asian style cayenne hot sauce

Asian-Style Cayenne Hot Sauce

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

This year we used about a pound of LC Cayenne pods to cook up a sweet and spicy Thai sauce. Unlike “Louisiana Style” hot sauce, this one is thick, almost like ketchup, and is a lot less vinegary. It is great with grilled shrimp, over rice, for Asian cooking, and even as a dip.

Read Harald Zoschke’s entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

1 pound red, ripe NuMex Las Cruces Cayenne chiles (or similar meaty cayenne peppers)
1/2 sweet red pepper (e.g. Gypsy or a small ripe bell pepper)
1 medium-sized onion, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound sugar
4 ounces rice vinegar
2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil

2 ounces rice vinegar **
1 ounce maple syrup **
water (if necessary)  **

4-5 empty hot sauce bottles

** These ingredients are to be added after cooking and blending.

Instructions

Rinse the cayenne peppers, cut off the tops with the stems, and slit pods open lengthwise, discarding most but not all seeds. Cut pods into chunks. Also remove the stem and “innards” of the sweet pepper and cut the pod into chunks as well.

In a sauce pan sauté the onion in the oil until soft (2-3 minutes).

Add the garlic and simmer for an additional 2 minutes.

Add sugar and the 4 ounces of vinegar, stir well and bring to a boil.

Add chopped cayenne and sweet peppers, stir well and simmer over medium heat for about 45 minutes, until the peppers are soft.

Meanwhile, sterilize your hot sauce bottles in boiling water and let them drain upside down on a towel.

Blend the sauce in a blender, or in the sauce pan using a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. Using a whisk, blend in the maple syrup and the 2 ounces of vinegar. ***

The sauce should be smooth and thick now, with a consistency almost like ketchup. If the sauce appears to be too thick, carefully add a little water and whisk again. Bring sauce briefly to a boil again.

Using a funnel, fill the bottles with sauce and put on lids immediately.

Design a label and put it on your bottles. Enjoy! Store opened bottles in the refrigerator. Yield: about 20 oz. (i.e. four “Woozy” type 5oz./148 ml bottles). I bet now you’re glad you kept those emptied hot sauce bottles!

*** Since vinegar tends to lose acidity during cooking, we add some of it at the end. That way we’re getting a lower pH (= higher acidity), which is necessary for preservation. If you would produce such a sauce commercially, you would check the pH with a meter and keep it well below pH 4.2).

bell pepper jack-o-lantern

Bell Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

Here’s a fun thing to grill this holiday: orange bell pepper Jack-O-Lanterns. You can fill ’em with all kinds of stuff but I use spiced up cream cheese (a) because it looks good in the pepper’s face and (b) practically melts into a hot dip you can use for chips and the sliced pepper after its grilled. It’s a very simple appetizer. Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

4 large orange bell peppers
3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons black pepper
3 teaspoons granulated onion
3 teaspoons minced garlic

Instructions

Start heating your grill or oven to 300 degrees F. Meanwhile, set the cream cheese out and let it warm up to room temperature. Gut the peppers while you wait, making sure to retain the tops. You not only want them as lids, they also hold the goo in place while the peppers cook. Cut whatever design you want into the peppers but don’t make the holes too big or the stuffing will leak out. That is, unless you want it to look like your project is crying cream cheese. Totally your call.

When the cheese is close to room temperature, mix in the spices with either an egg beater or a fork. Distribute the finished cheese evenly into each pepper and use a spoon or fork to press some of the cheese into Jack’s face.

Once the peppers are ready to go, gently press the lids into the cheese and grill them indirectly. I place them all right next to each other to keep them from falling over. Check them every ten minutes, turning them sideways so that all sides get even cooking. It should take about twenty minutes total to cook them.

pumpkin-soup-with-chorizo-

Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

This recipe is based on a sweet potato/chorizo soup recipe from chef Jamie Oliver, which I modified to feature pumpkin. And boy, did it ever work! Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

2 quarts chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large carrots, roasted and diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
3-4 cups of roasted pumpkin flesh (whatever you end up with after roasting and peeling your 4-pound pie pumpkin)
1/2 pound freshly ground chorizo sausage* cut into chunks
1 small bunch parsley, finely chipped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

In a saucepan, heat the chicken stock to near boiling and let simmer.

In a large, thick-bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil, then add all the chopped & sliced  ingredients (including the chorizo). Add the curry powder and stir while the ingredients cook. Keep stirring the mixture occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the onions turn golden.

Pour in the hot chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

If you have an immersion blender (and I recommend them highly), use it to blend the soup right in the kettle. If you don’t have one (Christmas is coming, so put Santa on it), pour the soup into a large blender or food processor. Mix it up until it’s smooth, but this isn’t a bisque, so don’t expect it to be completely creamy.

Garnish with a little diced parsley and serve hot with some good crusty bread, butter, and a small salad. I made a salad with spinach leaves, sliced pear, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, and candied almond slices topped with balsamic vinaigrette. The sweetness of the pear was fantastic with the savory, spicy soup.

*Many grocery stores make this in their butcher department. If you can’t find it freshly made, buy the pre-made kind…the spiciness of the chorizo will affect the heat level of the finished soup, so adjust the amount accordingly if you’re using some really hot sausage and don’t want too much heat in your soup.

green chile stew with pork

Green Chile Stew with Smoked Pork

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

This recipe is courtesy of Harald Zoschke, who was trying to recreate a version of green chile stew he enjoyed at De La Vega’s Pecan Grill Restaurant in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Note that due to the use of smoked pork, this recipe does not require searing the meat first, and it doesn’t use additional salt.

The article containing this recipe appeared on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

One boneless smoked ham hock (about 1 to 1.5 pound), cut into 1-inch cubes
Vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 quart chicken broth or instant vegetable broth
6 to 8 green New Mexican chiles (about 8 oz.), roasted, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 large potato or a couple of smaller ones, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, Mexican preferred
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
One cup grated white cheddar or mozzarella (about 2.5 oz.)

Instructions

1. In a medium stockpot, heat the oil, add the onions, and sauté until the onions turn a golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.

2. Add the chiles, potatoes and pork cubes to the stockpot.

3. Add the broth, season with oregano and cumin. Stir and bring mixture to a slow boil, reduce the heat, and simmer with lid closed for 30-45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

4. Serve hot and add 1/4 of the grated cheese to each bowl before serving.

Crab-Stuffed Chiles Rellenos

Crab-Stuffed Chiles Rellenos

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

The use of chipotle chiles in this recipe from Sinaloa adds a smoky depth of taste to the crab. We recommend the meat from freshly cooked crab legs, but if they are unavailable, good quality canned crab meat can be substituted. But, nothing beats the fresh crab! For other wonderful rellenos recipes, go here.

Ingredients

4 tomatoes, roasted and peeled and chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 green chiles (poblanos or New Mexican), roasted, peeled, seeds removed
2 cups cooked, shredded crab
1/2 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano or 2 teaspoons fresh, minced
2 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, and chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
3 stiffly beaten egg whites
1 1/2 cups corn oil

Instructions

For the warm salsa topping: put the tomatoes, 1 cup chopped onion, chicken broth, water, chipotle chiles, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and allow the mixture to simmer while you stuff the chiles.

In a small bowl, mix together the crab, onion, oregano, and tomatoes. If the mixture seems dry, add 1 tablespoon of the chicken stock at a time. Stuff the chiles with this mixture.

Dredge the stuffed chiles in the flour, dip them into the egg whites and then deep fry them in the oil for 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain them on paper towels.

Arrange the rellenos on a warm dinner plate and top with the warm salsa.