Enchiladas Sauce II (Chile Rojo)

 

To control the amount of heat, use more mild New Mexico powder than other varieties. To make a hotter variety, mix both hot and mild New Mexico chile powder. This recipe makes for a sweeter result than starting with whole dried peppers and is faster to prepare.

1 Teaspoon Ancho powder

1 Teaspoon Aji Amarillo powder 

1 Teaspoon Guajillo powder

1 Teaspoon sweet paprika (or smoked pimenton)

1 Teaspoon of mild or hot New Mexico ground chile pow­der

2 Cups homemade rich chicken stock

2 Cloves minced garlic

5 Tablespoons lard (rendered pork fat) (Manteca rendered from good pork fat)

5 Tablespoons white all-purpose flour
2 Bay leaf

Pinch Mexican oregano(Lippia berlandieri)

1/2 Cup sour cream or more, as needed

Salt

Optional, pinch or two of sugar as required - see text

Optional, 1~2 teaspoon powdered quality beef bouillon (to taste)

Melt lard, then make a roux by blending the pork fat and flour, and cook it on low until it is a pale brown color. Remove from heat. Whisk in chili powders, garlic and oregano over very low heat, add chicken stock, and garlic. Simmer for 1 hours with a couple of optional bay leaves, a4

Cipollini In Saor - Venican Onions, with White wine vinegar, and Sugar in a Beurre Monté Sauce

This is a simple side to steak, or lamb.

Pearl onions

White wine vinegar

Sugar

Sweet Butter

Water

The pearl onions  are first boiled until “ all dente” in water that is slightly salty. Then the onions are steeped in water that is acidulated with white vinegar and a little white sugar. 

Beurre Monté is used to warm and serve the onions.

Beurre monté, literally “mounted butter” in French, is a cooking technique for preserving the emulsification of butter at high temperatures. In beurre monté, chunks of butter are whisked into hot water to create an emulsion stable up to 180 to 190°F. “Buerre monté” is also the name for the resulting liquid, which you can use as both a cooking fat and a finishing sauce.

agnolotti dal plin

Agnolotti is a type of pasta typical of the Piedmont region of Italy, made with small pieces of flattened dough folded over a filling of roasted meat or vegetables. Agnolotti is the plural form of the Italian word agnolotto. The “ dal pin” describes how their made, with a pinch. You should have a pasta wheel to cut these apart. There easy to make. Roll a long rectangle, pastry bag the filling, fold the pasta over to capture the dots of filling, pinch between them, cut apart edges with wheel. When filling the dots are off center to allow width-long side of the pasta to fold  lengthways. 

                   Seared Sea Scallops with Wild Mushroom Angnolotti 

What is Italian Dry-Cured Pork Jowl

 

 Italian Guanciale is the proper name, and it used to add flavor to many authentic recipes. It skipped as any expensive ingredient is usually ignored by the general public. In Italy, is required.

 Quoting Amazon 

Versatile Culinary Ingredient. Whether you're recreating beloved Italian dishes or exploring new culinary horizons, our imported Guanciale is a staple ingredient. Its rich, umami-packed flavor makes it a must-have specialty meat for every foodie and enhances sauces, risottos, pizzas, roasted vegetables and even salads.”

Many a butcher stills sell pig ears at a discount. Making your own  is easy, needed only rosemary and salt. 

But Amazon sells this, and it’s pretty expensive,  $58/pound.

Making your own Guanciale simply rub the ears with rosemary, and when done, bury them in salt. Put the bowl in refrig for a couple a weeks, dust them off. Freeze till needed.

Scrumdillyicious Tonkotsu Ramen Broth

It is hard to make an excellent ramen but this version shows the love it takes to laboriously execute a decent ramen. Don’t complain about how long it takes - there are no shortcut.

3 lb pig trotters, split lengthwise or cut crosswise into 1-inch disks
2 lb chicken backs and carcasses, skin and excess fat removed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, skin on, roughly chopped
12 garlic cloves
1 3-inch knob ginger, roughly chopped
2 whole leeks, washed and roughly chopped
2 dozen scallions, white parts only, reserve light green parts for garnish 
6 oz whole mushrooms 
1 lb slab pork fat back

Place pork and chicken bones in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Place on a burner over high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat as soon as boil is reached.
While pot is heating, heat vegetable oil in a medium cast iron or non-stick skillet over high heat until lightly smoking. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook, tossing occasionally until deeply charred on most sides, about 15 minutes total. Set aside.
Once pot has come to a boil, dump water down the drain. Carefully wash all bones under cold running water, removing any bits of dark marrow or coagulated blood. Bones should be uniform grey/white after you've scrubbed them. Use a chopstick to help remove small bits of dark marrow from inside the trotters or near the chicken's spines.

Return bones to pot along with charred vegetables, leeks, scallion whites, mushrooms, and pork fatback. Top up with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, skimming off any scum that appears — this should stop appearing within the first 20 minutes or so. Use a clean sponge or moist paper towels to wipe and black or gray scum off from around the rim of the pot. Reduce heat to a bare simmer and place a heavy lid on top.

Once the lid is on, check the pot after 15 minutes. It should be at a slow rolling boil. If not, increase or decrease heat slightly to adjust boiling speed. Boil broth until pork fatback is completely tender, about 4 hours. Carefully remove pork fat with a slotted spatula. Transfer fatback to a sealed container and refrigerate until step 7. Return lid to pot and continue cooking until broth is opaque with the texture of light cream, about 6 to 8 hours longer, topping up as necessary to keep bones submerged at all times. If you must leave the pot unattended for an extended period of time, top up the pot and reduce the heat to the lowest setting while you are gone. Return to a boil when you come back and continue cooking, topping up with more water as necessary.

Once broth is ready, cook over high heat until reduced to around 3 quarts. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot. Discard solids. For an even cleaner soup, strain again through a chinois or a fine mesh strainer lined with several layers of cheese cloth. Skim liquid fat from top with a ladle and discard.

Finely chop cooked pork fatback and whisk into finished broth. To serve, season broth with condiments of your choice — salt, soy sauce, miso, sesame paste, grated fresh garlic, chili oil or a mixture of all — and serve with cooked ramen noodles and toppings as desired.

Roasted Rosemary and thyme Herbed Potatoes

The herbed potatoes are good anytime, but the excellent at Thanksgiving. Use the best extra virgin olive oil.

6 large russet potatoes, cut in wedges

1/4 cup extra Virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoons sea salt

pepper with black and white pepper

4 teaspoons fresh rosemary

4 teaspoons fresh thyme

Cut potatoes into a shallow roasting pan, season and salt, coat with olive oil. Roast for an hour or until the potatoes take on a golden color in oven at 375F. Center pan when cooking. Unless roasting in a convection oven, turn pan a couple of times for even cooking.

Optional a little lemon juice and garlic will help flavor the dish. I use myer lemons and squeeze my lemon juice. The lemon can go on after cooked, but the garlic should be chopped fine and added with the potatoes so it’s cooked.

Garnish the serving dish, if you like, with diagonally cut scallions or more fresh thyme pieces.