Pastrami Rub Spices

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• ½ teaspoon whole mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• (Note: If you don't have mustard seeds & powder, add 1 teaspoon of horseradish)

Directions:

• Crush all the seeds with a mortar & pestle until the seeds are cracked, but not a powder. You can also put the seeds in a ziplock bag and crush them with a heavy saucepan. 
• Blend the crushed seeds with all the powdered spices.
• Store in a jar or airtight container to use to prepare pastrami.

Kicked Up Rustic Mashed Potatoes

I recently read about mashed potatoes made with garlic and chipotle adobo sauce. It occurred to me it might be fun to use my Phantom Chipotle Salt to really kick the potato experience over the top. Wow, what a tasty treat for a side dish! This salt blend adds a subtle smokey background heat that is most enjoyable.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium/large potatoes, cleaned and cut into large chunks with the skins on.
• 2 tablespoons oil
• ½ cup of milk or cream
• ¼ cup (½ stick) of butter
• 2 large cloves of garlic, either finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 1½ teaspoons of Phantom Chipotle Salt (If you can't make this salt blend, finely mince ¼ of a dried Chipotle pepper without the seeds and mix it with enough plain table salt to reach your desired level of heat.)
• ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

Directions:

• Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water. Then add the oil to prevent the water from boiling over the top of the pot.
• Cover the pot and bring the potatoes to a rapid boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and let the potatoes cook for about 15 minutes, until fork-tender.
• Heat the milk and butter in the microwave until the butter is melted.
• Mash the potatoes with the milk, butter, garlic, Phantom Chipotle Salt, and pepper.
• Serve hot.

Barbeque Baby Back Ribs (A Sous Vide Recipe)

Fixing some Barbeque Baby Back Ribs this weekend and cooking them low and slow with our Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator. These ribs will be over-the-top with flavor and tenderness.

Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are very difficult to achieve through other cooking methods. When cooking with water, instead of an oven or a pan, we can raise the temperature to get the food to the exact temperatures we prefer. We can take it out as soon as it's done cooking, or let it rest in the water until we’re ready to eat—no more obsessively checking inside the oven, no more chaining yourself to the stove.

Equipment:

• Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator
  
• Sous Vide water container with lid
• Vacuum food sealer (Foodsaver)
• 3 or 4 vacuum seal bags
• Large mixing bowl

Ingredients:

• 1 slab of Baby Back Ribs
• 2 tablespoons of our house BBQ Spice Rub
• 1 tablespoon of our house Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Tajín Clásico Seasoning (available in the spice aisle in most supermarkets)
• 3/4 cup of our house Texas BBQ Sauce

Directions:

• Attach the Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator to the water container
• Fill the water container with hot water until it reaches about 3 or 4 inches below the maximum water level of the Sour Vide device.
• Mix all of the spices with the BBQ sauce in a large bowl.
• Cut the Baby Back Ribs into sections with 3 or 4 bones each.
• Toss the cut sections into the spicy sauce mixture massaging them so that they are thoroughly coated.
• Place each section of ribs into a vacuum seal bag and use the vacuum food sealer to seal each bag. Make sure to STOP the vacuuming and seal the bag before the vacuum pressure force a rib bone to puncture the bag.
• Insert the vacuumed sealed bags into the hot water container so that the bags are not touching each other. Good water circulation is important for the perfect cook.
  
• Check the water level in the container and add, or remove, water so that the water level reaches the maximum level of the Sous Vide Immersion Heater/Circulator
• Follow the guideline of the Sous Vide device and set the cooking temperature to 60.5°C, with the cooking time set to 24 hours. (These ribs can actually cook up to 48 hours in the water bath and they will still be perfect.)
• Check the water level in the container every few hours to ensure water is not evaporating. If it is, add more to bring the water level back up where it should be.
• When the ribs are finished, remove them from the vacuumed sealed bags and startup your barbeque grill. When the grill is hot toss the ribs on it for just a few minutes to slightly char them on each side. 
• Transfer to a cutting board to carve and serve.
• Enjoy!

Green Peppercorn Sauce

We have a Kampot Peppercorn vine growing outside our kitchen window and it is such a treat to dry our own peppercorns for black, red and white peppercorns whenever we want. Sometimes we pick them green and either pickle them in a brine, or make a green peppercorn sauce to serve over meat dishes.

Ingredients:

• 500 ml (2 cups) beef stock or canned beef broth
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 250 ml (1 cup) cream
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy (I’ve used wine as a substitute)
• 2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine, or 2 tablespoons fresh green peppercorns (If using fresh peppercorns, partially crush 1 tablespoon of peppercorns to release flavor)

Directions:

• Boil stock in small saucepan until reduced to a cup, about 7 or 8 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, sauté the onion in the butter over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. 
• Add the garlic and cook for another 1 or 2 minutes. 
• Add the flour to the skillet and make a roux, about 2 or 3 minutes. 
• Remove from heat. 
• Whisk in the reduced beef stock, cream, Cognac and green peppercorns. 
• Bring the mixture back up to a low boil over medium heat until the mixture thickens to sauce consistency, about 5 or 6 minutes. 
• Spoon the sauce over steaks, grilled chicken, or pork chops, and serve.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

Just the other day, we smoked a new batch of fresh Jalapeño chili peppers to make Chipotle peppers. Today it was time to make up some more amazing Chipotle Mayo. This mayo is a special treat with burgers, sandwiches, wraps, dips, etc. Just use you imagination.

Ingredients:
1 cup of mayonnaise (regular or lite is fine)
1 whole dried Chipotle pepper, without the stem
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
½ teaspoon of smoked paprika
Juice from one lime
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Grind the Chipotle pepper to a fine powder, seeds and all. Whisk the powder together with all the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Place the Chipotle Mayo into a small jar and chill for about 4 hours. This Chipotle Mayo will just get better as it ages. If you are planning a weekend barbeque, prepare the Chipotle Mayo about 3 days in advance for the best flavor. This will keep in refrigerator for months, if you can make it last that long. Enjoy!

Barbeque Spice Rub

Excellent rub for grilled steaks, chops, ribs, brisket, wings, etc.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons granulated garlic
4 tablespoons granulated onion
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground Chinese 5-spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients and store in the freezer, in an airtight jar/container

Yield: 2 cups of spice rub

Phantom Chipotle Salt / Sal de Chipotle Fantasma

A good friend sent me a simple recipe for Jalapeño Salt and it started me thinking about the batch of Smoked Chipotle Peppers I made a couple of weeks ago. (I left half of the batch as dried peppers, and put the rest in an adobo sauce.) Then I remembered we already have Smoked Ghost Pepper powder in the freezer from last year's pepper harvest. So I ground some of the Chipotle Peppers into a coarse powder, and put everything together to come up with my version of Phantom Chipotle Salt. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup of salt
1½ teaspoons of Smoked Chipotle Pepper powder (my chipotle powder is made with smoked & dried Jalapeños, seeds and all.)
¼ teaspoon of Smoked Ghost Pepper powder (or more if you can take the "heat")

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a jar and shake well to blend. Done!

Suggestions:
This salt can enhance the flavor of just about anything. There is just enough back heat with a pleasant overall smoky flavor. This would be good on steaks, popcorn, eggs, grilled corn on the cob, potato salads,  etc. Use on just about any meat, vegetable, or soup, guacamole, salads, even on the rim of a Bloody Mary or Margarita glass.

Chipotle Peppers

Chipotle Peppers are simply Jalapeño Chili Peppers that have been smoked and dried. The unique smokey flavor with the peppery heat is the perfect addition for so many recipes. Add them to soups, chili, sauces, salad dressings, and just about anything you want to kick up a notch.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 ripe Jalapeño peppers
• Sharp knife
• Plastic gloves

Directions:

• Fire up the smoker with your favorite mild wood chips; coffee, pecan, oak, or hickory chips.
• Wash the peppers.
• Put on some gloves and split the peppers in half with a sharp knife.
• Smoke them in the smoker for about 12 hours
• Add more wood chips when needed to keep the smoke billowing.
• Continue smoking for another 24 hours without adding more wood chips.
• Remove the peppers from the smoker and allow them to come to room temperature. If they are not completely dry, place them on a cookie cooling rack in a baking sheet and place them in the oven until they are completely brittle.
• Store chipotles in a cool, dry place. Place the chipotles in warm water for an hour to re-hydrate them. This makes it easy to dice them up to add them to your favorite recipes.
• You can also grind up the dried chipotles in a spice grinder to make chipotle chili powder to season any dish that needs a little smoke and spicy heat.

Taco Seasoning de la Casa

This is my go to recipe whenever I need Taco Seasoning mix

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground smoked Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 tablespoon Chili Powder de la Casa (click on link for recipe)

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients and store in an air tight jar for up to 6 months.

One tablespoon of this mix is the equivalent of a package of store bought Taco Seasoning.

Home Cured Corned Beef Brisket

Next week will be Saint Patrick's Day and for the first time since we've been in Costa Rica, we have a corned beef brisket ready to cook to celebrate this American Irish holiday. I had been hungry for some corned beef brisket for a few years now and decided a couple of weeks ago we really needed to try our hand at making a brine and home curing a brisket. This is amazingly easy if you have 10 days of preparation time. This is not something you decide to make from one day to the next.

The first challenge was to locate all the spices I would need for the brine solution. I had enough Prague Powder #1 (InstaCure Pink Salt) on hand that our daughter had brought from the States, so I just needed to track down the rest of the spices. It turned out most of the ingredients can be found at our local spice vendor's booth at our Feria (Farmers' Market) every Friday morning. I was able to find a couple of the spices he didn't carry at the Mercado Central (central market) in Alajuela, including a new local source for the Prague Powder #1, called "Sal de Cura" at vendor booth #34. The only spice I couldn't locate was juniper berry. With just a little research I found sprigs of Rosemary make an acceptable substitute, and the Rosemary will impart the same earthy pine flavor and scent as a juniper berry.

If you have the time to brine, and you're ready to try your hand a making a home-cured corned beef brisket, here's how to do it.

Ingredients:

Spice Mix:
4 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces (canela)
1 tablespoon mustard seeds (semillas de mostaza)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns (granos de pimienta negra)
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (semilla de culantro)
2 teaspoons Star Anise (estrellas de anís)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (hojuelas de chili rojo)
24 whole cloves (clavo de olor)
24 whole allspice berries (granos de Jamaica)
24 whole juniper berries or 8 sprigs of rosemary (ramitas de romero)
6 bay leaves, crumbled (hojas de laurel)

Thoroughly mix all the spices together and store in an airtight jar.

Corned Beef Brine:
3 quarts of water
1½ cup kosher salt (we use swimming pool salt because it is pure with no iodine or fluoride)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 ounces Prague Insta-Cure #1 (by weight, not by volume) (Sal de Cura)
5 tablespoons of Spice Mix
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger (jengibre molido)
4 sliced cloves of garlic (optional) (clavos de ajo)
2 pounds ice
1 (6 to 7 pound) beef brisket, trimmed (pecho entero)

Directions:

Curing the Meat:
Place the water into a large 6 to 8-quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, Prague powder, and all the spices. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon container (or zip-top bag) and add the brine. Seal the container, and refrigerate for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged, turn it over as necessary and stir the brine.2. After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water and remove the old spices. Put the corned beef in a pot slightly larger than the meat and cover it with cold water. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours in order to remove excess salt from the meat. If you can change the water once or twice.

There are two cooking methods you can use to finish the Corned Beef: A Stovetop or Sous Vide method with an Immersion Circulator.

STOVETOP:

When you are ready to cook, place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, cover with water, bring to a boil and reduce to low for 30 minutes to remove the salt. Pour off all the salty water, add the onion, carrot, and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. If you like additional spice, add 1 tablespoon of the leftover mix. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer for 2½ to 3 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender. If you want, you can add cabbage and potatoes during the last 45 minutes of cooking. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

SOUS VIDE:

Prepare sous vide immersion circulator and set the water temperature for 80°C/175°F.

Remove the desalinated corned beef from the pot and place it in a gallon-size sealable freezer bag. 

Carefully submerge the freezer bag in the water bath until most of the air has been removed and then seal the bag. 

Once the bag is submerged, cook the corned beef for 10 hours.

Fill a large container with a 50/50 mix of ice and water. Place the bag of cooked corned beef in the ice water for 30 to 60 minutes to quickly reduce the meat's core temperature to 34 to 38ºF. Place the meat in the refrigerator until ready to slice (up to two days ahead of time). When ready to serve, thinly slice the corned beef across the grain.

(Modified from Alton Brown’s recipe on the Food Network, 2007)

Chili Powder de la Casa

This is my chili powder recipe that we used in the 2015 Atenas Chili Cook-Off. Out of 22 teams, we won the Peoples Choice Award!


Ingredients:

• 2 Whole Chipotle Chili Peppers with stems removed, minced, and ground to a powder (Chipotle Chili is a smoked Jalapeño Chili Pepper used primarily in Mexican and TexMex cooking.)
• 1 tablespoon crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 3 tablespoons fresh finely minced oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice 
• 4 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground clove
• ¼ teaspoon of smoked Carolina Reaper powder, or 1 tablespoon Chili de Árbol powder (Tree chili is a small Mexican Chili with a woody stem that is sometimes called Bird’s Beak chili.)

Directions:

1. Use a spice grinder to grind the chipotle, red pepper flakes, oregano, coriander seeds, and allspice into a fine powder
2. Mix the freshly ground spices with the remaining ingredients until well blended. 
3. Store in an airtight jar for up to 6 months, or in the freezer for up to a year.

Yield ~ 1¼ - 1½ cups

Wegner's Seasoned Salt (a Lawry’s Seasoned Salt knock off, but better)

This is a blend of spices I put together as a substitute for Lawry's Seasoned Salt. We think this one is actually better. It is the base for our Spicy House Blend*

Mix all the ingredients together. I find a food processor with the chopper blade, or a blender, works best to make sure the marjoram and parsley are finely ground.

2 tablespoons ground pepper
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon onion salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon dry marjoram leaves
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ cup salt

Store in an airtight shaker to retain freshness.

* See recipe

Originally posted 7/26/09

Wegner's Spicy House Seasoning Blend

This is a blend of spices I put together one day to have on hand for seasoning meats and vegetables. It worked so well, I now keep a jar for adding spice to all sorts of foods. It's especially good on pork chops, steaks, avocados, guacamole, corn on the cob, tomatoes, salads, etc.

Mix together

3 Tablespoons of Wegner’s Seasoned Salt* (or Lawry's Seasoned Salt if you must)
1 Tablespoon of ground Cayenne pepper
1 Teaspoon ground Cumin (Comino)
1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
1 Teaspoon Onion powder
1 Teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Celery salt
1 Teaspoon Spanish Paprika (hot paprika)

Store in an airtight shaker to retain freshness.

* See recipe

Originally posted 1/12/08