Italian Greens and Peppers (Liverpool Greens)

These Greens are sort of a shout out to Utica Greens, a popular upstate NY side or main dish using escarole.  Escarole is just not hearty enough for me.  I want to push the texture and flavor so I like to also use Kale.  In this case, I am using dinosaur kale or what is rightly called Lacinato Kale.  A species that is much darker green and comes in long straight fronds. 

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of Kale rinsed and cut in large pieces
1/4C Olive Oil
1 Long Hot Italian Pepper or 4-5 Hot Cherry Peppers
1/2C Chopped Onion
4 Cloves Garlic
4oz Prosciutto
1/2C Chicken Stock
1/2C Bread Crumbs
1/4C Parmesan Cheese or other dry Italian Cheese

 

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil, add the Kale and blanche for 5 minutes.  Drain the pot .  As you can see, I used my huge skillet. 

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes to soften. Do not brown. Increase heat to medium-high, and add the garlic and prosciutto.

Sauté until lightly browned, then add the kale, and chicken broth.  Combine thoroughly and cook until kale is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.  

Keep in skillet or Transfer the mixture to a 2-quart baking dish.   Spread the bread crumbs over the kalele, then sprinkle with Cheese.

Bake until the cheese lightly browns, about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

Asian Aromatic Chili Oil Sauce

Nothing fancy here, except the best style Chili Oil I have tasted.   Laura and I frequent a Vietnamese Restaurant about once per week.  Pho Tai for her and Bun Bo Hue for moi.  We always get a side of spring rolls and pot stickers.  Well they had a little dish of chili oil on the table and I added it to my plate.  Bango!  It was awesome.  It had flavor over and above the heat.   Laura, who is not a fan of flaming heat by itself likes this stuff too.  She even mention giving as gifts (My kids are spice nuts)   After raving a bit, the owner says "Its Easy, You can make."  She gave me the ingredients and when I asked which chilies, the chef, her husband, walked next door to the Asian Grocery with me and picked up the Package.  With a fresh visit on my mind and ingredients purchased, I made this morning.  Not going to inundate with photos this morning,  Just the recipe. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1/4 c. Coconut oil or light vegetable oil

2 finely minced Shallots (3 oz pkg)

4 finely minced cloves Garlic

4 Tbsp Asian Chili Powder (Use Prepared like I did, or you could grind some whole in your spice grinder, aka why does this coffee taste spicy Coffee Grinder) 

1/8-1/4 c. light vegetable oil for finish

 

Here is the Chili Powder. Maesri also happens to be my favorite Thai Curry base brand. 



 

 

 

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add the minced Shallots and fry until just starting to turn very light brown (~2 min).  Add the garlic and continue frying until light golden brown. (Additional minute or so).  For what its worth, burnt garlic tastes bad and will impart a bitter taste.  If you burn it, toss it. 

 

Remove from the heat and add the 3Tbsp of Chili Powder while the pan is still warm.  Mix thoroughly.  The mixture will be thick and paste-like, keep stirring and let the residual heat warm the chili to release its oils into the mixture. 

 

Now add additional light vegetable oil into the mix a few tablespoons at a time until it is smooth and there is a shiny layer just over the top.  You are creating a sauce, not so much a traditional Chinese-like oil.  I used vegetable oil the 2nd time around because this will be going in the fridge; Coconut oil alone will solidify.

 

Spoon the mixture into a 1/2 pint jar and let sit a week at room temp.  I am sure you could use a little right away, but it does get better with age.   

 

After a week, move to the fridge.

 

Big shout out to Hung and Julie Thatch, owners of Pho and Hot Pot, Lake Park, FL

 

 

 

Crisp Granola Bars (Gluten Free)

Since I made the first batch, Laura (aka Smoking Hot Wife) seems to make a big deal of their tastiness and goodness.  I agree, but it is nice to get encouragement.  Made a few tweaks and I think we are there with the recipe.  I am Writing how I make it.  You can reasonably substitute a few things, 

 

Ingredients

 

3 c Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (GF) (Not Quick Oats...Yuk!)

3 c Rice Krispies, Rice Chex (lightly smashed) or other GF Cereal
6 Tbsp Gluten Free Flour (Better Batter, Cup4Cup, etc)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c Honey (any Liquid Sugar will do; but I don't really know wtf Agave is, and corn syrup causes

         ADHD or some crap, so how about honey.  Pooh agrees)

1 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup (Aunt Jamima is a Fraudster) or Molasses
1/4 c Olive Oil  (not the highly flavored stuff like Kalamata)  or other oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp brown sugar (how come you dance so good ¯¯¯)

 

1/2 c Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (GF)

 

Butter or Spray or better yet, Butter Flavored Spray for Greasing

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

Preheat oven to 350⁰ 

 

We are going to do a bunch of pre assembly because once the sugar and oil are boiling, a whole lot of mixing needs to take place in short order. 

 

In a Large Bowl, mix Oats, Rice Krispies, Flour, Salt and Baking Soda. 

 

Pour 1/2C honey in a tall Pyrex measuring cup.  (There will be boiling and bubbling.  I am NOT kidding about a tall cup.  The honey is Wolf Brand Clover Honey from the Saint Paul Farmers Market.  Very and tasty. 

Then add the 1/4 c Olive Oil.  I use the California Olive Oil company after seeing it featured in Cooks Illustrated Magazine. 

Lastly 1T Real Maple Syrup.  This is from George and Dave, part of the deer hunting posse from Duxbury, MN

In a Separate Small Bowl, Mix 1T Brown Shugga and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Last and most important to SHW, 1/2c Mini Chips. 

You need a cookie sheet with about 150-165 Square inches.  15x10, 16x10, 11x15.  Line with Heavy Duty Foil so that it hangs over.  Grease pan.  I like this Crisco Butter Flavor. 

Now foil and grease the bottom of another smaller pan.  This will be used for pressing and setting the mixture in the first pan. 

With all that complete, its now time for a very quick next few minutes. 

Microwave the Honey, Oil and Maple Syrup Full Power for 90seconds.  It will initially bubble up large, but it settles a bit after 30 seconds or so. 

As soon as it comes out, pour in the Brown Sugar and Milli Vanilli.  It will bubble again.  BTW, this stuff is very hot. 

Immediately Pour and Mix in the Dry Mixture.  You will feel the whole thing getting thicker.  Mix about a minute or so until you think the goods are distributed throughout.  Then Toss in the 1/2C of Mini Chips and mix fast. 

Immediately (there is that word again) place on cookie sheet and spread with the back of the spoon.  As you can see, there was so much immediately going on, my eyes got out of focus. 

Place the 2nd sheet pan over the first and press down hard to set the mixture.  I put my whole body into it and use another pan to help.  Push Hard.  Place in the 350 degree oven and cook 15 Minutes. 

Pull from the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 Min.  This is not a step to be casual about.  Set your timer for 10 Min.  At 8 min, you will be sticky and 12 min you will be hard.   

At 10 Min, cut into the rectangles or squares of your choice. Use a bread knife and just press down to the foil.  Do not saw. This is not lumber and they must be lifted out. 

Wait 2 min and lift foil out of pan and set on cool surface.  The bars are starting to set hard by now.  I go back over the cuts one more time and gently move the blade side to side to separate every so slightly. 

Now it is time to present the Beauty Queen her breakfast. 

Green Chile Pork Tamales

I have been living in Syracuse for a year now.  One of the unfortunates of living in this small large city is the lack of ethnically true tastes and food diversity.  I know there are some resident aliens, and immigrants, but to take the leap and open a store or restaurant with homespun taste is risky.  I have been having a yearning for good tamales for the last few months and decided that I needed to do it myself.

First was to start with the Carne or Meat.  I was thinking of Boston Butt (Rolled Shoulder), but since Laura and I did not need 10lbs of meat, I instead went with bone in country style ribs.  They have fat and bones; two ingredients absolutely required for deep pork taste.  There are many possibilities for flavor, but I happen to think the combination of Green Chiles and Tomatillos work great with pork.  Because I knew I would need liquid for the masa, I used green enchilada sauce from La Palmas.  Brand is not as important as chile content (This goes for red too) ,  I use the Mexican sauce because the first solid ingredient is chile.  Then I use a good canned tomatillo. 

Carne

3 lbs Bone-in Pork (Shoulder, Country Ribs)
1 28 oz Can Green Enchilada Sauce
1 10-14oz can tomatillo sauce. 
8-10 Cloves Garlic Peeled


Heat oven to 300degrees.  Place the pork in baking dish.  Separate the pork in large chunks and pour sauces over. Spread garlic out. Top the dish with a tight fitting layer of tin foil and Bake for 2-2.5 hours.    (Yes there is a lot of liquid.  This will not go to waste.)   

Check for tenderness. The pork should easily off the bone and separate.  Let the pork cool in the liquid for at least 30 min.  I pre-set my oven to cook from 3-5 am and by the time I roused at 7am, it was perfect.  Set the pork on a cutting board, separate bones, tendon, fat and roughly chop.  I do not shred.  Put the meat into a bowl.  Now, strain the juice in a steel mesh.  All large chunks get added to the meat.  As the liquid drains, scrape the bottom of the mesh with a spoon.  You are not pressing the solids through, you are just trying to gather the solids which are a combination of tomatillos, chile and garlic. You will end up with 2-3 cups of liquid and a really thick strainer of near solids.  Those solids get added to the meat to add moisture. 

Husks

Dried Husk (Found in the Mexican food aisle or at a Latin grocery)
Large Container.
Hot tap water.

Place the Dried Husks is in a large container, fill with hot tap water and soak for at least 2 hour.
I chose the sink.  I tried a shallow dish but after 2 hours, the inner husks were not quite right.  A note on the husks. They come in all sizes. An average package has 2-3 times more than you need.  That is about 100. 

Masa

1 lbs Instant Masa.  (Or in my case 1/2 half of a 2.2 lbs bag)
3 Tbsp Chile 3000 from Penzy's
   or
   2 Tbsp Chile Powder
   2 Tsp Cumin
   1 Tsp oregano
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp salt
1 Cup Corn Oil
4 Cups Total Liquid made from Reserved Liquid from Meat and water.

Place the masa in a large bowl.  Stir in the spices.  Then add the oil and mix thoroughly to ensure the oil is distributed thoughout.  Add 2 cups of broth and mix well.  This will still be loose.  As you add the 3rd cup, the mixture will start to come together.  Add the last cup 1/4 cup at a time until you have really thick peanut butter consistancy.  Kind of like the Natural peanut butter kind.     I used a spoon the entire time, but this might be better by hand if your arm strength does not support.

Time to set up for assembly 

Take some of the husks out and set them upright to allow them to drain. I will show pictures and then try to add a video of how I made the Tamales.

Step 1. Place the Husk large side toward the palm.   If the husk is wider than 6", tear off a side and reserve.  All bits, pieces and small chunks will be used to line the bottom of a steamer.  Spread a large dollop of the masa on the left 2/3rds of the husk. 

Make sure it goes all the way to the edge. 

Step 2:  Place about 1 Tbsp of meat in the middle.  Not too much. 

Step 3.  Roll the tamale to enclose the meat with the masa. 

Step 4.  Fold the bottom back up along the seam. 

Step 5.  Place the tamales fold side down, You can see the lining. 

Repeat until you are complete.  I had a little room left so I used some crumples husks to take up room.  Top with husks as well to trap steam.

Step 6:  Steam for 1 hour 15 Min.  Check water level every 20 min to ensure it does not go dry. 

Serve with Enchilada Sauce, Lizano Sauce, Matouks, or your favorite sauce. 

Enjoy