Recipe: Seafood Cocktail Sauce

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Seafood Cocktail Sauce

Seafood Cocktail Sauce with shrimp. The shrimp were boiled with Old Bay Seasoning which accounts for the pinkishness and flecks of spices. Delicious.

Why pay for an expensive bottle of seafood cocktail sauce that takes up room in your refrigerator, when you can make your own as needed with ingredients you already have on hand? Inspired by this recipe from Kitchn. Makes ¾ cup, more than enough for a pound of shrimp.

Ingredients:
½ c ketchup
2 T horseradish*
1 t lemon juice
½ t Worcestershire sauce
½ t hot sauce (Tabasco or Crystal)

Method: mix all ingredient and serve cold with chilled seafood.

*Use a good refrigerated (not shelf-stable) brand that has a little kick to it. If you are lucky enough to have access to Atomic, the brand used in foodservice, reduce to 2 t, taste, and add more if needed.

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Recipe: Garlic Comfit

Posted on August 20, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Garlic Comfit

Garlic Comfit with the bag of garlic that had to be comfitted

I bought one of those big bags of peeled garlic and it was getting long in the tooth, so I made Garlic Comfit. The cloves retain their garlic-ness for use in cooked dishes, and I now have some nice flavored oil I can use for sautés and vinaigrettes. Adapted from this garlic comfit recipe from Saveur. Makes about 3 cups.

Ingredients:
1 ½ c good olive oil
1 ½ c peeled garlic cloves
1 ½ Kosher salt
10 whole black peppercorns
5 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 t dried thyme
1 bay leaf

Method: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients in an ovenproof bowl of pot that is narrow enough garlic is submerged. Cover and bake 1 hour, until garlic is fragrant and has darkened slightly. Cool and transfer to a 24 oz jar or other glass container. Will keep for several weeks under refrigeration.

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Recipe: Chinese Takeout Sweet and Sour Pork, Hacked

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Sweet and Sour Pork Hack

Takeout Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork, hacked

Order sweet and sour pork at my local Chinese takeout place, and you’ll get a product that looks like the picture at the bottom of this post: individual pieces of pork battered and fried, with a tub of fluorescent sweet and sour sauce to dip them in or pour over the top. You and I can do better by hacking our Sweet and Sour Pork recipe, but with a few shortcuts to get you the table faster.

Ingredients:
1 large takeout serving of battered and fried pork, about 1 qt
1 T oil for wok
1 T minced garlic
1 green bell pepper, cut into ¾ inch pieces
1 onion, peeled and cut into ¾ inch pieces
½ c canned pineapple chunks

For the sauce:
3 T water (or Xiaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry)
2 t cornstarch
¼ c additional water
3 T ketchup
1 T vinegar (use rice vinegar if you have it, otherwise cider or white vinegar)
¼ pineapple juice (from can of pineapple)
Additional sauce from takeout place (optional)

Sweet and Sour Takeout

Chinese takeout sweet and sour, pre-hack

Method: mix 3 T water and cornstarch in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved, then add ¼ c water, ketchup, vinegar and pineapple juice and stir until blended. Heat the oil to medium and add garlic, pepper and onion to wok; cook while stirring till vegetables are softened but not limp. Add the pineapple chunks and pork then pour over sauce (include the sauce from the takeout place if you wish) and heat until sauce is thickened and all elements are evenly coated. Serve over rice.

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Food for Thought: Indian Instant Pot Cookbook

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

[6/23. See important UPDATE at the end of this post. Please read before you cook from this book!] Our extended family includes a two-career couple with two small children and, as you might expect, they are very strapped for time. They have enthusiastically embraced the Instant Pot and, on a recent visit, whipped out the Indian Instant Pot Cookbook by Urvashi Pitre and proceeded to make a Butter Chicken as good as any I’ve had. (That link is to the recipe within the New Yorker article which brought the author widespread attention as the “butter chicken lady”.) The chicken was tender, the sauce was as rich as expected, and this labor-intensive dish came together in under an hour, most of that cooking and pressure release time.

Turns out Urvahi Pitre is also the proprietor of the Two Sleevers blog, source of the Easy Bhindi Masala recipe shared a few days ago. I’ve been aware of this blog for some time; the odd name comes from the gastric sleeve weight reduction surgery Pitre and her husband had a few years ago. Originally, their blog chronicled their transition to a healthier lifestyle with an emphasis on low carb eating. There’s a lot of Indian on the website but recipes like Kichadi (rice with lentils) are not going to be found on a low-carb blog.

Recommendation: bookmark the blog, but also buy the book. (It’s currently around $10 on Amazon.) When it arrives, you might start by whipping up the Garam Masala spice mixture on p. 24; you’ll need it for the butter chicken. Then make some Paneer (Indian soft cheese, p. 32) and use it for Palak Paneer (p. 88) which will take you all of 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. Check it out.

6/23 UPDATE. I’ve always believed you need at least a cup of liquid in an Instant Pot recipe to generate sufficient pressure to seal the pot. Urvahi Pitre says this isn’t true and you can cook with much less liquid. Today I tried her Lamb Rogan Josh (p. 118) which contains just 1/4 c of water along with 1/4 c of thick Greek yoghurt. It never developed pressure and I got my first ever BURN notice on the display. Luckily I was able to rescue the lamb (and the now caked-on pot) before the dish was completely ruined, and I will finish it in a few hours on the stovetop. The moral of the story: don’t trust her low-liquid recipes. Find a way to incorporate at least a cup of liquid event if she doesn’t. It’s worth going to the trouble because the recipe (based on tasting the marinade) is delicious.

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Recipe: Best Way Ethiopian Tibs

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Best Way Ethiopian Tibs

Best Way Ethiopian Tibs (made with top sirloin)

There are a LOT of recipes for Ethiopian Tibs (stir fried beef or lamb) on the web, and no two seem to be alike. The essence of the dish is chunks of tender meat in a savory sauce with onion, garlic, tomato and wine plus berbere seasoning to make it as spicy as you like. Try this prep, or simply compare to the other recipes in your Google search, and you’ll agree this is the best way to make Ethiopian Tibs. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 lb lean beef or lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into ¾ inch cubes*
1 ½ T or more berbere spice mix**
¾ t Kosher salt
2 T kibbeh**, clarified butter, or a mix of butter and vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced into slivers, about 1 c
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 T fresh ginger, grated or chopped
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped, about 1 ½ c, or 14-oz can chopped tomatoes
1 6-inch sprig fresh rosemary or 1 t dried rosemary
½ c or more red wine

Method: toss the meat with the berbere and salt till all pieces are evenly coated; let it stand while you prepare the other ingredients. Heat the kibbeh/butter/oil in a wok or cast iron skillet and sauté the meat on medium-high heat till it is crispy on the outside but rare to medium rare in the middle. Reserve. Add garlic, oil and ginger to the pan (which should now have additional liquid thrown off by the meat) and sauté on low to medium heat until onion is limp. Add wine and rosemary and simmer 5 minutes or so until the wine has reduced somewhat. Remove the rosemary spring if using and return the meat to the pan. Taste and adjust seasoning (add more berbere and salt if needed) and heat briefly. Serve immediately with injera or rice.

*Any lean cut without a lot of connective tissue will do, since we’re only cooking it to medium rare: round steak, flank steak, sirloin, tenderloin or leg of lamb.
**I use Penzey’s Berbere which I think is spicier than most blends. Taste and add more as you go to your own tolerance/preferences. Resist the temptation to just use cayenne because berbere includes a number of additional ingredients (check the list on the Penzey’s link above).
**Kibbeh is the seasoned clarified butter that makes its way into most Ethiopian dishes. Recipes abound. For my test run, I actually used the similarly-seasoned oil I’d made from the Teff Love cookbook (it’s Ye’Qimen Zeyet/Seasoned Oil on page 25), mixed half-and-half with plain butter.

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100 years of little weiners at New Way Lunch

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
New Way Dirty Dogs

Dirty Dogs with the Works at New Way Lunch 100th Birthday


Last weekend was the 100th  birthday of New Way Lunch in Glens Falls, NY, and they rented the Farmers’ Market for a great big party. Highlight of the day was a hot dog eating contest, and 5 cent hot dogs for those lucky enough to make it to the front of the line during a 30-minute window.

The eventual winner of the hot dog eating contest. Note that he removes the dogs from the box to save time during competition

New Way is a local institution from the days Glen Falls was packed with factories (many in the paper industry) and it was originally open 24 hours to accommodate the workers who stopped by after their shifts. It’s in the fourth generation of ownership by the same extended family, and now has satellite locations in nearby Warrensburg and Queensbury.

The only days they closed were FDR’s funeral (a government mandate) and during an ice storm in 1964. (They actually tried to stay open and cook on propane stoves with lantern light, but an employee knocked over a lantern and the place caught on fire.) The only time they ran out of food was on VJ Day. If you had boned up on such company history on their “our story” page, you could have walked away with prizes like a New Way Lunch gift card during the trivia contest.

Hot Dog Eating Contest Finale

Final seconds of the hot dog eating contest at New Way Lunch 100th birthday party. Click here to watch the video.

The hot dog eating event was a somewhat feral affair, with the crowd chanting “eat eat eat” and a guy in Jersey Shore-style sunglasses threatening me because he felt I was getting in the way of his nephew’s view of the consumption. The winner downed 16 dogs in 15 minutes and won $500 cash; the runner-up ate 15 dogs and got four $50 gift cards, enough to buy 100 more hot dogs, a fact that produced some chuckles from the group. The rules included “no throwing up” and nobody did though one guy came very close.

Hot Dog Lines at New Way Lunch 100th Birthday Party

People have been standing in this line for close to an hour for 5 cent hot dogs.

After the contest, I got into a very long line for my own chance at a 5 cent dog. Missed that offer but paid a buck, a discount from the usual $1.80.  In my opinion it was a decent dog, but not as good as the mini-dogs served 50 miles down the road in the Troy/Watervliet area. The size is somewhere between those tiny weiners and a standard frank, I’d guess six inches uncooked. (New Way gets its weiners from Old World Provisions, whereas the other places use Helmhold.) The meat sauce was a bit watery and the buns gummy, probably because they weren’t able to steam them as in the shop. It still made a satisfying nosh, and I don’t think I’ll wait 100 years to return… especially because the New Way stores offer a variety of Greek-diner specialties, not just dogs.

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Egg Bites and more from 3 Little Pigs

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Egg Bite on English Muffin

Sous Vide Egg Bite on toasted English muffin with a bit of marmalade

I have long been aware of Les Trois Petits Couchons, or Three Little Pigs, a Brooklyn-based maker of charcuterie items. So when they asked me to review their products, in particular their new Sous-Vide Egg Bite, I was more than happy to agree.

Mousse and Miustard

Truffle Mouse and Moutard a l’Ancienne

The familiarity is because I’ve been going to the Fancy Food Show for many years and they are one of the first artisanal charcuterie suppliers I can remember. Founded in 1975 in Greenwich Vllage, 3 Pigs (as they abbreviate themselves on their website and in correspondence) had the simple mission to make high-quality French-style patés available in the U.S. (Many charcuterie products are not permitted for import.) They’ve expanded into sausage and an organic line over the years, and now the Egg Bites.

Sous Vide Egg Bites


Sous Vide Egg Bites

A Sous-Vide Egg Bite is cooked in the vacuum seal method used for their patés and mousses, and emulates the fillings in a quiche but without the crust. The most popular flavor is Bacon & Swiss, based on a quiche sold from the Greenwich Village shop in the 1970s. Other flavors currently available are Spinach & Feta, Prosciutto & Gruyere, Ham & Espalette Pepper and Mushroom & Swiss. All are made using cage free eggs, and are free from preservatives, nitrates/nitrites, and artificial ingredients; they are also sugar-free, gluten-free, and all-natural. The 3 Pigs marketing director pointed out that the first ingredient is eggs, unlike a competitive product at Starbuck’s which has cottage cheese as its first ingredient.

Pate Mustard Bread

Truffle Mousse and Moutard a l’Ancienne with some Tartine Porridge Bread

I did not try the Bacon & Cheese because one of my tasters got there first, attesting to its popularity, but all of the others exhibited the satisfying eggy/cheese balance you expect from a good quiche. I tried them at room temperature and they were fine, but they are much better if you microwave for 30 seconds or so. My favorite prep was on a toasted English muffin with a bit of butter and jam for an upscale breakfast sandwich. Refrigerated storage is recommended, so pop into your cooler if you are headed for the Race Course.

I also tried two of their other products, the Truffle Mousse and Mousse de Foie de Canard au Porto, from the new organic line, then added on my own dime the Paté Campagne. Each of these is the sort of appetizer you’d expect in a conservative fine dining establishment: quality ingredients, good flavor balance, and a traditional flavor profile. They are not competing with new artisanal products that might include chunks of fruit, nuts or other non-traditional experimentation.

Egg Bite Cut

Spinach and Feta Egg Bite as my favorite.

And, a shout-out to the Moutarde a l’Ancienne—a whole-grain mustard which the booth person raved about at the Fancy Food show, so I asked them to be sure and included it in my shipment. This stuff is addictive: the crunch of whole mustard seeds with a real kick from the heat. It’s a perfect companion to the patés served on a nice piece of bread or toast.

So, where to buy?
The “store finder” button on the Sous Vide Egg Bites product page told me simply that “there are no stores in the area.” The website indicates that you can call 1-800 LES PATES or email info@3pigs.com for local retailers but neither of those sources responded to our inquiry. So we did our own legwork and found the Egg Bites at Putnam Market in Saratoga Springs (at a bit of a markup) and charcuterie items at Price Chopper and Hannaford, two local supermarkets. You can also order on the website with “standard ground shipping” at $9.99 flat or via Instacart.

Note: Burnt My Fingers received free product, but no other form of compensation, for this review.

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Recipe: Easy Bhindi Masala

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Bhindi Masala

Easy Bhindi Masala (Indian Okra with Tomatoes)

When okra is in season, make Bhindi Masala! This recipe is from Two Sleevers and they’ve really cracked the code; I have added only minor tweaks. The spice combination is the perfect balance you’re looking for in a masala and this fragrant, mildly spicy dish goes well with any food, not just Indian. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 lb or so okra, cut crosswise into 1 inch slices with stems removed
1 c red onion, chopped
2 T vegetable oil
1 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne (add more if you like it spicy)
1 t cumin, ground
1 t coriander seed, ground
1 t Kosher salt
1 medium tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 T lemon juice (juice of one lemon)1/4 c or so chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish

Method: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine okra and onion in a bowl; mix in spices and oil and stir to combine. Spread out on a 1/4 sheet pan or bigger. Bake 15 minutes, stirring once, until okra has shrunken somewhat and crisped up slightly. Add tomato to pan and bake 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a serving bowl and mix in lemon juice. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve warm or at room temperature.

Theme photo by Aravind Sivaraj, licensed under licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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Why we love haiga rice

Posted on July 25, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Haiga Rice

Haiga Rice

Haiga rice is the equivalent of high-extraction wheat flour: it has the husk (bran) removed while retaining the germ. As a result, it is more nutritious and also (in our opinion) tastier. We’ve started using it as our go-to when we want to top rice with a sauced product such as Instant Pot Pork Adobo or Chinese takeout.

Haiga Explained

Explanation of haiga rice, from the  Tamaki package

According to this article haiga rice was promoted by the Japanese government starting in 1928 to combat beri-beri, a disease caused by a deficiency in vitamin B1 which killed 14,000 Japanese soldiers during the Japanese-Russo war. Haiga contains three times as much B1 as milled white rice. Epicurious found a couple of Japanese food experts who give haiga praise for its nutritional value but don’t like the taste; they prefer the clean, neutral flavor profile of white rice. (White rice sold in Japan today is enriched with added vitamins, so there’s less worry about beri-beri.)

We disagree and recommend you try it. We buy Tamaki brand at our local Asian market and pay $14 for 4.4 pounds. You can get the same thing on Amazon for $20 delivered, a reasonable markup to have it shipped to your door. Better yet, you can buy 5 pounds of Nishiki brand for just $15 shipped. (Amazon Prime membership required; affiliate links pay us a small commission when you use them.)

To cook haiga rice, rinse it in a couple of changes of water till the runoff is semi-clear. Do this carefully, so you don’t dislodge and wash away the germ; rather than running water over rice in a sieve you should add water to the rice in its pot, then stir with your fingers and pour out most but not all of the rinsing water. Then add water in a ratio of 1.1 parts water to 1 part rice. (You probably have that extra tenth of a measure in the pot after rinsing.) Let set for a few minutes, then cover and heat to a low boil over medium heat.

As soon as the rice gives off steam, reduce the heat as low as you can and cook another 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the rice continue cooking from residual heat for another 15 minutes. You can do all this in advance if you’re making other dishes; the rice will stay warm for quite a while. It also reheats beautifully in a steamer or microwave.

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The meal bars of summer at 2019 FFS

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Meal Bars from Fancy Food Show

Meal bars of summer, as collected at the 2019 Fancy Food Show.

There were a LOT of bars on offer at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York… and most of them were sufficiently dense and nutrient-rich that they could be considered meal replacement bars, vs simply snack bars.

Most are high in protein (8-10 mg is typical) which means a few bars eaten throughout the day could satisfy your protein requirement while also providing ample amounts of carbs for energy. LivBar advertises its superfood components (including hemp seeds, quinoa, flaxseed and maca flour) and a compostable wrapper …. something good to know if you’re on a hike and a scrap of wrapper happens to get left behind. Ammo Bars have 150 mg caffeine per bar, about the same as in a large cup of coffee…. “healthy, natural energy that sustains.” Kize Bars feature their short list of ingredients (like Rx Bars, which they resemble in taste profile) and the fact 10% of profits are donated to charity. Wolo Wanderbars are themed to travel and deliver a whopping 15-16 g protein each.

The form factor of the above bars sets them apart from the crunchy snack bars of years past. Rather than a cylinder that lends itself to being loaded into your mouth, like candy, most are flat extruded patties that require a bit of patience in consumption. The patties might fall apart or stick to the wrapper, so mindful eating is important. I think the denseness is a big part of selling them as a whole-meal experience.

There were indeed some traditional bar shapes on hand. Fody bars are low in fodmaps found in processed foods that cause digestive distress in many people, a condition that is often mistaken for celiac disease. Bob’s Red Mill has jumped into snack bars in a big way, with bars based on whole grain oats (most of the stick bars have a base of dates). Purely Elizabeth, the grain-free granola company, provided the best-tasting bar we tried, containing reishi medicinal mushrooms and a dash of rosemary for flavor. A close runner-up for flavor is Hemp Yeah! bars from the Hemp Hearts people. They contain a nice amount of chocolate as well as hemp, and deliver 10 mg protein per bar.

Cricket Bar

Crickets!

I know of an executive who subsists on Kind bars when she visits remote countries because she can’t risk getting sick on local foods. That sounds monotonous, but the variety of these new products would soften the blow; she could eat a different flavor or brand at each meal and probably return home before running out of choices. And then she could chow down with Exo Cricket Protein Bars, made with cricket flour. They’re not bad. And we’re going to be eating bugs sooner or later (they already do it in Mexico, in the form of crunchy chapulines in tacos), so why not start now?

Where to buy? Above links are to the manufacturer pages where you can order the bars directly, often with a discount or free shipping or both. Almost none of them are on Amazon, but quite a few can be purchased through Thrive, a mail order source. Thrive is $60/year but you get a 30 day trial and free shipping on your first order, so load up on those bars.

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