with red onions and some red beets.

First up, is a hybrid between pickled and candied red onions. By applying these techniques, we are going to really make these red onions stand out, as they are going to cook and reduce in the vinegar mixture. The reduction process gives them an unbelievable color and a rich syrup forms from the sugar and vinegar. Trust me, this is well worth it!
Next up, we are going to roast and pickle some beets. The beets are a little tart and bitter to start with so roasting them will help coax out the natural sugars. We will use some apple cider vinegar, a little oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar to marinate the beets and help enhance the naturally sweet and tart flavors of the beets.  Keep in mind, you could use some red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar instead. You could even zest a little lemon or lime to give the beets some additional complexity. Again, you can customize this any way you choose, so don't be afraid to get creative.

The best thing about both these recipes is each will be ready to consume in about an hour from start to finish. Unlike a lot of of recipes that require pickling and then waiting a number of days before the pickled item begins to really take on any of those flavors. I am not saying this is a bad approach, because that certainly works, but part of my mission for this blog is to make things approachable and simple so we can still enjoy the rest of our time outside the kitchen.

Ready to get started? Let's do this!

Hybrid Red Onion Recipe:

¾ cup of red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons white sugar

½ teaspoon of kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Red Pepper flakes to taste (optional)

1 medium red onion, peeled, halved, sliced into half moons, about a ¼ inch thick

To a small/medium sized sauce pot, add all the ingredients and bring to a simmer to combine. Reduce heat and cook on medium-low. If you don’t get bubbles from your simmer, that is okay too. Stir every 5 minutes until red wine vinegar mixture has evaporated and the onions are soft and tender, about 60 minutes or so. Even though this does take a little more hands on time, you will be rewarded for your time. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Let cool and transfer to a mason jar or small Tupperware container. Simple, right? Yes, as it should be. Alright lets look at some photos shall we?

Here are the onions sliced into half moons.

Here are all ingredients together in a small sauce pot.

As you begin to apply heat, give everything a stir so it can begin to dissolve.

Within a few minutes you will start to notice that the onions begin to soften and take on some additional color.

After an hour and a little bit of patience, here is the finished product. The onions do have a little bit of crunch, but they have taken on all the characteristics from the seasonings we applied at the beginning. You can put these in tupperware or glassware and store in the fridge. These should last comfortably for more than a week.

Roasted and Pickled Beets

*Note we are combining a couple of recipes to achieve our goal here.*

The roasted beet recipe can be found on Food Network's website and is courtesy of Bobby Flay
http://www.food.com/recipe/bobby-flays-roasted-beets-for-recipes-370885

The pickled beet recipe is courtesy of simplyrecipes.com
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pickled_beets/

Roasting the Beets:

3 medium beets (your choice of color, but any will do), scrubbed and trimmed of leaves and roots.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Coat beets lightly with oil, a pinch of salt, and a couple grinds of fresh ground pepper.
3. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven until cooked through and the beets can be easily pierced with fork, approx. 60 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, and then peel and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices.

While the beets are cooling, make the pickling liquid by combining the following:

• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• Salt and pepper

In a bowl, combine the beets in the pickling liquid and stir gently to coat the beets. Let this hang out on the counter top for a 30 minutes at room temperature. Stir occasionally to make sure all the beets get a chance to absorb the liquid. Pour beets and mixture into a mason jar and store in the fridge. These will get better the longer they get a chance to hang out and meld together.

These beets have been washed and prepped for their first step of the transformation to deliciousness.

Okay, time to practice your foil origami! Wrap this up and place it on a baking sheet so you don't add pretty colors to the inside of your oven.

After an hour or so, here are these beauties. Remember, you should be able to pierce them easily with a knife or a fork to ensure the beets are cooked through.

After allowing them to cool for 10 minutes, cut them up into whatever configuration you want. These have been cut up into quarters for this post.

The beets have been marinating at room temperature for a while here. You can see that some of liquid has adhered to the beets since they are glistening and soaking those flavors.

Here is a finished photo of the beets in a mason jar ready for the fridge. Again, these will get better the longer they sit. You won't be disappointed either way.

So, what can you do with these onions and beets? Heck the list is endless! Salads, sandwiches, soups, tacos, appetizer platters, roasts, by themselves -- and the list goes on. Here is the basic idea, if you have something that is very rich, could be meat, a sauce, or just sour cream, you want something with a high level of acidity to help cut through that so you can have a good contrast of flavors.

We have just touched on two of the many things you can pickle. The list is endless and pickling is becoming a really big trend in the food world. I hope this has inspired you and you can take some of these concepts and apply them going forward.

It is a lot of of fun and you can totally put your own twist on anything that I have made here. I was talking to a friend of mine who is also a foodie and he reminded me that with any recipe or anything you cook, find a way to make it your own -- because this helps us grow, learn, as well as become better cooks, and I believe, better people.

Let me know what you think of these recipes and I hope you enjoy them!

Steaking Our Claim on Salmon

Salmon Steaks, a fun twist on the classic salmon fillet. You can season these with just about anything you want, and since this a rich, hearty fish you can season it pretty aggressively. As we did in "Taking my Teriyaki Back to you Babe," you will cook the fish the same way to achieve salmon salvation.

Oh, did I mention teriyaki?  Yes, you can brush a little teriyaki sauce or marinade on both sides of the steak. Remember to taste before you apply so you can adjust if necessary.  How do I wake this plate up? Well, I think I will let this photo answer that question for you.

Boom! Yes, that is purple cauliflower and it really makes the dish stand out.

As far as how to apply heat to the salmon, you can either go with the grill or the oven. Again, the grill is going to be my first option since it makes the fish look really pretty and the grill marks actually aide in building the flavor. For example, the grill marks can give you a little caramelization and char that will help bring the flavor of the fish together.

In order to achieve perfect salmon, cook these about 3-4 minutes a side at 500 degrees if your steak is about one inch thick. I prefer to cook at a slightly lower temperature, around 450 degrees, which I will say takes about 12 minutes total. You want the fish to be pink and moist in the middle, so factor in carry-over heat as you cook these steaks.

So, enjoy!

The Case of the Partially Perfect Baked Barbecued Chicken

So, my mom used to make this recipe when I was a teenager and I loved to eat it, but wanted nothing to do with making it. Sounds familiar doesn't it? I was about 14 when I remember my mom making this dish, but I hadn't really been interested in cooking at that point in my life. Little did I know I would come to love cooking.

The recipe is a play on barbecued chicken with a sauce that was very tomato and vinegar forward, but it is balanced with some sweetness and a little garlic to really bring it together. The idea is that you bake the chicken and the sauce together, so as everything cooks together the sauce begins to thicken and adhere to the chicken. It is a really classic, simple barbecue sauce.

If you don't believe me, here is what the dish looks like when finished. I decided to serve it with brussel sprouts (yes you can find that recipe on my blog) and a little rice to help soak up that great sauce. Here you go!

Yes, this is baked in the oven, and it tastes as good as it looks.


But wait, I mentioned a mystery didn't I? Yup, I did. This recipe, while flavorful and rich, is written a bit like a "whodunit." There is only one set of instructions related to cooking the whole dish that reads like this "Brown chicken 1 hour at 400 - 425 degrees, turning once. Pour sauce over browned meat, reduce oven temperature and roast til sauce is thick and/or nearly gone."

If you cooked chicken as the instructions indicate above you will have overcooked and dry chicken. In my attempt to solve the mystery we used skin-on bone-in chicken thighs because the skin will turn out crispy and it looks beautiful with the sauce. So, now, we must piece together how this recipe would have been comprised when it first came to fruition 30 years ago -- and perhaps how to work with it in the 21st century!

I have had this recipe numerous times before while I was growing up, but had never seen the recipe on paper.  As you can tell, the recipe left me with more questions than answers when it came time to making this myself. I knew the chicken was already deceased and I wasn't prepared to kill it again. So, in order to avoid the same fate, I knew I would have to pay attention to some clues I had learned along the way.

While I will help you solve the mystery, this case isn't open and shut and I will need to revisit this in order to work out the wrinkles. So, below is my file on how to crack this case.

In a baking dish, place 6 chicken thighs skin side up and season with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cook the chicken for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, turn up the broiler for 3 minutes on high until the skin starts to get crispy like the photo below.

While you are letting the chicken cook for those 20 minutes, combine the following ingredients in a sauce pot and bring to a simmer. Make sure to stir this occasionally while the sauce comes together.

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

2-4 cloves garlic, finely diced

A couple of pinches of kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

At this point make sure you pour off whatever liquid has rendered from cooking the chicken. I transferred the thighs to a clean dish to make sure I didn't have any excess liquid when I baked the chicken off with the sauce.

Pour the sauce over the chicken, so you have something that looks like this.

Next, cook the chicken for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Then, cook for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

That's it. You are done, and you will end up with a beautiful play on barbecued chicken. If you take the chicken out and you want the sauce to be a little thicker, just take the chicken out of the baking dish and return the pan to the oven with just the sauce.  Check your sauce every 3-5 minutes until it has reached the desired thickness.

Not interested in the chicken? No problem, you can do this with boneless country style pork ribs. Again this isn't tested, so any substitutions are experimental. 

Remember, pork is cooked through at 140 degrees internal temperature. You just want these tender and cooked through. The cooking time will totally vary depending on your oven temperature and the thickness of the meat.

Not interested in meat at all, but want a fantastic, basic barbecue sauce for any application? Seriously, just make the sauce until it has reached the desired thickness and flavor profile that suits you. Put this sauce in a container of your liking and store in the fridge.

Want to wake up this sauce a little more? Okay, add a couple of ounces of your favorite whiskey, bourbon, or tequila. This sauce won't keep you from driving, but will help fortify some of those great flavors. Like wine, taste before you add to the sauce as you will be concentrating those flavors. Also, you could add some ground ginger, ground cinnamon, or cardamom (if you can find it) to make the sauce extra special. Remember, those spices are full flavors so add in small amounts or you will overpower the sauce.

So, for now, case closed! Rest assured, together, we will continue to bring this recipe it's long, overdue justice.

Enjoy!

The Magic of The Mango

As some of you may know, I have dabbled in magic throughout the course of my life. I consider food and magic to have a few similarities that really speak to me. For one, you can tell a story with them both of time, place, history, adventure, and so on. Also, you can transform simple, unassuming ingredients into stunning, inexplicable, and flavorful magic.

The mango embodies this idea for me in a poetic way. The mango doesn't look like much, it harbors a fearsome nemesis, but contains some of the most versatile fruit flesh around. Think about it, you can use it for salads, soups, marinades, smoothies, and breakfast to name a few applications.

One of my favorite uses of mango is to make mango salsa. To me, this salsa, is magic with mango, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, pepper, and a little lime juice. All pretty standard ingredients, right? Yes, without a doubt, but it is the gift that keeps on giving. It is sweet, spicy, fresh, and bright with the lime and the bit of tartness of the mango.

Enough talk, how about a picture?

Making this salsa is simple just dice up a couple of tablespoons red onion, cilantro, jalapeno (start with less as you can always add more), a couple of teaspoons of lime juice, a pinch of salt and pepper, and boom, you are done.

The only real challenge here is unlocking the mango from it's skin and the pit. Oh, this is the nemesis I was referring to earlier. The pit is oddly shaped and takes up a lot of space. Hopefully some of the information below you will find useful.

First, most importantly, get a sharp knife so you can handle this easily. Next, stand the mango up with the tapered end towards you. Take your knife and make an incision about a quarter of an inch from the outside edge of the mango. Letting the knife do the work (and it will with most ripe mangoes), cut all the way until you have one piece of it off the side of the pit. If you encounter resistance, don't force the knife down. This is your sign that you are likely trying to cut into the pit, which sits just under the edge of the flesh. Slide your knife over a little bit to one side or the other from where you working. 

You should end up with something that looks like the top half of the photo.

The easiest way to remove the fruit is to make a tic tac pattern through the flesh and then turn it inside out and you will get the bottom part of the photo. Be careful, as a sharp knife will easily punch through the skin of the fruit and could leave your hand a little worse for the wear.

Here is one last photo of both sides cut into the tic tac pattern

Finally,  holding the flesh of the mango with your fingertips, and pushing down, start to work the knife back and forth between the skin and flesh until your little squares of mango begin to come free. Don't worry, if you end up with pieces of mango that still have flesh on them, just trim them with a knife.

There you have it. Simple, flavorful, and magical mango salsa. Make sure to taste and check your seasoning, as sometimes the mango can be a little sweeter or a little more tart depending on how ripe it is.

So, enjoy!

Chasing Crispy Chicken on the Grill

So, here you are with perfectly seasoned chicken that you want to cook, but you don't want to put it in the oven. So, what else can you do with it? Well, no surprise from me, I say throw it on the grill! The real trick here is to get color on skin, those perfect grill marks and then move it to a cooler part of the grill to let it cook through. I would say probably 3-5 minutes on the skin side, then move off to a lower flame to let it finish. What will it look like you ask? It should look like this below. In case you need to review, check out "Chasing Crispy Chicken."

Say Hello to Jello Stock

Alright, just wanted to do a quick follow up so you can see what the heck this stock looks like after cooling overnight in the fridge. I have already removed the fat with a spoon and have mixed it up so you can see the effect it has on the stock.

Warning: this will look different than any store bought stock. However, as I said before, the appearance is totally normal. If you still aren't sure, just reheat a couple of tablespoons of broth in the microwave for 20 seconds and all will be right in the world of stock.

Ready? Let's go!