Chop Chop!

Ok, I'm finally caught up, and seem to have at least some access to a camera that doesn't also double as a phone...

These were supposed to be stuffed pork chops, but the chops were a little thin, so I just served the stuffing on the side, and it seemed to work out fine.

I modified this recipe from Alton Brown's pork chops.

Brined Pork Chops & Cranberry Corn Stuffing

4-6 Pork Chops

Brine:
1/2 cup Salt
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns
1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds, lightly crushed
1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
1 Tbsp dried Thyme
shake of cayanne
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup cold water
1 lb ice cubes

Stuffing:
4 cups crumbled corn bread
3/4 cup crumbled walnuts
1 6 oz. package of Dried Cranberries
3/4 cup Buttermilk
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1 tsp Ground Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1-2 Tbsp thinly sliced Sage

In a small sauce pan heat the salt, brown sugar, spices, and cider vinegar until the salt is mostly dissolved. Allow mixture to sit for 10 min to develop flavor.

Add the ice cubes, water, and brine to a ziplock bag and shake until cold. Add the pork chops and let brine for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

For the stuffing, mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and then put in a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 30 min at 350 F. Then turn the oven up to 450 F to brown the top of the stuffing an extra 10 min or so.

Grill the porkchops over on a grill, or in a grill pan being sure to oil the pan with a high heat oil if using the pan instead of the grill. Grill only until just done, and you have good markings. Mine only took about 4-6 minutes total per chop.

Dinner for Breakfast?

Yet again, the deliciousness of pumpkin shows through...

I got the hankering for these a few weeks after trying my friend Erika's pumpkin waffles.

I don't have a waffle iron, so I think pancakes work just fine.

There's always a trick to pancakes at first. Getting the temperature right on the range, judging how long to flip, and actually getting the flip down.

Pumptykin Pannycakes

2 cups Flour
3 tsp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Butter Milk (plus a little extra)
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
2 Egg
2 Tbsp Oil

In a separate bowl, mix together the butter milk, pumpkin, egg, oil. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spice and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine. (add a little extra buttermilk if necessary to get that pancake consistancy)

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with maple syrup.

Spiced Blackberry Sweet Rolls

These rolls were the direct response to my Fundamentals of Engineering Test on October 27.

After 8 hours in a gym surrounded by answer bubble sheets, and only calculus problems to keep me company, I think I needed these rolls more than you know.

When I actually made these, I still didn't have a camera to take pictures. So I left a sign up that told my roomates they weren't allowed to eat them until I found a camera.

Andy tried to steal them...

I used the extra leftover blackberry jam from the thumprint cookies. I spiced up the jam, and then used in place of butter and brown sugar in a cinnamon roll dough recipe.

Spiced Blackberry Sweet Rolls

Bread:

1 cup lukewarm filtered water
3-1/2 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/3 cup Powdered Milk
1-1/2 cup Bread Flour

3 Tbsp Butter

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Bread Flour
1/2-3/4 cup more flour for kneading

Filling:

1 Cup of Jam
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom

1/2 tsp Ground cloves

Splash Lemon Juice

Icing:

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
few Tbsp Cream
Lemon Juice

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, and then add the sugar, and let proof for about 10 min. Add the egg, powdered milk, and 1-1/2 cups of flour. Mix well, and then set in a warm place to sponge for 30 minutes or so.

Fold in the butter and salt, add the flour and mix until the dough comes together. Knead for 15 minutes, adding flour until a smooth but slightly wet dough comes together. It should still be minorly sticky...

Rise in a large oiled bowl until doubled in size.

Turn out the risen dough, and roll into a rectangular sheet about the size of a medium baking sheet.

Spread the blackberry mix onto the dough in a thin layer. Wrap the roll up starting at one end and then using a bit of water at the other side to seal the roll.

Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces, and place in a greased 9x13 glass pan. Let rise once more until the rolls fill the baking pan. Here's one of the few times that I don't use my baking stone. It over carmelizes the sugars into a burnt mess...

When the levening is complete, bake in a 350 F oven for about 30 min, until just browning ontop.

To make the icing, mix the cream with the powdered sugar until a slightly pourable icing comes together. Add lemon juice to taste, and then slowly ice the tops of the rolls.

Burritos!

Sorry for the bad photo. The camera I usually use for my foodie pictures was temorarily lost, so I used my camera phone instead. Turns out, phones don't even have macro modes... or at least, mine doesn't.

Shredded Beef Burritos

1-2 lb Arm Shoulder Roast
1 Onion, Sliced
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Red Chile Powder

Salt
Pepper
1/2 Cup (or more) Green Chile, chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh Oregano, chopped

1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
1/2 can Diced Tomatos, drained

Tortillas
Cheddar Cheese
Avocados
Sour Cream
Lettuce

Layer the onions, followed by the beef roast, spices, salt and pepper, green chile, herbs and garlic in a slow cooker and turn to high for 4 hours

After 4 hours, turn heat to low.

Remove the roast, and shred by pulling the meat apart with a knife and fork. Add all the shredded beef along with the tomatos back to the slow cooker, and continue cooking for another 3 hours on low.

Serve the shredded beef up in tortillas rolled with cheese, avacados, sour cream, lettuce and anything else you feel like adding!

Autumnal Thai

Have I told you all just how much I love pumpkins?

I LOVE pumptykins!

This south-east asian inspired pumpkin and coconut soup blends sharp and hot flavors with a sweet and rich mouthfeel. The end result is savoury yet not to the point of being cloying. And some recipes which include intense flavored ingredients like thai fish sauce, and shrimp paste can definately go overboard and make dishes so intense that only a bite or two will put you over the edge.

But not so with this soup! It's perfect for all that extra pumpkin you've began freezing. Well, at least I've been freezing every pumpkin I can get my hands on for the upcoming winter, spring, and summer without those delicious squashes.

The only drawback to this recipe is grinding the lemon grass, dried shrimp and a few other things into a paste. I either needed a much larger mortar and pestle or some other high tech means of turning all that tough cellulosic material into a paste. For the record, I don't own a liquid nitrogen hammer mill, so I guess that's out of the question.

The shrimp paste can be a little overwhelming straight out of the jar, but it's worth it in the end. Don't be put off by it's... intense odor. Shrimp paste, which is made from fermented ground shrimp in brine, is used to give foods a savoury flavour.

I threw this soup together with some simple flat rice noodles tossed with some sambal chile puree, sesame oil, and some sauteed mushrooms.

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

2 Garlic cloves, crushed
4 Shallots, finely crushed
1/2 tsp Shrimp Paste
1 Tbsp Dried Shrimp, soaked for 10 min in hot water and drained
1 Lemon Grass Stalk, chopped
2 fresh Green Thai Chiles
2-1/2 Cups Chicken Stock
1 lb Pumpkin, skinned and cut into thick chunks
2-1/2 Cups Coconut Cream
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Sugar
4 oz. Peeled Prawns
Salt
Pepper
2 fresh Red Thai Chiles, seeded and thinly sliced
fresh Basil leaves

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, dried shrimp, lemon grass, green chiles and a pinch of salt into a paste.

Bring the chicken stock to boil in a large pot. Add the paste and stir until dissolved.

Lower the heat, add the pumpkin, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.

Stir in the coconut cream, bring to a simmer. Add the fish sauce, sugar, ground pepper to taste.

Add the prawns and cook until they're heated through.

Serve garnished with the red chiles and basil leaves.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Cranberry Geleé

This started out as a pumpkin cheesecake TART with the cranberry goop on top, but after realizing that:

1.) Pastries take a long time, and this cake was already going to take at least a day to do, with chilling times and everything,

2.) New Mexican dry air conditions are rarely beneficial to pastry dough

and

3.) I don't own a tart pan.

I decided to just turn this into a regular pumpkin cheesecake.

Now, I realized this all after I had powdered the almonds, and blended the flour, and creamed/fluffed the butter and powdered sugar for the pastry.

I decided I would try to just turn this pastry into a pecany almondy bready crust for the pumpkin cheesecake. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account that the crust would rise, and when I finished baking this kitchen sink crust, I ended up with a "crust" that more resembled a puffed up cookie. This "cookie" took up about half of my spring form, which meant a really thin cheesecake.

I scrapped the cookie crust, and started over. This time I'd make a much more traditional pecan crust. Thin, and perfect for cheesing and caking.

After the colossal crust confound, everything else went smoothly. Dare I say creamily? I think so.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Cranberry Geleé

Crust

1 Cup Pecans, finely chopped (almost powdered, like sand)

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Butter, melted
1 Egg Yolk
1 tsp Almond Extract

Filling:

16 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 inch section of Ginger pressed through a garlic press
1/8 tsp Ground Allspice
1/8 tsp Ground Cardamom
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
pinch of fresh Ground White Pepper
pinch Salt
10 oz. Pumpkin Pureé
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
3 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup (please don't substitute Eggo waffle syrup...)
1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs

Cranberry Geleé

2 Cups fresh Cranberries (1/2 pound)

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Orange Juice
1-1/2 tsp Unflavored Gelatin

Water

Oven at 350 F.

Combine all the crust ingredients until homogeneous. Press into a 9X3 inch circular spring form pan, using a measuring cup to press the crust about half way up the sides of the spring form.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Oven down to 300 F.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, brown sugar, ground spices, nutmeg and salt, and blend until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin pureé, until once again smooth. Beat in the cream, maple syrup, vanilla, and eggs slowly until uniform... and smooth!

Wrap the bottom of the spring form in a few layers of aluminum foil and crimp the foil up the sides (so the cheesecake won't get wet when we stick in a bain-marie)

Pour the filling into the crusted spring form and set the pan into a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water, until the level of water is about half way up the spring form sides.

Bake the cakes for 60-70 minutes, until set, but the center is still jiggly (i.e. not liquid). Be careful not to overcook. The custard will set when it cools in the fridge, later.

Let the cake cool.

Ok, the cranberry goop.

In and medium sauce pan, combine the cranberries and 1/2 cup of water and cook over moderate heat until the cranberries pop and open up. Let cool, and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth, and then press through a fine sieve. Rinse out the sauce pan.

Add the sugar, and 1/4 cup of water and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and just begins to boil. Stir in the orange juice and cranberry pureé.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 Tbsp of water and let stand until softened. Microwave the gelatin about 10 seconds until melted. Whisk the melted gelatin into the pureé mixture, and pour the cranberry sauce over the cheesecake, SLOWLY!

Refrigerate the hell out of the cake. Usually over night.

Make sure to slip a knife between the spring form and the cake before removing the sides. And use a warm knife to cut the cake.

*NOTE The cheesecake could have been a little more firm, and I would propose either adding an extra egg or even a Tbsp or two of cornstarch to the filling. But I have no idea if these will work to benefit.

Buffalo, New... Mexico

Nothing screams New Mexico like green chile cheese burgers.

And they're all the more esoteric when they're green chile BUFFALO cheese burgers. I'm not really sure that using ground buffalo makes that much of a difference in taste, but it sure is exotic. Well... at least until you go up to Albuquerque and drive out Tramway and see all those buffalo standing around nawing on grass.

I'm glad I don't eat grass, specifically. Although it seems like a lot of favored flavors have a "grassy" profile... like sauvignon blanc, and green tea, and parsley, and asperagus.

"Grassy profile?" Who makes this shit up? And who tastes grass to know what is and isn't "grassy?" I mean sometimes you can get that flavor profile by just smelling things, but then again, have any of you ever smelled shrimp paste? That stuff smells awful, but it makes a delicious thai pumpkin soup.

The green chile I use is all grown and roasted right here in New Mexico. More specifically, in San Antonio, NM. I get it in 30 lb increments at this little farmer co-op called Sichler's. They have the best chile I've tasted in NM. I cover the tables in butcher paper, and invite some unknowing friends over to help me with all the peeling. But once it's done, there's green chile for months, and my friends don't complain when I invite them over for green chile buffalo burgers.

Green Chile Buffalo Cheese Burgers

Burgers:

2 lbs Ground Baffalo
1/2 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Hickory Liquid Smoke
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Dijon
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Pepper

Fixings:

Slices of Medium Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
6 Sesame Buns

And of course: GREEN CHILE

Mix all the burger ingredients and let sit for an hour to mingle. Shape into 6 patties, about 180 grams each.

Grill over extremely hot coals until nice grill marks are evident and they're to your desired doness.

Pile up with fixings, and make a mess.

*NOTE remember when cooking the burgers to moke them as little as possible. It's best to flip them only once. Generally I cook them about 2-3 minutes on one side, flip and another 2-3 minutes on the other.