Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Bunk]

mir pois - the result of sloppy googling. Apparently it has been incorrectly spelled online that way many a time.

[Sky]

The important thing is how tasty a base it is. Who cares about spelling :P

[Paelos]

Since we're on salt, I haven't used table salt in a long damned time. I've been using kosher because of Alton, though I don't have his cool little container (yet). But it's very easy to add by hand and seems to have a less harsh taste.

I agree with this as well, and it's gone a long way to help improve the quality of things like my vegetables and baked potatoes. Also, I love it on steaks/chicken, but I'm not as big of a fan of it on fish.

[Nevermore]

The important thing is how tasty a base it is. Who cares about spelling :P

I'm probably one of the few who really doesn't like mirepoix.  I just hate carrots and I'm not a big fan of celery either.  On the other hand, you don't have to limit yourself to just those aromatics.  I use onions/garlic in almost everything.  Add some ginger or mushrooms and there you go.

[Signe]

  I use onions/garlic in almost everything.  Add some ginger or mushrooms and there you go.

Wok it all up in a little oil and add some rice and I'd consider that a nice dinner!

[Engels]

So, today was experiment day, and the experiment was Pork Shoulder Roast ala Anglo/Spanish/Mexican/Appalachia with collard greens.

3 cups of English honey mead
2/3rds cup of tangy bbq mopping sauce. This is very light light red in color. Its not texan style, but closer to NC style. Its tangy quality comes from being mostly vinegar.
1 jar of Piquillo peppers
2 teaspons of Tapatio sauce
light rubbing of vegetable bouillon paste.

After searing the meat for a few minutes in butter, I slathered on the above and slow roasted it for about 5 hours, leaving the lid asquew to let some of the liquid boil off during cooking.

After the meat was fork-tender, I removed it and cooked the collard greens in the remaining sauce. Here's some pics:

[voodoolily]

I love, LOVE Carolina-style BBQ. Everything about that dish you posted is spot-on (except the piquillos - I prefer mine stuffed with goat cheese as a tapa). Gimme a plate of biscuits and I'd wreck that pork butt.

[Engels]

Dumping the recycling today I realised that I had actually used regular fire roasted red peppers rather than piquillo peppers. I don't think it mattered too much, since although it didn't detract from the main recepie, it didn't add a whole lot.

This didn't turn out quite like NC bbq, simply because it is missing that vinegary tang that NC bbq has. Its more of a sweet/spicy taste.

I think my next mission is to do actual NC bbq. If you have a tried and true recepie for a homemade NC bbq brine/marinade/whathave you, that'd rule. I mean, sure I can look up something on the internets, but its more fun to try stuff from people you can give feedback to.

[voodoolily]

I do a pretty good one that Bunk has field-tested. It's on my br0g. You can search for it there (pulled pork) or I can link it when I'm not surfing from my phone. 

[Engels]

I think I found it:

Carolina-style barbecue sauce

2/3 c apple cider vinegar
2/3 c white balsamic vinegar
1/4 c hot sauce (such as leftover Frank's Red Hot -Mango wing sauce from last weekend)
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch salt
cracks of pepper


Reading your blog and elsewhere, I hadn't realised that NC BBQ 'sauce' is actually added and blended into the meat -after- the shoulder has been cooked. I think that on my next attempt, I'm gonna try this recepie of yours, maybe modifying some stuff a little, such as putting in red pepper flakes as is traditional in NC bbq.

PS: sorry about your foot!

[Bunk]

That's the recipe I field tested, and I will say it was a huge hit. I haven't tried the pork with a BBQ sauce yet, I've been serving it with Sriracha (sp?) mayo. The rub is good enough that I still have a bag of mixed sitting in my cupboard.

[Sky]

I was feeling shitty yesterday, called in to work. By evening I was feeling better and HUNGRY, but there wasn't shit in the house I felt like making. Had a few eggs, so I decided to make some pasta. 2/3rds cup of flour to each egg. Rolled it out and cut into fettuccine strips, served with some herbed butter. Nom!

[Engels]

Voodo, I'm gonna make that pulled pork. I already have the rub mixed into the meat, and its sitting pretty in the fridge overnight. Question. You state:

Combine these things and rub the mix all over the pork butt. I mean really rub it in good. I cut little slashes all over the meat so I could shove more rub in. Fridge the thing for at least 4 hours (this is all the time I had - overnight would've been preferable). Pull pork out of the fridge an hour before cooking time.

Preheat oven to 250oF. Brown the meat on all sides to get some nice Maillard flavor - the sugar in the rub will burn a little while it caramelizes, but I think this adds a nice depth of flavor. Cover and roast for ~75-90 minutes per pound (my 2.74-lb. butt was done in 4 hours), flipping the meat every hour or so. On the last flip the meat will fall completely apart in your tongs and that's how you know it's ready.

My question is: Do I use the remaining rub in the baking process, or do I ditch it? Also, do I need any brine of any sort in the roasting process, or are the meat's juices enough?

Regarding the sauce:

2/3 c apple cider vinegar
2/3 c white balsamic vinegar
1/4 c hot sauce (such as leftover Frank's Red Hot -Mango wing sauce from last weekend)
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch salt
cracks of pepper

I was thinking of skipping the balsamic and only using the apple cider. Is this ok or ill advised?

Finally, do you think I should hash up the pork and mix in the sauce and let it sit in the meat as a post-roast marinade of sorts, as is done 'normally', or should I do it your way as a 'dipping' sauce?

[Nerf]

I've got a Carolinaish vinegar BBQ sauce recipe that supposedly goes back to the 1800s around somewhere, I'll see if I can find it.  I'd recommend making it outside unless you want your house to smell like vinegar for a week.  It's good, but I like my BBQ sauce sweeter and thicker, so I only made it once, I use what I have left (it makes a couple gallons) for marinades and it does a great job.

I'm making bread tonight, and I've never made bread before, I'm really hoping I don't fuck this up too terribly.

It's an herby-cheesy bread:

4 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
6 cups bread flour

I don't know what bread flour is, but I used to some all-purpose unbleached flour, so I hope that works.
It's sitting in a bowl on the table for another 30 minutes or so, I'll snap some pictures of it when it comes out of the oven.

[Engels]

Looking forward to hearing your recepie, Nerf.

In the mean time, here are the results of my latest venture. Excuse the picture quality. A bit too high ISO on it.



It followed Voodoo's recepie to a T with one exception: The NC sauce was a bit too 'gourmet'. Not bad, mind you, but I found a number of recepies that called for a smack of ketchup in it, so I squirted in some, added some ground pepper (as the original called for) and bingo, it tasted just like I remember.

The rub is ab-fab. The whole thing is a keeper.

[Hindenburg]

Looks great. Shame about the ketchup.

[Nerf]

Found it, fortunately for all of us Moki actually saves recipes and shit on his computer.

Secret family recipe traced back to a slave family somewhere in the south, or so the lore goes I was told when given the recipe
*1 Large can of Tomato juice, and two "small ones", unsalted, if you can get it.
*6 Quarts of apple cider vinegar.
*1 Lb. salt.
*1/2 Lb. black pepper.
*2 Tsp. cayenne pepper.
*4 Tbsp. ground clove.
*8 Tsp. ground allspice.
*4 Lb. brown sugar.
Now, here's the important part: ya gotta cook it. At least 6 hours, overnight is the preferred method. Mix it all together, and cook it. At the end, it should be about a 1/3 reduction. Bring it to a boil, then simmer 'till done. Take care not to scorch it, this will ruin your batch.

Now when we made it, the reduction ended up being more than 1/3, but it still came out pretty watery.  It is damn tasty tho, has a real nice tang.  Just make it outside, as the aroma is pungent.

[Engels]

I'm gonna have to adjust all the measurements for a small batch, and hope that my oven vent in my apartment is enough to deal with the boiling vinegar fumes.

[voodoolily]

Oh gosh, sorry I haven't been around! I'm glad the recipe worked. My use of white balsamic is totally high-falutin' but tastes good. The excess rub can be reserved in a small jar and used on chicken, too.

Next time serve that pulled pork on a soft hamburger bun with some slaw and commence toe-curl.

[Draegan]

Voodoolily! 

Hopefully you're still around in the next 2 hours.  I need an easy vegetarian dish to make for my gf tonight.  I have to cook!  Any ideas for an interesting entree?

[Signe]

Geez, that chicken pot pie on your blog looks so good.  I need to make chicken pot pies soon!  Also, loved the African food article.  I don't really have room enough to deal with pickling, but my sister's attempt at pickling a few weeks ago was a horrible failure.  It all ended up very nasty.   

[Sky]

I did a great fake pot pie in a skillet a while ago, using frozen pie crust as a topper. It was good except the crust

I've learned by doing those kind of dishes that I really, really dislike shredding chicken (hand cramps), but it makes it sooo much better.

[Nebu]

Some of my favorites:

Vegetarian Chili and a bread bowl

Grilled portobella mushrooms, summer squash, and zuccini on foccacia. 

Pasta Primavera (typical white sauce with butter and heavy cream and mixed fresh veggies)

Pesto on homemade pasta.  Also a nice red sauce from diced/blanched fresh tomatoes garnished with basil.

Beans and rice with cilantro

Eggplant Parma

Eggs any way you like with half&half (half white potato, half sweet) pan fries or grits

Broiler seared asparagus with vinegrette and rice pilaf

[voodoolily]

I'm a sucker for a buttery wild mushroom ragout with pappardelle pasta (lots of chopped fresh herbs and parm on top), a nice crusty batard and some sparkly white wine. Yum.

Also, the potpie was for laughs, but was still tasty.  I have to confess, I totally used Marie Callender's pie crust. Too lazy for pastry last night! Plus all I have is whole wheat flour, and it is not good for biscuits or pastry. 

[Draegan]

I actually made some zucchini, squash, basil tomato sauce with "non-meatballls" with spaghetti and then made some garlic bread with mozz and basil.  Easy enough.
 

[MrHat]

I ate like half a loaf worth of bread on Monday covered in peanut butter and strawberry preserves from Trader Joes.

[Trippy]

That must have taken a long time to wash all that stuff off afterwards

[MrHat]

That must have taken a long time to wash all that stuff off afterwards

Who said I washed it off.

[Sky]

Why the heck is this on page three?

Did a dinner for the moms yesterday, birthday thingy. I asked her what she wanted and she went for grilled steaks with mushrooms, mashed sweet potato and salad. Got a deal on some rib steaks, made my normal mashed sweets (with maple sugar!) and had a mixed spring greens (Dole bagged, I was lazy) with some tomatoes, red bells, cukes and some provolone with a balsamic vinaigrette (her fave). Mushrooms I just sautee in butter until they soften and brown, add some seasoned salt.

Basic, but such a perfect meal!

[voodoolily]

Steak with sauteed mushrooms, mashed (sweet) potato and salad is perfect.

[Yegolev]

I had pineapple for breakfast a few days ago.  Top that.

[Signe]

I don't know why this thread isn't stickied.  Everything else is!  I gave my gas grill away to my nephew and plan on getting one of THESE sorts instead.  Though I can't find a picture of the one I actually want and I forget what it's named.    This one looks okay, too, though. They seem to have made charcoal grilling much easier regarding mess and ash disposal.  Gas grills don't excite me much for some reason, especially when it comes to steak and game.  One of those fancy shmancy hardwood grills would be awesome.  You can use charcoal on those too, if you like.  Thing is, I don't grill all that often and those things cost more than my entire self is worth.

[Prospero]

That Weber is a really solid grill; I got one last year for father's day to replace my crappy apartment grill. It's big enough you can have a three zone fire and it is really easy to clean up. If you have a Home Depot near you check out their grilling section; they sell large chunks of hickory and mesquite wood in a bag. Pop a couple chunks into your coals and you will grill the meanest steak ever.

[Yegolev]

What's that "One-Touch Cleaning" thing about?

[rattran]

I agree that the Weber is the bestest charcoal grill. I have both a 22" and an 18" old style 'Silver' on the front porch. I don't use brickettes in it, just lump charcoal and blocks of wood, and it's fantastic. Last year I upgraded to a heavier gauge hinged steel cooking grate. Makes adding wood in cooking much easier.

That 26.75" seems like it might be even better. Might be big enough to replace both grills on the porch.