Showing posts with label Home Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Cooking. Show all posts
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Monday, July 2, 2012
4th of July Recipes for the Expat in Chile
3:15 PM
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Matt Peloquin
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It's also worth noting that this is my first contribution to ILoveChile.cl. So have a look and check back in the future for new articles.
Celebrating July 4th in Chile:
If you’re an expat from the United States now living in Chile, there’s no reason you can’t celebrate the 4th of July with all the same culinary comforts from your memories of living in the US. You can even find many of the products you’re accustomed to having at your holiday celebration at local stores such as Lider and Jumbo. So, if you’re living in Chile and looking for some ideas of what to cook, allow us to provide you with some recipes from around the United States. Whether you’re willing to brave the colder weather with outdoor grilling or choose to do your cooking indoors, we have some options for you!
Read more:
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Hass Avocado: From LA to Chile
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10:27 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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I've often compared much of the Chilean style of cuisine to that in California, especially when looking at the seafood similarities. But you'll often find many of the same ingredients in Chilean find cooking that you will in California such as tomato, mango, parsley/cilantro, and avocado.
With these similarities, it got me wondering about the avocado here in Chile, so I studied it's roots.
I had noticed something on my last trip to a local veduraria: with all the types of avocados out there, the ones I see all over Santiago seem to look and taste almost exactly like the ones that grew outside my apartment in Santa Monica, CA.
Seemed pretty odd.
With all the fruit exports from Chile to the United States, I would understand if the avocados at the supermarkets that I went to in the US had the same type of avocado that was grown in Chile, imported from the South American country.
But I'm not talking about the ones in US stores...I'm talking about the tree outside my window that I would pick avocados from.
So I dug into this mystery.
Turns out the avocado tree growing at my Santa Monica, CA apartment is the same exact type you find here in Chile. But the history of it was surprising.
In 1949, the Hass avocado was introduced to Chile, and started to be grown there. It didn't take off very quickly as consumers preferred the green skinned "Fuerte" avocado, mistakenly calling it a "California" avocado, despite it actually being from Mexico (while the Hass that they disliked actually was from California).
Fast forward to 2011 and the Hass avocado is the largest cultivar in Chile, now comprising almost 70% of the total avocados grown in Chile.
So when you are in Chile, enjoying a tasty lomito or some other dish with avocado, be sure thank California for creating this dandy type of avocado.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Home Cookin': Christmas Dinner in Santiago, Chile
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7:32 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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December 25, 2011 marked my 2nd year living in the southern hemisphere during Christmas time. For any European or North American, it's quite a change in culture, regardless of the country. In New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and other English speaking southern hemisphere countries, you'll still find the same Christmas music with all it's snow and winter references, playing in stores. Oddly enough, even in a Latin country like Chile, you'll hear the same music. We can chalk that up to a bit of cultural imperialism.
When you are an expat, living in a Spanish speaking country and having a poor overall comprehension of the language, it's easy to think that will all the culture and climate differences, it could be a tough time. But in great countries like Chile, you don't miss a beat. You still find all the festive cheer, the kind people, and christmas decorations any snowbird would be used to. And like every country, Chile puts it's own twist on the holiday traditions.
So here's a look at some of those with the focus on some of the excellent food Chile has to offer for the holidays.
Unlike many other countries like the United States, Christmas Eve is the more important time for families for the holiday. It's when all the relatives get together for a proper meal.
As I was alone in Santiago on Christmas eve, I used it as an excuse to have less traditional "Christmas" meal, but still something distinctively Chilean.
So for dinner, it was Pastel de Choclo.
Pastel de Choclo:
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| Home Cookin': Pastel de Choclo with a corn and chicken salad, topped with candied almonds (Santiago, Chile) |
The dish is popular throughout Chile, and is their unique version of an popular dish many know as "Sheppard's Pie". Consisting of a base of sauteed ground beef, onions, chicken and sliced hard boiled egg, the casserole is completed with a tasty corn batter topping that is sweet and silky like the tastiest corn cake or pudding you could ever have. For a quick an easy recipe to try it out, try this one.
Cola de Mono
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| Pan de Pasqua and Cola de Mono |
The literal translation in English is "Monkey Tail". The name might not be as appealing when you factor in what is produced nearby a monkey's tail. But the drink is fantastic. A traditional Christmas drink, Cola de Mono is the equivalent to egg nog in many Anglo cultures as something you'll only find at Christmas time. I had heard much about the drink and was anxious to give it a try. As I didn't have it in me to actually cook and prepare the drink myself, I opted for a pre-made mixture that no self-respecting Chilean would ever subject themselves to. And it was still one of the best holiday drinks I've tasted.
Like any complex drink, each person preparing it can add their own twist. But the basics include milk, water, instant coffee grounds, cinnamon, vanilla, sometimes a fair amount of cloves, combined with a highly alcoholic aguardiente. Variations might include any combination of liquors such as pisco, rum, or brandy.
Served cold and when drank, the end flavor is something like a White Russian. But due to the complexity of the flavors, it tastes more like a combination where the prevalent flavors would be Kahlua and Baileys Irish Cream.
And to eat for dessert with the Cola de Mono, a slice of Pan de Pasqua.
Pan de Pasqua:
Remember in the 1980's, when comics would make jokes about fruit cake and how it's the gift you get for someone at Christmas time you don't really like...since so few people in Anglo cultures actually like fruit cake? Well, if you have a Chilean friend living abroad, you can always re-gift your unwanted fruitcake to him or her...because Chileans devour the stuff. Every supermarket, every bakery is packed to the ceilings with Pan de Pasqua at Christmas time. And make no mistake: this isn't some special recipe that tastes different to what you've had in the UK or the USA. It's virtually the same thing, ranging in texture and consistency from somewhat (and I stress somewhat) fluffy to a hard round brick you could break a car window wish. It was nice to eat this year though, since it is the type of food that would elicit memories of a trip to grandma's house.Chistmas Dinner: Roasted Turkey
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| Home Cookin': Christmas dinner - Turkey injected with a rum marinade with apples and prunes roasted into the meat, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and grren bean almondine (Santiago, Chile) |
Even with my new found love for Cola de Mono, the headliner of Christmas Dinner came in the form of "pavo". While a portion of Americans pass on Turkey for Christmas due to the late November holiday of Thanksgiving featuring turkey, for many Chileans, Turkey is the main event. This year, I was blessed with having a wonderful girlfriend who changed her holiday travel schedule to return to Santiago early to spend Christmas day with me. And thanks to her loving mother, she arrived with the greatest gift you could give a food writer on Christmas: a roasted turkey, cooked to perfection.
Now I could have bought a turkey and prepared it myself. But the style I would have used would have been more along the lines of what I've done in the past as a more Anglocentric method. You all know the drill: clean the turkey cavity, stuff it with various items such as traditional stuffing, baste every so often, and serve.
But the style this year was such a pleasant surprise.
The uncooked meat was injected with enough rum to take down a college student, adding a richer flavor to the meat upon cooking and producing a much more flavorful au jous. Rather than relying on just the traditional stuffing of the cavity that I'm used to, prunes and apples were placed into the actual meat prior to cooking, infusing with the meat upon cooking. This is something I often do with every pork dish, especially with fruit, fresh rosemary and whole garlic cloves. But for eating turkey, this was a first for me. The result was a near perfect meal of the roasted turkey, served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and green bean almondine.
And for dessert, homemade pumpkin pie...my American contribution to the Christmas dinner.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Home Cookin': Cranberry Ice Cream & Cranberry Cheesecake
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10:06 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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Cranberry season is here for many. This means you'll find a few places with some cranberry muffins on the menu, but for the most part, it's still Thanksgiving cranberry sauce that will be the primary time you'll eat the tasty tart berry.
But if you're a big fan of the cranberry, there are a few other creative things you can do with them.
Or course there are muffins and various cakes and breads you can use them with. But you can also use them to make a tasty and unique ice cream flavor.
In fact, it's a great way to use any leftover cranberry sauce you make for Thanksgiving. When making a home made vanilla ice cream, just include a desired amount of your homemade cranberry sauce into the ice cream ingredients. The result is a sweet ice cream with all the berry flavor and a hint of tartness.
The same sauce is also a great topping for cheesecake, a nice alternative to strawberries, raspberrys, blueberries, chocolate, etc.
But if you're a big fan of the cranberry, there are a few other creative things you can do with them.
Or course there are muffins and various cakes and breads you can use them with. But you can also use them to make a tasty and unique ice cream flavor.
In fact, it's a great way to use any leftover cranberry sauce you make for Thanksgiving. When making a home made vanilla ice cream, just include a desired amount of your homemade cranberry sauce into the ice cream ingredients. The result is a sweet ice cream with all the berry flavor and a hint of tartness.
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| Cranberry Ice Cream |
The same sauce is also a great topping for cheesecake, a nice alternative to strawberries, raspberrys, blueberries, chocolate, etc.
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| Cranberry Cheesecake |
Friday, September 16, 2011
Home Cookin': Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe
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10:49 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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For the past few weeks, I've read countless Facebook & Twitter mentions of peoples excitement over the autumn season arrival of "pumpkin spice lattes" at Starbuck's, etc. A normal reaction. But what I found strange was that it seems that there was a common belief that that a pumpkin spice latte is like a Haley's-type comet every few months or something else that is out of grasp the rest of the year.
I too am part of the group that fully enjoy the wonder that is a pumpkin spice latte. And it's the same feeling I have for things like pumpkin pie, my homemade pumpkin ice cream and just about anything pumpkin.
But for a cup of coffee, one doesn't have to wait for the Fall season to enjoy the tasty beverage.
You'd be surprised if you knew how simple the recipes were for the large coffee locations people are used to going to to get a pumpkin spice latte, such as Starbuck's, Pete's, etc.
So here's the skinny: You can do it yourself any time of the year...with relative or total ease.
Here are a few quick recipes:
The Anytime & Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte:
Pumpkin Spice Latte with Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup:
Cooked Pumpkin Spice Latte with Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup:
Cooked Pumpkin Spice Latte with Canned Pumpkin:
So there you go. Real easy options. For me, I don't ever make a latte without including a dash of pumpkin pie spice in with the dry espresso, and then 2 dashes added to the latte at the end.
I too am part of the group that fully enjoy the wonder that is a pumpkin spice latte. And it's the same feeling I have for things like pumpkin pie, my homemade pumpkin ice cream and just about anything pumpkin.
But for a cup of coffee, one doesn't have to wait for the Fall season to enjoy the tasty beverage.
You'd be surprised if you knew how simple the recipes were for the large coffee locations people are used to going to to get a pumpkin spice latte, such as Starbuck's, Pete's, etc.
So here's the skinny: You can do it yourself any time of the year...with relative or total ease.
Here are a few quick recipes:
All you'll need is to buy some Pumpkin Pie Spice. That's it.
Make your normal cup of coffee with milk or cream, and when you stir in the sugar, include a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice. You'll be amazed how similar it will taste to the more expensive store bought version. This is because Pumpkin Pie Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger) is the basis for most of the restaurants offering the drink. You can also "spice" things up a bit by including a few dashes in the espresso or coffee grinds prior to making the actual espresso or coffee.
There's a great product by Torani that offers the tasty mixture that provides the flavor you seek in liquid syrup form. Just make your coffee as usual, and add a teaspoon of the syrup and add sugar to taste.
Cooked Pumpkin Spice Latte with Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup:
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup
1-2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1-2 shots espresso or strong coffee
Directions:
Combine milk, syrup and sugar and cook on medium heat and stir until steaming.
Remove from heat
Add and stir in vanilla and spice
Add the espresso
Cooked Pumpkin Spice Latte with Canned Pumpkin:
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon of canned pumpkin
1-2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups milk
1-2 shots espresso or strong coffee
Directions:
Combine milk, syrup and sugar and cook on medium heat and stir until steaming.
Remove from heat
Add and stir in vanilla and spice
Put mixture in a blender/shaker/or whisk
Add the espresso
So there you go. Real easy options. For me, I don't ever make a latte without including a dash of pumpkin pie spice in with the dry espresso, and then 2 dashes added to the latte at the end.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Home Cookin': Seared Chicken with Creole Sauce & Maque Choux
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9:45 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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Growing up in the United States and of French descent, I ate a lot of cajun and creole food. So when I was cooking for a Chilean friend of mine this past week here in Buenos Aires, it seemed like a good type of food to prepare for them...since unlike the Argentinians here, Chileans actually like food with a little spice.
The dish is fairly simple: seared chicken breast with a spicy creole sauce on a bed of brown rice, served with a side dish of maque choux.
The recipe is fairly simple. It's two chicken breasts marinated in a mixture of 5 cloves of chopped garlic, pinch of salt, black pepper, pinch of cayenne, and white wine. Sear the chicken in whole breasts and then slice to serve for presentation.
The creole sauce is very simple as well. Heat and sweat about 1/2 cup of onions and 12 cup of celery in olive oil with about 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder. Add 3 diced tomatoes, a teaspoon of hot sauce (I used chipolte Tabasco) and a pinch of sugar. Add salt and more black pepper to taste. To give it a better texture to serve as a sauce topping, I did not overcook the tomatoes as I would if making an actual creole, so the tomatoes retained more firmness. And to finish off the sauce, I added butter at the end to give it a creamier flavor.
For the maque choux, there are a number of different ways to prepare this. As I wanted a smokier BBQ flavor, I cooked onions and a BBQ chorizo the day before in a pan with 1 can of stewed tomatoes. Once it cooled, I then placed in the refrigerator overnight to get the fat to congeal. The maque choux was then simple: 2 cups worth of corn, sauteed with 1 cup red bell pepper, 1 cup green bell pepper, and 1/2 cup of diced red onion and 1/2 cup green onion bottoms sauteed in 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Then add a few drops of liquid smoke and the congealed pork fat (bacon fat is often used but I wanted the flavor of the chorizo this time) and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter and stir.
And that's it.
Even better though was the next day when left with a cup of maque choux, a cup of brown rice, and a cup of the creole sauce, and 1 uncooked chicken breast. What's a person to do? Easy, cut and sauteed the chicken in one pan (I opted for larger pieces, but cubes is a more common option), while cooking the maque choux and creole sauce in a separate pan. Add a bit more chili powder to the creole and cook. Then add the chicken, stir, and serve.
And now you have yourself a tasty Chicken & Corn Creole:
The dish is fairly simple: seared chicken breast with a spicy creole sauce on a bed of brown rice, served with a side dish of maque choux.
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| Home Cookin': Chicken breast seared in garlic and white wine, topped with spicy butter creole sauce on shallot brown rice. Side dish of smoked BBQ maque choux. |
The recipe is fairly simple. It's two chicken breasts marinated in a mixture of 5 cloves of chopped garlic, pinch of salt, black pepper, pinch of cayenne, and white wine. Sear the chicken in whole breasts and then slice to serve for presentation.
The creole sauce is very simple as well. Heat and sweat about 1/2 cup of onions and 12 cup of celery in olive oil with about 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder. Add 3 diced tomatoes, a teaspoon of hot sauce (I used chipolte Tabasco) and a pinch of sugar. Add salt and more black pepper to taste. To give it a better texture to serve as a sauce topping, I did not overcook the tomatoes as I would if making an actual creole, so the tomatoes retained more firmness. And to finish off the sauce, I added butter at the end to give it a creamier flavor.
For the maque choux, there are a number of different ways to prepare this. As I wanted a smokier BBQ flavor, I cooked onions and a BBQ chorizo the day before in a pan with 1 can of stewed tomatoes. Once it cooled, I then placed in the refrigerator overnight to get the fat to congeal. The maque choux was then simple: 2 cups worth of corn, sauteed with 1 cup red bell pepper, 1 cup green bell pepper, and 1/2 cup of diced red onion and 1/2 cup green onion bottoms sauteed in 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Then add a few drops of liquid smoke and the congealed pork fat (bacon fat is often used but I wanted the flavor of the chorizo this time) and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter and stir.
And that's it.
Even better though was the next day when left with a cup of maque choux, a cup of brown rice, and a cup of the creole sauce, and 1 uncooked chicken breast. What's a person to do? Easy, cut and sauteed the chicken in one pan (I opted for larger pieces, but cubes is a more common option), while cooking the maque choux and creole sauce in a separate pan. Add a bit more chili powder to the creole and cook. Then add the chicken, stir, and serve.
And now you have yourself a tasty Chicken & Corn Creole:
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| Home Cookin': Chicken & Corn Creole |
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Southern BBQ Pulled Pork Empanadas, Shepard's Pie Empanadas, Pizza Burger Empanadas & more
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8:52 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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Southern BBQ Pulled Pork empanadas Shepard's Pie empanadas BBQ Pulled Chicken empanadas Pizza Burger empanadas BBQ Tri meat: pulled pork, chicken, beef |
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| Gourmet Empanadas (cooked) |
I've never quite understood how in the empanada eating culture, the options are always so limited. Perhaps it's due to the prevalence of the tasty filled treat in Argentina, where culinary variety is not something the natives find to be of importance. But in the culture of cooking empanadas at home, the empanada could be the greatest invention to "left overs".
Of course, in Argentina, one can scour the refrigerator section of their local supermercado and find rows and rows of "ready made" empanada crusts. In the US, etc, one can save some time with a "ready made" pie crust. Oddly, in Santiago, where the empanadas are a bit larger and just as popular, the only option last night was to make our own empanadas shells...which was well worth it. No need for short-cuts.
Southern BBQ Pulled Pork Empanada:
It's pretty basic: take the USA BBQ favorite of slow roasted or smoked pork shoulder, hand separate the meat, and combine with a tasty BBQ sauce. We topped the meat off with some sauteed and delicate onions.
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| BBQ Pulled Pork Empanada (before) |
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| BBQ Pulled Pork Empanada (cooked) |
Shepard's Pie Empanada:
The "carne" empanada is one of the more popular options around the world. Whether it's "sauve" or "picante", the real hit-or-miss factor can often be in the texture of the meat used. When the meat is in a paste form, it's usually a strikeout. If you're fortunate enough to get one with large hand cut chunks of beef, it can be good...depending on how long the meat has been sitting out. The most tasty beef empanadas I've had are usually the most simple: a light sautee of ground beef with some onion, hard boiled, egg, etc.
But as a child growing up eating Hachis Parmentier, a French Shepard’s Pie, and being a fan of both carne and various potato empnadas, it's certainly time for an empanada form of the classic pie that combines them both.
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| Shepard's Pie empanada (before) |
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| Shepard's Pie empanada (cooked) |
Pizza Burger Empanada:
Like the late-night diner food, but in empanada form. Parents used to buying snacks for their kids, or high school and college kids with limited cooking skills would think of this as a gourmet "hot pocket".
We tried two versions. One was more of a burger form, with a mini beef patty, topped with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. The other version we mixed together sauteed beef, diced mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.
BBQ Pulled Chicken Empanada:
Very similar to the pork version above. Pulled chicken meat, mixed with BBQ sauce and wrapped up. This is more similar to the classic "pollo" empanada, but with BBQ sauce as the sauce base.
Tri-Meat BBQ Empanada:
This one was made like a Neapolitan ice cream in presentation, but with meat: BBQ pork, BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, each one mixed in BBQ sauce and placed in a column, and topped with sauteed onions.
Since you can rarely find new and fun options for empanadas at restaurants, there's always the option to try something new at home on your own.
Feel free to share your empanada concoctions here, any photos, links, etc too, and I'll add them here!
Monday, February 21, 2011
BBQ Gnocchi & Pulled Pork
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12:24 PM
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Matt Peloquin
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This recipe will likely be what I'm ultimately remembered for. Any other accomplishment will likely be shadowed by the pairing of American BBQ with the tasty gnocchi ;). Give it a try and let me know if you like it!
Two months ago, I wrote about a dish I enjoy, BBQ Spaghetti. Many in the south know about it, mostly in the Memphis and northern Mississippi region. But it hasn't really picked up as much in the rest of the country. In fact, I can't recall seeing it on a regular menu at a BBQ joint outside that region, only as a special on occasion.
Whether I'm cooking BBQ on my own, or visiting a BBQ joint, I always prefer some sort of potato side dish. At home, that always means roasted garlic red mashed potatoes, along with a vegetable as the second side (grilled zucchini). At times, it might be a bean dish of some sort as the second side.
But my interest in BBQ Spaghetti got me to think of perhaps an even better pairing...
By swapping spaghetti for gnocchi, I could have my cake and eat it too: a potato pasta!
So here are two different ways to enjoy this tasty dish:
Pulled Pork & BBQ Gnocchi:
Here's I used sweet and tender rib meat, but traditional pork shoulder used for pulled pork will work just as well.
1) Prepare the pork as you see fit, either rib meat or pork shoulder. If you have the many hours to smoke the meat correctly, go for it.
Shortcut: If you're using left-over pork, that will work fine too.
2) Make the gnocchi.
Gnocchi is an easy pasta to make on your own.
- Just take 1 pound of potatoes and boil until soft.
- in a separate pot, boil enough water to eventually cook the gnocchi
- Once the potatoes are complete, peel and set aside.
- Mash the potatoes
- in a mixing bowl or on a pasta board, combine the potatoes with 1/2 cup of flour.
- Add a pinch of salt, pinch of onion powder, pinch of garlic powder, small pinch of cayenne
- add about half an egg to the mix/pasta well
- knead until you have a dough ball
- cut pieces and form into the desired shapes, roughly 1/2 inch to an inch in size
- set aside
Shortcut: if you don't feel like making the gnocchi from scratch, you can always just buy pre-made gnocchi.
Alternative: sweet potato gnocchi is a perfect alternative...perhaps even the preferred choice.
3) Make your gnocchi sauce:
This will be a combination of ingredients to make along with your BBQ sauce choice. I'll pass on providing a BBQ sauce recipe and just assume most people trying this at home will be using a bottled sauce. No judgement will be passed if you opt to do that ;).
- Dice 1 cup of onion, 1 cup of red bell pepper, 1 cup of green pepper
- mince 4-5 garlic cloves to give you about a tablespoon of garlic. You can also opt to roast the 5 cloves of garlic and add them later in the process.
- in a sauce pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic and onion.
- add the peppers to the sauce pan
- add a teaspoon of salt, and ground black pepper to taste
- reduce the heat and cover so that the onions start to caramelize and the peppers soften.
4) Finishing the Sauce:
Whether you've prepared your own BBQ sauce or using a bottled sauce, follow the same steps.
- remove the diced and sautéed mixture from heat
- add about a cup of BBQ sauce for starters
- mix all ingredients in the pan, cover, and let sit.
5) Cooking the Gnocchi:
At this time, you'll want to add the gnocchi to the boiling water. Cook for about a minute and place in an ice bath.
6) Putting it all together:
- In the empty pot you used to boil the gnochi, you can now add the completed sauce from the sauce pan.
- Now add the meat and the gnocchi and gently mix as to not damage the gnocchi, but to be sure to complete cover each one with sauce.
- If the gnocchi and BBQ pork mixture is too lightly covered in BBQ sauce, you can always add more BBQ sauce from your own recipe or bottle you're using.
Plate, eat, and enjoy.
BBQ Chicken with BBQ Gnocchi and Marque Choux
In addition to the recipe above where the primary meal is the BBQ Gnocchi, you can also enjoy it as a side dish. Just follow the same steps above to prepare the gnocchi and the sauce. Then just add it as a side dish to whatever BBQ meal you have in mind. Below is an example with a BBQ chicken breast along with maque choux as a side dish.
The 3 item combination might have been even better with collard greens, green beans or grilled zuchinni to add a little green to the dish.
And prepared on it's own, it's a vegetarian BBQ option too.
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| BBQ Gnocchi with Pulled Pork |
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| BBQ Gnocchi as a side dish with maque choux and BBQ chicken |
Two months ago, I wrote about a dish I enjoy, BBQ Spaghetti. Many in the south know about it, mostly in the Memphis and northern Mississippi region. But it hasn't really picked up as much in the rest of the country. In fact, I can't recall seeing it on a regular menu at a BBQ joint outside that region, only as a special on occasion.
Whether I'm cooking BBQ on my own, or visiting a BBQ joint, I always prefer some sort of potato side dish. At home, that always means roasted garlic red mashed potatoes, along with a vegetable as the second side (grilled zucchini). At times, it might be a bean dish of some sort as the second side.
But my interest in BBQ Spaghetti got me to think of perhaps an even better pairing...
By swapping spaghetti for gnocchi, I could have my cake and eat it too: a potato pasta!
So here are two different ways to enjoy this tasty dish:
Pulled Pork & BBQ Gnocchi:
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| BBQ Gnocchi with Pulled Pork |
1) Prepare the pork as you see fit, either rib meat or pork shoulder. If you have the many hours to smoke the meat correctly, go for it.
Shortcut: If you're using left-over pork, that will work fine too.
2) Make the gnocchi.
Gnocchi is an easy pasta to make on your own.
- Just take 1 pound of potatoes and boil until soft.
- in a separate pot, boil enough water to eventually cook the gnocchi
- Once the potatoes are complete, peel and set aside.
- Mash the potatoes
- in a mixing bowl or on a pasta board, combine the potatoes with 1/2 cup of flour.
- Add a pinch of salt, pinch of onion powder, pinch of garlic powder, small pinch of cayenne
- add about half an egg to the mix/pasta well
- knead until you have a dough ball
- cut pieces and form into the desired shapes, roughly 1/2 inch to an inch in size
- set aside
Shortcut: if you don't feel like making the gnocchi from scratch, you can always just buy pre-made gnocchi.
Alternative: sweet potato gnocchi is a perfect alternative...perhaps even the preferred choice.
3) Make your gnocchi sauce:
This will be a combination of ingredients to make along with your BBQ sauce choice. I'll pass on providing a BBQ sauce recipe and just assume most people trying this at home will be using a bottled sauce. No judgement will be passed if you opt to do that ;).
- Dice 1 cup of onion, 1 cup of red bell pepper, 1 cup of green pepper
- mince 4-5 garlic cloves to give you about a tablespoon of garlic. You can also opt to roast the 5 cloves of garlic and add them later in the process.
- in a sauce pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic and onion.
- add the peppers to the sauce pan
- add a teaspoon of salt, and ground black pepper to taste
- reduce the heat and cover so that the onions start to caramelize and the peppers soften.
4) Finishing the Sauce:
Whether you've prepared your own BBQ sauce or using a bottled sauce, follow the same steps.
- remove the diced and sautéed mixture from heat
- add about a cup of BBQ sauce for starters
- mix all ingredients in the pan, cover, and let sit.
5) Cooking the Gnocchi:
At this time, you'll want to add the gnocchi to the boiling water. Cook for about a minute and place in an ice bath.
6) Putting it all together:
- In the empty pot you used to boil the gnochi, you can now add the completed sauce from the sauce pan.
- Now add the meat and the gnocchi and gently mix as to not damage the gnocchi, but to be sure to complete cover each one with sauce.
- If the gnocchi and BBQ pork mixture is too lightly covered in BBQ sauce, you can always add more BBQ sauce from your own recipe or bottle you're using.
Plate, eat, and enjoy.
BBQ Chicken with BBQ Gnocchi and Marque Choux
In addition to the recipe above where the primary meal is the BBQ Gnocchi, you can also enjoy it as a side dish. Just follow the same steps above to prepare the gnocchi and the sauce. Then just add it as a side dish to whatever BBQ meal you have in mind. Below is an example with a BBQ chicken breast along with maque choux as a side dish.
The 3 item combination might have been even better with collard greens, green beans or grilled zuchinni to add a little green to the dish.
And prepared on it's own, it's a vegetarian BBQ option too.
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| BBQ gnocchi as a side dish with BBQ chicken and marque choux |
Monday, January 3, 2011
BBQ Spaghetti
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5:51 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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And in the Memphis region, BBQ has no limits.
Known primarily for it's preparation style for ribs (slow cooked, smoked, with a dry rub instead of sauce). But it's also the home to some unique takes on BBQ. In Memphis and northwest Mississippi, you will often see "BBQ Spaghetti" on the menu...something you will rarely see in other areas of the country.
There are a number of ways to prepare the dish. For my own version, I keep the sauce light, so the flavor of the spices comes out better.
Here's a basic recipe to use as a starting point:
This is a dish that for me best utilizes any left over BBQ pork from earlier in the day, or a day before.
* Prepare a small amount of your own spice mixture that you prefer with your BBQ. For me, this is my own dry rub I use to prepare ribs. No need to share secrets here...each person has their own method.
* Cook/heat the pork in your BBQ or an oven, preserving any juices that are retained. you can also do a quick reheat in a pan on the stove.
* Cook the spaghetti with the amount of salt you prefer during boiling (best if you make your own pasta rather than store bought)
* In a sauce pan, cook some diced onion in a light amount of cooking oil. For each pound of spaghetti you are cooking, you should have 1/2 cup of onion. So if cooking a 1 lb box of spaghetti, you'll want 1/2 cup of onion. Green and/or Red Bell Peppers are an optional ingredient you can include).
* When the onions start to caramelize, add sugar to taste (1/2 in size of the amount of onion you're using).
* Add your own pre-prepared BBQ sauce and any liquid smoke you want added.
* Strain the spaghetti and rinse off the startch
* Place the spaghetti in a mixing bowl
* For my own take, I then add the dry rub to the spaghetti, so that each piece of pasta has a nice dusting of the dry rub flavor
* Next add the sauce you prepared from the stove and mix with the spaghetti
* Strain and of the cooked pork juice in the mixing bowl and stir again
* Either serve and top with the cooked pork or add the pork in the mixing bowl, stir, and serve.
It's that easy. Enjoy!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Home Cooking: BBQ Rib Eye Steak Sliders with Spicy Fries
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10:33 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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Sliders are grilled rib eye, cut into small pieces. Drizzled with BBQ sauce, topped with chives and on a bed of caramelized onions and roasted red pepper.
The fries are pretty simple too: razor thin garlic, onion powder, cayenne and black pepper, paprika, salt and a pinch of thyme.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Home Cooking: Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce
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8:19 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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One of the last meals I prepared while living in Los Angeles:
Slow roasted suckling pig in
Spaten bier sauce
Sides:
Knödel
Green beans (instead of sauerkraut or red cabbage)
Recipe to come later.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Home Cooking: Louisiana Style BBQ
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3:23 PM
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Matt Peloquin
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My first rib smoking session here in BA: 6 hour slow smoked ribs, meat fallin' off the bone with my homemade BBQ sauce. Sides are roasted garlic mashed potatoes & maque choux
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Home Cooking: 4th of July Buffalo Burger
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8:26 AM
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Matt Peloquin
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