Canning Hot Peppers

Here a while back I decided that I needed to pick some of my hot peppers before they went bad. I didn't have enough of any one kind so i picked some of each. I didn't want to freeze them so i canned then. I got one quart of peppers. They were jalapenos, hungarian wax, anaheim and cayenne.

Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

I have tons of different hot sauces. This one is one of my favorites. What I like about it is that a soon as you taste it you get bombarded with flavor not heat. You get the chili flavor, saltiness and garlic. A taste that screams asian cuisine. The heat is there an livens up your taste buds at the back of your tongue. But, the heat passes quickly so it doesn't over power the flavor of the food. By the time you are ready for your next bite the pleasure begins all over again.

Ingredients- chili, sugar salt, garlic, distilled vinegar, potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfate, and xanthan gum.

Delicious stuff. You can get it at Walmart of HyVee.

Testing Spare Rib Recipes.

Last Friday it was supposed to be 95F and a heat index of 111F. So what better to do on a sweltering hot day. Spend 6 hours smoking spare ribs. Yeah I know, I'm and idiot. But I had 3 new rib recipes that I just had to try. I'll fire up the smoker for just about any reason.

So I bought 2 racks of spare ribs and cut them in half. Then I prepped them as usual with mustard and dry rub. When I was done the family did a taste test for me. They thought the flavor of #3 was the best but they liked the texture and doneness of #1. So I guess my new recipe will be #3 cooked like #1.

Boquet Garni

Boquet Garni is simply herbs rolled and tied with cotton string. This technique is good for soups, stews and roasts. I have a pot roast in the crock pot so i thought it would be a good time to try a boquet garni.

Mine has a bay leaf, parsley, basil, oregano and thyme.

I let you know how it works out. Oh yeah you have to remember to remove it before serving.

Bamboo steamer basket test #2

Got the bamboo steamer out for another test. This time I took 2 medium size potatoes, washed them then cut them into wedges with the skin on. I put 2 inches of water into a sauce pan and brought it to a boil. I put the steamer basket over the sauce pan and let it go. At 5 minutes of steam, the potatoes were already starting to soften. At 10 minutes, I could about half way thru with a fork. At 15 minutes they were fork tender and perfect. It was so easy to steam the potatoes. I didnt have to hover around, I could let them cook.

How I season my new wok.

Here is a short video clip of me seasoning my new wok.

Smoking Fish

Saturday morning we went fishing. Caught 8 bass but only kept five. Since we were hosting a cookout Sunday, I thought smoked bass would be a good appetizer. When returned home, I got right to cleaning them. I decided to smoke them whole so I just took the scales off and removed the guts.

They went straight into a rinse container. I rinsed them again and placed them in the fridge overnight. Sunday morning I transfered them to a new container that contained a premixed brine solution. I let them soak for about 7 hours. I fired up the smoker, rinsed the fish one more time and put them in the smoker. I cooked them for one hour with out smoke then added the wet hickory chips to the fire box.

After another out I started checking their temps with an instant read thermometer. When the flesh reached 165 F, I pulled them off the smoker and let them rest for a few minutes then served. Everyone seemed to like the smoked fish.

Do you know curry? Indian Curry Chicken

If you like indian cuisine, they you are probably familiar with the spices curry powder and garam masala. These spices, whoa hold on. They aren't spices but are rather blends of spices. There are several different versions of each one. Curry powder is usually a blend of coriander, tumeric, cumin, red pepper and cardamom. You may also see mustard, fenugreek, chili, black pepper and salt.

Garam masala is also a blend of spices used in Inidan cuisine. The garam masala I have on my shelf is made by McCormick. It contains cardamom, coriander, cloves, cumin and cinnamon. You may see different versions. They are both wonderful additions to any food. I am posting a recipe for Indian Chicken Curry.

Ingredients

2 ounds of skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup cooking oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 tbs minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 tbs curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cayenne

1 tb water

1 (15 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup water

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

Sprinkle the chicken with 2 tsp of kosher salt.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Partially cook the chicken in batches until browned. Set the chicken on a plate and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium high, add the onion, garlic and ginger to the oil, cook until the onions become translucent, Stir in the curry powder, cumin, tumeric, coriander, cayenne and 1 tbs of water, allow the mixture to heat up while stirring, Add the tomatoes, yogurt, 1 tbs cilantro, and 1 tsp of salt, Return the chicken to the skillet and any juices on the plate. Pour in 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil, turn the chicken to coat with the sauce. sprinkle the garam masala and 1 tbs of cilantro over the chicken.

Cover the skillet and simmer until the chicken breasts are no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes. Take the temperature of the chicken breast and it should be at least 165 F. place the chicken and sauce over white rice. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and serve.

My new bamboo steamer

I'm always picking up new gadgets to cook with. My latest purchase is a bamboo steamer I bought off of eBay. It's a small one, 8 inch diameter. My package came in the mail yesterday. As usual, I could'nt wait to put it to use. I just happened to have some corn on the cob handy, so it was time to get my steam on.

I chose a medium size stock pot, added an inch of water and a pinch of kosher salt. Once the water was boiling I added my corn to the steamer, then placed the steamer on a woven wire rack on top of the stock pot. I let it steam for 10 minutes then turned off the heat. I took one piece of corn out to test and left the rest in the steamer. The corn was wonderful. It wasn't water logged. It tasted very fresh and still had a good bite feel.

I went back 20 minutes later and there was still steam in the steamer. Cool.

Steaming food is supposed to be better for us healt wise. I like the idea retaining the nutritional components and maintaining some crunch. I think this would be a wonderful way to cook fresh fish.

The steamer was very inexpensive, so you might try purchasing one and get your own steam on. Enjoy!

I Love My Cabbage

I love my cabbage. Those of you that know me well might think I am talking about my oldest son Colton. I am not talking about that cabbage. Before he was born we were discussing name and I wanted to name him Cabot, but Rob said everyone would call him Cabbage. We named him Colton but the nick name is still used around this house.

Anyway back to my cabbage. My name and I were talking the other day about what kind of food we like to grill. He brought up what he said was barbecued cabbage. He talked about putting the cabbage in aluminum foil with butter and salt and throwing it on the grill. I used to take some cabbage, onions, potatoes, butter, salt and pepper and wrap it all in aluminum foil and throwing it in the coals. I always loved that semi charred veggie dish.

I got it in my head that I wanted to try oven roasting cabbage. I found a few recipes and like I always do, I played around with the recipes and came out with one I thought would work.

I was delicious. Take a rather mundane veggie and making it amazing. So what you see in the picture is oven roasted cabbage with parsley and chives, drizzled with olive oil

Recipe Follows.

1 head of cabbage cut into eighths and core removed,

3 tbs melted butter

salt and pepper

olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 500 F. Drizzle or baste the cabbage wedges with the melted butter. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, garnish with parsley, chives, and olive oil. Serve hot. At 20 minutes the outer leaves are wilted but there is still some crunch and the inside. If you want it less crunchy add a few more minutes.