Barbecue Pork Frito Pie

If you're from Texas then you're no stranger to Frito pies. The toppings that are placed on top of the Frito chips vary from: chili or leftover barbecue. It can be served in a bowl or plate but the norm is to have it served from the bag the of chips.

It's probably been over 10 years since I've had a Frito pie but a few weeks ago my friends and I stumbled upon a barbecue trailer on South Congress Avenue in Austin, TX that was serving barbecue Frito pie. This must have been our lucky day since our reason for being out and about was to attend the chili festival there. With so much people at the festival we decided to venture elsewhere for something to eat. Thanks to Bar-B-Que-T, my ten year drought of Frito pies have come to an end. I enjoyed it so much I made a variation of this dish for a Super Bowl party. I tried to stay true to the barbecue ways by slow cooking a five pound pork shoulder on the barbecue grill for five hours at about 250 degrees. The result was a beautiful dark brown bark on the outside while keeping it juicy on the inside.

Barbecue Pork Ingredients:

5 lbs Pork Shoulder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:

4 cups ketchup

1/2 cup Worcestershire's sauce

1 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 can Bush's Grillin' Beans

1 yellow onion (diced)

5-6 garlic cloves minced

2 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon canola oil

Accompaniments:

Frito Lay Fritos

Cheddar cheese (grated)

Red/White onions (diced)

Jalapenos (fresh or pickled)

Barbecue Pork Directions:

Evenly distribute and rub in all of the dry spices listed above on the pork. Let this sit for about 20-30 minutes. The salt will draw out moisture and your rub will look more like a paste. Then continue adding any of the spices that did not stick initially to the pork. Set your grill to the lowest heat. If you're using charcoal leave one side of the grill free of charcoal and fire. You're going to be using the indirect heat cooking method on this pork so that it doesn't burn and turn into charcoal itself. Place the pork on the side of the grill that's not heated/charcoal free. Let this cook for one hour and then flip it on the other side. Continue flipping every hour for 5 hours. You know your pork is ready when it's fork tender and can be easily pulled. Once the roast has completed cooking, let it rest by covering it in foil on a plate for 30 minutes before cutting or pulling the meat. To prep for the Frito pie you can either use your hands and tear bite size chunks or use a knife and cut the meat into 1/2 inch cubes. I cut mine into bite size pieces.

Barbecue Sauce Directions:

Preheat a large stock pot or dutch oven on medium high heat and add oil. Next add the onions and the salt and let it sweat for 5-7 minutes or until translucent. Then add the garlic and stir it around for about 2 minutes to get some additional flavor out of it. You're now ready to add the ketchup, Worcestershire's sauce, black pepper, paprika, cayenne, and honey. Lower the heat to simmer and let this cook for and additional 30-40 minutes; continue stirring every 10 minutes to keep the bottom of the pan from burning. Now that your barbecue pork and sauce is ready, you'll now add the pork to the sauce and stir well. Add the beans and let this continue on simmer for another 30 minutes.

Your topping for your Frito pie is now ready! All you have to do now is put all the ingredients together. This is how I like to do it. Start off with the Frito chips, add the barbecue, add a little cheddar cheese, freshly chopped onions, and jalapenos. I have no idea how I would've been able to fit that all in the original Frito Lay's bag, but I guess that's why they invented bowls.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Rice-Tapioca Noodle Soup (Kow Piek Sehn)

I thought this dish was perfect for the current weather conditions outside. If you're stuck inside the house and want something to warm you up, you should definitely try this.

Kow piek sehn is a very traditional Laotian dish that's known to cure the common cold and hangovers. At least that's what we Laotians believe. I think it's kind of strange that we love to eat this when it's cold outside but back in the homeland this dish is enjoyed in 100 plus degrees temperature with 100 percent humidity. I guess that means this dish is good no matter the weather or temperature.

Because these noodles are made from scratch many people tend to think that it's complicated to make. In actuality, the noodles consist of only 3 ingredients: rice flour (non-glutinous), tapioca starch, and scorching hot water. The soup/broth itself is merely chicken itself. So the next time you're craving this dish, try making it yourself and enjoy the fruits of your labor. You, your friends, and family will love you more for it.

The recipe below will yield 2-3 servings, so do the math to determine your desired yield for your guests.

Ingredients:

Noodles:

1/2 cup rice flour (non-glutinous)
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 cup boiling hot water

Soup:

3 quarts chicken broth
1/2 chicken (bone-in)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (sea salt is fine too)
2 inch piece of galangal root (thinly sliced)

Accompaniments:

Cilantro (roughly chopped)
Scallions (roughly chopped)
Red or white onions (thinly sliced)
Chili oil or dried crushed chili peppers
Fried shallots
Jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
Soy sauce
Sriracha
Hoison sauce
Limes (cut for juicing)

Directions:

Noodles:

Combine the flour and starch and mix well. Now, slowly add the boiling hot water. Begin kneading the dough but be very careful as it can give you a 1st degree burn. To avoid this try wearing latex gloves, wait for it to cool just slightly (but not too much, just enough to where it feels like your hands won't burn), or use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

You can add a little flour or water to the dough if it feels to wet or dry. Once you have a nice and consistent dough, flour your working surface and begin rolling out the dough as you would do with pasta. You'll want to roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch or as thick or thin as you like it. I like mine as thin as possible since they'll thicken during the cooking process.

With a knife begin cutting thin strips of the rolled out dough and you'll see your noodles taking form. While cutting your noodles remember to lightly dust with flour to keep the noodles from sticking. Keep the noodles in a sealed container until they are ready to be cooked.

Soup:

Add the chicken broth to a stock pot on high heat. Then add the chicken and galangal root. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the salt and more if needed later. Lower the heat to medium and cook for an additional hour or until the chicken starts to fall off the bone.

Remove the chicken and begin to shred the meat away from the bones. Keep the two separated and set the meat aside. You can discard the bones now or you can add it back to the soup for more flavor.

Assembly:

Now that you have everything prepared you can now begin putting all the ingredients together. There's one last step before you can do all of that, cooking the noodles. You can choose to cook the noodles in a separate pot or add it to the pot with the soup already prepared.

If you choose to cook in a separate pot then add a few ladles of your soup to a new pot on high heat and add a few handful of noodles. Stir for about 2 minutes and pour entire contents into a serving bowl.

If you choose to add all the noodles to the large soup pot then make sure you remove the bones and roots first. Cook the noodles until it turns slightly translucent.

Now you're ready to add all the accompaniments that you'll enjoy. Don't forget to add your shredded chicken. The herbs and vegetables will add freshness to your dish. The soy sauce will add saltiness, while the hoison will add sweetness. The jalapenos, crushed chili peppers, chili oil and sriracha will all add different levels of heat. Balance out the saltiness, sweetness, and spiciness with some lime juice for some tart. As with any Laotian dish, the perfect balance of all these flavors makes the perfect dish.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

Tom Yum Poached Chilean Sea bass

This is one of the ways I have combined one of my favorite soups (Tom Yum) with one of my favorite fish (Chilean Sea Bass) The concept is pretty simple - first you make the soup and then you slowly poach the fish until it's cooked through. Because I was making three dishes at the time I was making this one, I opted to make a very quick Tom Yum soup with easy ingredients.

Ingredients:

Chilean Sea Bass (4 ounce cut)
1 stalk lemongrass
2 inch piece of galangal thinly sliced
1 quart chick stock
4-6 kaffir lime leaves
4-6 Thai chili peppers (roughly chopped) or 2 tablespoon Nam Prik Pao (Thai chili paste consisting of fried garlic, shallots, chili peppers, and shrimp paste)
2-3 tablespoon tamarind powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3-5 tablespoon fish sauce
1 can straw mushrooms
3-4 Roma tomatoes (quartered)


Directions:

Add chicken stock, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves in stock pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Once the ingredients have come to a boil, reduce the heat down to medium low and add salt, tamarind powder, chili peppers or nam prik pao, fish sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms. Adjust the tartness by adding or reducing the amount of tamarind powder. You can also adjust the spiciness by adding or reducing the chili peppers or nam prik pao. I suggest that you add half the amount listed above for both ingredients first and then add more later to please your palette.

This is the base of all Tom Yum soups, so if you decide to add shrimp, chicken, tofu, etc. this is the time to add it. Your final step is to reduce the soup down to a simmer and place the fish in the soup. Depending on the size of the fish it shouldn't take longer then 6-10 minutes for the fish to fully cook in the soup.