I have always shown my love through the preparation and sharing of food. There are a number of reasons and choices for this expression of love, and each time I embark on cooking there is a story to tell.
This site will share recipes I’ve created or explored; my trials and triumphs. This will also curb my tendency to post everything I cook on social media, abusing the patience of friends and family 🙂
The need may arise to use up fresh ingredients, and no specific recipe comes to mind. Sometimes, I come across an ingredient to try, or a technique not yet explored. Or…in the middle of cooking I realize I’ve forgotten a key ingredient, and don’t have it on hand. These are the invitations to create, invent, improvise.
Shrimp is less expensive and more attainable these days than its popular bisque cousins – crab and lobster. This is a rich and creamy soup with a more subtle flavor. It can be a meal in itself, or can be rounded out with a salad and a nice crusty bread.
Ingredients
For Bisque
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
5 Cups Seafood Stock, see recipe below
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
3 Cups Chopped Leaks, white and light green parts (about 3 leeks)
1.5 Tablespoons Garlic, Minced
1/3 Cup Brandy
1/3 Cup Dry Sherry
6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
3 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons Madeira
1 Teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to Taste
For Seafood Stock
Reserved Shrimp Shells
2 Bay Leaves
1 Lemon, cut in 1/2
1 Large Carrot, peeled and cut in to large pieces
2 Ribs Celery, cut into large pieces
1 Medium Onion
1 Teaspoon Vegetable Bouillon powder
2 8 oz. Bottles of Clam Juice
6 Cups Water
Instructions
Peel and devine Shrimp, reserving shells.
Combine all ingredients for seafood stock in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour. Strain solids and reserve resulting stock. Add enough water to make 5 cups if necessary.
Meanwhile, dice shrimp into small pieces, keeping a few whole for garnish.
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add shrimp and saute until pink and mostly cooked through.
Add leeks to dutch oven. Saute leeks until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the brandy and cook for 1 minute, then the sherry and cook for 3 minutes more. Transfer shrimp (except whole shrimp – reserve for garnish in a separate bowl) leeks, garlic and all pan juices to food processor. Use a spatula to get all the pan juices into the food processor bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of the seafood stock to the food processor. Pulse until shrimp, leeks and garlic are coarsley pureed. Let rest in food processor bowl and proceed to next step.
Melt butter in dutch oven. Add flour and cook over medium-low heat for about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk to form a golden roux.
Add the cream and cook, stirring with a whisk, until thickened. Stir in the Madeira and cook for another minute. Stir in the pureed shrimp, the remaining stock, tomato paste, Old Bay Seasoning, and Worchestershire sauce.
Lovely, cool, and creamy this dessert is the perfect antidote to a sweet-tooth in the summer’s heat. The ingredients are usually on hand in my refrigerator and it takes a little over an hour to prepare, most of the time spent chilling the lemon custard.
Ingredients
4 Large Eggs, whole
4 Large Eggs, yolks and whites separated
1 1/4 cups + 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
3 teaspoons Lemon Zest
3/4 Cup Lemon Juice, fresh
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Fill a large saucepan with several inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
In a large, heat-proof bowl, whisk together the whole eggs and the egg yolks, the sugar, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt.
Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly, for about 10-15 minutes. A whisk is helpful in this stirring, especially as it begins to thicken, but should be applied gently. The mixture will thicken and lighten as it cooks.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 1 hour until it is chilled through. The result will be a thick lemon custard.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg whites for 1 minute, and then add two (2) tablespoons of the remaining sugar. Continue beating egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the chilled lemon custard.
Add the cream to the bowl just vacated by the egg whites along with the remaining two (2) tablespoons of sugar. Beat on medium to high speed until stiff peaks form.
Fold whipped cream into the lemon mixture. Spoon resulting mousse into serving dishes and chill thoroughly. Serve cold.
Serving options
Crumble graham crackers, vanilla wafers, shortbread or lemon cookies in serving dish before spooning lemon mousse into chill.
Kombucha has been around for over 2000 years. It s a drink made by fermenting sweetened green or black tea. The sugary tea turns into kombucha with the help of a SCOBY—a.k.a. “a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast”—which looks a bit like a floating mushroom. Except it’s made of live bacteria.
During the fermentation process, the yeast and bacteria in the SCOBY feeds on the sugar in the tea, releasing probiotics as well as B vitamins, enzymes, and organic acids. The fermentation also naturally creates carbon dioxide gasses, naturally carbonating the drink. This is why it is so fizzy.
How to make your own home brew:
First, get your hands on a SCOBY, fermenting jars and some reusable bottles for the finished product. So far, I think Amazon is great for economy, 2-day shipping, and availability of supplies. Local home-brew shops also carry these supplies. Glass, stainless or ceramic are good choices for brewing kombucha. Some people use wood barrels and claim it adds wonderful dimensions in flavor to the brew, which I do believe, but I have an aversion to anything I can’t sterilize and wood barrels aren’t as readily available. Avoid plastic, and any metal that is not stainless steel. Kombucha can cause leaching during the brewing process with these materials.
You can order your SCOBY from Amazon or speciality sites that sell the organism. It should come in a packet surrounded by kombucha starter liquid (DO NOT DISCARD THIS LIQUID). If you are lucky enough to have a friend that can supply you with a healthy SCOBY, all the better. If you have to purchase your SCOBY, you may also wish invest in a bottle of live, raw, unflavored Kombucha to serve as your starter. If getting a SCOBY from a friend, ask them to include 2 cups of starter kombucha. Keep your SCOBY in a sealed, sterile environment at room temperature prior to brewing. Never refrigerate your SCOBY.
New SCOBY, came with a bonus baby 🙂
Next you will sterilize all your equipment. You want to promote the good bacteria but not introduce anything unwanted that could lead to contamination of your brew. I run everything through the dishwasher, using non-reactive pots for steeping tea, and glass fermenting jars and bottles. Then I rinse them after the come out of the dishwasher to insure that there is no soapy residue at all, as it could kill the lovely organisms you are trying to feed.
With a healthy SCOBY and sterilized equipment, you can begin your brew.
Basic Recipe
1 Gallon Chlorine-free water
4-6 Black or Green tea bags or 1-2 tablespoons loose leaf tea (I use 3 Ice Tea size Black Tea bags as my preference)
1 Cup Sugar
1 full-size kombucha SCOBY
1-2 cups mature kombucha starter liquid
Equipment:
1.25 Gallon Brewing Vessel
Pot or Kettle for boiling water
Muslin Square
Large Rubber Band
Instructions for brewing
Heat 1 quart of the water to just below boiling in a non-reactive pot. You can either steep in the pot, or add to your brewing vessel. Allow your tea to steep for 10-15 minutes, and then remove tea.
Add cup of sugar to brewed tea while it’s still hot and stir until it is completely dissolved.
If you did not use brewing vessel to steep your tea, transfer it to the brewing vessel now.
Add remaining cool water. Allow to cool to room temperature before proceeding. Cover loosely with clean muslin cloth to prevent impurities from getting into the tea while it cools.
Once the tea is cooled below 100 degrees Farenheit, you may add your SCOBY and the starter liquid. If you are using your hands, make sure they are clean, but don’t wash with anti-bacterial soap, or use a clean stainless spoon to transfer SCOBY to the tea. Add 1-2 cups of mature, raw kombucha on top of the SCOBY, either provided from a friend or from a verified raw, unpasturized source.
Cover the jar with a breathable cloth and secure with rubber band.
Place in a dark storage space, that will maintain a temperature of 65-85 degrees Farenheit. Ideal range is 75-80 degrees. In the winter, this may be hard to maintain, but not to worry, komucha will ferment acceptably at lower temps, but it will require a longer brewing cycle.
Allow tea to ferment for 7-21 days. You will need to taste your brew to get the desired level of sweetness/tartness. I slip a clean straw below the SCOBY about 5 inches and take a sip. You can do this as early as 5 days after you begin your brew. In warmer temps, it will brew faster.
Once your kombuchas is fermented to your prefered taste, it’s ready to harvest.
Remove SCOBY to a clean sterile bowl and loosely cover with a cloth. Collect at least 1-2 cups of mature kombucha from the top of the brew to use as the starter for your next batch.
The rest of kombucha is available for drinking, either straight from the vessel, or you canbottle it with or without adding flavors.
Start a new batch repeating steps 1-10. If your SCOBY has replicated itself, you can separate the new SCOBY and start a second batch or store it in SCOBY hotel.
You can flavor your finished kombucha with fruit juice, fresh fruit or leave it unflavored. To increase the natural carbonation of kombucha, you may choose to bottle condition it. Fill your bottles leaving head room and seal. Let sit another 3-7 days in a dark storage area at room temperature, and then transfer to the refrigerator. The kombucha will continue to ferment as it sits in the dark, increasing carbonation, and maybe even developing a little SCOBY. Placing in refrigerator stops the fermentation. I like to stop my second fermentation after 5-7 day, longer and the brew gets more tart (which might be your preference) and a lot of pressure from carbonation can build.
There are a lot of great resources on the web and e-books or written books. I’d encourage further investigation and suggestions from other reputable sources. Suggestions on locating a healthy SCOBY, choices in fermenting vessels, flavorings, and maintaining SCOBY health are plentiful on the internet.
The SCOBY Hotel
Depending on your rate of consumption, once you get going, you can use the new SCOBYs produced by the process to increase your production. Or you can keep it smaller by storing SCOBYs in a SCOBY hotel. This is basically a vessel that allows you to store live SCOBYs, occasionally feeding them a bit of fresh kombucha from a newly brewed batch. Keeping extra SCOBYs will let you experiment with your brewing conditions knowing you have a back up in case something goes wrong. You will have your own healthy SCOBY on hand to start again. You can also gift a SCOBY to an interested friend from your SCOBY hotel.
Tips for the best fermentations
Do use properly steeped tea. Under steeping will result in a weak brew, oversteeping a bitter brew.
Do sterilize all your equipment to make sure that the good bacteria and yeast are not contaminated by unwanted organisms.
Do keep your fermenting kombucha in a dark place until you are ready to harvest.
Do use chlorine free water in both your tea and when cleaning your SCOBY or setting up your SCOBY hotel.
Do use unflavored, non-pasturized starter for your first batch. If purchasing brewed kombucha from a store for this purpose, please check to make sure the cultures are live. I’ve used the GT brand with good success.
These “lobster” rolls are made with Langostino tail meat. Langostino is not really a lobster, and costs significantly less. Its flavor and texture are very similar, and restaurants sometimes substitute Langostino to offer lobster-like dishes at a lower price. Some species of langostino look somewhat like a flattened lobster, while others resemble a prawn. What we call Langostino in the US is the meat of the squat lobster, which is neither a true lobster nor a prawn, but more closely related to porcelain and hermit crabs.
I love lobster rolls, having first enjoyed them on the East Coast when visiting family. Sweet lobster in a light lemony dressing on a soft roll with a side of slaw is about as New England as it gets. The recipe here uses langostino for cost savings, but can be made with regular lobster if that is your preference. If I want to splurge, I’ll make this with real, fresh lobster.
For a twist I added spring peas. They are purely optional and may offend a lobster roll purist, so leave them out if they are not your thing. I like their fresh sweet taste, and happened to have an abundance of them on hand. They bring additional texture and flavor, but if they are not available or desired, the recipe is delicious without them.
Ingredients
3 Cups cooked Langostino or Lobster meat
1/2 Cup Spring Peas, shelled (optional)
1/3 - 1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives, minced
2 Tablespoons Fresh Italian Parsley, minced
1 Teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
6 Sausage Rolls, Hot Dog Buns or other soft sandwich rolls, Split
2 - 4 Tablespoons of butter
Instructions
Combine langostinos or lobster, peas, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, parsley, Old Bay, and cayenne if desired, in a mixing bowl.
Taste the salad and adjust seasonings; adding salt and pepper if desired.
If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate salad; it will store well for several hours if needed before moving on to next step.
Butter preferred rolls and toast, butter side down, on a preheated grill or in a skillet on the stove top, working in batches. Alternately, you could place in a toaster oven and toast with butter side up on a bagel setting. Toast until inside of bun is a golden brown.
Fill each bun with about 1/2 cup of the langostino or lobster salad.
Serve immediately.
Notes
These sandwiches can be used as either a main course or an appetizer. Slicing the filled rolls into three pieces will make a nice appetizer sized serving.
I initially frowned on the use of hot dog buns when experimenting with this recipe, but they have the right balance of flavor and texture so they don’t overpower the delicate texture and flavor of the filling.
Use the freshest ingredients possible, this sandwich has well balanced flavors and fresh juice and herbs are the key.
Its still early summer here in the high desert, but BBQ season is in full swing. One of our favorite ways to prepare heart-healthy fish is on the grill.
Salmon packs a health punch with essential Omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, B vitamins, potassium, selenium and protein! It is high in the anti-oxidant Astaxanthin, giving the fish it’s red pigment, which helps with inflammation, supports good (HDL) cholesterol, and reduces oxidation of bad (LDL) cholesterol.
In this recipe, the salmon bathes in a flavorful marinade before grilling. Then it is finished with the great Japanese dry seasoning blend – Nori Fume Furikake. Furikake is a dry seasoning blend comprised of sesame seeds and other seasonings. Nori is seaweed like the sheets of nori used to wrap rolls in Sushi restaurants. Furikake is typically served on rice, which would make a great side dish for this fish, but here I use it to finish the salmon just before removing from the grill to impart even more flavor.
Using a BBQ grill mat to protect the delicate fish from falling through the grill grates.
Ingredients
3 - 4 Salmon fillets, skin on
Marinade
1-2 Tablespoons Nori-Fume Furikake
Marinade
1/2 Cup Low-Sodium Tamari Sauce (or Lite Soy Sauce)
1/4 Cup Avocado or Peanut Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Ginger Root, freshly grated
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Ponzu Sauce
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together all marinade ingredients. Pour into a shallow baking dish that will hold salmon fillets in single layer. Place salmon in marinade, skin side up, letting the flesh rest directly in the marinade for a minimum of 20 minutes, or up to two hours.
Prepare grill. If grilling directly on the grill grates, oil lightly, or to prevent sticking, you can oil a piece of aluminum foil and place on the grates to prevent the fillets from sticking and falling through. I like to use a silicone grill mat which is naturally non-stick.
Preheat grill to 450 degrees.
Collect Tongs, spatula, instant read thermometer and seasonings to be used at the grill. Fish cooks fast, so be prepared ahead so you don’t overcook the fish while you are dashing to get something last minute.
When grill reaches temperature, place salmon on the grill, skin side down. Sprinkle the fillet with Nori-Fume Furikake to taste. Close the lid of the grill and grill for 4-6 minutes per 1/2 inch of fillet thickness. A one-inch thick fillet will take about 8 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure the fish achieves 140-145 degrees Fahrenheit before removing from grill. Grill to your desired doneness, I like mine a bit on the medium-rare side, but you can cook it all the way to well done if that is your preference.
Remove from grill and serve immediately.
Notes:
You can use Togarashi (pepper) seasoning in place of the Nori-Fume Furikake. Togarashi, like Furikake, is a dry seasoning blend with sesame seeds, dried citrus and other flavorings. It can be spicy, Shichimi or mild, Shishito, but is primarily a blend of capsicum.
Salmon is an oily, rich fish that demands lighter accompaniments. Rice, steamed or grilled vegetables and wilted greens make nice side dishes with this salmon. Grilled or fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango and papaya are also good sides.
This is a very quick, refreshing and colorful salad. With 4th of July around the corner and casual summer get togethers, it is a quick fix and makes a beautiful presentation. Often, in late summer, the ingredients come straight from the garden, but they can be found in most grocery stores and farmer’s markets easily.
Ingredients
3- 4 cups Watermelon Cubes
1 Pint Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
1 Large Cucumber sliced
1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, chiffonade
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
Balsamic Vinegar, to taste
Instructions
Combine watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber and basil in a large shallow bowl. Toss with crumbled feta and drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar to taste.
All quanities for this recipe are suggestions and can be adjusted to your preference for taste and appearance.
Using multiple colors and shapes of the tomatoes will bring interest. Garnish with whole basil leaves for a pretty presentation.
This is actually a quick meal, but tastes amazing. Served in big bowls with lots of the stock and a crusty sour dough for dipping, this can actually be whipped up on a weeknight. For this adventure, I substituted some clams for the mussels because I had them on hand. They have different cooking times and I don’t really recommend this as the best approach to this dish, but it is an option. They are complementary bivalve mollusks, but the clams take longer to cook and must be added 5-10 minutes before the mussels to insure they open.
The Basque Chorizo brings the flavors of sweet red pepper, paprika, and garlic to the game. We are lucky to live in an area that celebrates Basque tradition and these sausages are readily available at a Basque deli in the local area. If Basque Chorizo can’t be found, Spanish Chorizo can be substituted. Mexican Chorizo is made with entirely different spice blend and I have not tried it in this dish. If you are up for experimenting that direction, let me know how that works out.
Measurements in this recipe are a suggestion, and you can easily modify it to your tastes and the number of people you want to serve. We like a lot of soupy broth for soaking up the flavor and bread. You can reduce the liquid volume if you don’t want as much broth. If you don’t keep clam stock on hand, chicken stock can be substituted, it just doesn’t have that briny, ocean flavor. You can eliminate the wine and use all stock. This is up to you.
Ingredients
4 lbs Mussels, live or a mix of Mussels and Clams, cleaned and de-bearded
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 oz. Basque Chorizo,casing removed and diced
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
16 oz. tomatoes, diced (a pint of Cherry tomatoes works well)
8 Oz. Clam Stock (can substitute chicken stock)
8 oz. Dry White Wine
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons, Italian Parsley, minced
Well Scrubbed mollusks
Chorizo, garlic and tomato simmering
Adding the mollusks to the stock and wine
Steamed mollusks ready to serve
Instructions
Rinse and scrub mussels, removing any beard (fuzzy clingy stuff sticking out of the mussel shell). If any mussels are open, discard them – they are not alive. You can tap them to see if they will close, but it they don’t, throw them out.
Heat oil in a dutch oven or large lidded skillet over medium heat.
Add diced Chorizo cook until it begins to brown.
Stir in minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes begin to soften.
Stir in stock and white wine. Cook to reduce by 1/4 and release alcohol.
Add mussels and cover with lid, steam for 10 minutes until the mussels open. If chosing to mix with clams, remember to cook clams first for at least 5-10 minutes until they start to open, and then add the mussels to insure clams cook completely.
Discard any mussels (or clams) that do not open.
To finish: Stir in butter and 1/2 the parsley. Divide into serving bowls and sprinkle with remaining parsley.
A party in a paper baking cup! These cupcakes suitable for adult birthdays, Cinco de Mayo, office parties, and summer get togethers. They are as much fun to make as they are to eat.
This recipe starts with a simple white cake mix and then layers in margarita flavor to the cake and glaze. We finish with a little salt and lime cream cheese frosting. The salt will compliment the sweet tart of the lime cream cheese frosting.
If you wish to make a non-alcoholic version of these cupcakes, eliminate the alcohols from the glaze and replace with orange juice in combination with the margarita mix step as all other alcohol in the cake will cook out during baking, but leave behind the bright flavor of the spirits.
While it looks like a few steps, they are all pretty simple. It takes about two hours to make these cupcakes with baking and cooling times.
With a little salt and lime….
Ingredients
Cake
8 ounces Margarita Mix (no alcohol)
3 ounces Tequila
1 ounce Grand Marnier
1 box White Cake Mix
3 large Egg Whites
2 Tablespoons Avocado or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Lime Zest
Glaze
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Margarita Mix (no alcohol)
1/4 Cup Tequila
1/8 Cup Grand Marnier
Frosting
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, softened
8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
2 Teaspoons Lime Zest
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
4 to 4 1/2 Cups Confectioners Sugar
5 Tablespoons Lime Juice
4 Drops Lime Extract
Finishing Touches
Salt Flakes (suggest Maldon or Fleur de Sel)
Lime, sliced thin then cut slices in half
Paper straws, cut to desired length
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with baking cups for 24 cupcakes.
Whisk together the margarita mix, Tequila and Grand Marnier in a small bowl or measuring cup. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of liquid (or whatever quantity of water is called for on the cake mix box); reserve any remaining for the glaze.
In a bowl of a stand mixer or mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat egg whites on high until foamy. Add oil and beat a few more seconds until combined with egg whites. Add cake mix and lime zest and the 1 1/4 cups of margarita mix from step 2. Beat on low for 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium for 2-3 minutes. Batter will be smooth but have lumps from the lime zest.
Spoon batter into cupcake liners about 2/3 -3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Know your oven. If it runs hot, check after 15 minutes, increasing time by 5 minute increments until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cook in pan for about 10 minutes and then move to a rack to completely cool.
While cupcakes are cooling make glaze by combining sugar and margarita mix and butter in a small sauce pan.
Heat over low heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and melt butter. When sugarr is dissolved and butter is fully melted, remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, plus any liquid left from step 2.
When cupcakes are completely cool, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over the tops of the cupcakes in a thin layer. Do all cupcakes and then repeat the glazing until each cupcake has at least 3 coats of glaze.
Prepare the icing:
In a stand mixer with paddle blade, or large bowl with electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy and combined.
Add in 4 cups of powdered sugar and the remaining ingredients. Beat until creamy.
Add more powdered sugar until the frosting is of the consistency for spreading or piping.
Ice the cupcakes using the method you prefer, spreading or piping it over the glazed cupcakes.
To finish cupcakes, twist the thinly sliced lime halves and place on top of the cupcakes. Add a straw if desired and sprinkle with flake salt very, very lightly. Just a few flakes per cupcake. You want the hint of salt, but not too much.
This sauce is a bit sweet and sour, but still retains the basic elements of a traditional BBQ Sauce. It’s very versatile and creates good carmelization and glazing when added on the grill. Pork and chicken work very well with this sauce.
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
6 Cloves Garlic, whole
4 Cups Rhubarb, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 Cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Molasses
4 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce
1/8 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Beer
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Rhubarb & Strawberry Sauce or other Sweet/Tart Jelly
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1/2 Teaspoon Tabasco (optional)
Instructions
Gather all ingredients.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchement paper.
In a large bowl, toss onion, garlic, and rhubarb with avocado oil. Spread mixture evenly on prepared baking sheet. Cook in oven for 18-20 minutes until rhubarb is soft. Transfer to a large sauce pan.
Add all other ingredients except salt, pepper and tabasco to the sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the rhubarb is falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Using an immersion blender, blender or food processor, puree sauce until very smooth.
Return sauce to pan if not using an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste, optionally, add Tabasco sauce to taste. Adjust level of sweetness by adding additional brown sugar or molasses if desired, or make more tart/acidic by adding additional apple cider vinegar. This is where you can adjust the sauce to your personal taste.
Insure all ingredients are well combined.
Will store refrigerated for up to a week. For longer storage, you can freeze BBQ sauce in a freezer container for up to six months, or use a canning method for storage up to a year. I chose to process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes to can the BBQ sauce for longer storage.
Ribs cooked on the Pellet smoker glazed with the Smokey Rhubarb BBQ Sauce
Notes
If you don’t have Rhubarb & Strawberry Sauce on hand, you could substitute Red Pepper, Tart Cherry, Currant, or a combination of these Jellies to get the sweet/tart flavor needed. Optionally, you could add fresh strawberries or raspberries during the phase when you cook down the roasted rhubarb with the other liquid ingredients.
This is a forgiving sauce, and you can play with it to make it your own by changing up ingredients, just checking the flavors and insuring balance. When I first started the sauce it just didn’t seem quite right until I added a very small amount of liquid smoke and that made all the difference.
I love homemade ice cream. It doesn’t have any added thickeners or stablizers and the taste of fresh ingredients shine through. Many of my homemade ice-cream recipes start with a basic vanilla ice cream and then mix in flavors. Rhubarb-Strawberry sauce as an add-in gives this ice-cream a sweet and tart taste.
I use whole milk and real heavy cream to keep the butter fat high. A combination of vanilla extract and vanilla bean add a boost of flavor and make this ice cream subtley complex. Then I add in some Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce. It’s that simple
I use an ice cream maker to churn the ice-cream. Any ice-cream maker will work, or there are a number of videos on YouTube to follow if you don’t have an ice-cream maker.
Ingredients
Base:
1 Cup Whole Milk
2 Cups Heavy Cream
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste*
Add In:
1 Cup Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce, refrigerated
*If not available, you can either scrape the seeds from the inside of a vanilla bean, or double the vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean paste.
Instructions
Combine milk, cream, sugar, salt and both types of vanilla into a large mixing bowl; preferrably one with a lid. Whisk until sugar and salt combines into the liquids.
Chili for 2-6 hours or overnight. Just before placing in ice-cream maker, stir in the Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce.
Place ingredients into an ice-cream maker and follow manufacturers directions, or use alternate churning method.
Can serve immediately, or freeze for firmer ice-cream.
To store: Place ice-cream in a freezer-safe container and keep in the freeezer.
Notes:
In a hurry? Place the mixture in the freezer for 1/2 hour and then move to the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
Other fruit sauces or mashed fruits in simple syrups can be used in place of the Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce.
