Back Porch Gourmet

Dutch Oven - Chicken Ticca Masala

2012-02-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight we took a culinary trip to India but we didn't leave our back porch. Having tasted Indian food a few months ago at a restaurant, I wanted to bring the flavors of India home. This curry is easy to make, but has quite a few spices in it-- some I presume you don't have in your spice cupboard. Garam Masala can be easily made at home with this recipe.

This turned out tasty, but it wasn't the spicy flavorful dish I had at the restaurant. Not bad for a first try though! With the tomatoes, I would use much less water than is below. 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at most. Even letting it reduce it was very soupy. I prefer a slightly thicker sauce. Also the spices were milder that I like, so I would probably double them. All in all it was tasty and the flavors were layered and subtle. I'll enjoy eating leftovers for lunch Monday.

Tools
12" dutch oven

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cubed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garam masala
3 tomatoes, diced
1 cup water
1 cup yogurt
salt to taste
cilantro, chopped
long grain rice, steamed

Directions
Heat olive oil in 12" dutch oven. Brown onions in dutch oven and add ginger and garlic. Add spices and blend well. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil and add yogurt and chicken. When chicken is cooked, add salt to taste and reduce liquids by half. Serve over long grain rice and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

Bread - Indian Garlic Naan

2012-02-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, my wife and I had Indian food for the first time. We ate at this little strip-mall restaurant nearby. The server asked what we were ordering, and after we ordered (I had Chicken Ticca Masala) she asked if we would like some Naan with our dinner. Having never had Indian food, I wanted the whole experience, so we said yes and had what has to be the best bread I've ever had... until now.

Naan is typically served with Indian dishes like curries and tandoor cooked meats.

Since I don't have a tandoor on my back porch (I just have a glass door... tut tut tut), this is not 100% true to the source bonafide Naan. It is still Naan and still very very tasty. In order to replicate the intense dry heat of a tandoor, I placed a large heap of coals on my patio surrounding a dutch oven lid stand (3 bricks could be used, arranged radially) and placed a 12" dutch oven lid upside down on the lid stand. If I had a big gas stove, I would put the lid on the stove burner and crank it to high.

A few tips I learned-- The lid needs to be very very very hot, so I'd almost start a chimney just for the lid. I had about 12 coals for the lid and it started to cool down too much. I pulled some coals from my main dish and it worked out okay. The other thing, is that the Naan needs to be rolled very very very thin. The intense heat makes the bread rise a lot, so a dough that is 1/8 inch will rise to 1/2 inch really quick. Only do one Naan at a time, since the lid will stay hot better. When turning the bread, put it on new real estate so it stays scorching hot. I turned them with my hands, and got burned a few times. You might want a spatula that handles high heat.

Tools
12" dutch oven lid
lid stand

Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

Mix yeast and warm water to activate yeast in a non reactive container. Mix sugar, milk, egg, and salt and beat with whisk. Add 3 cups flour and mix to a soft dough with a wooden spoon. Fill a 1 cup measuring cup with flour and toss half on a table. Knead until dough begins to become slightly more stiff than soft. This is the glutens dissolving. Don't knead to a windowpane as in other yeast breads. Kneading should only take 8 to 10 minutes. Stretch skin tight, form into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot. Let raise for an hour. Preheat a dutch oven lid suspended over hot coals with a lid stand. Punch down the dough and pull into a small balls, roll very flat with a greased rolling pin and top with garlic. Press the garlic into the dough and transfer to the hot lid garlic side down. Only cook one Naan at a time. Turn when the dough stops bubbling. Cook until browned on opposite side. Serve with melted butter.

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

Lodge's Cast Iron Grilled Steak with Blue Cheese Butter

2012-02-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Last week I won Lodge Manufacturing's Facebook giveaway for most unique breakfast--Aebleskivers. The prize was a copy of the book, "The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook", which hits store shelves today. I'll do a few more recipes and give a more in depth review soon.

Tonight Missla was busy with our congregation's women's organization, so she and the kids ate before I got home. When I got home from work, I received a kiss and she ran out the door. No worries! It gives me the chance to cook up some steaks using the recipe on page 127 of the cookbook, Cast Iron Grilled Steak with Blue Cheese Butter.

The method is to preheat your oven and then get the cast iron piping hot. Sear the steaks for 2 minutes per side, (and I found that if you move the steak to new real estate when flipping you get a better sear) then finishing in the oven for 2-4 minutes. This is how they cook steaks in fancy restaurants, and it delivers the perfect balance of tender juicy meat on the inside, and tasty sear marks on the outside.

Even with my poor quality steaks that had been frozen, it still was the best steak I've had from my own kitchen. I'm going to quit grilling them on propane and use cast iron. The Blue Cheese Butter was a nice touch, and even though I had only about an ounce of blue cheese, the flavor still balanced out well. I'm going to try it again with all 4 ounces of blue cheese. Adding a baked potato lightly touched with some Blue Cheese Butter and a salad with some of the leftover blue cheese dressing rounded out the meal.

If you want the recipe, run out to the nearest book retailer and grab a copy of The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook. I highly recommend it!

Disclosure: Aside from winning the cookbook from Lodge, I received no compensation for this post.

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

Appetizer - Super Bowl Wings

2012-02-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, sports fans! It's that time of year again, and we're here a day late to share with you how to make a great dish to bring to your buddy's Super Bowl party. So unless you drive a Delorien, I recommend you bookmark this page for next year. If you happen to be from the future reading this archived post, please know that this will be a great addition to any gathering, especially a Super Bowl party. Please, future email me and let me know if football is played in a battledome with robot gladiators and humans secretly plotting an uprising. Go human beings!

Uber-nerdy post-apocalyptic distopic robot fantasies aside*, these wings are really good. And yes, the simplicity of the dredge is what makes them so. Coat them well in dredge, on all sides and you'll get a good crispy crust. Science dictates that the crispy crust is going to try to dissolve when you toss them in sauce, so make sure that oil is spitting hot and coat well. Also, don't fry partially frozen wings. They won't cook evenly, the dredge will either burn or won't stick and you won't be pleasing your robot overlords, or guests, as the case may be.

Tools
Deep fryer or Large pot

10 minutes prep
10-20 minutes cook time
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 quarts canola or peanut oil
2 pounds chicken wings, thawed

The Dredge:

1-2 cups flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

The Toss Sauce:

1/2 cup of your favorite hot sauce; I used Shark Brand Sriracha
1/4 cup butter, melted

The Serve & Garnish:

Blue Cheese Dressing
celery, chopped into 4" long pieces

Directions
Heat the oil until it spits when a light flick of water is applied. Mix the dredge, and toss the chicken in it. Spoon the wings in the hot oil and cook until crust is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Remove wings and place in a tossing bowl. Heat the hot sauce and butter until combined and butter melts. Stir to create a combined emulsion. Drizzle the sauce over the cooked wings and toss in the bowl. Let rest 3 minutes and toss again. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery.

*Just try saying that 10 times fast.

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

Dressing - Blue Cheese Dressing

2012-02-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

My favorite part of late winter is watching football while devouring some good eats. Serve this up with some hot wings and you've got yourself some really good food. This recipe is adapted from a family secret recipe and with some major tweaking of my own.

Recipe:

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup blue cheese
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon liberal shakes salt & pepper
1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Mix liquid ingredients in mixing bowl. Add cheese and spices. Mix well and age overnight in the refrigerator. Serve with hot wings, on salad or topping burgers.

5 Stars

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

I see a lot of good things coming...

2012-02-01T20:57:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of recipes! Don't worry, we've got plenty of meat and potatoes coming in the pipeline, we've just been so busy! (And out of both charcoal and propane? Seriously, how does that happen around here?)

Last week I entered Lodge's giveaway on Facebook for the most unique breakfast with my family Aebleskiver recipe, and won the contest! Today my prize arrived, a copy of their new cookbook, "The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook". I drooled as I turned the pages... so many new recipes to try! I see a lot of good cooking in the near future!

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

What the Pho?

2012-01-18T21:17:00.000-08:00

Special Pho Noodle Soup, Rice Fusion Cuisine, Salt Lake City, UT

What is Pho? First, I want make sure you all know the correct pronunciation. It is not "foo", or "foh". It is fuh, as in the F-bomb. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup that comes in a variety of flavors.

Pho is prepared by boiling beef bones on high for 10 minutes, draining and rinsing the foamy water, then fill a large stock pot with water, add the beef bones, various spices, and slowly simmer for 6-8 hours. Then cook rice noodles, place in a Olympic size bowl, then place thinly sliced raw meat on the noodles, add cilantro and other garnishes, then spoon the hot broth over the noodles, cooking the meat.

A proper Pho should come to your table with medium rare meat. If it has already cooked to well done, it sat in the kitchen for 30 seconds too long. To eat Pho, place the bean sprouts in the bowl, squeeze the lime juice in and drop the lime rind in the bowl. The big leafy stick that is on the plate is fresh anise. This is what they make black licorice out of, but don't let that get you down. Anise has a good flavor when added to Pho. I like my Pho with Sriracha (rooster brand) sauce and hoisin sauce, or "brown sauce". The Sriracha gives it a kick, the hoisin, a savory sweet nuance of flavor. I also like adding chili garlic paste if available. Some restaurants use a cheap cut of beef for Pho and that is ok, but make sure it comes to your table still medium rare. Well done and it will taste like dried pot roast. I enjoy scooping out noodles with my chopsticks, slurping them up, and alternating with dips into the broth with the spoon.

Pho is one of my favorite foods, and if you haven't tried it yet, go grab some friends and find a "hole in the wall" Vietnamese restaurant. Many places have the word "Pho" in their name, and if they do, they probably specialize in it. These small family owned restaurants are some of the best. Sound off in the comments-- what do you like about Pho?

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

A Night to Remember: Market Street Broiler

2012-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Friday night my wife and I went out to eat at Market Street Broiler, 260 S 1300 E Salt Lake City. The likes of which I am not affluent enough to sustain a long term relationship with, but we had a gift card. I don't think the English lexicon, or any language has a word powerful enough to describe the flavors we experienced. Knowing this opportunity comes once in a great Bluepoint oyster moon, I decided to create a menu that would enable me to taste as many flavors as possible.

Course #1. Raw oysters.
Understand first that I've never eaten raw shellfish before. And my upbringing was heavily influenced by my sweet mother that invited us to always try new things. I decided to try both Bluepoint oysters (Chesapeake Bay) and Kumamoto oysters (California). Having never eaten them, I tried them purist style-- without any accoutrements. Kumamoto was first. My first bite was a bit too salty (I didn't drain the seawater) but then rendered into a a creamy, buttery flavor that was not too chewy and didn't feel slimy. It was soft and like butter. Cleansing my palette, it was time for the Bluepoint. Learning my lesson, I ditched the seawater and tasted a lightly salty, creamy texture, very savory with a hint of buttery kick. I fell in love. Literally, as I am writing this, drool is running down my chin anticipating my next oyster hit. I think next time, I'm only going to lightly top them with a hint of lemon juice. I tried the vinegar and horseradish, and avoided the cocktail sauce-- I might as well have put ketchup on them. Must. Have. Oysters.

Course #2. Clam Chowder
With the server lightly topping my soup with cracked black pepper, this creamy soup really delivered a knock out to my taste buds. Lightly salty, but only from the clams themselves, the flavor of the chewy (but not in a bad way) clams complements the new potatoes and thick creamy base. Its simplicity was perfect, a hearty soup with just enough clams and potatoes to round it out. I should have gotten a take home jar.

Course #3. Surf &; Turf
A New York prime strip (6 oz) and half an Australian lobster tail. I like my steak medium rare, and the server didn't ask about sauce, but it really didn't need anything. It cut like butter and was juicy and tender. Being the best steak I've ever (and may ever) had, was lightly seasoned with just salt and pepper (and therefore perfect). When I saw half a lobster tail on the menu, I thought I'd be eating small food, and I don't know what those Aussies are feeding their lobsters, but it was quite a lot of meat. It appeared to be steamed, and the meat separated from the exoskeleton well. Dressed with simply melted butter, the light, almost popcorn like meat melted in my mouth. Usually, when you get a good entree, the sides leave something to be desired. Not so. The surf & turf was served with a mountain of onion straws and buttered buttered green beans. These beans were perfect! Stabbing them in the middle, they slid into your mouth and were not too crunchy or too soft. It's hard to describe, but it was delicious! I really liked the onions straws, probably because their garlicky corn based coating reminded me of Funion chips. That's not a bad thing. I almost ate them all.

We didn't leave much room for dessert, but decided to take some back to my folks to thank them for watching our kids. Dad got a raspberry almond torte, and Mom got a key lime pie. They looked amazing.

I highly recommend any SLC local to Market Street. It's a bit pricey, but reasonable for the quality of the food. How often can you have lobster in Utah that was swimming in Australia yesterday?

Back Porch Gourmet | Live Right. Eat Well.

Salad - Apple Jicama Coleslaw

2012-01-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

Knowing that I had to make good on my "weird vegetable challenge", I did a little more research on the 'Tube and came up with this coleslaw recipe. Adapted from this video, I modded it a bit by not adding as much hot sauce, and adding cilantro to the dressing. Personally, I don't like coleslaw, but it's probably the soupy, wet cabbage that you get at a certain chicken restaurant chain, and I really liked the crisp vegetables. The apple and jicama added a sweet flavor as well that replaced the need for added sugar. I guess the challenge was a success after all-- I tried and liked something I didn't like before, and I learned to cook with a new food, which I love!

Recipe:
20 minutes
8+ Servings

Ingredients

1/2 large red cabbage, julienned
2 fuji or gala apples, julienned
1/2 jicama, julienned
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt
pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cholula hot sauce, original flavor

Julienne vegetables and apples and place in a large salad tossing bowl. Add dressing ingredients to a food process and process until liquefied and cilantro is in small chunks. Dressing should be a light green color. Toss vegetables with dressing and let rest 5 minutes. Retoss and serve immediately.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Barbecue - Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork

2012-01-14T20:54:00.000-08:00

Wow. Talk about a busy day. I had decided I was going to smoke a pork roast, bake sourdough rolls, slow cook Boston baked beans in the dutch oven and squeeze in a few errands. As is true of all good things in life, the best things are worth the wait. Tonight's pulled pork was no exception. Missla and I had invited over our friends and I wanted to create a meal to impress, so I figured bread that took 2 weeks to prepare, and a meal that takes 8 hours of cooking would fit the bill. Well, my rolls ended up being sourdough cookies, and they weren't sour at all. So instead, we grabbed some dinner rolls at the last minute and it all worked out great. Next time, I'll leave the baking up to the trained masters at my local bakery. The pork was very tender and didn't need much sauce, but the recipe below is pretty good, and we also used some leftover Alabama barbecue sauce from the pork chops earlier. I actually liked it a lot on the pulled pork. It gave a nice savory flavor to the meat and the zing from the apple cider vinegar was a nice complement.

Recipe:

Low heat
Indirect cooking
6 hours
8 Servings

Ingredients

Boston butt pork roast, untrimmed
Chipotle seasoning rub (commercial)
Apple juice (for the drip pan)

Rub the meat with the seasoning rub until well coated. Set up a kettle grill for indirect heating by placing a foil roasting pan (drip pan) in the center of the grill bottom and add apple juice until half full. Add hot coals to the sides of the drip pan and add soaked hickory wood chips. Replace the grill grate and add the meat above the drip pan. Smoke for 6 hours, replacing charcoal and wood chips often. Remove meat from grill and let rest. Pull meat apart with forks and serve with your favorite sauce.

Mustard Sauce

1 part mustard
1 part dill pickle juice
Cholula hot sauce to taste
Salt
Pepper

Mix in a squeeze bottle and let age in the refrigerator 1-2 hours.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

A Tale of Two Dishes

2012-01-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

Happy 250th Post!

"It was the best of meals, it was the worst of meals..."

A few weeks ago I put forth another cooking challenge. Naturally, I went to the store, picked my ingredients and made possibly what could be the worst meal in Back Porch Gourmet history. As it turns out, eggplant, jicama and rutabaga don't go well together. I'm not going to post the recipe, but I'll detail what happened.

In the store, I found some large eggplants and figured I'd make some ratatouille. Having never eaten eggplant or ratatouille, I knew it required tomato, but didn't check any other ingredients. So I added a bag of roma tomatoes to my basket. Then I saw the jicama and thought I'd make a salad to go with it or something. Again, I've never eaten jicama before, so it was all new to me. Finally, I grabbed a rutabaga, and figured I'd put it in my ratatouille. We got some onions, and some stew beef meat-- I thought it would be an interesting change to add meat to a traditional vegetarian dish.

That night I brought it all together. I seared the eggplant in my shallow Ikea Favorit grill pan, carmelized the onions, browned the beef, sauteed the vegetables, and reduced the tomatoes into a sauce. I put all the ingredients into a casserole and topped it with the tomato sauce and baked it for half an hour. It looked really good. Unfortunately, it tasted terrible. Some vegetables were still cold and uncooked, some were burned, and it didn't seem to go well together at all. We threw it all out.

Then last night, we were at the store for their case-lot sale, and they didn't have what we needed in stock, so we just got a raincheck. We were hungry, so naturally, we went to the butchers and got some pork loin end chops with the most amazing fat marbling I've ever seen. Then we went to produce and got some fresh green beans (my 2 year old daughter loves them more than candy) and hit the bakery and got a loaf of french bread.

Once we got home, I seasoned the pork with a pinch of kosher salt, ground black pepper and a dash of garlic salt. I seared them in the Ikea grill pan. While the pork was cooking, I made some Alabama barbecue sauce, a white mayonnaise based sauce that complements pork quite well. Once they were cooked to medium-rare, I basted them with Alabama barbecue sauce on both sides. Then I removed the chops from the pan, added some more olive oil, and skillet-grilled the green beans. Served with french bread on the side and a dash of olive oil in a little bowl, this was one of the best meals I've cooked in a long time.

So why the opposite effect for two meals, using the same pan separated by a week? For one, the eggplant disaster was amplified by the fact that I've never cooked with those vegetables before. I think a big part of it is that I didn't Keep It Simple Stupid! Lately I've been trying to one-up myself with each dish that I've lost track of the point of why I started this blog-- to have fun! I didn't have fun making and eating the eggplant disaster, but the chops were quite fun to make and eat! The eggplant disaster also tanked because I had no plan whatsoever, and didn't really care how it turned out. I've been making it too complicated, so I'm going to try to go back to basics. Without further ado, here is the recipe for the Alabama Barbecue Pork Chops:

Alabama Barbecue Pork Chops
Recipe:
Cast Iron Grill Pan
Medium Heat
Grilling
45 minutes
4 Servings

Ingredients

4 pork loin end chops
dash kosher salt
dash ground black pepper
dash garlic powder
1/2 cup Alabama barbecue sauce
olive oil
1/2 pound fresh green beans

Season pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Preheat grill pan and add dash olive oil. Sear on medium high heat in preheated grill pan. Turn and rotate to make nice sear marks until cooked to medium-rare. Baste both sides with Alabama barbecue sauce and cook for 5-7 more minutes per side. Remove chops from pan, add more olive oil and sear green beans long enough to make them soft but still crunchy. Serve with french bread.

5 Stars

Alabama Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix ingredients together well until all lumps are removed. Store in refrigerator for up to a month.

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Cooking Challenge - "What is that THING?"

2011-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

I know we've all been walking along in the produce department of the local grocery store, minding our own business picking apples, oranges and onions. All of the sudden, our eyes fix on something we've never seen before-- its leafy, misshapen or hairy body lying there while all the other shoppers go for the more common, more normal produce. Why does it just sit there? The mainstream population doesn't buy them much, so they get much smaller real estate. Think about it-- how many bins and how many square feet are there for the several variety of apples, oranges, onions, greens and potatoes, but how big is the bin for kale or kohlrabi? Growing up, my mother would make fruit pizza, a sweet pizza with a cookie crust and whipped icing sauce topped with fruits. She would buy star fruit and put slices on the pizza along with kiwi, strawberries and so on. It was one of the funnest things about winter.

Here's the deal:
In this challenge you're going to walk into the grocery store, head to the produce department, and pick out 2-3 types of produce that:
A) You've never cooked before
or
B) You've never eaten before
or
C) You don't know what it is
or
D) You had as a child, but didn't like it cooked a certain way.

Your mission is to create a dish that centers around this produce. No, it doesn't have to be vegetarian, but the meat should not be the star of this show, just a supporting actor doing a cameo to help launch an up-and-coming star.

Here's the catch- The recipe has to be original. Yes, you can Google the ingredients for ideas and instructions on how to cook them, peel them and prepare them. The point of these exercises are to expand your horizons and force you to think outside your cooking bubbles.

Write up your recipes and post them for everyone to see, then link back here in the comments so we all can see your amazing creations!

If you have a cooking blog or site, please re-post this for your readers to participate, and leave a comment below so we can follow this meme across the blogosphere!

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

One For the Bucket List

2011-12-18T13:52:00.000-08:00

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Product Review - Ikea Favorit Grill Pan

2011-12-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

First of all, I want you all to know that I love Ikea's products. Do I love being corralled from showroom to showroom just to get out of the store? Not so much. All rants aside, my wife and I were doing some Christmas shopping for ourselves and decided we needed new kitchen stuff, and I wanted some Slitbar knives, so we went to Ikea for some kitchen gifts to each other. We saw this grill pan online and wanted to check it out. I wouldn't review it here unless it was relevant to outdoor cooking, and since the pan is cast iron, it is very relevant.

First impressions:
The pan is light for being cast iron, but very sturdy. I wouldn't do any drop tests, but this pan is not going to warp or crack easily. I like the dual handles on each side, and the fact that it is square is kinda cool-- it has a hotspot right under a stove burner, but if you put it on a grill, the pan heats evenly. The grates in the pan make some nice sear marks, and let the fat drip off George Foreman style. I cooked sausage crumbles for a late night breakfast burrito in it, and the sausage was not greasy at all. The fats rendered off and stayed in the channels of the grates.

Complaints:
At first, I was eager to use the pan that I didn't follow package directions and cook some milk and lemon juice in it. I don't know why you'd need to do that-- it would make a plastic polymer called Casein. Gross. I don't want to eat plastic. I figured the pan was preseasoned, so I just oiled it and cooked pork chops. I deglazed the pan and tried to make a sauce, but it actually was pretty gross. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the pan was to blame, I think it was me. However, the first time it was hard to clean. I don't know if following directions would have helped. Over the last few uses, I've rinsed the pan immediately after use, and in all cases, the burnt on meat has come right off. Just dump in the water, and wipe down with a scrubby. Easy peasy.

Strong Points:
Size. The pan is perfectly sized for a burner, not too big for a grill, and fits in my cupboards. Heat retention. Being cast iron, the pan holds heat very well. I convinced my wife to bake the fish fillets for our fish tacos in it tonight, and when she pulled them out and we plated them, I took my tortilla shells and placed them in the hot pan to warm them up. It worked minutes later when I had seconds too! Weight. The pan is light for a cast iron pan, but the walls are thick and strong. Price. At $40USD, it's a bargain for how versatile it is. You can pan sear, fry meats, put it right in your oven, fry bacon on a grill, just about anything!

So is it my new "Favorit" pan? Absolutely. I use it every chance I get.

Ikea Favorit Grill Pan, $40USD

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Dutch Oven - Curried Pumpkin Bisque

2011-11-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

Normally, I don't really like squash-family vegetables, and I didn't really care for pumpkin-- not even pumpkin pie! However, when we planted our Jack-O-Lanterns this year, the seed company put some "Sweet" pumpkin seeds in the pouch, and a totally different breed popped up and gave us a few sweet pumpkins, so I decided I would put my reservations aside and actually learn how to cook a pumpkin. I had heard good things over on Mark's Black Pot about cooking pumpkins, so I went over there and read his articles on how to prepare the puree and how to make soups. I wanted to make it my own of course, so I changed up the spices a bit and used a curried flavor profile to give it some zing! The curry gave this dish a nice eastern feel and balanced out the sweet from the pumpkin.

Recipe:
12" Deep Dutch oven
450 Degrees
Roasting
30 minutes
6-8 Servings
Ingredients

6 cups Pumpkin puree
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups poultry stock
1/2 onion, diced
olive oil
toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup pecans, crushed
sour cream
Cholula Chili Garlic sauce

Begin by preparing pumpkin puree: Slice a small "sweet" pumpkin into chunks about 2-3 inches squared. Pour 1 cup water into a 9x13 baking pan and place pumpkin slices in it, skin side down. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool. Slice skin from pumpkin using a fillet or boning knife. Place pumpkin chunks in blender with 1/2 cup milk per batch and pulse until finely pureed. Set puree in refrigerator to cool. Save seeds and toast, following directions here, but season only with a dash of kosher salt.Saute onion in dutch oven with olive oil. When onions have sweated, add stock, spices and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine. Raise to boil. If soup is too thin, create a roux by melting 1/2 stick butter in a saucepan and adding 1/4 cup flour cooking until golden brown. Add roux a small amount at a time, whisking to ensure an even blend, until soup is thickened to your liking. Serve with toasted seeds, pecans and a dollop of sour cream. Top with Cholula Chili Garlic for some extra kick!

4 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Thanksgiving Jello

2011-11-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy, I had the idea to put plastic cowboys and indians in the Thanksgiving Jello to commemorate the pilgrims and indians' first dinner together. The first year I was married, we made this Jello for my in-laws, to the utter surprise of everyone, when they started to pull plastic men out of their mouths. We got such a reaction out of everyone that we hadn't done it since-- until now.

My platoon of soldiers wait for their surprise attack!

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 large box Jello or similar gelatin, any flavor
1 can cool whip
1 bag plastic toys

Mix the gelatin to package directions and pour into a 9x13 pan. Place the plastic toys (we couldn't find cowboys and indians, so we used army men this time) in the gelatin and let harden overnight. Spread cool whip on top of the gelatin ensuring to cover any pieces sticking out of the gelatin. Serve chilled, and be prepared for the most surprised guests ever.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Thanksgiving Turkey Part II - Deep Frying

2011-11-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

After having a recurring nightmare of me burning down my in-laws house, I was really glad that A, it didn't happen, and B, it was prevented by the Masterbuilt Electric Turkey Fryer I won last year from Larry's Blog. He's got a great site, go check him out! Deep fried turkey has ruined all other turkey for me. I love the juicy warm soft meat, the crispy golden brown skin... Pardon me, I think I'm going to hit the refrigerator for a turkey sandwich. Ahem...

I'm back. This is one thing you should definitely K.I.S.S., and you really don't need a lot of seasoning after yesterday's brine. Just rub it in a little pepper, but NO SALT! The bird will be seasoned well with salt inside the meat. Now Masterbuilt has well taken the house burning down out of the equation, but remember that the oil is at 375 degrees, and could kill a village if spilled, so keep little ones away from the fryer, and camp out until its done. Trust me, you won't be there long. If you can't stand just standing there, get a cool beverage, but stay focused. Every fryer ninja needs to defend his zone. Keep other people safe, keep yourself safe.

This potentially is the best food I've ever had, and it definitely is the best turkey I've ever had. The brining really locks in those juices, my fingers were literally soaked during carving. Just in case, if you don't know how to carve, learn from the best.

Recipe:
Masterbuilt Electric Turkey Fryer
375 Degrees
Deep Frying
3.5/4 minutes per pound

Ingredients

Brined Turkey
Pepper
2 gallons oil

Tools

Masterbuilt Electric Turkey Fryer
Meat Thermometer
Leather Gloves

Preheat oil in fryer to 375. Pat dry turkey inside and out, then rub with pepper. Load into fryer basket and SLOWLY lower into the hot oil. Set the timer accordingly: 3.5 - 4 minutes per pound. In our case, the bird was 10 pounds, so I cooked it for 35 minutes and the thighs registered 170. Remove from oil and hang on lip to drain. When rested, move basket out to cool. When the basket is cool enough to handle, invert the bird on a cutting board, let rest and carve the turkey.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Thanksgiving Turkey Part I - The Brine

2011-11-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to do a brine for a long time, so I talked my mother in law into letting me deep fry a turkey for Thanksgiving this year. After doing hours of research on the web, I decided there was probably no "right" way of doing a brine, and there are countless recipes out there. I wanted to do this carefully and scientifically, so I chose Morton Salt's recipe and this is how it went down:

First, being a food scientist, I needed a graduated cylinder. Since I didn't have any in the lab that would hold a 10 pound bird, I decided to make my own. Luckily for me, a gallon milk jar became available after dinner and I snagged it. I measured to the top of the screw on lip, not all the way to the top. That became "my" gallon. Pouring in water into a new 5 gallon bucket and marking a line with a sharpie gave me the following:

After making the graduated cylinder, the brine was easy to measure. I boiled about a gallon of water and added the brine ingredients, until dissolved. Then I chilled it in the refrigerator for an hour. Pouring it in revealed a little over a gallon needed to be added to bring us to 2 gallons.

After the brine was properly mixed, I added the turkey, breast side down. This bird is 9.74 pounds, and displaced 1 gallon, so the density of the bird is 0.674632034632035 ounces per cubic inch, just in case you were wondering, and the volume of the bird is 231 cubic inches of potential energy that will be turned into chemical energy, creating an exothermic reaction and increasing the mass of the subjects, while acting as a mild anesthetic.

Here's some real science: Brining keeps the meat moist by a process called osmosis. Osmosis works by drawing fluids from the meat's cells to the stronger saline solution surrounding the turkey. But that's only half of it-- the water on the outside is diluted by the turkey's juices, and water can flow in and out of the meat stabilizing to equilibrium and pulling salt and seasoning into the meat. Then the brine changes the cellular structure of the protein, locking in the liquids into the meat, and won't dry out during cooking.

That's real food science! (Lab coats optional)

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup morton kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon peppercorns
5 bay leaves
2 gallons water
Ice
5 gallon bucket

Begin by boiling about a gallon of water. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until all salt and sugar is dissolved. Once ingredients are combined, remove from heat and put in the fridge for an hour. Go watch Mythbusters on Netflix. Once the brine stops steaming in the refrigerator, take it out and pour it into the 5 gallon bucket, which you so smartly turned into a graduated cylinder above. Fill with water to the 2 gallon line. Remove thawed turkey from the refrigerator, taking out of plastic, removing any accessories that have been put inside the cavity, and if you are deep frying, remove any pop up timers. Place the bird breast side down in the brine ensuring that it is completely submerged. Fill bags of ice and place inside the brine. Place in cold garage near the door. Wait 8 hours, but I don't recommend watching 8 hours of Mythbusters in one sitting. Try sleeping. After the 8 hours, remove the turkey from the brine and thoroughly rinse off all the salt and sugar. Pat dry and let rest for 30 minutes prior to cooking.

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Thanksgiving Favorites Roundup 2011

2011-11-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Here at the Back Porch Gourmet, we love us some Thanksgiving. Food, family, food, football, food, sleep, and then leftovers. Yup, it's a perfect storm of good things coming together. So, I'm thankful for my sweet wife and awesome kids, my family (both in-laws and out-laws), good food, great fans, followers and facebookers. I'm thankful that God put me on this earth so I can grow and share my talents with the world on this fun blog. Thanks to all of you readers for your support and listening to my highs and lows in my outdoor kitchen. So now it's your turn. Take a look at this roundup and think of what you are thankful for. Sound off in the comments.

From my kitchen to yours,

Andy

1. Deep Fried Turkey

When I was 8, my Uncle tried to burn down his aspen tree and remove Grandpa's eyebrows when he buried a stockpot in hot coals and dropped a turkey in hot oil, that had not been measured properly. Deep frying a turkey in my indoor Masterbuilt fryer takes the "burn down your house" risk out of the frying equation by using submersible heating elements and a measure-to fill line. I recommend it.

2. Honey Glazed Ham

If turkey isn't your thing, get a spiral sliced ham and cook it up dutch oven style. Always a crowd pleaser.

3. Cranberry Compote

Nothing commemorates pilgrims almost starving to death and being rescued by the friendly locals than a good cranberry sauce. This sweet yet tart sauce gives you the pick me up on thanksgiving morning that you need, especially since you'll be listening to uncle Harold snore all afternoon. Enjoy your food coma.

4. Maurine's Sweet Carrots

Mmmmm... carrots, brown sugar- what else do I need to say? Carrots, the sweetest of the root vegetables. Except sugar beets. And sweet potatoes, especially when you put those little marshmallows on them and toast them in the oven. Pardon me, I need to go wipe the drool from my chin...

5. Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Face it. You've been cooking all day. Who wants to cook a pie? Not me. This no bake makes gluttony easy. Just add redi-whip.

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Skookie - Gimme S'more Brownies

2011-11-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

After cooking 2 amazing dishes that took a bit of work, I wanted an easy dessert. The Skookie pans are easy to cook with, and are very versatile- you can put them on a stove, grill or right in your oven. The preseasoned coating doesn't stick and the hot pads keep your hands from getting burnt. These brownies are a cross between S'mores and brownies and are perfect served ala mode.

Recipe:
8" skillets
350 degrees
Baking
30 minutes
2 - 4 Servings

Ingredients

brownie mix batter
graham crackers, crushed
4 tbs butter, melted
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Mix brownie batter to package directions. Grease skookie pans or small skillets. Mix graham cracker and melted butter and press in bottom of pans. Top with brownie batter and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Add marshmallows and broil for 10 minutes, camping out next to the oven to prevent burning. Remove from oven when the marshmallows represent all that is perfect about a toasted marshmallow. Let stand 5 minutes and serve ala mode.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Grill - Twice Grilled Potatoes, Fully Loaded

2011-11-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

I wanted an impressive side to coordinate with my pork tenderloin, so I came up with these potatoes. They're a cross between twice cooked potatoes and a loaded baked potato and they get the best of both worlds. Be sure the let the potatoes cool after cooking them, and grill them thoroughly to ensure the potato meat comes out easily. I started with a dozen potato halves, but only got 6 potatoes out of it because the other 6 tore too easily. Make sure you par boil them for at least 8 minutes. Then transfer them to the grill to get the crispy skins that make them so tasty.

Recipe:
Medium Heat
Grill
30 minutes
5-8 Servings

Ingredients

5-6 Idaho potatoes, cut in half
1/2 pound bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
1 tbs chives, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Parboil potatoes for 8 minutes and remove from heat. Coat grill with oil and grill face down on medium heat for 10 minutes. Flip potatoes and cook for 10 minutes until done in center. Remove from grill and let cool. Spoon out the potato meat and mix with bacon, cheese and chives, reserving 1/4 cup cheese. Spoon back into potato skins and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to grill and grill 8-10 minutes on low heat until skins are crispy and cheese is melted.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Dutch Oven - Bacon Wrapped Citrus-Apple Pork Tenderloin

2011-11-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Mark Hansen of Mark's Black Pot put forth another cast iron challenge. It called for apples, oranges, mint and meat. I was okay with everything but the mint-- how would it taste with mint in the other ingredients. It always seems when we do these challenges that there is one ingredient that seems hard to implement. I suppose that's a good thing, since it helps us push the envelope just a little further along the comfort zone spectrum. This meal took me 3 hours, used the most dishes in prep I've ever cooked before, and I know I say this a lot, but I learned the most cooking this meal. I was busy cooking the whole time, but never once let everything that needed to be done stress me out. It was literally cooking zen at its finest. It also helps that this meal was the best tasting I've ever had. The smoky flavor of the bacon combined well with the sweetness of the apples and the tart of the oranges. Then the zing of the mint kicked in and joined the party. The tenderloin cooked to perfection and there was only one hitch- I didn't tie the bacon down with chef's twine as I didn't have any, so it kinda exploded in the middle when the meat started to plump. I was able to cut a single slice with a perfect bacon wrap for a photo, so I'll definitely tie the meat next time. This was so good, even the leftovers were good!

Recipe:
12" Dutch oven
450 Degrees
Baking
15 minutes prep time
45 minutes cook time
4 -6 Servings

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin pack
1 pound thick sliced smoked bacon
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 orange, sliced
2-3 sprigs fresh mint
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash celery salt
1 dash ground black pepper
1 dash paprika
chef's cotton twine*

Wrap the entire tenderloin in bacon and press firmly. Secure with twine.

Season tenderloin in garlic powder, celery salt, black pepper and paprika. Place mint, orange and apple in between the two tenderloins and reform into shape with your hands. Lay bacon down on a piece of aluminum foil in rows and transfer the tenderloin to the bacon in the center, rolling bacon up onto tenderloin and forming tightly with your hands. Tie with chef's cotton twine to secure. Rub bacon with black pepper. Preheat 12" dutch oven and lightly oil. Transfer tenderloin to dutch oven and bake for 45 minutes at 450, until internal temperature reaches 150.

Glaze:
1/2 cup apple cider
1 orange, cubed
1 apple, cored and sliced
2 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs corn starch
1/2 cup cold water

Boil apples, oranges and mint in apple cider until juice is rendered from the fruit. Strain reserving the juices, press with a potato masher. Add sugar and dissolve until boiling. Mix corn starch and cold water and slowly stir into boiling sauce until glaze consistency is reached. Chill before serving.

5 Stars
Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

*I did not use the chef's twine to tie the tenderloin, and it expanded, bursting out its bacon overcoat. It still tasted good, though.

Grilled Chicken Wings - Teriyaki & Buffalo Lime

2011-11-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

My wife and I were long overdue for a date night, so we planned to have a quiet night with the kids at Grandma's house, but my wife ended up taking my daughter to the doctor's for an epic sinus infection, so we didn't get our date until 8:00 that night. These sauces feature the Cholula samples that the Cholula company sent us to try. I've always been a fan of the Flavorful Fire, so it's been fun trying their other flavors. These wings would be great on game day, a holiday party, or just because.

Yes, that's steak too. I couldn't decide between steak and chicken, so we had both!

Recipe:

Medium High Heat
Grilling
20 minutes
2 Servings

Ingredients

1 dash house seasoning
12 - 14 chicken wing pieces

Coat wings in house seasoning and grill turning often until crispy and temperature reaches 165 degrees. Coat in sauces below.

Teriyaki Sauce

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chives, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tbs Cholula Chili Garlic sauce
1 tsp seasame seeds

Saute garlic in oil, add chives, soy sauce, honey, Cholula Chili Garlic sauce and stir until boiling. Add sesame seeds and set aside to rest. Coat grilled wings in sauce, let rest, then retoss in sauce. Toss one more time right before serving.

5 stars

Buffalo Lime Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cholula Chili Lime sauce
2 tbs butter

Melt butter in small saucepan, add Cholula Chili Lime sauce, set aside to rest. Coat grilled wings in sauce, let rest, then retoss in sauce. Toss one more time right before serving.

5 Stars

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Appetizer - Roasted Chili Garlic Pumpkin Seeds

2011-10-29T15:23:00.001-07:00

This one dish is probably my most favorite thing about Halloween. I think of my oldest brother when I make these- a few years ago, we visited them at their home out of state, and we stopped at the store, and the pumpkin truck was there. When one fell off the truck and cracked open, my brother asked the driver for it-- and was given it free of charge. We took the damaged pumpkin back to his home and toasted the seeds.

I came up with this variant of the recipe with the Chili Garlic Cholula that was sent to me. It gives it a nice savory flavor with a touch of garlic. Don't forget to salt them just before roasting; you want them salty!

Recipe:
450 degrees
Baking
15 - 20 minutes

Pumpkin seeds from 2 pumpkins
2 tbs Cholula Chili Garlic sauce
2 tbs butter
House seasoning
Salt

Separate seeds from pulp and rinse thoroughly in a bowl of water. Strain. Melt butter and chili garlic sauce in microwave. Preheat oven to 450. Pour sauce over strained seeds in a bowl. Give liberal shakes of house seasoning and toss with a spoon coating all seeds. Spread evenly 1 layer thick on a greased cookie sheet. Shake with salt if desired. Bake in the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes, camping next to the oven. If seeds start to explode before time then they are done. Serve in a bowl or in soup.

5 stars

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!

Video - Bread Raising (Time Lapse)

2011-10-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of my other hobbies is photography, and I've been making a "DIY Intervalometer" which is a device that triggers a camera to take a photo at regular intervals. Today we went to my in-laws for dinner, so I packed up my bread making supplies and my photo rig and shot this video. About half way through, the camera decided to zoom out, so pardon that change. This is about 2 hours of raise time in about 9 seconds.

Click here for recipe!

Bon Appetit! The Outdoors Start at Your Back Porch!