Here’s a guy who knows his shit, making two of my all-time favorite cocktails — the Manhattan and the Sidecar.
Rittenhouse rye and what looks like a real Marasca cherry, even!
(splash image courtesy Jay Hepburn at Oh Gosh!)
Tags: cocktails
I’ll let Mike tell the tale in his own words:
I’ve made Steven Raichlen’s North Carolina pulled pork recipe many times, and every time I do, I think to myself, “it would be great to make carnitas this way.” Recently when leafing through some recipes I’d downloaded from Epicurious, I ran across this one: a guacamole recipe. Inspiration struck. I altered that recipe, smoking the tomatillos on the grill, rather than charring them in a broiler and added lime juice. The result was the best guacamole I have ever tasted and everyone I’ve served it to agrees. At this point, my desire to make some grilled carnitas became a mission, as that guacamole would be a perfect complement. I searched in vain for a recipe, the only “Smoked Carnitas” recipes I could find recommended smoking the meat for just a short time and then continuing in a more traditional way, simmering for hours in oil and spices. That just wouldn’t do, I had no interest in boiling any meat. I was determined to find a way to get an authentic Mexican carnitas taste using the same methods as American pulled pork. Here’s what I came up with, I’m rather proud of it:
Insanely Great Smoked Carnitas
1 Boston Butt (pork shoulder roast), bone-in, about 5-6 lbs.
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
8 cloves garlicmesquite & pecan wood chips (soaked and drained)
Spice Rub:
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon Ground Coriander
2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
1 Teaspoon Cayenne PepperFor The Mop and Sauce:
1 12 oz bottle of dark Mexican beer like Negra Modelo
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons of the Rub1. Pierce the roast all over to let the marinade work its way in. Place roast in a foil pan with the orange juice and garlic cloves to soak overnight, turning once or twice so the roast marinates evenly.
2. Discard OJ and garlic and rinse the roast off and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Make the rub by mixing together all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside 2 tablespoons for the mop sauce. Pat the rub all over the roast and let sit to cure for a few hours if you have the time.
4. Make the mop sauce – mix all ingredients together and set aside about 3/4 – 1 cup for later when the meat is done to use as a finishing sauce.
5. Set up a charcoal grill for indirect grilling, medium hot (300° max), and use mesquite/pecan chips for smoke.
6. Smoke the roast for about 4-5 hours or as long as it takes to get to 195°, add coals every hour and a handful or two of wood chips. Liberally mop the roast with the mop sauce about every 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Cook until it’s well done (195°) in the center – this will help it shred easier.
8. When it’s done, let sit for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, then tear it apart into shreds.
9. Ladle the remaining mop sauce over the shredded pork.Serve with flour and/or corn tortillas, sour cream, and guacamole.
As like pulled pork, this makes a ton of food, so I served this all up to friends and strangers at my local pub. It was all gone in about 15 minutes and I drank for free for the rest of the night!
Tags: food
Guru of the grill Steven Raichlen has a “Steak from Hell” sirloin & salsa soft-taco recipe in “The Barbecue Bible” – calling for mesquite-grilled steak seasoned simply with salt & pepper, then making a blender salsa using tomatoes charred on the stove with raw onions & garlic. He calls it “Steak from Hell” as the inspiration comes from a steakhouse in Juarez, Mexico called “Mitla” – the Nahuatl word for “Hell.”
Following his mantra of “everything tastes better grilled,” I upped the ante on his salsa, opting to roast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic directly in the coals and adding some additional smoke & heat via chipotle.
Salsa Mitla
1 mesquite wood chunk and 1 pecan wood chunk, soaked in water for 30 minutes
5 – 6 garden-fresh tomatoes (Romas work well)
1 yellow onion, whole
3 cloves garlic, skin on
4 chilis de arbol, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
2 chipotle peppers in adobo
2 Tbl fresh lime juice
A handful of fresh cilantro to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Ignite lump charcoal using a chimney starter and, when ashed over, rake into a pile at the edge of the grate.
2. Add the mesquite and pecan chunks and let them begin smoking.
3. Add the onions directly to the coals and let roast, turning to char all sides.
4. After a couple minutes, add the tomatoes to the coals and continue turning the onions & tomatoes to char all sides.
5. Close the lid on the grill for a few minutes so the tomatoes & onions can better absorb some smoke.
6. A couple minutes before finishing, add the garlic cloves to the coals and turn to char all sides. Watch the garlic carefully to avoid burning.
7. Remove the tomatoes, onions, and garlic from the grill and let cool briefly.
8. Puree the tomatoes, stemmed chilis de arbol, and chipotles using a blender or food processor (be careful of escaping steam).
9. Peel the onions and garlic, chop roughly, and add to the blender, mixing until smooth with some chunks.
10. Add the lime juice and cilantro, blending again to chop. Taste and add salt & pepper as needed.
Makes three cups of salsa. Will keep in the refrigerator a week or so.
If it lasts that long.
Tags: food
On a recent sailing trip to Catalina, Greg and Chef Jeff introduced me to the latest hot item on the L.A. bar scene: St-Germain elderflower liqueur. Its flavor is hard to pin down – floral and rich but somehow light at the same time. Citrusy and green. A couple weeks prior to the trip, Greg & Jeff had concocted a twist on the “Saint” cocktail provided in the promo booklet that dangles around the neck of the liqueur’s 10-pound bottle (or so it feels). Jeff even personally served this original recipe to a certain Mr. Spielberg, who praised its perfection.
One of my favorite late-summer drinks has always been the Diablo, of course taken from Paul Harrington’s book. It’s spicy from the ginger beer, fruity with black currant and lime, and everyone’s instant favorite. The mix goes like this:
Diablo
Fill a shaker with ice.
1 1/2 oz Sauza Hornitos tequila
3/4 oz Crème de Cassis
1/2 oz Lime Juice
Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass, including ice.
Top with 2 – 3 oz Ginger Beer and stir.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Towards the back of the St-Germain booklet is a quote from Gary Regan: “It’s the perfect sort of liqueur to experiment with when working with gins, tequilas, and piscos. Subtle, but holds a definite presence. I really do love this stuff.”
So experiment I did, coming up with a companion drink to the Diablo: the Angelo. I was hoping for something similar to the Diablo, in a yin/yang kinda way. I found the St-Germain at BevMo and the Sparkling Lemonade at Trader Joe’s. Perfect for a hot afternoon like the one today, it’s light and refreshing – with the emphasis 100% on the St-Germain’s curious aromatics, supporting its flavor without taking anything away.
And yes, it’s heavenly.
Angelo
Fill a shaker with ice.
1 1/2 oz Sauza Hornitos tequila
1 oz St-Germain
1/2 oz Lime Juice
Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass, including ice.
Top with 2 oz Sparkling Lemonade and stir.
Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Tags: cocktails, lime, summer, tequila
Sometimes it’s the unexpected things that stick with you. Case in point: very posh bangers on a bap.
Visiting London this past summer, Kristin & I met up with a group of friends at the Market Porter – an out-of-the-way popular spot just south of the Thames. We hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and there was a sinfully tempting waft of herbal smoke coming from the shop next door… no, not that. This was rosemary and sage, unmistakable and irresistable. Their handwritten sign advertised “very posh bangers on a bap” – Kristin had no idea what that meant, but I promised her she wouldn’t be disappointed and told her to wait while friend Kerryn & I bought a couple. What they had set up was a small electric vertical rotisserie of sorts – the way you see Greek places cooking gyros – which they had skewered thick sausages on, all the while loading up the base of the grill with fresh rosemary and sage for smoke (that’s the “very posh” part).
The vendor sliced a hot, freshly-grilled sausage (banger), placed it on a good-quality hamburger bun (bap), and indicated a choice of spreads – mustard, ketchup, or curry, I think. The English mustard isn’t exactly like anything here – maybe halfway between French’s yellow and Dijon, only spicier.
Long story short, it was the most memorable (and cheapest) meal we had on our vacation… and one that I’ve endeavored to replicate at home.
Very Posh Bangers on a Bap
1 package Johnsonville stadium bratwurst
Kaiser or potato roll buns
Dijon mustard
Freshly-grated horseradish
Fresh sprigs of sage & rosemary (five or six each)
1. Heat a charcoal grill to medium-high heat and rake the coals to one side of the grate.
2. Place the sausage on the open side of the grill, away from the heat.
3. Place a couple sprigs each of rosemary and sage directly on the coals, close the lid, and let them smoke until they burn out.
4. Place the rest of the rosemary & sage on the coals, flip the sausage over, and let them burn out again.
5. When they herbs have burned away, move the sausage directly over the coals and cook on both sides until well-browned and cooked through.
6. Remove the sausages from the grill and let cool at least five minutes, then slice in half length-wise and width-wise to quarter them.
7. Serve on a bun with Dijon mustard and horseradish mixed in to taste.
Tags: bbq, food, recipe, x-boards
