Mi Chunche en la Cocina

Dijon Mustard

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 22:24:00 +0000

Ingredients:

½ cup yellow mustard seeds
½ cup white wine
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon of salt

Directions:

🥣 Step 1: Soaking & First Rest

Combine Seeds and Liquid: Pour the mustard seeds into a large measuring cup or jar. Add just enough liquid to fully cover the seeds—no more. You can always add a bit extra later.
The First Rest: This is the first of two resting periods. Cover the container and let the mustard rest for 2 to 3 days at room temperature (do not leave it out longer than a few days, as it's not refrigerated).
- Flavor Tip: A shorter rest (e.g., 1 day) results in a more assertive, pungent flavor, while a longer rest yields a milder, more mellow flavor.
Maintain Liquid Level: The seeds will absorb liquid daily. Check them and add a little more liquid as needed to keep the seeds just barely covered.

🌪️ Step 2: Blending and Customizing Texture

After the initial few days of soaking, the mustard is ready to blend.

Choose Your Blending Method

Immersion Blender: This is the easiest option and gives you the most control over the final texture.
High-Power Blender: This also works, but blending happens very quickly. Keep a close eye on it if you want to retain some whole seeds.

Choose Your Texture

This is where you customize your mustard. Blend to your preference:

Texture Goal	Blending Approach	Result
Smooth (Ballpark)	Blend completely until very smooth.	A classic, consistent texture.
Whole Grain	Omit blending entirely.	A rustic, chunky texture (less ideal for dipping).
Coherent Spread	Blend partially (50–75%) to break down some seeds.	A spreadable mustard with visible whole grains (my personal favorite).

🚫 Important Note: Resist the temptation to taste the mustard right now! It is often quite bitter at this stage.

🕰️ Step 3: Final Aging and Flavor Tweaks

Transfer and Refrigerate: Transfer the blended mustard into glass jars, cap them tightly, and place them in the back of the refrigerator.
The Second Rest (Maturing): Forgetting about the mustard is part of the recipe! The mustard needs several weeks to mellow and mature. A longer aging period is fine.
Tasting and Adjusting: After the second aging period (several weeks), the mustard is ready to taste and tweak.
- If it tastes bitter: Add a dash of maple syrup or honey.
- If it tastes bland: Add a pinch of salt and/or a splash of apple cider vinegar.
- Mix thoroughly after any additions.

🧊 A Critical Note on Storage

This homemade mustard is NOT safe for storage outside the fridge. This recipe does not include the proper sanitization and canning steps required for pantry storage.

It can last for months in the refrigerator (especially a vinegar-based recipe).
NEVER store it outside the fridge. If you gift it, please inform the recipient!

Smoked Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 16:40:00 +0000

Ingredients:
5 pounds salmon (trout or char)
Birch or maple syrup for basting

BRINE
1 quart cool water
1/3 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt (about 2 ounces of any kosher salt)
1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Mix together the brine ingredients and place your fish in a non-reactive container (plastic or glass), cover, and put in the refrigerator. This curing process eliminates some of the moisture from the inside of the fish while at the same time infusing it with salt, which will help preserve the salmon.

2. You will need to cure your salmon for at least 4 hours, even for thin fillets from trout or pink salmon. In my experience, large trout or char, as well as pink, sockeye, and silver salmon, need 8 hours. A really thick piece of king salmon might need as much as 36 hours in the brine. Never go more than 48 hours, however, or your fish will be too salty. Double the brine if it's not enough to cover the fish.

3. Take your fish out of the brine, rinse it briefly under cold running water, and pat it dry. Set the fillets on your cooling rack, skin side down. Ideally, you'd do this right under a ceiling fan set on high, or outside in a cool, breezy place. By "cool", I mean 60°F or cooler. Let the fish dry for 2 to 4 hours (or up to overnight in the fridge). You want the surface of the fish to develop a shiny skin called a pellicle.

This is one step many beginning smokers fail to do, but drying your cured, brined fish in a cool, breezy place is vital to properly smoking it. The pellicle, which is a thin, lacquer-like layer on top of the fish, seals it and offers a sticky surface for the smoke to adhere to. Don't worry, the salt in the brine will protect your fish from spoilage. Once you have your pellicle, you can refrigerate your fish for a few hours and smoke it later if you'd like.

4. Start by slicking the skin of your fish with some oil, so it won't stick to the smoker rack. Know that even though this is hot smoking, you still do not want high temperatures. Start with a small fire and work your way up as you go. It is important to bring the temperature up gradually, or you will get that white albumin "bleed" on the meat. I can control my heat with my smoker, so I start the process between 140°F and 150°F for up to an hour, then finish at 175°F for a final hour or two.

NOTE: What my smoker is set at is not necessarily what the actual temperature is. Smoking is an art, not a science. To keep temperatures mild, always put water in your drip pan to keep the temperature down. If your smoker is very hot, like a Traeger can get, put ice in the tray.

5. After an hour in the smoker, baste the fish with birch or maple syrup, or honey; do this every hour. This is a good way to brush away any albumin that might form. In most cases, you will get a little. You just don't want a ton of it. Even if you can't control your temperature this precisely, you get the general idea. Your goal should be an internal temperature of about 130°F to 140°F. (Incidentally, yes, I keep the smoke on the whole time. I don't find this to be too much smoke, but if you want a lighter smoke, finish the salmon without smoke or in a 200°F oven.)

6. You must be careful about your heat. Aside from failing to dry your salmon long enough, the single biggest problem in smoking salmon is using too high a heat. If you've ever seen salmon "bleed" a white, creamy substance, that's a protein called albumin. If you see lots of it, you've screwed up; a little is normal.

Here's what happens: If you cook a piece of salmon at too high a heat, the muscle fibers in the meat contract so violently that they extrude albumin, which immediately congeals on the surface of the fish. It's ugly, and it also means your salmon will be drier than it could have been. You prevent this with a solidly formed pellicle, and by keeping your heat gentle.

If you let your heat get away from you and you do get a white mess on your salmon, all is not lost. Just flake it out and make salmon salad with it: The mayonnaise in the salad will mask any dryness.

7. Once your fish is smoked, let it rest on the cooling rack for an hour before you put it in the fridge. Once refrigerated and wrapped in plastic, smoked fish will keep for 10 days. If you vacuum-seal it, the fish will keep for up to 3 weeks. Or freeze your fish for up to a year.

Notes:

One last piece of advice: Try to fill up your smoker with fish. This process takes a while to do, and your smoker doesn't care if it's full or half-empty, so you might as well make a big batch.

And keep in mind, this recipe is for basic smoked salmon. Other options are smoked salmon candy, a great snack, and, once you have your smoked salmon, you can use it in smoked salmon dip on crackers.

Solomillo de Cerdo Curado (Cured Pork Tenderloin)

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 20:40:00 +0000

Ingredients:

2 pork tenderloin tips
500 grams of coarse salt
200 grams of brown sugar
175 grams of white sugar

The ingredients for the marinade are:
2 tablespoons of oregano
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of onion powder
2 tablespoons of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1 tablespoon of thyme
1 tablespoon of pepper
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of cilantro powder

Directions:

Clean the meat to remove any excess fat or gristle.

Mix sugar and salt, layering some at the bottom of a container, placing the meat on top, and covering it with the remaining mixture.

Refrigerating the meat for 24 hours.

After refrigeration, rinse and dry the meat with paper towels.

Coat it with spices, and tightly wrap it in a kitchen towel or cheesecloth.

Let the tender loin rest in the refrigerator for three weeks to allow the herbs to infuse their flavors. After the fourth day, the food is ready to eat, but the longer it sits, the more cured it becomes.

Butter Vodka Pie Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 18:14:00 +0000

Flakiest pie crust ever!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour ((325 grams))

1 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices ((2 sticks, 16 tablespoons))

1/4 cup ice water

1/4 cup cold vodka

Directions:

1. Place half of the flour (1 1/4 cups) in a food processor, along with the salt and granulated sugar. Pulse a couple of times to mix.

2. Add the cold butter slices and pulse about 15 times, using one-second pulses, until small chunks form. Scrape down the sides, then add the remaining flour. Pulse 5-6 times.

3. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl. Drizzle the water and the vodka across the surface of the dough, then use a rubber spatula to fold and press the liquids into butter and flour. The dough will be shaggy. Press the crumbs into the dough. If they stick together then you do not need additional liquid.

4. Split the dough into two balls and flatten each into a round disk. Wrap each disk individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

5. Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator set the disk on a well-floured surface. Use a rolling pin to create a circle of dough that is 1/8-inch thick. Use additional flour, if needed, to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.

6. Transfer the dough to your pie plate and fold the excess dough under to create a rim around the edge of the pie plate. Crimp using your preferred style. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.

7. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes with pie weights, then reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C) and remove the pie weight. To blind-bake (par-bake) the crust, continue to bake it for an additional 5 minutes. For a fully baked crust, bake for 15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.

Note: This is not my original recipe, but it is the best I have ever made. Credit https://stateofdinner.com/vodka-pie-crust/

Hollandaise Sauce for Two

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 22:23:00 +0000

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks

Juice from about a ¼ lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

¼ cup of very hot melted butter (½ stick)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a microwave-safe bowl until nice and smooth. Continue whisking the egg yolk mixture as you slowly stream in the hot melted butter. Whisk constantly until it is well incorporated.

Heat sauce in microwave on high for 10 seconds, and then whisk again until creamy. Heat the sauce in the microwave one more time for an additional 15 seconds, whisk and serve.

Note: If the sauce starts to break/separate, whisk in 1 teaspoon of hot water and it will pull back together.

Enjoy!

Homemade Sourdough Cheez-It Crackers!

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 23:07:00 +0000

Ingredients:

125 grams recently fed starter at 100% hydration
63 grams water
32 grams of melted butter
250 grams flour
10 grams salt
125 grams of shredded cheese

Directions:

Mix starter, water, and melted butter together until well combined
Add flour and salt to the mixture, and mix until completely combined.
Add shredded cheese to the dough, and mix with your hands until you have a well-mixed ball of dough.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Split the dough in half, and shape each half into a rectangle. Sandwich dough between parchment and roll out until 1/8 inch thin, or as thin as possible.
Remove the top piece of parchment and cut the crackers into the desired shape, about 1-inch sq. Poke each cracker twice to keep them from puffing up too much while baking
Leave on parchment, and bake in oven for 25-30 mins at 350°F. Turn off the oven and leave the door cracked, allow the crackers to cool in the oven. Then break apart and enjoy!

2015 Chili Cook-Off ~ People’s Choice Award - Texas Style

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 19:35:00 +0000

Authentic Texas-style chili contains no beans and is usually made with diced beef. Some purest use only beef and spices in their chili. We use brisket that has been smoked for 24 hours. Once the brisket has cooled, it is finely diced before being added to the remaining ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 pounds (or 1 kilo) smoked brisket (“Pecho” en español), shredded and trimmed of fat. We smoke the brisket for 12 hours and then finish it in the oven for another 12 hours. (If you don’t have brisket, you could use ground beef, browned and drained, or chuck roast (posta) that has been diced into ¼” cubes. You will need to increase the liquid smoke to 1/3 cup.
1 pound Italian sausage, browned and drained
1 medium onion, diced small
1 – 14.5 cans of diced tomatoes
1 – 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
2 cups of chicken stock
¼ cup liquid smoky broth from the brisket, with all fat dripping removed. Alternately, you can use “Colgin Liquid Smoke” sold in most grocery stores, including AutoMercado in Costa Rica
1 cups of water
½ pint of Pace salsa picante (medium) or 1 can of La Costeña Salsa Mexicana
1 tablespoon of beef stock concentrate
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoon masa (corn flour) dissolved in ½ cup of water for thickening
2 tablespoons homemade chili powder (more, or less, according to taste)

Directions:
Brown the ground sausage and drain. Add the meat and sausage to the pot with all the onions, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, beef concentrate, salsa, garlic, oregano, chili powder, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a steady boil, stirring frequently for at least an hour. Mix the masa (corn flour) with enough cold water to create a thick batter and add it to the pot. Simmer for 4 hours, or more.
Top with grated cheddar and diced onions before serving. Corn tortillas or chips go great with a bowl of chili.

Yield ~ 1 gallon

*Homemade Chili Powder
4 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili de árbol powder (Tree chili is a small Mexican Chili with a woody stem that is sometimes called bird’s beak chili.)
2 whole chipotle chili peppers with stems removed, minced, and ground to a powder (Chipotle chili is a smoked Jalapeño chili pepper used primarily in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking.)
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons fresh finely minced oregano
1 tablespoon fresh ground coriander seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground clove
4 tablespoons Hot Chili Powder (Purchased from MySpiceSage.com. Ingredients: Chile Pepper, Salt, Cumin, Oregano, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper, and Crushed Red Pepper)

Peppermint Bark

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sun, 24 Dec 2023 19:17:00 +0000

Ingredients:

18 ounces dark chocolate chips (can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips)

18 ounces white chocolate chips

1 cup crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candies

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract divided.

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt dark chocolate in a microwave-safe dish for 45 seconds. Stir, then continue to heat for 10 seconds, stirring in between, until completely melted.

3 Stir in ¼ teaspoon of vanilla.

4. Pour melted dark chocolate onto parchment paper and spread evenly to about ¼ inch in thickness and chill in the refrigerator/freezer while preparing the white chocolate.

5. Melt white chocolate chips in a separate bowl in the microwave following the melting instructions above. If the chocolate should start to seize, you can fix it with a teaspoon of coconut oil.

6. Add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla and ½ cup of the crushed peppermint candies to the white chocolate and stir to combine.

7. Pour white chocolate on top and carefully spread it over the dark chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup crushed peppermints. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until hard. Cut pieces with a sharp knife.

Pineapple Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 19:57:00 +0000

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil

1/2 cup minced onions (sweet yellow or red)

1 garlic clove, pressed

500 grams of fresh or frozen cranberries, or 1 16oz can of cranberry relish

500 grams of fresh crushed pineapple

½ cup ketchup

1 cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt (optional to taste)

Directions:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a skillet.

2. Add the diced onions and garlic and cook till translucent (about 4 minutes).

3. Add all the other ingredients to a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a low simmer.

4. Add the onion and garlic and let simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Many of the cranberries will burst open and if you want you can use a potato masher and mash the berries into the sauce.

This sauce is great on pork ribs, in place of gravy, and in sandwiches.

Moist Sourdough Cranberry Muffins (Overnight Option)

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 00:56:00 +0000

Ingredients:

200 g all-purpose flour (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
60 g sourdough starter (active sourdough starter or sourdough discard)
1/2 cup whole milk
115 g (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature (soft)
200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange or the juice from 1 mandarin
2 large eggs
165 g (1 heaping cup) fresh or frozen cranberries, plus more for decoration
Extra sugar for dusting before baking

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F/ 190 C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.

3. Whisk the sourdough starter and milk together in a separate small bowl; set aside.

4. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a wooden spoon): cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and zest/juice together. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Working in batches, add 1/2 of the flour mixture. Once absorbed, add half of the milk mixture. Repeat until everything is used up and the batter is smooth and well incorporated.

6. Lightly toss the cranberries in flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.

7. Fold the berries into the bowl with a rubber spatula. Make sure to evenly distribute the berries throughout the batter (check the bottom of the bowl!).

7. Fill the muffin pan, about 3/4 of the way full. Top with a few berries if you like, making sure to tuck them in so they don’t pop out during baking. Then dust the tops with a little granulated sugar.

8. At this point, you can bake right away or chill overnight, for 12+ hours.

9. To bake now: place the tin on the center rack and bake for 25-28 minutes.

10. To bake later: remove the tin from the refrigerator; discard the foil. Bake straight from cold for 25-28 minutes.

11. Cool the muffins in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling so the bottoms don’t get soggy.

Tropical Sourdough Dinner Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 20 May 2022 00:06:00 +0000

Ingredients:

50 grams of recently fed sourdough starter at 100% hydration

220 grams of pineapple juice

30 grams coconut syrup

2 large eggs

30 grams sugar

70 grams water

1 tsp vanilla extract

7 grams salt

700 grams of bread flour

1/4 tsp ground ginger

90 grams cold butter grated

Note: All measurements are by weight, not volume.

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl, mix, cover, and rest for a few hours.

2. During the resting period, perform 2 or 3 sets of Stretch & Folds at 30-45 minute intervals.

3. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and bench rest for 5 to 6 hours.

4. Place the covered bowl in the refrigerator overnight for a cold retard.

5. Next morning remove the dough from the refrigerator. Leave it covered and allow it to come up to room temperature for a few hours. It should take 2-2½ hours depending on your room temperature.

6. I find working with the dough easier when it is still slightly chilled. Lightly dust your workbench with flour, divide the dough, and form it into 18 balls of 70-75 grams each.

7. Place the dough balls into greased pans, cover, and let rise to the desired size.

8. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 375°F.

Optional: Baste the rolls with butter while still warm.

Enjoy!

If you want to make these using commercial yeast, here's how...

Ingredients if using Active Dry Yeast:

220 grams of pineapple juice

2 large eggs

60 grams coconut (palm) sugar

120 grams water

3 packets of active dry yeast (¼ oz. each)

1 tsp vanilla extract

7 grams salt

725 grams of bread flour

1/4 tsp ground ginger

90 grams cold butter grated

Directions if using Active Dry Yeast:

1. Mix tepid water, a teaspoon of coconut sugar, and yeast packets in a small bowl and let it bloom for about 10 minutes.

2. Add all ingredients to a stand mixer bowl, mix, cover, and rest for a couple of hours.

3. During the resting period, mix the dough on low for about 15 seconds 2 or 3 times at 20-minute intervals.

4. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and bench rest until almost doubled in volume.

5. Place the covered bowl in the refrigerator overnight for a cold retard.

6. Next morning remove the dough from the refrigerator. Leave it covered and allow it to start to come up to room temperature for an hour.

7. I find working with the dough easier when it is still slightly chilled. Lightly dust your workbench with flour, divide the dough, and form it into 18 balls of 70-75 grams each, or 24 balls of 50-55 grams each.

8. Place the dough balls into greased pans, cover, and let rise to the desired size.

9. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 375°F.

Optional: Baste the rolls with butter while still warm.

Sourdough Apple Bacon Fritters w/Maple Bourbon Glaze

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 15:04:00 +0000

This is an Enriched Bread Dough recipe to make eight fritters. If you need more you could easily double it. Bacon fat has been used to enhance the bacon flavor, but it could be replaced with an equal amount of butter.

This recipe is a 2-day process, but it is well worth the effort. You can adjust the timing to fit your schedule so you are not a kitchen slave.

Ingredients

For the dough:

250 grams flour (all-purpose) and more for dusting
115 grams of egg & full-fat milk (1 medium egg and enough milk to weigh 115 grams together)
40 grams sugar
28 grams bacon fat, cool (if you don't want bacon flavor, use butter instead)
100 grams recently fed sourdough starter (my starter is kept at 100% hydration)

For the apples:

2 big honey crisp apples (use any type of apple)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
A smidgen of ground cardamom (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 (15g) cup sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
3 slices cooked bacon, chopped

For the glaze:

1/4 cup maple syrup
1¼ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of milk
Reserved syrup from cooking apples
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional)

Directions

DAY 1

9:00 AM

1. Weigh everything for the dough into a bowl and mix until roughly incorporated and cover the bowl.

2. Stretch and fold once an hour for a total of 4 sets over a 4 hour period. Add water or flour to adjust consistency.

1:00 PM

3. Cover the bowl and let the dough ferment for several hours, until it expands a bit and air bubbles form. Fluffy, not totally proofed.

4. While waiting, peel and core the apples, cut them into 1/2 inch cubes.

5. Melt butter in a saucepan, add the apples along with spices and sugar.

6. Cook, stirring for about 10 -12 minutes until the apples are a bit softer and the syrup thickens to coat the apple pieces. Drain the cooking juices (reserve for the glaze) Let cool and refrigerate.

4:00-5:00 PM (when the dough is ready)

7. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper generously dusted with flour and set aside.

8. Flour a bench surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle roughly 15"x10".

9. Scatter the apple pieces and bacon on the dough, press lightly and roll to form a log and then flatten the log with your hand so that it measures about 15"x5".

10. Cut the log into about 10 equal-sized slices. Then cut each slice in the opposite direction into about 3 pieces. Tuck in any apple or bacon pieces as needed.

11. Scrunch everything back into a rough ball and stretch it out into a rough log tucking the apple and bacon pieces back into the dough. (use flour to stop it from sticking)

12. Once the log is formed, divide it into 8-10 pieces (you can decide how big or small)

13. Take one piece at a time, onto the palm of your hand and form the dough into a disk, tuck any loose apple pieces into the dough, and place it on the baking sheet lined with flour-dusted parchment.

14. Once done cover the baking sheet with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and place the tray in the refrigerator until bedtime. (Set a timer so you don't forget.)

15. Remove the baking tray from the refrigerator and set it on the counter for the final proof, overnight, 5-8 hours. When ready, they will look puffed up and the dough will be fluffier and softer.

DAY 2
7:00 AM

16. Place the baking tray back in the refrigerator to chill a bit while heating the oil and making the glaze.

17. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 375°F/190°C.

18. Mix syrup, sugar, milk, and reserved syrup from the cooked apples and bourbon with a whisk.

19. Drop one to two fritters at a time and fry turning (about 60-90 seconds per side) until done.

20. Remove from the hot oil using a slotted spoon and drain on a cooling rack over another baking sheet.

21. Drizzle the glaze over fritters while still warm.

Enjoy!

Pastrami Rub Spices

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 23:33:00 +0000

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
½ teaspoon whole mustard seeds
½ teaspoon mustard powder
(Note: If you don't have mustard seeds & powder, add 1 teaspoon of horseradish)

Directions:

Crush all the seeds with a mortar & pestle until the seeds are cracked, but not a powder. You can also put the seeds in a ziplock bag and crush them with a heavy saucepan.
Blend the crushed seeds with all the powdered spices.
Store in a jar or airtight container to use to prepare pastrami.

Sous Vide Beef Pastrami

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 23:44:00 +0000

Ingredients:

1 home-cured or pre-packaged corned beef brisket (approximately 3 to 4 pounds)
3 tablespoons pastrami rub

Directions:

PREPARE:

Put the corned beef in a pot slightly larger than the meat and cover it with cold water. Refrigerate for at least 8-10 hours. This will remove the excess salt from the meat. It is best if the water is changed a couple of times; at 3 hours, and 6 hours.
Prepare the Immersion Circulator for Sous Vide and set the water temperature for 65.5°C/150°F.
Remove the desalinated corned beef from the pot. Pat it dry with towels and place into a vacuum sealing bag, or a gallon-sized sealable freezer bag.
Vacuum seal the bag, or carefully submerge the freezer bag in the water bath until most of the air has been removed before sealing the bag.

COOK:

Once the bag is sealed, place it in the water bath and cook the corned beef for 30 hours.
Fill a large container with a 50/50 mix of ice and water. Place the bag of sous vided corned beef in the ice water for 30 to 60 minutes to quickly reduce the meat's core temperature to 1-3°C/34 to 38ºF. Place the meat in the refrigerator until ready to smoke (up to two days ahead of time).

SMOKE:

Set your smoker to 107°C/225°F or prepare a grill for 2-zone cooking and get the indirect side to about 107°C/225°F. If you are using a gas grill, simply turn off the burners on one half of the grill for indirect cooking, adjust the grill temperature to approximately 107°C/225°F, then add a smoker box or smoking wood pouch according to the manufacturer's instructions for the full smoke flavor. Use lots of wood.
Prepare the brisket again. Combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Remove meat from the vacuum/freezer bag. Trim excess fat. Pat the surface dry with paper towels and season generously all over with the dry rub mixture.
Place the meat in your smoker or on the cooler side of the grill as far from the heat source as possible. Allow the meat to smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 52°C/125°F, about 1 hour.
Now, you have pastrami! The pastrami was fully cooked during the sous vide process. The goal is to convert the Corned Beef into Pastrami by adding a smokey flavor to the meat while reheating it to a temperature that is pleasant when served.

SERVE:

Remove the pastrami from the grill, wrap it in a double layer of foil, and allow it to sit for 1 hour before slicing. Slice the Pastrami against the natural grain of the meat for the best texture.

Enriched Artisan Sourdough Rye Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 21:23:00 +0000

I came up with this recipe by fusing a rye bread recipe from a friend with my original artisan sourdough rye bread. My friend's recipe uses instant dry yeast instead of a sourdough starter. I replaced the yeast with my sourdough starter. I maintain my starter at 100% hydration using rye flour only. I reduced the amount of water and flour in my friend's recipe to offset the flour and water in my sourdough starter. These adjustments resulted in a dough hydration of 76% with a weight of just over 1 kilogram. Enriching the dough with egg and shortening resulted in a softer crumb that I don't get with my original recipe.

Ingredients:

250 grams Water
150 grams Sourdough Starter
43 grams Molasses (I use Miel de Caña (Sugar Cane Syrup))
1 large Egg
22 grams Shortening
5 grams Fennel Seed: 1 Tbs. (or 1 tsp if using ground fennel seed)
2.5 grams Anise Seed (not Star of Anise): 1 tsp.
4.5 grams Caraway Seed: 2 tsp.
8 grams salt
Zest of 1 Orange (Optional)
150 grams Rye Flour
350 grams Bread Flour
20 grams Vital Wheat Gluten

Directions:

Mix the sourdough starter and water into a large mixing bowl. I find a large plastic container with a tight-fitting lid works best for me. Add the egg, shortening, and molasses. Mix to combine and then add all the seeds and the optional orange zest.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours, vital wheat gluten, and salt. Run a fork through the mix to make sure the flours are evenly distributed.
Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet using a dough whisk or spoon until the flour is well blended. Coat your hands with flour and knead the dough for a couple of minutes. It will be sticky but that is the nature of rye flour. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or plastic wrap and let rest it for 30 minutes. Do 3 sets of stretch and folds with wet fingertips 30 minutes apart. Let the dough sit at room temperature for roughly 10-12 hours.
After the long 10-12 hour proof, lightly flour a large board or counter. This is a high hydration dough, so gently scrape the dough out of the bowl.
Flour your hands and gently stretch the dough into a rectangle. Try not to deflate the gases trapped in the dough. Now fold the dough in thirds and then in half. Gently shape the dough into a boule, or batard (round or oblong) for baking.
Gently place the dough in a proofing basket dusted with rice flour for the final rise. If you don’t have a proofing basket, you can line a bowl with a well-floured kitchen towel and put the dough in there for the final rise. The final rise should take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the dough doubles in size. Make sure you cover the dough with a damp cloth, plastic wrap, or an inverted bowl to keep it from drying out.
My oven preheats within 10 minutes, so I usually don't bother to preheat. If your oven takes longer, place your baking vessel and lid in the oven and preheat it to 450°F about 30 minutes before baking.
I bake in an oval enameled roaster, but you can use any vessel you like. A slow cooker’s ceramic pot with an oven-proof lid is also a great choice.
Gently transfer the dough into the hot baking container. Score the dough with a razor or sharp serrated knife and bake until the internal temp is about 200°F. Bake at 450°F for 25 minutes, remove the lid, drop the temperature to 400°F and continue baking for another 20-25 more minutes.
Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Notes:
You can prepare the dough for the long proofing time in the evening. Then, in the morning, give it the final shaping and second proof. If you want to prepare the dough earlier in the day, you can place the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours, and then pull it out for the 10-12 hour proof before you go to bed, and leave it at room temperature overnight.

Faerie Hair French Fries

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 02:49:00 +0000

We've been making these as an incredibly crunchy side-dish for a few years now. We can't find anybody that can eat just one mouthful. Super-slender tendrils of potato, golden brown, with a crunch that disintegrates in your mouth. Can't stop eating them.

The trick, other than the fine "shreds" is "Doble Frita" -- Double Fried.

This is surprisingly simple.

You'll need about 1 medium potato per serving.

Plenty of deep-fry oil.

Deep-fry thermometer.

Seasoning to make you happy. Try lemon pepper or Tajín, to taste. Salt as needed.

Tons of toweling for drying the spuds and draining them of oil.

PROCEDURE:

Run the potatoes over the julienne attachment of your mandolin slicer (this critter). It's the one with all of the tiny close-set blades on the feed bed of the mandolin.

For real fun, slide the potato back and forth across the blades which cuts some of the julienne "sticks" to "fuzz" thickness. The sticks (shreds) are about the size of a wood pencil lead. The fuzz is about the thickness of a 0.5mm mechanical pencil lead.

Depending on your potato type, as in Costa Rica, you should wash the potato shreds under running water until the milky starch stops running out.

Drain them well.

Better than that. Get them really dry.

Get your oil up to a solid 350F (177C).

CAREFULLY drop a small handful of the shreds into the hot oil. Watch the boil-up. If it is safely well below the top rim of your pot, you can add up to about a half potato's shreds. When the boil-up subsides watch the "fuzz" pieces and pull the batch out just as they show slight browning. If you don't have any fuzz, pull the batch when they're lightly golden.

Drain the batch on paper towels.

Bring your heat back up to temperature and repeat until all potato is cooked through this first cycle.

Take the heat of the oil up to 370F (188C).

ATTENTION: This next step happens fast. Do not drop the fries into the hot oil and turn away or get distracted.

Grab up about a full potato's worth of shreds and gently slide them into the hotter oil. Keep them submerged. In about 10 to 20 seconds, the fries will go to a dark golden brown.

Pull them out quickly to drain. Repeat to finish the batch.

Season to taste.

Please eat responsibly. We're not responsible for your overeating episodes.

Edit: SWEET POTATO MODIFICATION

We discovered that the orange-flesh sweet potatoes (camote-zanahoria in Costa Rica) only require one modification to this procedure: You don't have to double fry. Just leave them in 360F oil until they're nice and darkly fried. We then do the light salt and for sure the Tajín. It's O.K. to stack up batches in a 180F warm oven to keep them crisp if you live in a high-humidity area. People can't leave these alone. They will devour these by the handful.

Sous Vide Lemon Curd

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 21:22:00 +0000

We have a nice harvest of lemons this year, so it was time to make Lemon Curd! I removed the zest and juiced one of our softball-sized lemons from our lemon tree. This one lemon had slightly more than a ½ cup of juice. I used my normal recipe but changed the cooking method from stovetop (see below) to Sous Vide. What a game-changer! No more standing and constantly stirring the curd in a double boiler for me! I simply mixed all the ingredients in a large measuring cup, poured the mixture into a Mason jar, set the jar in the water bath with the Precision Cooker, and walked away. One hour later, 1¾+ cups of Lemon Curd will be done and ready to cool before going into the fridge.

Ingredients:

¾ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (optional)
¾ cup sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup salted butter, melted

Directions:

Sous Vide Method:

Heat the sous vide precision cooker to 167°F/75°C.
While the precision cooker comes up to temperature, combine all the ingredients in a large measuring bowl with a pouring spout.
Whisk until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Fill 2 half-pint Mason jars with the lemon curd mixture (Depending on the size of egg yolks, you may have more than 2 cups of curd. In this case, you can also use a quart Mason jar for the 2+ cups of curd.)
Place a lid and ring on top of the jars and make the ring finger tight.
Once the water bath is heated to the correct temperature, carefully lower the jars into the water with a jar lifter. Make sure there is water completely surrounding the jars.
Cook for 1 hour
Carefully remove from the water and allow to rest for ten minutes.
Using an immersion blender Blend curd on high until fully emulsified, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Serve with your desired treat. Lemon curd is best when well covered and consumed within 1-2 weeks.

Stovetop Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a double boiler (or in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water). Heat while whisking constantly until mixture thickens and reaches 160 degrees, or coats the back of a spoon.
Pour the lemon curd into a heatproof bowl, cover with clear wrap pressed onto the top of the curd to avoid a film developing, and refrigerate until cold.

Serve with your desired treat. Lemon curd is best when well covered and consumed within 1-2 weeks.

Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp over Linguini

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:51:00 +0000

This Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp over Linguini is the perfect 30-minute meal for two. For those of us that don't like doing dishes, this is a one-pot meal, making cleanup a breeze. Most of the ingredients used are kitchen staples most of us have readily available and if you don't have fresh shrimp, use frozen. I grow a lot of my own herbs, so I like to make my own blend of Italian seasoning with fresh ingredients when possible, but store-bought will work just fine.

Ingredients:

250 grams (8 ounces) Linguine Pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ kilo (1 pound) large shrimp (cleaned & deveined) (Note: You can use frozen shrimp in this recipe, but make sure it is completely thawed before cooking.)
1½ cups fresh spinach
¼ cup of fresh chopped basil
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Herb blend: (If you don't want to make your own, use a teaspoon of Italian seasoning)

¼ teaspoon fresh chopped oregano
¼ teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
pinch of dried thyme
pinch of dried tarragon
pinch of dried marjoram
pinch of ground fennel

Directions:

In a large pot cook the pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Using the same pan, heat olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Using medium-low heat, add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Watch it closely because garlic can burn quickly.
Add the shrimp and salt and pepper to taste. Cook just until the shrimp start to turn pink. Add all the herbs and spinach and cook until the spinach and basil are wilted.
Add the pasta back to the pot with the remaining butter and parmesan. Gently toss the pasta until the butter is melted.
Add the lemon juice before serving and serve hot.

We find this the perfect meal for two, but it can easily be scaled up for a crowd. ¡Buen Provecho!

Easy Homemade Yogurt (A Sous Vide Recipe)

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 18:33:00 +0000

I started making my own yogurt several years ago when I read somewhere that making yogurt is a very simple process. I can't remember the last time I actually bought any yogurt at the grocery store. There are all sorts of kitchen gadgets to help you make perfect yogurt. It can be made in an InstantPot, specialty Yogurt Makers, a Crockpot/Slow Cooker, or just a plain old soup pot. In my case, I already have the basic tools in my kitchen. Anyone can successfully make yogurt with these tools and instructions. Once you taste this stuff you'll never want the store-bought kind again.

Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a plastic food-safe bag, then heating the food to a very precise temperature using an immersion circulator in a water bath. Technically, this yogurt recipe is not "sous vide" because it is not "under vacuum", but it does take advantage of the precision temperature of the immersion circulator in a water bath. This method produces results that are sometimes difficult to achieve with other methods. The immersion circulator allows me to heat the water bath and hold it at an exact temperature for several hours. Yogurt requires a long incubation period to be successful.

The process requires milk to be heated to 180°F. This will kill the bacteria in the milk so the whey proteins will denature and coagulate enhancing the viscosity and texture of the yogurt. Then the milk is cooled between 110°F-115°F and inoculated with active cultures from the last batch of yogurt, or some store-bought yogurt containing active cultures. The final step requires the milk to incubated for several hours to produce yogurt.

Equipment:

Soup pot
Spoon or whisk
Precision instant-read thermometer
Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator
Heat safe container
Clean Mason jar(s) with lids and rings
Colander (optional)
Cheesecloth, large dinner napkin, or large handkerchief (optional)

Ingredients:

2 liters (½ gallon) of whole milk, or 2% milk
¼ cup of yogurt with active cultures at room temperature. This can be the remainder of the last batch of homemade yogurt or some store-bought natural yogurt with active cultures. (I don't recommend using flavored store-bought yogurt because it's hard to know what other additives it might have.)

Preparation:

Setup your heat-safe container and fill it with the amount of water recommended by the manufacturer of your immersion circulator.
Set the temperature to 110°F/43°C
Set the time to a minimum of 8 hours. The maximum number of hours should not exceed 24. The longer the yogurt ferments the more tang it will have. If you want a less tangy or thick yogurt, ferment for around 8 hours. For a thick, tangy, and probiotic-rich yogurt, go closer to 24 hours. (I like it at about 12 to 18 hours)

Directions:

Pour the milk into the pot and place it over medium-high heat. Stir the milk frequently to prevent it from scorching on the bottom.
Use the instant-read thermometer to watch the temperature and bring it up to 180°F. When it reaches 180°F, remove from the heat and set the pot in a sink full of icy cold water to let the milk cool down to between 110°F and 115°F, stirring regularly for an even cool down.
Once the temperature drops between 110°F and 115°F, remove the pot of milk from the ice water and set it on the counter.
Scoop out about a cup of warm milk and mix it with the plain yogurt you have at room temperature.
Gently, but thoroughly, stir this milk/yogurt mixture back into the rest of the milk using a side-to-side motion.
Pour this mixture into 2 or 3 quart-sized Mason jars. (I have ½ gallon Mason jars, so I use one ½ gallon jar and if I have a little extra milk mixture, I pour it into a 4 ounce Mason jar.)
Place the lids on the jars and put the rings on so they are snug, but not tight. I recommend screwing the rings with just 2 fingers until you meet a little resistance. If the rings are too tight the glass jars could break.
Place the jar(s) in the water bath and walk away.
When the timer on the immersion circulator goes off, remove the jars, let them rest for 30 minutes and then chill them in the refrigerator.
The yogurt will be pretty thick when it comes right out of the fermentation, and it will thicken even more as it chills.

Note: If after it’s chilled you want thicker yogurt, strain it through the colander lined with the cheesecloth (or napkin/handkerchief) over a large bowl. The longer you strain it, the thicker the yogurt. The whey that is strained out can be used as a substitute for water in bread dough and other recipes. My dogs even love a couple of tablespoons of whey on their food.

Enjoy the yogurt in all your favorite recipes, served over granola and topped with fruit, and so on. Just be sure to save that last ¼ cup of yogurt from this batch for your next batch.

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 20:05:00 +0000

I was discussing our holiday menus with a friend in a Facebook Chat and he told me about this side dish he planned to serve with his meal. I’ve never been fond of the traditional yams or sweet potatoes with the marshmallow topping found on almost every holiday buffet table. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as a toddler, but I like to think my palate has evolved over the decades. This is a new twist for a spicy alternative to the humble Sweet Potato, or as we call it in Costa Rica, “el Camote”. This recipe was a big hit at our Thanksgiving dinner and now it will be a regular side dish in our house all year long. I modified this recipe from an Alton Brown original to suit our taste by adding bacon and sour cream.

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, diced (optional)
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 tablespoon of butter
½ cup of sour cream
1 or 1½ chipotle pepper(s) in adobo sauce, depending on the heat level preference (not the whole can)
2 teaspoons of just the adobo sauce
1 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

Fry the bacon until crispy, drain on a paper towel, and set it aside (optional)
Steam the cubed sweet potatoes for about 20 minutes until they are fork-tender. Steaming the potatoes prevents them from absorbing too much water during the cook.
Mash the sweet potatoes with butter, sour cream, and salt
Mince the chipotle pepper (remove the seeds if you don't want a lot of heat). I recommend you start with just one chipotle pepper at first.
Fold in the chipotle pepper and adobo sauce
Let the potatoes rest for about 30 minutes so that the flavors can meld. Taste and add more chipotle pepper or adobo sauce if necessary. You can always add more heat, but you can't take it back.
Top the dish with the crispy bacon bits.

Old Fashioned Sugarcane Pecan Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:51:00 +0000

For years I avoided pecan pie because I always found them to be way too sweet for my taste. Then, a company where I worked started catering lunches for clients participating in our week-long computer training classes. Our favorite day of the week was the day they brought lunch in from the Goode Company Barbeque located in Houston, Texas. Our clients raved about the Pecan Pie every single time. So, I decided it was time for me to give it another try. Wow, what a delight. In fact, Goode Company Restaurants ship their Pecan Pies all over the States in their famous wooden box. They have been voted the best mail-order pie in America by Bloomberg.

I stumbled upon a copycat recipe for this pie on the internet but it called for white Karo syrup. This is an imported product in Costa Rica, and consequently, it’s not what one would call economical. So I started researching the history of Pecan Pies. Legend has it the French invented this pie when the native American tribes first introduced them to the sweet pecan nut in Louisiana, long before corn syrup was even invented. Back when the pie was first invented the original recipes called for sugarcane syrup or molasses.

Talk about serendipity, I live in a sugarcane country and we have sugarcane syrup and molasses in abundance. In Costa Rica, I make my own sugarcane syrup from a raw sugar cake called a "tapa de dulce". In other Latin American countries, a raw sugar cake is called a "panela". I boil down the "tapa de dulce" with water until it turns into a thick syrup, similar to corn or maple syrups.

I modified the original recipe for the Goode Company's Pecan Pie to step back in time and return to its roots, using the original sweetener. This was a huge success for our Thanksgiving dessert.

Sugarcane Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked pie shell
3 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup sugar cane syrup
3 tablespoons of melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup whole pecans halves for the topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F
Mix all ingredients, except the pecans, until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
Fold in the chopped pecans and pour the mixture into an unbaked pie shell.
Top the pie with the whole pecan halves if desired.
Bake for 35-45 minutes. Testing for doneness with a knife inserted in the center. The pie is done when the knife comes out clean.

Sourdough Soft Share and Tear Rolls with Whole Wheat

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 19:09:00 +0000

These rolls are nice and soft, easy to pull apart, with a beautiful crumb inside. This dough makes perfect dinner rolls, but they are so versatile you can use them as sliders buns, for a breakfast sandwich with egg, sausage, and cheese (my favorite), or just eat them plain. The dough can also be shaped for a burger or hot dog buns. Just use your imagination.

The dough is enriched with butter, egg, milk, and sugar. To obtain the soft texture of the rolls use a stand mixer to incorporate air into the dough and give it the strength it needs to properly rise. After you make the dough, you can shape the rolls, let them rise, and bake them immediately, or you can just refrigerate them overnight to enhance the flavor.

NOTE: This recipe has been modified from the original recipe found in Emilie Raffa’s book, “Artisan Sourdough Made Simple”. I changed it to use some whole wheat flour, and I tweaked a few of the other ingredients to our taste.

Makes 12 Soft Pull-Apart Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough

240 grams (1 cup) milk, whole or 2%
60 grams (¼ cup) water
28 grams (2 tablespoons) butter (plus extra for coating the bowl used for the bulk rise and the baking dish)
1 large egg
200 grams (1 cup) active starter
36 grams (3 tablespoons) sugar
350 grams (3¼ cups) white bread flour
100 grams (½ cup) whole wheat flour
9 grams (1½ teaspoons) salt

Egg Wash

1 egg white
2 teaspoons of water

Directions:

Feed the Starter:

A few days before baking, feed the starter with enough flour and water to obtain the 200 grams needed to make the rolls. When the starter is active and full of bubbles, store the starter using your preferred method; at room temperature or refrigerated. If your starter is cold from the refrigerator, give it an hour to come up to room temperature before you start making the dough.

Make The Dough:

Measure out the flours and salt in a bowl and mix in the salt with a fork. Set aside.
Warm the milk, water, and butter in a saucepan over low heat, or heat the mixture in the microwave in a microwave-safe container. The butter should be melted, but not hot. If it is too hot, let it cool to slightly warm before adding the liquid to the dough. Set aside.
Add the egg, starter, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine.
Once combined, slowly add the warm milk mixture, followed by the flour and salt mixture. Continue to mix at low speed until it develops a wet sticky dough that looks like a thick cake batter. This should take about 1 to 2 minutes to get the right consistency.
When finished, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
While the dough is resting, prepare for the next steps. Feed your starter with fresh flour and water, and store according to your preference. Lightly coat a new large bowl with butter for the bulk rise. Switch out the paddle attachment for the dough hook on the stand mixer
After the dough has rested, knead the dough with the dough hook on medium-low speed for about 6 to 8 minutes. The dough will not pull together into a ball but it will look shiny and smooth when ready. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.

Bulk Rise:

Transfer the dough to the buttered bowl. Cover the dough and find a warm spot for it to rise. This could be near a heater, on top of the fridge, in a cabinet, or in the oven with the light on and the oven door slightly wedged open. Let the dough rest until doubled in size, about 6 to 8 hours. In my tropical climate is sometimes only takes 4 hours to double. The bulk rise depends on the temperature, so watch the dough, not the clock.

Shape:

Lightly coat a 9x13-inch (23x33-cm) baking pan with butter.
Remove the dough onto a floured surface and lightly dust the dough with additional flour. Using floured fingertips, gently flatten the dough into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 85 grams (3 oz) each, with a floured knife or bench scraper. Gather the ends of each piece of dough together and flip the dough over, and roll each piece into a ball. I find the bench scraper in one hand and the other hand lightly floured really helps shape the dough balls. Place into your pan, 3 pieces across and 4 down.

Second Rise:

The dough will need a second rise at room temperature, but you have a choice on how to proceed: Do the second rise immediately, refrigerate the dough for 8-12 hours and bake the next day.

Same Day Bake:

Cover the baking pan with a damp towel and let rest for 1 hour or more, depending on temperature. The dough will be puffy, but not fully risen, when ready.
Skip to the Bake step below.

Next-Day Bake:

Cover the dough with a damp towel, or lightly oiled plastic wrap, and let the rolls rest for about 30 minutes before chilling in the refrigerator overnight, up to 12 hours. Return the dough to room temperature before baking, about 1-2 hours. The dough will be puffy, but not fully risen, when ready.
Continue with the Bake step below

Bake:

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Combine the egg white with a splash (2 teaspoons) of water. Brush the tops of the dough for a shiny finish.
Bake the rolls on the center rack of the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes. When finished, the rolls will have fully risen with a rich golden brown color.

Serve the rolls warm or at room temperature. The soft rolls will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days when stored in a plastic bag at room temperature or up to a week if refrigerated.

The rolls can be reheated by wrapping them in foil and warming them in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 10 minutes.

Burger and Hot Dog Roll Variation: Remove the dough from the bowl after the bulk rise is finished onto a floured surface and lightly dust the dough with additional flour. Using floured fingertips, gently flatten the dough into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 8 pieces, about 125 grams (3 oz) each. Shape them into balls for burger buns, or an oblong shape for hotdog buns. Brush the tops with egg white wash and gently pat down the rolls so they a not plump (the dough will rise back up as they bake). Place them in a large baking dish side by side. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Sous Vide Home Cured Canadian/Back Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 16:36:00 +0000

Our local Supermercado LaCoope in Atenas sells Hormel Canadian Bacon. It has been reported to be selling for around $15 USD per pound, or ¢16,500 CRC per kilo. Now we love Canadian Bacon, but $15 per pound is a splurge and beyond our normal budget. I have nothing against Hormel, but I do consider ABC (already been chewed) meats that have been chopped and formed, very disappointing.

We've been making our own Canadian/Back Bacon for several years now and have been pleased with the overall results. Every now and then we get a batch that is just a little too tough and dry. This week we tried a Sous Vide method to finish the cooking and this is a total game-changer.

So here you have it… A lean pork loin is soaked in a salty-sweet maple cure then smoked with applewood, finished off in the SousVide, and ultimately sliced to be pan-fried. This process produced amazingly moist and fork-tender bacon. The best we have ever eaten.

We picked up a beautiful boneless pork loin for about $2.10 USD per pound. Combined with the ingredients needed for the brine and the cost of electricity for the smoker and Sous Vide our cost will come in around $2.75 USD.

Ingredients:

1 gallon of water, divided into 1 quart & 3 quarts
1 cup kosher or pure salt, coarse or fine grind will work because it will be dissolved in the brine.
1 cup maple syrup (imitation maple will also work)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 teaspoons pink curing salt, or 1 teaspoon for every 5 pounds of meat (aka InstaCure or Prague Powder). This is called "Sal de Cura" in Costa Rica and I have found it at the Alajuela Central Market at vendor booth #34)
4 bay leaves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon of peppercorns
1 boneless pork loin, trimmed of excess fat (about 8 to 10 pounds). A thin layer of fat will caramelize and add flavor when the bacon is fried.
1 to 2 large chunks of light smoking wood, such as apple, pecan, lemon, or coffee wood

Directions:

Make the brine by combining 1 quart of water, salt, maple syrup, brown sugar, pink curing salt, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic, and peppercorns in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve all the salt and sugar. Boil for about a minute.
Pour 3 quarts of very cold water into a large container (I use an inverted plastic cake safe). Add the brine mixture and when it is completely chilled, submerge the pork into the cure. If the meat tries to float, place a heavy weight on top of it to keep it in the brining solution. Place the container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Turn the pork over every day to make sure it cures evenly.
Remove the pork from the cure and dispose of the brining solution. Fill the container with fresh cold water and submerge the pork again for a minimum of 90 minutes. Remove pork from the water and pat it dry with paper towels.
Heat your smoker or grill to about 165°F and when it at temperature, add the wood chunks (we prefer coffee wood) for the smoke and place the pork in the smoker. It is best to use indirect heat for this process. Smoke the pork for 90 minutes in the smoker. While the meat is smoking, heat the water bath for the Sous Vide to 60°C/140°F.
After the pork loin has been smoked, place it in a large vacuum seal bag (you may need to split the loin into two pieces to fit properly in the water bath container) and seal it. Place the sealed bag(s) in the water bath for 5 hours.
Remove the bag(s) and place in a 1/2 ice & 1/2 water bath until chilled.
Chill the bacon for several hours before attempting to slice.
Slice the bacon to your desired thickness and seal packets of the sliced bacon in vacuum-sealed bags for freezing. Bacon may be stored in the freezer for 6-9 months.
5 pounds of Pork Loin yielded 48 slices of Sous Vide Home Cured Canadian/Back Bacon.

Pan-fry the slices and enjoy!

Cochinita Pibil

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 17:39:00 +0000

I was first introduced to Cochinita pibil back in 1990 when I was in Cancun, Mexico on vacation. Cochinita pibil is a slow-roasted pork dish typical of the Yucatán Peninsula. The traditional preparation involves marinating pork in sour oranges, spices, and achiote (annatto) paste. The pork is then wrapped in banana leaves and placed on hot coals and rocks place in a pib (underground oven). The pib is covered over with banana leaves and topped with soil. The pork roasts underground for several hours until the meat is fork-tender. The method in this recipe uses a wood-fired, or conventional, oven to roast the pork.

Ingredients:

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of boneless pork (pork shoulder or pork loin with a nice layer of fat works well)
350 ml (1½ cups) of limón mandarina (If you don’t have limón mandarina, use 250 ml (1 cup) of orange use with 125 ml (½ cup) of lemon or lime juice)
125 ml (½ cup) apple cider vinegar
1/4 of a medium onion
1 chili habanero
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
5 whole cloves
8 whole black peppercorns
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt
90 g (3 ounces) of achiote paste (annatto)
2 tablespoons of lard or vegetable shortening
2 hojas de platano (banana leaves)

Directions:

Prepare the pork

Slice the pork to a thickness of 4 or 5 cm (1½ or 2 inches) and set aside.
Prepare the marinade (adobo)
Warm the achiote and lard in a small saucepan or microwave just until melted.
Add the limón mandarina, vinegar, onion, chili habanero, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, garlic, and salt to a blender jar and mix on high speed until everything is finely minced and blended.
Gradually add the warmed achiote and lard to the blender and mix until blended.

Marinate the pork

Place a layer of pork in a glass dish or plastic container. Cover the pork with some of the marinade and continue layering the pork with more of the marinade until all of the pork is completely covered with the marinade. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap.
Refrigerate the pork for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking.
Preheat oven to 175-200°C (350-400°F). We enjoy a smoky flavor, so we use an outdoor wood-fired stone oven and the temperature fluctuates somewhat. A conventional oven works fine too, but the meat won’t have any smoke flavoring.

Prepare the Hojas de Platano (Banana Leaves)

Cut the banana leaves so that 4 pieces are twice the length of the baking dish, and 4 more pieces are twice the width of the baking dish. Slightly toast them over low heat on the stove to make them softer and more elastic. They will change to a dark green and become very pliable.

Roasting the Pork

Line a baking dish with the banana leaves overlap each other and extend over the sides of the baking dish by at least the same as the length and width of the dish.

Layer the pork into the dish on top of the banana leaves and pour the remaining marinade on top of the pork. You will probably have chunks of the achiote/lard paste that you can just spread evenly on top of the pork.

Fold the banana leaves on the short sides of the baking dish across to the middle. Then fold the banana leaves on the long sides of the dish across to form a closed package that will stay closed while the meat cooks. We place glass weights on top of the banana leaves to ensure they stay in place.

Place the baking dish in the oven for about 2 to 3 hours, until the pork is thoroughly cooked and pulls apart with a fork.

When the pork is finished roasting, shred the meat on a serving platter and pour any remaining juices in the baking dish over the top of the pork before serving.

Cochinita Pibil is typically served with corn tortillas and pickled habanero peppers and red onions.

Mac & Cheese with Smoked Pimiento Peppers & Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Pat) — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 17:27:00 +0000

Ingredients:

1 pound of Penne pasta or elbow macaroni
¼ cup diced smoked Pimiento peppers
5 strips of bacon diced and fried until crispy
1½ cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese
1½ cups of grated queso Maduro or Monterrey jack cheese
1½ cups of grated mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of bacon grease drippings
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
1 cup of heavy cream
2 cups of milk
Salt & Black pepper to taste
½ cup Panko bread crumbs (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just al dente (about 9-11 minutes). Then drain the pasta and set it aside in a covered bowl.
While the pasta cooks, dice the pimiento peppers and set aside.
Fry up the diced bacon and set aside.
Grate all the cheeses and set them aside.
Make a roux with the butter, bacon drippings, and flour by stirring with a whisk constantly over medium heat until the flour is well cooked and you have a thick paste.
Gradually add the heavy cream to the roux and continue whisking.
When the cream is thoroughly incorporated, gradually add the milk, whisking constantly until you have and nice sauce that isn't too thick. If it is very thick, add more milk to thin it out.
Add the diced pimiento peppers and bacon to the sauce, then fold in all the cheeses. This will thicken the sauce up as the cheese melts. If it is too thick to pour, add just a bit more milk to thin.
Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to your liking.
Layer half the pasta in a large casserole dish and pour half of the cheese sauce over the pasta to coat it evenly. Layer the rest of the pasta on top and pour the remaining cheese sauce evenly over the top.
Top the casserole with the Panko bread crumbs.
Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake about 10 minutes more to brown the bread crumbs.