» Recipes

Discovering Okinawan Sweet Potatoes in Hawaii + 2 Tasty and Easy Recipes

Peter Tsai — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:50:43 +0000

Here’s a fun and delicious ingredient that you might not have encountered before, Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, AKA Hawaiian purple potatoes. They are known for their distinct purple color and unique earthy taste, and I think they are way better than a regular sweet potato.

I discovered this culinary delight on my recent trip to Hawaii and have been hooked ever since. Because it was so delicious in all of the forms I tried, I had to experiment with this ingredient once I got home and I decided to make something from it for Thanksgiving.

First things first, here’s how they use the potato in Hawaii:

In a purple potato mash at a touristy restaurant on Waikiki Beach, Tiki’s. I believe they made these with butter, milk, salt, and pepper. It was served it with Laulau Pork (the kind you get at a Luau). This was my introduction to the product and it was delicious.

Okinawan Sweet Potatoes deep fried and salted in chip form (shout out to my brother’s stunt hand for holding and my dad for providing the background) – we ate 2 very large baskets of this, and I had this dish a couple more times on the trip. Possibly the best chips I have ever had, and the flavor is all natural.

If you are wondering if these potatoes are the same as taro (because they are purple too), the answer is an astounding NO. These are way better! Okinawan Sweet Potatoes are more flavorful, deeper in color, and not nearly as tough.

So where do you find Okinawan Sweet Potatoes in Austin? Whole Foods doesn’t have them and HEB certainly doesn’t carry them. After some searching and making calls, I managed to find them at the Hong Kong Supermarket for $2.29 a pound and at Central Market North for 2.99 a pound. I heard a rumor that most Korean markets carry them, but I didn’t actually investigate. The potatoes at Central Market seemed a bit easier to peel because I think they hand pick the longer, more slender ones from the crop, which lend themselves to quicker peeling.

I have been making mashed potatoes for the last couple of years for Thanksgiving, so when I got home, I searched the internet for a good Okinawan sweet potato mash recipe. The first one I tried was Sony’s Okinawa Sweet Potato Recipe – I don’t know how I felt about the mixing of garlic with the sweet coconut milk in that dish, but when I added Massaman Curry on top of the dish to give it a little kick, which tasted like heaven.

The second time around, I adapted the above recipe for Thanksgiving. I wanted to take advantage of the Potato’s natural sweetness, and I wanted to make the dish more of a dessert, so I used a whole can of coconut milk this time and added a lot of cinnamon powder. The dish was a big hit at Thanksgiving, and it was so easy to make. Also, it is good either hot or cold and the purple color of the dish really makes it stand out.

Without any further ado, here is the very simple recipe for Peter’s Purple Potatoes.

Peter’s Purple Potatoes

Ingredients List – Serves 12? people

3lb Okinawan Sweet Potatoes AKA Hawaiian Purple Potatoes
1 can of coconut milk
cinnamon powder

Preparation steps

Step 1 – peel your Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
Step 2 – chop the peeled potatoes into 1 inch cubes
Step 3 – boil potatoes for 30 minutes or until soft (will turn dark purple)
Step 4 – mash the purple potatoes while adding in coconut milk
Step 5 – continue to mash and add cinnamon powder liberally
Step 6 – add sea salt to taste if desired

Happy Tasting!
-Peter

A Tasting Buds Thanksgiving

Kristina — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:42:54 +0000

Turkey Treats by Kaetlan

As the Tasting Bud who claims not to cook, I surprised everyone last Thanksgiving when I volunteered to bring a side dish to the feast. We were expecting more than 30 family members and friends, so I had to come up with something good. I thought about three of the essential food groups: carbs, cheese, and bacon. You really can’t go wrong with that combination, so I opted to make macaroni and cheese. I can, however, tell you a little about my process.

Butternut Squash Bake by Kristina

I had never made it before, so I scoured the internet looking for a recipe. I looked at about a million recipes, and in the end, created my own recipe for macaroni & cheese made with four cheeses and topped with bacon. It was a heart-wrenching process, which resulted in one tossed out batch of cheese sauce, two oven burns, and a myriad new phrases comprised of colorful expletives. The dish was a hit, and only a small serving survived the Thanksgiving feeding frenzy.

Before I recount my Thanksgiving Day task, I have to thank my lovely sister-in-law, Sondra, for helping me avoid the grocery store headache altogether. She went ahead and picked up everything I needed while she was purchasing her Thanksgiving Day necessities. And yes, I did reimburse her.

I had never worked with butternut squash before, but luckily, my mom was on hand Wednesday night to help me peel and cube the gourds. The next morning, I looked over the recipe as I drank coffee and thought, “Ok, this is easy. Time for laundry.” I put the squash (tossed in olive oil and lightly salted) to roast in the oven, and then I took a couple of loads of laundry down to the laundry room. This really was a rare exhibit of domesticity on my part. After a quick shower, I checked on my squash, which was happily roasting away.

I prepared the next few steps of the recipe and went back downstairs to put my laundry to dry. When I came back to my kitchen, the squash was ready and it was time to put the whole thing together. The next 20 minutes went by in a blur of scallions, butter, cheese, and bread crumbs.

The completed dish was finally in the oven to finish baking, and I stood back to assess the damage. My tiny apartment kitchen had random bits of parsley scattered about. I had managed to get mascarpone on the stove, floor, and wall. I even found some bread crumbs on the vent hood. I’m not sure how they got there. Oh, and I successfully sliced open a finger while dicing scallions.

Thanksgiving Feast by Tasting Buds

The result was a tasty dish that did not survive Thanksgiving 2009 – not even a bread crumb – so I would call it a great success. More importantly, I learned a very important lesson: always, always prep before you start cooking. Don’t wait until you need to sauté the scallions before dicing them. Don’t try to chop parsley while you’re trying not to burn butter. And definitely don’t get distracted by an email notification while wielding a very sharp knife.

Will I ever regress back to my bag o’ salad? Maybe someday. In the meantime, I’ve discovered that I actually like cooking, so you may see the occasional recipe posted in the future by this Tasting Bud.

Happy holidays!
Kristina

Guest blog from j9online – Marinara: Tomatoes…and Basil…and Squash… Oh My!

Kristina — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:17:33 +0000

This post is courtesy of our great friend and Blogger Jeaneane McNulty from j9online!

Sometime around late July/early August, my garden gets unruly. It’s getting enough water (thanks to my handy-dandy timer-controlled drip irrigation system), an abundance of sunshine, and not enough human attention, so the things that like it hot start to get a little, um, “frisky”. One day, I noticed a pile of very ripe tomatoes where my countertop used to reside. Curious, I ventured out of the AC to check on the growing things and - gasp - the basil is bolting! The eggplant has suddenly produced a dozen ripe fruits! A mega-squash is visibly lengthening on the vine and the bell peppers, while copious, are tiny from overcrowding.

Folks, it’s time to stop the madness and make some marinara!

Now, you may be saying to yourself, “but I don’t have a garden” or “it’s 102 degrees outside, my garden died weeks ago” or “I only have one ripe tomato”. Lucky for all of us, gardeners far more talented and better equipped will experience this same late summer veggie boom, and they will have so much produce they’ll want to sell it on the cheap. These expert gardeners are also known as “farmers” and can be found at your local Farmer’s Market. When you notice the original prices have been crossed out and lowered, that’s your cue to chat up your farmer for the best deals. Stock up on some farm fresh veggies and make yourself some SAUCE! I guarantee it will beat the socks off of anything you can buy at the store.

Here’s the Marinara recipe I use, with a list of possible “after-market modifications”. Today, I made it as a “primavera” sauce using eggplant, squash, carrots, sweet onion and bell peppers. It yielded 18 cups of sauce, enough for about six or seven meals.

Fresh Tomato Marinara Ingredients List

5 lbs (about 15 big) ripe tomatoes
2 – 8 oz cans tomato sauce
2 – 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 can or pouch of tomato paste
1 large head (or more) of garlic, peeled and minced
3 Tbsp dried basil
3 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp coarsely ground fennel seed (I put whole seeds through a pepper mill)
4-5 dried bay leaves (remember how many you used so you can be sure to fish them all out later)
1/2 tsp (more or less to taste) crushed red pepper
¼ cup (more or less) fresh oregano, chopped
½ cup (more or less) fresh basil, chopped
¼ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Preparation steps:

To peel the tomatoes, bring to a boil a large pot of water.
Cut a V in the top of each tomato, removing the stem. Eat the little ripe ends of the Vs as you go.
Put the tomatoes in the water several at a time for a few minutes. When the peel starts to pull away from each tomato at the cut edges, use a slotted spoon to remove it from the water. Let cool until you can handle them and the skins should then slide right off. If not, boil a few minutes longer.
Set your peeled tomatoes aside to cool a bit more. When all are peeled, make sure your hands are still clean, then squeeze and crush them into a large stockpot, along with any juice that seeped out of them while cooling. Imagine each tomato is a fear, or bad habit, or politician as you squish it into oblivion. There. Doesn’t that feel good?
Okay! Now that therapy is over, throw in your cans of stuff, garlic and dried spices. Cover and simmer 1-2 hours, then add your desired mods (see below) and simmer another 2-3 hours, until the sauce is no longer watery and slightly reduced.
Add fresh basil and oregano, olive oil, salt, pepper and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar (if needed). Simmer 15 minutes more. Freeze in dinner size portions. Will keep up to a year.

The “Mods”: Mix and match any of the following to suit your individual taste. Add after the basic marinara has simmered 1-2 hours. Veggies such as squash, carrots, peppers, onion can be finely shredded and added raw (easier prep and great for sneaking veggies to your kid) or you can sauté larger pieces in olive oil until soft before adding to the sauce for a chunkier texture.

1-2 lbs hot or sweet Italian sausage (pork or turkey). Squeezed from casings, browned and drained.
1-2 lbs ground beef. Browned and drained.
2-3 eggplants, diced and sautéed in olive oil. If bitter, first slice eggplants into slabs. Lay flat and sprinkle tops generously with coarse salt. Let sit 1 hour. Rinse and press out water.
1-2 onions (sweet, yellow or white)
1-2 bell peppers
1-2 yellow squash or zucchini
1-2 large carrots
1 lb mushrooms, sliced or chopped and sautéed in olive oil.

Further tomato musings:

When it comes to marinara, I personally don’t have a preference for a particular tomato. I’ve used all-purpose tomatoes, such as Better Boys, Celebrities, Early Girls, with equally tasty results as Romas (billed as “THE” sauce/paste tomato). If the tomato tastes GOOD, e.g., not like a store-bought tomato, so will the sauce. If you are into growing your own tomatoes, and you want to make marinara – or put them up in some other form such as salsa, sun-dried tomatoes, canned, etc. – look for “determinate” plants. They ripen all their fruit at the same time, give or take a couple weeks, so you’ll have a big harvest all at once. Indeterminant varieties are great for fresh eating; they’ll give you a few at a time all season long to use in your day-to-day cooking. I love cherry tomatoes as an indeterminate for snacking on while I’m tending the garden!

Parkside x2

Kristina — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:53:58 +0000

Trinchero Cabernet Sauvignon

For as long as I can remember, I have been more than willing to try any food, and really, any drink, at least once. After all, isn’t a sense of culinary adventure the key ingredient to being a foodie? Part of my adventurous nature is inherited from my Mexican lineage – memories of my childhood include pig slaughters, fish frys, and barbacoa for Sunday breakfast. The other side is continually nurtured by wonderful people I meet along the path of food discovery – a motley crew of cooks, mixologists, and people who just love to eat. Mollejas (sweetbreads)? Sure. Chicken liver pate? Bring it on. Duck rillette? Um…do you really have to ask?

I first visited Parkside a couple of months ago for my birthday dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. As we walked into the dining room, I was delighted by the unpretentious atmosphere, the austere, yet beautiful, décor – and the sound of My Morning Jacket floating from the speakers overhead! We ordered a Trinchero Cabernet and excitedly discussed what we would each order and what we would share.

We started with the Blond Pate served with finely diced strawberries and crostinis. For some, the taste of chicken liver might be more of an acquired taste than duck liver, but the smooth texture and liver flavor was fantastic when paired with the sweet strawberries and light, crispy crostinis. Next up was the sliced veal tongue topped with perfectly breaded, fried sweetbreads. I only have one word to sum up this dish: EXCELLENT.

As the three of us were fighting over the last nugget of sweetbread, the very gracious manager brought us a plate of fritters to apologize for the long wait for our meal. We actually hadn’t noticed, as our attention was consumed by wine, food, and conversation. The crab meat and puff dough fritters served with fresh herbs were crispy on the outside, flavorful and airy on the inside.

The final two plates we shared before our entrees included a butter lettuce salad served with thick, fatty cubes of bacon, which provided a nice contrast to the sweet and creamy lettuce. We also got a taste of the raw bar: delicate slices of bass topped with lime and jalapeno served over fresh avocado slices. The light and savory dish made me want to come back just for the raw bar.

Our entrees were delivered soon after ordering our second bottle of wine, and I had the scallops with porcini mushrooms and potato risotto. After having disappointing scallop dishes at other restaurants, I was impressed by these perfectly prepared scallops, which retained their full flavor and delicate texture. We also ordered several sides to be shared by all of us. The ratatouille was perfectly seasoned and garlicky, with the fresh flavor of each vegetable in each bite. The white mac & cheese with gruyere and white cheddar and the lightly breaded fried okra with ranch dip were fantastic takes on some of my favorite comfort food.

After a couple of hours, we left Parkside full and happy – a great meal to celebrate the start of my new year.

We returned to Parkside with a few friends a couple of weeks ago and ordered a variety of starters for the table. To our disappointment, some of the dishes we loved the first time were just mediocre this time. The biggest inconsistency was in the ratatouille, which was simply not as flavorful, and we could tell by the cut of the vegetables that it was prepared by a different cook. The service was equally inconsistent, which could be attributed to a busy Saturday night, whereas our first time at Parkside was on a not so busy Tuesday night.

Despite our somewhat disappointing last trip, I will definitely return to Parkside soon to delve into the raw bar and to try the seasonal items Chef Shawn Cirkel will add to his already fabulous menu.

Cheers!
Kristina

You CAN Win Friends with Salad – Taco Salad that is…

Sondra — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:49:18 +0000

According to the Bart Simpson song from ‘Lisa the Vegetarian,’ You Don’t Win Friends with Salad! (link goes to YouTube)

While we love the Simpson’s, my husband and I have to disagree with their song. The following take on Taco Salad is sure to be a crowd pleaser whether you are cooking for a large group of friends, your family, or making dinner for one. After all, who doesn’t like things topped with crushed chips and cheese!?

The following recipe will feed 4 hungry salad eaters.

INGREDIENTS

1-2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 lb. Ground Beef or Turkey
8 oz. Salsa, plus more for topping salad
1 – 15oz. Can Red Kidney Beans (optional) – Drained and well rinsed
1 – 5oz. Tub of pre-washed Organic greens (look ma!, no washing or chopping!)
6 oz. Baby Carrots – Sliced
4 oz. Radishes – Sliced
4 oz. Cherry Tomatoes – Halved
1-2 Cucumbers – Thinly Sliced
1 Red or Yellow Bell Pepper -Chopped
1 Avocado – Diced
Other optional/additional vegetables include:
Mushrooms
Red Onion
Black Olives
Black Beans
Cheddar Cheese – Shredded
Crushed Corn Chips to top
Recommended Salad Dressing:
Blue Cheese
Honey Mustard
Catalina
Vinaigrette

PREPARATION

Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium heat then add meat to brown. Half way through browning, add salsa to flavor meat. Once meat has cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
In large individual bowls, compile salads in the following order:
Salad Greens, Carrots, Radish, Cucumber, Tomato, Bell Pepper, Ground Beef, Beans, Cheese, Avocado, Salsa or Dressing, and Chips.
The best way to make these salads is individually to each persons liking, as my Mom and I did when I was growing up. Dad – no radishes. Mom – no carrots. Me – well I liked it all. Of course, the salad can be one that represents health and better caloric decisions for you and your loved ones but I like it best smothered in avocado, cheese, and crushed chips. Currently, I prefer mine topped with Honey Mustard but my Mother would insist that this is not our family’s traditional recipe if it doesn’t get dressed with Catalina dressing. One may ask, what is Catalina dressing? Well it basically consists of Tomato Soup, (most recipes from the 1960’s used Catsup – yes – Catsup) Pepper, Salt, Sugar, Vinegar, Worcestershire, Paprika, and Onion. BLECH!
Any way you dress it, this salad can become a weeknight staple that takes on a life of its on and will definitely win friends and influence people.

Thanks and Happy Fooding!
Sondra

Shrimp and Grits (Prawns and Hominy) – Great Meals

Peter Tsai — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:22:37 +0000

If you are a regular to the blog you might know that I went to South Carolina a few weeks ago to photograph a wedding in Charleston and get my Southern Cooking fix. I’ve already written about my fast food experiences on this trip (see my post on Bojangles’ fried chicken), but I did get to sample some highbrow South Carolina cooking during the wedding as well at the restaurant Tristan at the French Quarter Inn.

The bride and groom really love food, and their reception seriously had some of the best wedding food I have ever eaten. The highlight of the meal was definitely the Shrimp and Grits, or ‘Prawns and Hominy’ as the restaurant Tristan likes to call it. While those who have never had this dish might think that the combination of shrimp and grits together (pictured above on the right) is weird , trust me on this one – get over it, eat it, it’s delicious and you won’t regret it.

So what are Hominy grits? They are a ground corn product that looks a bit like grainy, often slightly soupy mashed potatoes. Read more in the Wikipedia entry about grits. The version we had was a bit more fancy , as these stone ground hominy grits were a bit chunkier and thicker in consistency, but the idea was the same. While I didn’t make these on my own, the chef did cook these right in front of me so I have a rough idea of how to make them

Ingredients for the Shrimp and Grits (as displayed on a placard at the reception):

Wild shrimp
Bacon
Sun dried tomatoes
Stone ground hominy grits
Pan gravy (they used onion, butter, and heavy cream to make this)

From what I observed, these were cooking steps for the shrimp.

First pan fry the chopped bacon, onions, and sun dried tomatoes together
Then melt butter in the pan
Add the shrimp and when they are almost done, mix in heavy cream
Cook everything for another minute or two
Finally place the shrimp and gravy on top of the grits. Enjoy!

Maybe you want to try this on your own, but I recommend heading to a local southern restaurant to try it for first if you’ve never had it before!

Happy Fooding!
-Peter

Photographs courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography

How To: Smoke a Brisket

Jon — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:07:22 +0000

This past Memorial Day, we decided to have a proper Fooding. The main course was decided to be my BBQ smoked brisket. I decided to chronicle the process and provide a How To guide for BBQ smoked brisket. This smoked brisket recipe has provided me with consistently tasty and repeatable results. Below I have detailed a step by step process for using your own offset smoker to create a brisket that will rival that of any local BBQ joint. I’ve also included lots of photos for your reference.

What you will need to smoke a brisket:

1 brisket
At least 8 ounces of spice rub. Mine is a chunky steak rub purchased from the grocery store.
1 roll of plastic cling wrap
1 roll of extra large heavy duty foil
1 foil roasting pan
Water
Charcoal (10 lbs)
Hardwood of some variety. I primarily use oak. Mesquite and Hickory are good choices as well.
a smoker
8 hours of time

Step 1 – Preparation (12-24 hours before smoking):

To prepare the brisket, first rinse it well (it’s been sitting in a Cryovac bag for a couple of days. You’d want a bath too). Pat it dry and place it on a cutting board.
I like to maximize the surface area of the meat that is exposed to the smoke, so the next step is to cut the brisket into 3 pieces. Then, liberally massage the rub over all three pieces. Once you have all three pieces of the brisket spiced, you’ll need to tightly wrap each one cling wrap. Place them in your refrigerator overnight to allow time for the rub to penetrate into the meat so every bite has seasoning.
A Note on creating your rub:
There are lots of people out there who will swear by their secret rub recipe. I don’t believe a word of it. I’ve done a side by side comparison, flavoring each of the 3 pieces of a brisket a different rub. One was piece was seasoned with rub from a local BBQ joint, one with plain salt and pepper, and one was not seasoned at all. All three were equally excellent. The bottom line is that you should use whatever you have.

Step 2 – Fire:

The smoker I am using is a typical offset firebox type. There are many other types of smokers/grills but, I have only ever smoked brisket in my smoker. Check out BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America for more information on different smoking methods.
Your smoker should have a good external thermometer. The highest you will ever want to see this go is about 275 degrees (slow and low – as the saying goes).
Because too much smoke dries out the meat and turns it bitter, I typically only use chunks of oak for the first 2-3 hours of smoke time.l I then switch to charcoal to maintain the temperature. I have experimented with various smoke times and found that 2-3 hours provides the perfect amount of flavor. The time variance is dependent on the size of your brisket. The larger it is, the more time it will need.
Light your fire in the fire box. I primarily use oak. I like mesquite, but you have to be careful not to over smoke your brisket using it. Too much mesquite smoke will turn the meat bitter, and then all you will be able to taste is smoke.
After you have the fire going, you’ll need to prep your smoke chamber. Humidity is key when smoking a brisket. You want moist smoke filling the chamber. I accomplish this by filling up a foil roasting pan with water, removing the grates of the smoker, and placing the pan in the bottom of the smoke chamber. You’ll need to check on the water level every so often, as you don’t want this to dry out completely. The pan also contains most of the drippings so it keeps your smoker somewhat clean.
Put the grates back in place and make sure they are clean.
Once the fire is going, close the lid to the fire box. This will direct the smoke into the main chamber.
Place your brisket fat side up directly over the water filled pan, with your largest cut closest to the fire box. Close the lid to the smoke chamber and close your damper (the cover on the smoker’s exhaust pipe) so there is only about an inch left open.

Step 3 – Smoke Management:

Managing your fire/smoke is the critical to making a well smoked brisket. You will want to maintain the temperature in your smoke chamber at around 250 degrees. To maintain this temperature, add 1 piece of oak about a foot long and about 3 inches thick to the smoke box every 30 minutes.
Ideally, you will want to see a steady stream of white/clear smoke coming from your exhaust pipe while smoking. If you see black sooty smoke, open the lid to your smoke chamber until the smoke turns white. You don’t want soot on your brisket. Continue adding wood for the entire 3 hour primary smoking period.

Step 4 – Foil packs:

After about 3 hours or so, your brisket should resemble a dark lump of charred meat. This is exactly what you are looking for. The outside of the meat will be completely caramelized.
Open the chamber and fire box lids for the switch to charcoal. Add about 2 lbs of charcoal to the fire box and stoke the coals to get flames going. Leave the firebox lid open as this will give the charcoal the air it needs to properly ignite.
Remove the brisket (2 sets of tongs works great) and carefully wrap it in heavy duty foil. Make a large T shape with 2 pieces of foil, place 1 piece of the brisket in the middle, and carefully fold and tuck in each part of the T. Once all three pieces are wrapped, return them to the smoke chamber. The foil acts as a barrier to prevent the meat from taking on more smoke and drying it out.
Once again, maintain the temperature in the smoke chamber at around 250 degrees. Approximately every 30 minutes, you’ll want to add a little more charcoal in order to maintain a constant temperature for 3-4 more hours.
At this point, you can also cheat a little by using the stove inside of your kitchen instead of your smoker – True BBQ aficionados may scoff at this, but I don’t care.
Alternative Stove cooking Instructions:
After you have wrapped your brisket in foil, place them on a large cookie sheet and place it in your oven. Set the temperature at 250 and leave the brisket in for 3-4 hours. I have done this several times for two reasons:

The probability of rain increases once I say “I am going to smoke a brisket”. I hate maintaining a fire in the rain.

Making a 20+ pound brisket means I am having people over and I have other things to take care of.

Step 5 – Taste & Cutting:

When the brisket has had a total cooking time of 7-8 hours, it is time for a taste test. Remove one of the foil packs from the pit (or oven) and carefully unwrap it.
Take a fork and try to pull a corner off. If it comes off in a tender clump, your brisket is done. If there is any resistance on the fork, this means that the fatty muscles have not had enough time to break down. Put it back in your pit (or oven) for another hour. Keep testing until it is done.
Slice the brisket in strips across the grain and remove.You will notice a pink ring surrounding the meat, this is what is referred to as the smoke ring. The deeper this is, the more the smoke has penetrated the meat. Serve and enjoy.
One last thing, when you remove the meat from the foil, retain some of the juices. After you have sliced your brisket for serving, pour some of the drippings over the meat for some added flavor.

Happy Fooding!

-Jon

Brazilian Caipirinhas – Frosty Drink Friday How To

Peter Tsai — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:55:24 +0000

When I went to Brazil in 2004, I quickly learned about the country’s national drink, the Caipirinha. At every bar and restaurant around town they were serving up the good stuff. Why do Brazilians like Caipirinhas so much? Not only does this drink taste really good, it’s also deceptively strong. The magical ingredients of sugar and lime go a long way to mask the strong taste of the Brazilian Cachaça rum too. Also, this drink served on the rocks is a refreshing way to cool off from the Brazilian heat.

Now that Brazilian Churascarias like Fogo de Chao have become popular in the States and are serving up Caipirinhas in a restaurant near you, I thought I would share this recipe, especially during the economic downturn. Why pay $8 for this delicious drink at Fogo de Chao when you can make all the drinks you want for roughly the cost of only 3 of these tasty drinks at a high dollar restaurant?

Caipirinha Ingredients:

1 part cachaca (Cachaça – a sugar cane rum) ***
1 part simple syrup (see our how to make simple syrup here)
1 regular sized lime or a few of key limes
ice
***Note that Cachaça might be a little hard to find, you’ll probably have to go to a local specialty liquor store to pick some up.

Caipirinha mixing instructions:

Pour the Cachaça in a glass over ice
fully squeeze either one regular lime or a few key limes into the drink. Add a couple of lime slices to the glass.
If the cachaca flavor is too strong, just add more lime and simple syrup

Check out the picture gallery below for a visual.

Happy Fooding!
-Peter

All photos courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography

How to Make Simple Syrup (with pictures)

Peter Tsai — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:55:16 +0000

One of the most common components in mixed drink is simple syrup, which as the name suggests, is very simple to make. Simple syrup is just a mixture of water and sugar, but the secret ingredient is a little bit of heat.

Because sugar and water don’t mix completely in cold drinks, it’s important to heat the water when mixing in the sugar to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely. Using simple syrup instead of mixing in the sugar into every drink also saves a lot of time and energy if you are going to mix up a lot of drinks.

Here’s what you need:

1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
a stirring device

Here’s how to make it:

Add water to a pot and heat on high until it boils, reduce heat to medium.
Add the sugar to water and stir.
Stir until the sugar dissolves and the water becomes yellowish and clear.
Remove the simple syrup mixture from the heat to cool.
You can now mix your drink or bottle the simple syrup for later.

Check out the picture gallery below for a visual.

Happy Fooding!
-Peter

All photos courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography

Frozen Peach Drink – Frosty Beverage Friday

Jon — Sat, 16 May 2009 01:49:30 +0000

There are two temperatures in Texas, Hot and Face of the Sun HOT.

If there is one thing that is going to make this Face of the Sun season (known as summer elsewhere) bearable and it comes in the form of the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker. Yes, the same device that was depicted as the cause of the economic crisis. Of course, you can use any blender you have available, just make sure to add 1 cup of ice to blender before mixing.

Ingredients:

2 Cups frozen peaches
1/4 Cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1/2 to 3/4 of Tito’s Vodka

Place all of the ingredients into the blender and mix them until they resemble a chunky smoothie. Use the shave function of the Margaritaville to add about 1 cup of ice. Blend until the mixture is smooth.

I sometimes add water in small amounts if the mix gets stuck. Share with friends.

Cheers!

-Jon

Photographs courtesy of Peter Tsai Photography