Recipes
Bacon-Wrapped Ranch Poppers
Warm up the grill for your next BBQ with these flavorful poppers! The jalapeños are filled with cream cheese spiked with our Ranch Seasoning and then wrapped in bacon for the perfect bite. They disappear quickly, so plan on cooking up several rounds.
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Chicken Vindaloo
Many of us grew up having grandmothers who were wonderful cooks, so we were happy to find this cookbook full of grandmotherly love. In Her Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from Grandmas Around the World, is a memorable compendium of portraits featuring grandmothers around the world alongside their signature family recipes. This chicken vindaloo recipe comes to the book, and to us, courtesy of Grace Estibero, 82, who grew up in the South Indian state of Goa. If you love a good spicy dish, this one is absolutely delicious!From the Author: "Typical of Indian cooking, chicken vindaloo is a hot dish, which was originally introduced to Goa by the Portuguese. Often served on special occasions, this dish is traditionally prepared with pork, but I am sure you will be fully satisfied with this chicken version."
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Sheng Jian Baozi with Chile Oil
We rarely have come across a dumpling that we wouldn't eat, regardless of what cuisine that dumpling is from! We were very happy to find Andrea Nguyen's classic Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More, which certainly took care of our obsession with all dumplings, and finger food, too! From the Author: "If you like pot stickers and steamed buns, you’ll love these spongy-crisp pan-fried treats from Shanghai, where typically they are cooked in humongous shallow pans (much like large paella pans) with wooden lids. These buns are made of yeast dough that is filled with an aromatic pork mixture and then fried and steamed in a skillet. Cooking under cover with a bit of water delivers plenty of moisture to puff up the buns. Ground beef chuck or chicken thigh can stand in for the pork in this recipe. A bāozi is a mini bāo (bun) and for that reason, I like to keep these true to their name and shape small ones. However, you can elect to form sixteen medium-size (23/4-inch) buns. Roll the dough circles out to 3-1/4 inches in diameter and use about 4 teaspoons of filing for each bun; increase the water and cooking time a tad.Many Asian cooks employ—to great success—a cakey, snowy-white Cantonese-style dough made from low-gluten cake flour or from a quickie flour and baking powder blend. This dough is different; it has more depth, and its loft and resilience comes from combining yeast and baking powder; fast-rising yeast works like a champ. All-purpose flour with a moderate amount of gluten, such as Gold Medal brand widely available at supermarkets, is what I prefer for this dough. Use bleached flour for a slightly lighter and brighter finish.Used in Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian cooking, chile oil is easy to prepare at home, and it’s infinitely better than store-bought. Its intense heat enlivens many foods, especially dumplings, which benefit when chile oil is part of the dipping sauce or used as a garnish. Some cooks add aromatics, such as ginger, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns, to the oil, but I like to keep the chile flavor pure. While you may use other cooking oils, such as canola oil, my preference is for the kind of peanut oil often sold at Chinese markets, which is cold pressed and filled with the aroma of roasted peanuts. It is texturally light, has a high smoking point, and offers a wonderful nuttiness that pairs well with the intense chile heat. Lion & Globe peanut oil from Hong Kong is terrific. Use just the infused oil or include the chile flakes for an extra brow-wiping experience.
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Voodoo Jalapeño Poppers
We've had a bumper crop of jalapeño peppers from the garden this year, and that means POPPERS! Autumn is chile season, though jalapeños are readily available at the grocery store year round. The flavor buzz from these was well worth the effort of seeding all those little suckers, but do wear gloves! The warm bite of jalapeño with smoky paprika in the cheese and the Voodoo sprinkle on top of these poppers goes down well chased by a rich porter. Enjoy a whole platter by yourself while you watch the game like we did, or serve them up at your next fall fête.
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Corned Beef and Caraway Cabbage
Spring is in the air! This is my favorite time of year: Spring training baseball is on the radio, Mother Nature is providing us with some gorgeous sunny days between all the rain, and one of the most fun celebrations on the calendar is right around the corner.That's right, St. Patrick's Day is almost here, and whether your entire family is from the Emerald Isle or you're just Irish at heart, St. Patrick's Day is a great excuse to have some friends over to enjoy a pint or two of Irish stout and some corned beef and cabbage. For our recipe, be sure to brine it for as long as recommended. The salt in the brine carries the flavor of our pickling spices used through the whole piece of meat, and the extra spices reserved for the cooking liquid lend it a great burst of flavor on the surface. This St. Patrick's Day be safe, enjoy some delicious corned beef and remember: "May the lilt of Irish laughter lighten every load. May the mist of Irish magic shorten every road... And may all your friends remember all the favors you are owed!"
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Pumpkin Kale Enchiladas
Last October, the shop was bedecked with lovely heirloom pumpkins. Once they had seen the end of their lives as decorations, we roasted them and added them to everything -- and I mean everything! This recipe was conceived to please the vegetarian we had on staff at the time, as well as all of the ardent carnivores we always have around. It's the best of our pumpkin experimentation and was the first dish to disappear at our most recent tasting.Cooking with whole chile pods can be intimidating, if you've never done it, but it isn't difficult and the flavors are unparalleled. It should be mentioned that "chile" is not synonymous with heat. In this sauce, darkly sweet Anchos complement the roasted pumpkin, while Pasilla Negro and Mulato provide an earthy base to support the sharpness of the kale. Just a touch of smoke is added with the Pasilla Oaxaca, producing a rich and complex concoction that is remarkably mild. If you like your Latin fare a little spicier, you can customize the heat level with a pinch or two of Chipotle Flakes.
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Chocolate Chile Honey Cake
This Chile Honey Cake is a mouth watering example of the time-tested flavor combination of chile and chocolate. By infusing habanero chile flakes into honey, we were able to mellow the heat and reveal its subtle fruity flavor for an irresistible cake. Want delicious chile flavor, but with less spicy heat? Try using Urfa Biber instead - it pairs beautifully with chocolate.The fudgy and fiery creaminess of the ganache frosting, the moist chocolate cake, and the tang of the marmalade combine together to make one delicious cake. While it's perfect for a Halloween party, we've made this cake for birthdays, holiday gatherings, or just when we wanted a thick slice of a really good chocolate cake.
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