Habanero Hot Sauce

Once a year the Griller Instinct team makes hot sauce.  We make enough to last for 12 months.  It keeps well in the refrigerator.

Up until 2012 I have only made one version of the hot sauce.  The version is a food additive. What does that mean?  The sauce is too hot to put directly onto food.  It's meant to be added to other dishes to increase heat and flavor.  For example, half a teaspoon can be added to a cup of ketchup for burger night.  A tablespoon can be added to a pot of chili. A teaspoon can be added to tomato sauce, and so on.  Just so we are clear this version of the hot sauce should not be added directly to your food unless you want a mouth full of fire.

Many of my friends can't grasp the concept of a food additive.  Why not?  I'm not sure, maybe they drink too much.  So by request this year I made a second version of hot sauce that is not a food additive but rather a sauce that can be added directly to food.  Don't get me wrong, it's still hot but nothing too crazy.

In the video you will see me making both versions of the hot sauce.  The sauce that went into the pot and then was placed on the grill to simmer, can be added directly to food.

While the food additive hot sauce is my own recipe, the lower test version is not. I researched many ingredients and techniques for making hot sauce and I found a recipe I really like.  Here it is.  I also really like this guys (calls himself Meat Head) blog.  When I'm looking for new ideas and suggestion this that is what I read.

As far as the food additive version goes, here is my recipe:

First, let's talk safety.  Thick rubber gloves are required to do this and I would also recommend wearing glasses.  Do no roast habaneros indoors, especially with kids home.

5 pints of habaneros
1 cup of peeled garlic
kosher salt
pepper
white vinegar

This is very simple.  Roast the garlic in a foil tent with olive oil and salt.  Put the foil tent on the grill but use the inside shelf so there is less direct heat.  Figure the garlic will take 15-20 minutes.  It needs to be cooked but not burnt.

Roast the habaneros.  Put them on a baking sheet an put the baking sheet on the grill.  Toss the peppers around after 7 minutes and let cook a little longer, total should be 10-12 minutes.  When you start to smell the roasting peppers they are almost done..  You are looking for partial blackened peppers. Careful when you open the grill.  Don't inhale the fumes.

Once everything has cooled a bit pull the stems off the habeneros (leave everything else in tact like the seeds) and add to the blender.  Then add the garlic and some salt and pepper.  Then add some vinegar, I would say two cups.  Blend.  Add more vinegar if you want a runnier sauce.  Add less if you want it to be more viscous.

Bottle it up and you are good to go.

 

2012 Chili Contest - "Still Sleeping Alone" Wins Second Year in a Row

Last Saturday was our local chili cook off.  The way the Front Porch Chilifest is run, the year after you win, you are an honorary judge rather than a competitor.  Rocco and I are competitors at heart so we opted to enter a Chili and only be eligible for the people's choice award.  We were not eligible for the judges pick "Best in Fest".

RECIPE

Result?  We won again!  Two years in a row of "peoples choice" award. We worked on the chili from 8am - 2:30pm, then hauled all 70lbs over to the contest. Those giant chili pots came from Rocco's bagel shop.  He also browned off all the meat the night before to give us a head start.

At the contest we served every drop.  500+ people had the pleasure of sampling "Still Sleeping Alone". We had a big jar of my homemade hot sauce (recipe and video coming soon) as an option to increase the heat.

If your ready to make your own I'll give you my best advice.  Don't be afraid of chili powder.  There is a lot more chili powder in good chili than you might think.  Chili needs to be very spicy to taste like chili.  Not necessarily hot and spicy, just spicy.  The quality of the chili powder is also a big factor.  That big plastic McCormick container you bought at BJ's in 1998..  chuck it.

This was all for charity. The Front Porch Club raised over 10K for the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council.

There were some minor adjustments to the RECIPE from last year.  I can't give away all our secrets, but I will give you a hint!  Any ingredients not listed in the recipe (there aren't many) appear in the video.  Check it out.

If you want to compare how we made the Chili year over year, here is the 2011 video:

Paella Night

Everyone shows up for Paella Night.  It's a stressful project, especially over hot coals where there is little control of the temperature. There are a thousand variations of paella but I usually make this one.  It' a combination of seafood, chicken thighs and chorizo sausage.

Crowd size recommendation: 6-8
Level of difficulty: 8/10
Assistance required: yes, 2-3 people to help cook
Cost: $$$ (on a scale of $-$$$$)
Pluses: One pot wonder
Minuses: Timing the rice to be ready as the clams open up can be tricky.


Notes: When the paella is about done, you let the rice burn slightly on the bottom.  That is called...

Soccarat

Paella's finishing touch, La Soccarat, is the most simple yet most elusive part of the process. La Soccarat is the slightly burned crust of rice on the bottom of the Paella pan.

Why would you intentionally burn the rice? Well first, it is only a slight burn, and second, because it adds an orchard-like authenticity to your Paella.

Since we are doing this over charcoal, it's already authentic! Anyhow, heat up second chimney of charcoal when the rice goes in. Then add the extra coals to the grill 5 minute before the dish is finished. This will add a lot of heat to the fire and make it easy to create the soccarat. Just stop stirring the paella for the last 60-90 seconds of cooking and the bottom will get a crust.

Here is the recipe.

Shrimp Boil 2012

Every year this meal gets a little better.   Nothing beats a shrimp boil at the beach.  This was a great way to end the summer.  Thanks Greg for narrating.

Shrimp Boil Recipe

 

Grilled Bruschetta - for anchovy lovers

This is world class appetizer.  If you love anchovies (like me) you will love this recipe, and if you don't like anchovies, just leave them off and it's still great. You will need a cast iron pan or griddle.  This should be placed on top of your grill grate and brought to a high heat.

1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 baguette sliced into 12-15 1/2 inch thick slices
1 log of soft goat cheese
1 can of anchovy fillets
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon of fresh minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves

1. Make the sauce.  Combine 1/2 cup of olive oil with 1/2 bunch of minced flat leaf parley, 1/4 cup oregano and minced garlic.
2.Toss the tomatoes with 1/2 cup oil and salt and pepper.
3. Toast the baguette slices on the grill (about 1 min on each side).
4. Place the tomatoes sliced side down on the hot griddle and leave them there until they are burnt on the bottom (about 10 minutes).
5. While the tomatoes are cooking spread the goat cheeses on the toasted baguettes (about 1/3 inch thick).
6. Remove the tomatoes (use a stiff metal spatula) and place 3-4 on each baguette (the goat cheese will act like glue).
7. Top the tomatoes with one anchovy fillet.
8. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil sauce.

Serve immediately

Roasted Salsa

You know how there are some foods that taste infinitely better when you make them yourself?  Salsa is one of those, and it's right at the top of the list, largely in part because you can get your ingredients fresh, easily make it in bulk and it's simple to adjust it to your taste as you make it (plus, who doesn't love salsa?).  There's also the added bonus that salsa doesn't turn quickly--salsa will last in your fridge for a week--you're almost always guaranteed to use what you make.  It's versatile, and we put it on anything: eggs, steak, whatever...

Most people are used to salsa being red, but it can also be green (salsa verde), getting its color from  tomatillos instead of tomatoes. This version of Roasted Salsa is combination of both tomatoes and tomatillos.  I roasted most of the ingredients, and I'm sure you're wondering why roast them?  The first reason is that warm salsa is slightly different, and the other is that cooking the ingredients on the grill gives the salsa a distinct smokey flavor.

In the video, I used canned tomatoes, though normally I would advocate using fresh.  The tomatoes in my garden were not ready, but the grill was on, we were hungry for salsa, and sometimes you just have to make sacrifices .  But my first tomatoes are starting to turn red now, so I plan on using fresh ones to make the next batch, and I know I'll notice the difference.

2lbs tomatillos, husked
2lbs of vine ripe tomatoes or 1 large can of whole San Marzano (just tomatoes, not the sauce), chopped
2 medium white onions
4 serrano chiles seeded (or not)
12 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Juice of three limes and the zest of one
1 tablespoon of sugar
healthy splash of olive oil

1. Grill the tomatillos, onion and serranos until they start to get soft.  Use a grill basket if you have one.  If not, use kabob skewers.

2. Wrap the garlic in foil with some olive oil and salt.

3. Grill for about 15 minutes.

4. Combine everything in the food processor and give it a whirl.  Do not over process!  This should be chunky.

5. Enjoy!

Check it out:

Father's Day Leg of Lamb with Mint Chimichurri Sauce

There's an old saying that the way to a man's heart is through is stomach, so what better way to show dad how much you love him than with a delicious meal on Father's Day.  For those of you still in need of a great grill idea, I've got something easy and crowd-pleasing, because, let's be honest, who wants to spend all day on Father's Day cooking?  

But who wants to eat well on Father Day?  Everyone.  

Grilled leg of lamb is something that is easy to make that also takes very little time and effort to prepare.  The real key to this recipe is temperature.  Leg of lamp is thick in some spots and thin in others, so getting the whole piece of meat medium rare is tricky.  The lamb needs to come off the grill when the thickest part if at 125 degrees, allowing some of the meat to be rare and and some to be medium.  Everyone is happy. 

While the meat itself has a great flavor, if you want to add a nice twist to it, here is a great version of Chimichurri sauce that nicely compliments the lamb.  Here's everything you need:

Take one leg of lamb, and 2 1/2 hours prior to cooking, whisk together 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil and lots of salt (Kosher) and pepper.

Slather the meat in the marinade and put it in the refrigerator..  Remove lamb from refrigerator 45 minutes prior to grilling to allow the meat to come to room temperature.

For the Mint Chimichurri sauce:

In the video below, you see I use a food processor to make this; that was a mistake.  I ended up needing to add additional hand chopped ingredients to get the right consistency, which is oily with chucks of stuff in it.  Mince everything below.

1/2 bunch of oregano (can be dried, but only this one ingredient; all other ingredients should be fresh)

1 bunch parsley,

2 bunches of mint,

3-4 jalapenos (remove seeds),

5 cloves of garlic,

1 Big splash red wine vinegar

1-1.5 cup olive oil

salt (kosher) and pepper

juice of 3-4 limes (grate some zest in if you want to get crazy)

Grilling the Lamb:

Make the grill as hot as possible.  Grill time will be approximately 15 minutes per side, but may be much less, depending on the thickness of the meat.  Grill side one for 12-15 minutes, flip, and after another 6 minutes start checking the temperature.  Get the meat off the grill at 125 (center temp, for medium rare in the thickest part). Leave grill on. Cover the lamb with foil and let rest for a least 10 minutes before you carve it (1/2 inch thick slices).  The thickness will vary so you will have some medium rare and some medium.  If you a cold center part, keep carving.  Take the pieces that are too rare and throw them back on the grill for 30-45 seconds per side.

Check out the video:

Jammin Salmon

Want to cook a whole fish?  Here is how we did it.

Call the fish market and order your fish cleaned, scaled, and deboned.  Ask them to leave the head and tail on. We used salmon (about 6lbs).

1. Soak two cedar planks in water.  Do this minimally 30 minutes before you want to cook.

2. Open up your salmon and add:

-1 thinly sliced white onion

-1 thinly sliced lemon

-1 cup of fennel fronds

-sea salt and fresh ground pepper

-fennel butter (2 sticks of softened butter combined in a food processor with fennel fronds, honey,a little orange juice, sea salt and pepper).  Make up your own proportions.  Taste it, see if you like it. Put it back in the fridge and let it cool down again.

3. Close the fish and tie it.  Use butcher string and tie it every three inches. 

4. Heat a grill to medium.  Place the cedar planks on the grill. If you can turn off the burner directly under the planks, do so. Place the fish on the planks.  

5. Flip the fish after 20 minutes.  Then cook the fish for about 20-30 minutes, or until the center temperature is 135 degrees.

6. Remove the fish from the grill (don't let the head come off, like we did), cut off the string, and serve.

Holy Guacamole

It's rib night.  I assume you have already read that post from a few months back.  We needed a great appetizer to go with the ribs.  Guacamole is an obvious choice.  Guacamole has to be made fresh. Store bought guacamole is gross.

A few notes:

Picking out ripe avocados is critical to guacamole success.  They need to give some when you squeeze them, but not be mushy.  It's a fine line, and takes some practice.  If you can't find ripe avocados, just make something else.  Unripe avocados just wont work at all.

Guacamole starts turning brown after about 30 minutes, if left uncovered.  Leaving the pit in the guac does nothing.  You can drizzle lime juice on top and refrigerate it, and that will help a little bit, but really what needs to happen is oxygen must be kept off the guac.  Use plastic wrap and cover the guac by placing the plastic on top, so no air interacts with your appetizer.

.5 medium white onion diced
2 Serrano peppers diced (for hot guac use both peppers and include the seeds, for medium use both peppers and remove the seeds, for even less hot use one Serrano and remove the seeds)
1-2 tablespoons of kosher salt
.5 bunch of diced fresh cilantro

Combine these four ingredients.  You can muddle them, use a food processor, or finely dice them together.

now add:

meat of 5 avocados
juice of three limes
1 health splash of olive oil
fresh ground pepper

fold all this together (I like to leave it chunky)

check out the video:

Matzo Ball Confit

Yes, I know what confit means.  No, I'm not going to cook Matzo Balls in their own fat.  However, I will substitute the duck fat from the smoked ducks we made last week for the required oil in the Matzo Balls, and that is what makes this recipe right for Griller Instinct.

Let's start with the chicken soup that the Matzo Balls are served in.  Well....  I accidentally deleted the video of me making the chicken soup.  So, I recommend make some really rich chicken soup (you can always used my Smoked Chicken Soup recipe if you need a base).  I used two 4-pound chickens (in parts), carrots, onions, garlic (1 head), thyme, celery, two bouillon cubes, fresh dill, a jalapeno and whatever vegetables I had kicking around.

Cut all the vegetables in quarters.  Don't waste time peeling them them.  Put it all in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, them turn it down and let it simmer for 1 hour.  Strain everything out and keep the broth (chicken soup).  Hold on to the chicken and make into something else, like a chicken salad, since there's no sense in wasting perfectly good food.  Some recipes call for cooling the soup and removing the fat that floats to the top.  I say "that's ridiculous."

Is this enough broth?  Perhaps not.  To make a Griller Instinct broth there needs to be some grilled components, right?  I boiled the leftover Thanksgiving (smoked) turkey carcass, and froze the broth (back in November obviously).  So I'm adding that to my chicken soup for a little extra liquid and a slight smokey flavor. I can't imagine you not having some smoked turkey broth in your freezer, but if you don't (and you should), have some good quality boxed broth ready to go.

Don't forget the duck was smoked, as well, so the Matzo Balls are going to have a back note of smoke to match the broth.  There you have it, Griller Instincts take on Matzo Ball soup.  When I told Stew how great they balls came out, he said "no sh*%, you made them with duck fat!"

Here is my Matzo Ball recipe:

12 eggs (beaten)
5 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley
4 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup of smoked duck fat (you can substitute 1 cup of clarified butter)
3-3.5 cups of matzo meal
2 cups seltzer

Combine all this (with a big whisk).
Put in in the fridge for two hours.
Fill a big pot with 2-3 inches of your broth
make 2 inch matzo balls (get some oil on your hands to keep the meal from sticking to you)
Boil broth, add balls, (leave a lot of room as they will double in size), reduce heat to a simmer, cook for 30 minutes, remove and let dry on a dish towel. This will likely take two to three batches, and you will keep having to add broth.

When you are ready to eat, heat up the soup, add the balls to the liquid to let them heat back up, then serve.

Here is the part of the video I didn't delete: