Peruvian Mac and Cheese

I found this recipe in a great Peruvian cookbook (ceviche).
Its fantastic.  In my opinion, its the best mac and cheese going.


500g dried macaroni
1 cup of sauce Huancaina (to follow)
1/4 cup half and half
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tblsp olive oil (optional)
salt

Cook macaroni in water according to package directions, until al dente.
Prepare an oven dish large enough to hold the macaroni and sauce and turn on the broiler.

pour the sauce and half and half into a saucepan and gently heat without boiling.  mix with the macaroni.  then pour into the cassarole dish.  top with cheddar and a drizzle of olive oil (if desired) and put under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling.


Sauce (Huancaina)
makes 2 cups
olive oil
small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 tblsp amarillo chile paste
7 tblsp canola oil
50g feta cheese
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
50g cream crackers, crushed
salt
lime

saute onion and garlic until translucent and transfer to a blender.  Add everything up to the evaporated milk and blitz.  blitz a second time with the crackers added.  taste and adjust with more crackers, or salt, or even a bit of lime juice to balance the creaminess.

Chili 2.0

After many iterations, this is the latest version of how I make Chili. Originally based on Heston Blumenthal's recipe from "Further adventures in search of perfection", I have made a number of changes and a few simplifications. It takes two days to make, not counting the leftover brisket.

Equipment needed: pressure cooker, smoker, outdoor stove burner(optional)

The first day, you need to do the following:

• make the chili powder blend
• prepare the beans
• smoke the beans and the ground beef
• pressure cook the beef rib mixture
  

the rest of the steps are done on the second day.


Make your chili powder blend!

Store bought chili powder by itself is boring. I tried mixing store bought chili powder with a number of dried chiles and other things.


Chili Powder blend

5-10g smoked paprika
other chiles to taste (new mexican, guajillo, california, ancho, others, to taste), bringing total to at least 80g



For the whole chiles, heat a nonstick fry pan and roast the chiles for 2 min, then grind them into a powder and mix with the store bought chili powder. You can blend the chiles to your own taste. You may also want to consider some cumin in your chili powder blend (roasting cumin seeds with the chiles and grinding them is best). This chili powder is useful for many things. I like sprinkling a bit on top of eggs, or in guacamole, or on corn.

pressure cook the beef rib mixture:

3 beef ribs (get ribs with a decent amount of fat)

200-300g leftover brisket, the fattiest part you have, chopped up (optional, but recommended)

1 medium onion

1-2 sliced carrots

1/2 bottle red wine

2 chinese long peppers

450ml low salt beef stock

1/2 of a 798ml can of crushed tomatoes

5g chives

2.5g dried tarragon

1 bay leaf

2 tsp of chili powder blend

sear the meat in your pressure cooker with some olive oil, remove and saute the chili powder for 2 min. add onion, carrot and saute until soft. add wine, deglaze and boil, reducing by 2/3. Take the veggies out and put back in inside some cheesecloth. add ribs back in along with everything else and pressure cook on high pressure for one hour. When finished, cool off the mixture, throw out the veggies in the cheesecloth (squeeze out liquid), separate meat from the bones (discard bones) and shred the meat. Transfer into another container and refrigerate.  The next day, scrape off the fat from the refrigerated rib meat mixture, save the fat for use later.

Prepare the beans:
1000g water
5g salt
300g dried kidney beans or black beans
1/2 can of crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf

add everything to the pressure cooker and pressure cook on low pressure for 45 minutes. When finished, put the beans into a container to fit in your smoker, an aluminum foil pan would be ideal.  If you want to use canned beans, it is ok: skip the pressure cooker step and just pour the canned beans with the crushed tomatoes and bay leaf onto the aluminum foil pan.

 Smoke the beans and the ground beef

2 lbs of ground beef

beans from above 

Put the ground beef in an aluminum pan suitable to be put in the smoker.  put the beans and the ground beef in the smoker and smoke for 3 hrs at 225.  Note some people think browning the ground beef first is better.  You can google this and decide which method of smoking ground beef works best for you.  The beans are along for the ride.  As long as the beans are smoked for 2 hrs you are good.  if you brown the ground beef first, see the browning step from day 2 below and do that and add the meat to the smoker after browning.

Day 2

After you have scraped off the fat you can save from the ribs/brisket mixture, you can mix the beans in with this and throw it all in your slow cooker.

3 or 4 red/yellow/orange peppers
1 large, fresh jalapeno


Roast 3 red/yellow/green/orange (your choice) peppers. Set aside to cool and then remove skins and dice. Dice 1 large, fresh jalapeno pepper and mix with the roasted peppers, store in refrigerator until later.

Make a finishing oil:
60g olive oil
10g chili blend
2.5g cumin
3 tblsp lime juice
2.5g tabasco
1 tblsp jack daniels
2.5g ketchup
1/4 tsp worchestershire

heat the oil and add everything else, mix, simmer 5 min then cool off and refrigerate. if you didnt put any cumin in the chili powder you may want to have more cumin here, to your taste.


2 lbs ground beef, from the smoker
40g chili powder blend
2-3 whole star anise
2 med onions
1 carrot, shredded
5 cloves crushed garlic
1 large fresh jalapeno, minced
2-3 tblsp crushed tomatoes
1 375ml bottle jack daniels, (minus the tblsp used above)

divide the ground beef into small batches for frying (say 8). heat a large fry pan to medium high. add a batch of ground beef along with 1/9 of the reserved fat from the previous day's cooking of the ribs. brown the meat (until *browned* not grey). Setting aside each when done. after the last batch, deglaze the pan with some water and pour into meat. Add the browned ground beef to your simmering bean/rib meat mixture.

Reduce heat to medium, then add the last remaining bit of reserved fat (if you run out, use olive oil) and dump in the chili powder and the star anise and fry for a couple minutes. add the onion and cook for about 15 min. Turn the heat down to medium low and add the garlic, and jalapeno and carrot and cook another 10 min. this process reminds me of making a curry from scratch. The smells from your mixture of chiles will stand out. Add the crushed tomato and cook another 5 min. Pick out the star anise and then mix into the chili.
Pour the jack daniels into the pan and flame off (may want to do this outside). bring the jack daniels to a boil over medium-high heat and deglaze the pan. Boil for a few min then add to the chili.

Heat the chili until it boils. Now its time to taste and adjust the salt. Then simmer as long as you want. When you are ready to serve, stir in the roasted peppers and fresh chopped jalapeno. serve with the finishing oil, adding a tsp or so onto each serving to taste.

Cataplana "Canadian"

When my wife and I visited Portugal we were introduced to a delicious dish called Cataplana.  In Portugal various regions have their own versions of it.  One we enjoyed in the algarve was chicken, chorizo and clams.  Below I've substituted PEI mussels for the clams - hence the "canadian" bit.  If you want to make your own version with different seafood or different meats, feel free.  Just ensure you keep the smoked paprika and portugese style chorizo, as it isnt the same without those ingredients.

The term cataplana refers to the kind of pot it is cooked in.  A Cataplana pot looks kind of like a big fry pan with a lid that can be locked down - you can lock it and flip it over on the stove while cooking.   You can get away with cooking this in an ordinary pot with a lid.

1 tblsp olive oil
8 oz Chourico (portugese Chorizo), cut into chunky dice
3/4 lb diced chicken
2 medium onions, sliced
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 tsp smoked paprika
2 lbs PEI mussels, cleaned and prepared for cooking
pepper
3 tblsp chopped parsley


In a pot with a lid, add olive oil chicken and chorico and cook for 5 or 6 minutes over medium high until the sausage has released some of its oil and the chicken and sausage is beginning to brown.  Reduce heat to medium and add the onions and bay leaf, cooking till soft (5-7 min).  Add garlic and cook a min more.   add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot.  add the tomatoes, potatoes and the paprika.  Cover and let it cook for until the potatoes and chicken are cooked through.  Add the mussels and raise the heat to medium-high.  cover with a lid.  cook for about 7 minutes until the mussels open.  discard any mussels that do not open.  Season with pepper.

Ladle the result into bowls, eat with some really good bread to soak up the sauce.

Mango Pie

Ingredients:
Pastry for crust
4 cups mangoes cubed (frozen will do)
pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tblsp unsalted butter in small chunks
2 tblsp tapioca
brown sugar


Roll out and prepare your pie crust.
Mix the mangoes, cinnamon, lemon juice and tapioca
measure out 1/2 cup white sugar, remove a tablespoon and replace with a tablespoon of brown sugar.  add to mango mix and mix well.
pour mix into pie crust and top with dabs of butter, then put the top crust on, remembering to cut a few vent holes.
bake at 350 for 40min (if your mangoes were still a bit frozen, it may take longer).

Coca-Cola Chicken

My wife and I have come to love Peruvian food in the last few years.  Here is an easy peruvian recipe I found that we tried recently.  It is easy to make and is a very delicious way to use up some leftover coca cola you may have lying around.  Use the sugary stuff, not the diet stuff, as the recipe won't work with the diet.

1 chicken, cut into serving pieces, or an equivalent amount of thighs or drumsticks (about 8)
1 cup coca cola
4 tblsp soy sauce
2 tblsp five spice powder
1 tsp cumin
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper

preheat your oven to 400F, mix everything together and dump on the chicken in an oven safe pan.  cover with foil and bake 15 min.  Remove foil and baste, then cook for another 15 min.  Baste again and cook another 15 min.  You want to get to the point where you get a slightly sticky, crispy skin on the chicken.

Pay attention to the amount of liquid in the pot.  This could go two ways: it dries up and you need to add water, or it stays too wet and you don't get the sticky crispy skin.  If it is too dry, add some water and continue.  If it is too wet, near the end of the cooking, remove from the oven and boil down the liquid until it starts to thicken like a syrup, then baste the chicken again and return it to the oven until you achieve the sticky crispy skin.

Citrusy Green Curry Paste

Today I needed a green curry paste for a recipe (this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/green-curry-pork-tenderloin-51160610) and didn't have all the ingredients, so my wife and I winged it and we came up with something we really liked with this recipe.  The lime juice we used gave it a bit of a citrusy note, which we liked.  Here it is:

Pickled Jalapeno slices, equivlent to about 1 fresh Jalapenos worth
7 or 8 dried chile de arbol, seeds removed
1 fresh poblano chile

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 tblsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

9 cloves minced garlic
1 tblsp cilantro roots and stems
1 tblsp minced fresh ginger

2 tblsp lime juice
1 tsp shrimp paste


Squeeze the pickling juices out of the jalapeno slices and add to a blender.
seed the poblano and chile de arbol and add to the blender.

heat a nonstick fry pan over medium heat for 2 min, add the cumin and caraway and toast until fragrant.  Set aside.  Use same pan to toast peppercorns and coriander seeds.  Add all the toasted spices to a grinder and grind up into a powder.  Add to the blender.

Grate nutmeg into blender and add all remaining ingredients.  Blend up into a sauce.  There is not a huge amount of liquid in this recipe so may take a bit of elbow grease to blend it.

We used 1/4 cup of this in the recipe mentioned above. 

Paneer Curry

This is a south indian paneer curry dish that I really like.  Smelling my leftovers at lunch, some people at work asked for the recipe, so here it is...

When I make it, I like to add some vegetables to it as well, maybe some okra, peas, and/or green peppers.  Serve it over rice.  It takes a while to make, but you get a good amount of it.  You can use a variety of chiles for this recipe, depending on how spicy you want it.  I have used serranos for a really hot version.  I usually use a mix of chiles, some new mexican (mild and hot), and maybe a guajillo, or pasilla, or similar chiles, depending on what I have in the house.  Even chile de arbol will do.  I wouldn't use chipoltles on this one though.
This dish is really good when it has a kick, so its worth having a few hot chiles in it.

1/2 lemon size ball of tamarind
2x798 ml cans crushed tomatoes
2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
10-12 cloves crushed garlic  (I like to use the little jars of crushed garlic for this)
6-8 dried chiles, stemmed and broken in half
1 tblsp sesame oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
20 curry leaves
3 1-2 inch cinnamon sticks
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 can coconut milk
2 packages paneer, diced into cubes

boil some water in a kettle and put the tamarind in a bowl, adding 1 cup of water from the kettle and soak for 30 minutes or longer.  squeeze out the pulp and put the mixture through a strainer and set aside.

meanwhile, put 1/2 cup water, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chiles into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  cover and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes.  set aside to cool.

Once the tomato mixture is cool enough to handle, put it through a strainer and set aside in a bowl.  transfer the solids into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  push the blended mixture through the strainer into the same bowl.

add sesame oil to a large saucepan over medium heat.  when the oil is warm add the mustard seeds  and cumin seeds - saute until the mustard seeds begin to sputter.  add the curry leaves, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander and ground cumin and saute for 1 minute.  add the tomato mixture and salt and bring to a boil.
stir in the tamarind pulp and the salt.

if you are going to add any vegetables to this dish, add them now and simmer them in the sauce until they are cooked to your liking.  If I am using green peppers with this I usually dont throw them in for very long since I like them to still have a bit of crunch.  Sometimes I will add the coconut milk (next step) before the vegetables.

add the coconut milk

optionally, add a couple tablespoons of ground roasted chickpeas for thickening.  I usually don't bother with this - sometimes I add a little bit of
guar gum instead, but usually its good the way it is.

add the paneer and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

serve with rice!