I’m not sure if using honey instead of sugar really qualifies as a “West Coast twist,” but it does ensure that people from North Carolina can’t attack me for this Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue sauce not being authentic.
Anyway, while this isn’t exactly what you might find in the Tar Heel State, it was fantastic on the pork, and I hope it inspires you to add this deliciously different barbecue sauce in your repertoire.
As I mentioned in the video, I’m heading down to SoCal to work on a top-secret project, but since I teased this sauce in the recent paper pork recipe, I wanted to get this posted before I left. Unfortunately, I can’t give any details about what I’m doing down there, but let’s just say…actually, I can’t even say that. So stay tuned, and in the meantime,I really do hope you give this a try soon.Enjoy!
The best way to eat eggplant is fried, which I’ll hopefully prove to you one day with a video recipe. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for the second best way, which is this eggplant escabeche. It’s cold, refreshing, vibrantly-flavored, and I’m guessing, very healthy.
This was inspired by a visit to a restaurant in San Francisco called Lolinda, where Chef Alejandro Morgan serves a simple, but incredibly delicious Argentinian-style eggplant escabeche. I won’t go so far as to say it came out as good, but the noises of pleasure Michele made while eating this were very similar.
If you didn’t get the #dotsnotslots reference, I explained how to tell a “male” from “female” eggplant in a old video, which involves looking for a dot shaped mark at the end, and not a slot shaped one. This indicates a “male,” which generally has less seeds.
By the way, “male” is in quotations because eggplants don’t actually have different genders, but apparently some are less pregnant than others. I’m certainly no expert when it comes to eggplant sex, but I’ll go with that until I hear otherwise. I really do hope you give this fabulous eggplant recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 2 pints: 3/4 cup sliced roasted sweet and/or hot peppers 1 large eggplant, halved, cut in 1/4 slices 1 large zucchini, halved, cut in 1/4 slices tossed with 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 cup white wine vinegar 2/3 cup water 1/2 cup olive oil 2 cloves finely crushed garlic 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley 1 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano 1/4 cup reserved vinegar cooking liquid kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons vegetable oil .
As promised, here is my take on Thai-style sweet chili sauce, or Nam Jim, if you want to sound cool. I do a sort of hybrid between the cooked and fresh versions, and using this technique, I think you get the best of both worlds.
If you can’t find these beautiful Thai bird’s eye chilies, you can make this sauce with any other combination of fresh, preserved, and/or dried chilies. Things like jalapeno, red Fresno, or Serrano chilies work great, as does habanero. If it’s hot, give it a shot.
Above and beyond the array of deep-fried treats you enjoy this stuff with at your favorite southeast-Asian restaurant, it also makes an incredibly good sauce for grilled meats, especially chicken and pork. Even the most insipid boneless-skinless breast shines, once shined with this sauce.
And I wasn’t kidding about the fish sauce being mandatory. It really is a key ingredient here, so I’m counting on you to either get some, or maybe sit this one out. As always, the amounts listed below are what tastes “perfect” to me, but what do I know? So, be sure to taste and adjust before you serve. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 1 cup of Thai-Style Sweet Chili Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 teaspoons sambal chili sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
6 cloves finely crushed garlic
2 tablespoons finely minced Thai chili peppers (or more of a less spicy pepper like Frenso, Jalapeno, or Serrano)
If the early feedback from the YouTube channel is any indication, this may not actually be “Yucatan-style,” and I couldn’t be less surprised.I did no real research into the traditional foods of the Yucatan peninsula, and based the name of this dish solely on a pork chop I once enjoyed at a sports bar.
They called it “Yucatan-style,” and it featured vibrant citrus/chile flavors, as well as a beautiful orange hue, which I figured out was from ground annatto. This is the signature ingredient in the famous braised pork dish, cochonita pibil, and can be found at any Latin market, or your larger, fancier grocery stores.
As I mention in the video, I think this easy marinade would work on all kinds of pork cuts, but the tenderloin is very user-friendly, and it’s mild flavor really takes to these ingredients. I think 4 to 6 hours is plenty of time to marinade the meat, but I’m guessing that overnight would probably be fine as well.
Once grilled, you have so many options for enjoying these. Sandwiches, salads, and tacos are all wonderful choices, and I’ve also heard from a reliable source that diced, they make for an epic pan of nachos. This weekend is the official start of summer grilling season, and what better way to kick it off than this tasty, possibly Yucatanian treat? I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 to 6 portions:
2 whole pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 oranges
2 or 3 lemons
2 or 3 limes
6 cloves minced garlic
1 rounded teaspoon annatto powder, plus more to sprinkle on before grilling
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil before grilling
- I garnished with cilantro, and pickled onions. To make your own, thinly slice some red onions, and cover them with red or white wine vinegar. Leave to soak for 4 hours or overnight, and that's it!
I had everything I needed to shoot a brand new chicken wing video, except for one key ingredient; a working oven. Yes, my oven decided to take the rest of Super Bowl week off, as did my oven repairman, but these bacon jalapeno popper puffs came out so well, I decided to designate this as an official blessing in disguise.
These pepper poppers in puff form really did come out incredibly well, as long as you don’t have a problem with lots of unsightly dark spots. Since we loaded these with so much diced pepper, the pieces on the outside caramelized (which is chef-speak for burned), and my beautiful, golden-brown balls were spotted with golden-black.
Apparently, I’m having more of a problem with the appearance than your average viewer, at least according to the first wave of YouTube comments, but I may still try to figure out a way to make these a little more camera friendly next time. Maybe I’ll puree the peppers first, or possibly char off the skin, which I believe gets even darker than the flesh. Stay tuned.
Superficial beauty aside, if you enjoy the gut-bombs that are classic, bacon-wrapped, jalapeno poppers, I think you’ll love these shockingly light puffs. All the same flavors are there, especially when served with the easy cream cheese dip, and the prep is much easier. I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 40 Bacon Jalapeno Popper Puffs:
For the dough:
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
Then add:
2 ounces extra sharp white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely diced jalapeno peppers
1/3 cup finely chopped bacon
pinch cayenne
pinch freshly ground black pepper
- Fry at 375 F. for about 3 1/2 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through
For the dipping sauce:
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- add enough water to thin mixture out to proper dip consistency
