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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Aug 11, 2015 - 10:43pm PT
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"Over wok. Under pay." ( apologies to Stephen Yan )
B.L.T. on bread I baked this afternoon. With cream cheese and roasted bell pepper.
Le Chow Royalle.
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Aug 14, 2015 - 07:53am PT
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New Weber smoker:
First smoked chicken:
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 15, 2015 - 07:30pm PT
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It's been an amazing summer in Seattle. We've been picking tomatoes since June, and harvesting peppers since late July.
Here's the latest from the pepper patch...
And pepper shadows in the late evening sun
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 15, 2015 - 07:54pm PT
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Inspiring, sir.
I had a package of bamboo shoots and oriental chilis and stir-fired them.
On rice, sodium-free soy sauce.
That was last night.
Tonight I mixed a couple of cans of albacore, chopped celery, kosher dill chunks, raisins, pepper and mixed it with chopped lettuces and mayo.
Open-faced on several pieces of dark-brown Grainiac bread, toasted.
With berry-flavored Juicy Juice.
I'm a satisfied Mouse.
*belch*
Ate the whole bowl.
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Bluelens
Social climber
Pasadena, CA
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Not-So-Basic Meatloaf from David Burke. Croutons bottom and top. Yum.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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This one's for Survival
In our ongoing correspondence about growing, eating, and preserving hot peppers, Farmer Bruce introduced me to the idea of making hot relish. Now, he has a whole dictionary of pepper talk in his head, and can jump in with definitions of "relish", "salsa" and whatever else if he wants, but the short version is that his idea of relish is that you puree peppers, lime juice, and salt.
Period. End of recipe.
Puree that sh#t, jar it, and get it in the fridge. Although, given what's in it, you could probably store it on a sunny back porch for a year and it wouldn't go bad. No self-respecting bacterium would go near a relish that's really little more than thermal-runaway-in-a-jar.
After that, well, any time you want to add a bit of kick to your beans and eggs, or a bowl of soup, or whatever, you hire a scientist to weigh out about three micro-grams of the stuff and add it to your food.
Now I love heat, and have been known to do stupid things with hot peppers and food. But I'm all grown up now, and in my old age am more concerned with maximum flavor than with getting into the Guinness Book of Records. Not that I don't crave heat. But I figure if I tone down the heat-per-gram, I can add more grams and get to the same heat, but with more flavor.
But flavor can include other things than the holy trinity of Capsaicin, lime, and salt. Asians would taste a relish like that and say it was missing one of the four cornerstones of flavor. Sure it's got hot, sour, and salty... but where's the sweet? Not that they'd want it overloaded with sugar, but balance is important.
And any Italian worth his salt (or his hot, sour, and sweet) would say something like "You know, the limes are great, but we could touch up the sour with a bit of really good vinegar..."
Anyway, a tip of the hat to Survival, and here's the part that's worth thousands of words.
This year's pepper crop was so bountiful that I had no qualms about using a bunch of last year's frozen serranos in a relish experiment.
This is where we get to the "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned" part. Survival is adamant that, other than cutting off the stems, the peppers should go in whole. Personally, I think he's just lazy; but he's bigger and stronger than me, so I won't say that here. Instead, I'll point out that seeds lack redeeming gustatory value. They're not hot, they have no good flavor, but they do have a nasty bitterness.
So, without being really anal about it, I removed the bulk of the seeds.
All over but the shouting at this point. Serranos, lime juice, kosher salt, muscovado sugar, and balsamico into the blender, and the result into a jar.
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pocoloco1
Social climber
The Chihuahua Desert
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^^^^^
Very nice Ghost
Like "they"say, you never go back to bland
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Ghost & all! Nice food porn. This one did not photograph well, but it was a feast last night at the ranchette.
Heidi's organic garden green beans & Bruschetta with her organic garden cherry tomatoes, onions, & garlic.
We did not grow the wheat for the bread, or catch the Sockeye Salmon.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Damnit now I'm hungry and not suitably stocked with inspiring ingredients at home.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Got too many ripe peppers?
Break out your smoker, lay in some well soaked Alder or Apple wood chips and get the heat to about 180-200 degrees.
Slice the peppers into crossways rounds and lay in a single layer across a piece of wire mesh so they don't fall through. I usually toss the stem ends and as many seeds as I can shake free.
Smoke the rounds for anywhere from 2 to as much as 4 hours. What you are looking for are rounds that are snap-dry but not burnt. Start checking for dry ones around the 3 hour mark - especially the smaller or thinner cuts.
I use an electric smoker so your times may vary.
Take your smoked peppers off and let them finish air-drying on screens for another day or two and then jar or grind for your spice rack. Any rounds that are still rubbery or pliable I will freeze since if not fully snap-dry they can mold.
I've done pasillas, jalapenos and Anaheims - very different flavors and aromas but all are good with a nice earthy yet sweet funkness.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Ok, Ghost upped the ante with TR style expositions. I got inspired to find what was salvageable in my fridge and shelves. More than I thought!
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Joron
Trad climber
Hoodland, Oregon
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Spatchcock chicken on the Big Green Egg
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Local Puget Sound goodies at the Fountain Cafe in Port Townsend.
Best I've had in yonks!!!!!
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2015 - 04:28pm PT
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Great stuff everyone!! It all makes me hungry!
Ghost, you are indeed one of my food heroes. I'm so psyched that you are running with relish. The chile gawds are smiling.
Like I said, it's art, not science, and you sir, are an artist.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2015 - 04:32pm PT
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Being down here in the sun and heat, I made my biggest effort ever at growing chiles.
Now that the extreme heat has backed off, some of these plants have gone into high gear.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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El Maestro de la paella! So glad Seattle has some mojados! ORALE!
Off to Pike Place market for more food porn and fish chucking.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Hey Reilly, when you're at Pike's Place keep your eyes peeled for some fresh Porcinis, assuming you like fungus of course. Great time of the year to be eating in the PNW.
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Joron, that's a great looking chicken! A few months ago I purchased a Weber bullet smoker. Been smoking a lot of chickens and they are great.
Smoked a pork butt last weekend.
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