Thai Coconut Noodles

I made this last month when I came across a 1998 Cooking Light Magazine while cleaning out the garage.  Of course I tweaked the original version (my version below).  It turned out really yummy!  I served it with Asian marinated chicken breasts that Mark grilled on the BBQ.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups snow peas, trimmed (about 8 ounces)

1 (8-ounce) package rice sticks

1 tablespoon grape seed oil

1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup light coconut milk

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash of ground red pepper flakes

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Cook snow peas and rice sticks in boiling water for 3 minutes (no longer or the noodles will get mushy). Drain well and set aside.
2. Heat oils in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions, bell pepper, ginger, and garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and the next 5 ingredients (milk through red pepper flakes); bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 
3. Combine and toss cooked snow peas, rice sticks, and green onion, coconut milk mixture in a large bowl, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve.

Ahoy Captain...Country Captain

On a recent weekend, Mark and I were relaxing in the backyard.  I was in need of some serious kitchen inspiration, so I perused a couple of cookbooks pulled from the recesses of a rarely used kitchen cabinet.  The weather was still warm enough to feel like the middle of summer, but the calendar adamantly stated it was Fall.  In anticipation of the cooler weather to come, I paid particular attention to recipes for comforting stews and soups laden with the vegetables of Autumn.  I came across a recipe I had not heard of before called, Country Captain.  The ingredients intrigued me, so here is my version. We both loved it!

California Country Captain

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C flour (I used GF Cup 4 Cup blend)
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
salt to taste
3 T olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T Madras curry powder
3/4 C red wine
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 T poultry seasoning
1 small jar (3/4 C) Major Grey's Mango Chutney
4-6 C cooked quinoa or rice

1/4 C slivered almonds
1/4 C chopped scallions
1/4 C shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:
1) Combine flour, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, pepper & pinch of salt in a large ziplock bag.  Drop chicken breasts into flour, tap off excess and brown in a 6 qt French oven heated to med/ high with 1.5 T olive oil.
2) Brown approximately 4 minutes each side (in batches if necessary) and set aside on paper towels to drain.
3) Add remaining olive oil to pot and cook the onions, bell pepper, garlic & curry powder over medium heat until the onions and pepper become soft about 5 minutes.
4) Add the red wine and cook for about another 10 minutes.
5) Stir in crushed tomatoes and poultry seasoning.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
6) Stir in the chutney and chicken.  Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Serve over cooked quinoa or rice and top with almonds, scallions and coconut.

Summer Seafood Chowder

Summer is finally here and I've spent the last couple of weekends down at the beach in Newport.  I love the sound of the waves, hanging out at 32nd Street and riding bikes on the boardwalk.  Those beautiful briny breezes inspired me to make a lovely Summer Seafood Chowder.


2 T Olive oil
1 large sweet Maui onion, diced
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, diced & seeds removed
2 ears sweet white corn, shucked
1 rib celery, diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T Sherry (good quality) or substitute white wine
1 cup seafood stock (I use stock from Santa Monica seafood)
2 cups chicken stock

1 T chicken bouillon
1 lb haddock, cubed
1 lb arctic char, skin removed, cubed
1 lb medium shrimp, cleaned
2 T each, fresh dill, cilantro and chives, minced
1 dash hot sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream 

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute the onion in 2 T of olive oil until translucent (5 minutes).  Add the bell pepper, corn, celery, mushrooms and garlic.  Stir gently and saute for 3 minutes.  Add sherry and continue cooking for 1 minute.  Add stocks and seafood and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add herbs, hot sauce and cream.
Serve Chowder in a heavy bowl with oyster crackers or some crusty french bread.  Enjoy!

What does eetlust mean?  It is a Dutch word for appetite, a nod to my Dutch ancestry.
definition:   eetlust [nm] (appetite, appetency, appetence) a feeling of craving something

Coming Soon...

The virtues of flavored vinegar

Pesto Coleslaw

and... Sweet + Salty = Bonus!

It's time to take up smoking

My brother, Randy & his 18lb yellowtail Sept. 2011

Apparently my brother has some "deep sea" skills and on a recent trip out of San Diego, he reeled in an 18 lb yellowtail and a 12 lb tuna.  I was the happy beneficiary of his catch and I decided to get serious about smoking.  I've been doing quite a bit of research since I smoked that pork shoulder (see earlier post) on my old charcoal smoker and many people actually say that an electric smoker gives better, more consistent results.  I was worried about the flavor difference, but as soon as I heard that you don't have to check temperature, wood and water every hour, I was sold!

You had me at "hello"

Besides the fact that it took me 2 hours to assemble, I love my new electric smoker!  In my defense, I didn't start the assembly process until 10:00pm after a long day at work and I may also have had a teeny little glass of wine.
   
Gettin' Schooled
I decided to make this a real learning experience by utilizing 3 different methods.
1) Jerky - winner!
2) Brined - much better than "cured", but don't brine for more than 6-8 hours
3) Cured - too dry, too salty!

Jerky was the clear winner and by far my favorite result from this initial attempt.  The recipe I found online stated that it could be made using a regular oven (which I tried, but would not suggest).  It was so much more flavorful in the smoker.  I made several changes to the original online recipe to suit my taste.  My version is below.

Island Fish Jerky

Island Fish Jerky

2 lb. fish filets (tuna worked beautifully)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbsp palm sugar (can substitute brown)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
1 tsp Maldon sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground peppecorns

1 dash red pepper flakes

(1) Cut the fish into 1/4-inch thick strips, 1 inch wide and 3 to 6 inches long. Combine the remaining ingredients in a zip-lock bag and marinate in the refrigerator, for at least eight hours, or preferably overnight. Discard the marinade and dry the fish strips well with paper towels to remove any excess marinade.

(2) Oil the grates in your smoker. Put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to collect any drippings. Place the fish on the rack and set the oven to 140º degrees. (If your oven won’t go this low, set the oven to its minimum temperature and crack the oven door.)  I used a mixture of apple wood chunks, whisky barrel wood chips and a small amount of hickory chips

(3) After two hours, reduce the heat to 130 degrees or open the door wider. The drying time will vary. When done, the fish jerky will be dry but not brittle, so that the pieces crack but don’t break when bent, with a dark brown glaze. Allow the jerky to cool and keep it refrigerated, in a sealed container, until you’re ready to eat it.

His Bark is as Good as his Bite

Kenny's amazing Pulled Pork

Where does a story begin?  Well, at the beginning of course!  And for this one I have to go way, way back.  Back to when my Mom was in kindergarten and she met a little girl named Norma Celaya.  My Mom and Norma have remained friends for over 60 years.  Norma's youngest son, Kenny is my age and we used to play together when we were 5 or 6.  I remember being kinda bossy with Kenny, but he paid me back in spades by mixing all of my Play-Doh colors together.
Fast forward a few years (or 40) and now Kenny is telling me what to do.  I don't mind though because he is mentoring me in the art of pulled pork, which includes proper bark color and the easiest way to remove the pork shoulder bone. 
A few weeks ago, Kenny and his lovely wife, Lucia invited me over to watch a UFC fight.  Kenny smoked a beautiful pork shoulder for pulled pork sandwiches.  It was a WIN/ WIN night for me... great company and awesome food!  I went home that night hooked on, UFC uhhhhhh, I mean pulled pork and inspired to pull out my cobweb covered smoker.

SMOKE EM IF YA GOT EM
Everybody knows that wars have been waged over the "best" way to make pulled pork.  To brine or not to brine?  Sauce or rub? Hickory or fruit wood?  My friend Kenny just has a natural talent in the culinary arts and he graciously and (patiently) walked me through the process.  I took copious notes, made 3 trips to the store and even then, I had several moments of pure panic.  Was my fire too hot?  Was I using too much coal?  Too much wood?  Was I going to catch the house on fire?  I put the meat on at 8:00pm and 13 nearly sleepless hours later, I was greeted with the most beautiful sight and smell.  The neighborhood dogs were going wild.
Thank you Kenny! And thanks to my Mom and to Norma because if they hadn't become friends all those years ago, I wouldn't have learned how to smoke a pork shoulder and you wouldn't be reading this.

KENNY'S PULLED PORK
9-10 lb pork shoulder (bone in)

I chose to brine my pork shoulder in a mixture of:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup salt
1 gallon of water
Increase amounts according to size of pork shoulder, making sure is it completely submerged in a non metal container for 12 - 24 hours (I brined mine for 24 hours).

pork shoulder in brine

Remove pork shoulder from brine, rinse with cold water, pat dry with paper towels and cover generously with the rub, massaging it into the meat as you go.  This is what makes that beautiful exterior bark.

For the Rub: mix all ingredients in a bowl

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sea salt

4 T black pepper (ground)

2 T shallot powder (can substitute onion powder)

2 T garlic powder

2 T cayenne pepper

pork shoulder prepped for the smoker

Prepare coals in smoker and soak wood chips in water for at least 1 hour.  I used a mixture of hickory chunks, apple wood chips and Jack Daniels wood chips)

coals are ready!

When coals are ready, add water to your water bowl one inch from the top.  Put pork on the grill (fat side up) then add wet wood to your coals.  Be sure to keep your heat low and slow, adding more coals and wood as necessary to keep your smoke going.   Pork should be done after 13-14 hours.

It's done!  Look at that bark!

Let meat rest for 30 minutes and then remove bone with a pliers.  The bone should slide right out.  Shred meat with 2 forks and make sure to chop the bark so that it is distributed throughout the meat.  Serve with artisan rolls, barbeque sauce and coleslaw.  YUM!

Old Family Recipes

You know those recipes that have the ability to transport you right back to childhood?  Well, my list is long and varied.  My Mother, who happens to have mad skills in the kitchen, has chronicled many of these favorite recipes in an old wallpaper covered book.  It's easy to identify the most cherished recipes as the pages are stained with ingredients from great meals gone by.     to be continued...

This cookie recipe is from our neighbor, Mrs. Dryer (Billy's Mom).  Randy would make a batch and eat the whole thing in one sitting.  They are THAT GOOD!