20 May, 2009

Chili Garlic Sauce

Chili Garlic Sauce

Chili Garlic Sauce, A pantry staple. I use it in my Phad Thai, I also like to smear it on sauteed green beans and mushrooms. I remember many years ago when my mom first used it in a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken.

Today's New York Times has a nice article about Huy Fong Foods, the folks who make this sauce and others like Sriracha. Check it out.

A Chili Sauce to Crow About

Cheers.

17 May, 2009

Postcard from China

Dumps and Reeb

John Moses grew up in Clintonville. He is a friend of my brother Eliot. Last time I saw John was a few years ago, he was slinging pies at the pizza joint up on Indianola. He wasn't exactly happy with what he was doing but he didn't know what he wanted to do next. There was a job available where Eliot worked and he convinced John to move to Dusseldorf and take it. After a few months on the job, the company anounced it was closing the D'Dorf operation and gave John a choice: Go unemployed or transfer to China.



my main man

Eliot (Karhu) just got back from visiting John, Check out his China pics (all shot on film) on this link to flikr

Cheers.

05 May, 2009

Pâté Maison

Chicken liver pâté with cheese and mustard

Dear Mom:

I'm sorry we didn't get to make sausage this weekend. But boy did we get a lot of stuff done. Tell Dad thanks for helping finish the wall and for running the gas line. The wall is still standing, I still cannot believe we found all this stone in our yard.

Wall view West

Yesterday I made a pâté out of the chicken livers. Pâté is French for paste, and as a culinary term it could be a dough formula, or meat pie, or as in this case a spreadable paste formed in a terrine.

Pâté ready to poach

I had a little over a pound (520g) of chicken livers, along with about 9 ounces (260g) of fat from the smoked ham and a shallot that weighed 2 ounces (60g)

I minced and sauteed the shallot in a little butter then added maybe 2T (30ml) of Fino and cooked it dry (au sec). I chilled the cooked shallots.

Meanwhile I minced the ham fat in the cuisinart added two cold eggs, pulsed, added the chicken livers (rinsed and drained first), pulsed, then added shallots and some seasoning: Salt 1-1/2t (10g), Black pepper 1t (3g), quatre épices 1 1/2t (6g), fresh ground mustard seed 1/2t (2g), and fresh ground coriander 1 t (2g).

Pâté poached in muslin

I gave that all a quick spin in the food processor then poured it into a muslin lined pan. Topped with fresh bay leaves I cooked the mixture in a water bath in a 325F oven. About forty minutes later the internal temp read 165F, I set it out to cool. I chilled it overnight and had some for breakfast this morning.

Pâté with egg and tomato

Any there you go, a little love on toast. I hope you have nice week thanks and again for coming to visit.

I love you.
Andrew