RECIPE: Homemade Kalua Coffee Liqueur
posted by snekse

I know there are lots of recipes out there, but this is the one we use. I can't say how it stacks up to the others, I can just tell you it's good. Very good. And it gets oh so much better with age. Like aged balsamic vinegar. Both go well over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

The ingredients:

3 1/2 Cups of sugar
2/3 Cup of instant coffee (preferably Yuban)
2 Cups of boiling water
2 Cups of brandy
1 vanilla bean - split
Cheese Cloth
2 sterilized bottles - 1 liter each with resealable lids

Instructions:

Mix the sugar with the instant coffee in a large bowl.
Add the boiling water to the sugar and coffee mixture.
Stir until dissolved.
Add brandy to the mixture in the bowl, stir, then wait 5 minutes.
Use cheese cloth to strain the mixture into a second container. Preferably one with a pour spout.
Pour the strained liquid into the sterilized bottles.
Leave room at the top of the bottles to allow you to shake the liquid and reclaim the sediment.
Split your vanilla beans and add half of the bean to each bottle.
Let it age for at least 3 months.

That's it!

RELATED LINKS:
Kahlúa - the real deal
HOW TO: Make Wonton Soup - A photo recipe
HOW TO: Make Joong
HOW TO: Make Clarified Butter v2.0
HOW TO: Make Salt Steak

Labels: how to, INSTRUCTIONAL, RECIPES

HOW TO: Make Joong - a photo recipe
posted by snekse

HOW TO: Make Joong

As a supplement to last week's article, "HOW TO: Make Wonton Soup - A photo recipe", I'm posting another tutorial with the help of my mother-in-law.

Joong is basically a form of sticky rice, wrapped in waxy leaves with edible goodies, that's been boiled for several hours. Tastes much better than it sounds.

Or if you want Wikipedia's definition:

Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, mochi rice, and pearl rice) is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous in the sense of being glue-like or sticky and not in the sense of containing gluten; on the other hand, it is called sticky but should not be confused with the other varieties of Asian rice that become sticky to one degree or another when cooked...

Zongzi (pronounced "joong" or "choong" in Cantonese) is a Chinese dumpling consisting of sticky rice and sweet or savoury fillings wrapped in leaves which is then boiled or steamed, commonly eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival.

This recipe isn't quite as in depth as the wonton instructions, but it will get you where you need to go.

HOW TO: Make Joong - A photo recipe

Tags || GFC | FOOD | DOOUNG | JOONG | STICKY RICE | WONTON SOUP | more... |

Labels: how to, INSTRUCTIONAL, RECIPES

HOW TO: Wonton Soup
posted by snekse

HOW TO: Wonton Soup

Taking full advantage of the fact that my mother-in-law is in town, I talked her into making wonton soup and talked my wife into photographing it step-by-step.

Since it's a photo recipe, I've hosted it on Flickr. You can see the photos and instructions in my HOW TO: Wonton Soup set.

Luckily she made it just in time for the "Soup, Glorious Soup!" event hosted by A Veggie Venture

My thanks to The Amateur Gourmet's "70 Steps To Foie Gras Torchon" and Pim's "Pad Thai for beginners" for inspiring this post.

So that covers the soup portion of our slogan. Mischief and Mayhem are slated over the next couple of weeks.

RELATED LINKS:
HOW TO: Make Joong - a photo recipe

Tags || WONTON SOUP | RECIPE | CHINESE | SOUP | WON TON SOUP | FOOD | more... |

Labels: how to, INSTRUCTIONAL, RECIPES

How to Make Clarified Butter v2.0
posted by snekse

I've always had soft melted spot in my heart for clarified butter, but it can be a pain to make. I usually use a gravy separator to extract the butter fats from the protein layers, but GaryProtein has shared a way that might be a little simpler using a zip lock bag . Read about it over at Cooking For Engineers

Tags || HOW TO | CLARIFIED BUTTER | INSTRUCTIONAL | COOKING FOR ENGINEERS | FOOD | GFC |

Labels: how to, INSTRUCTIONAL, techniques

RECIPE: Salt Steak
posted by snekse

Our little experiment making Salt Steak. [Recipe(s) below]

Preparing the dry ingredients

That's a lot of salt

Rock salt*, Peppercorns, Lemon Pepper
*Course Sea Salt actually

Pardon me....

This is an implied provision

The setup - notice the newspaper

Yeah, that's me

And that's just HALF of the mustard!

The slather

The rub

One side down

More mustard

More "rub"

All set

And now to wrap it

A little tape....

A little more....

Okay, a lot of tape...

Hmmm, got my self a little buoy

Not a problem, just grab a plate


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       `'._____.'`
        /   |          
       /.--'|'--.    
    []/'-.__|__.-'\[]
            |
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We forgot to take pictures of the wrapped steak cooking on the grill, so this is my rendition of the event

After being unwrapped; ew, looks a little boiled!?

Scrape off the mustard and salt


         _.(-)._
      .'         '.
     /             \     
     |'-...___...-'|
      \    '='    /
       `'._____.'`
        /   |          
       /.--'|'--.    
    []/'-.__|__.-'\[]
            |
            []
Put'er back on the grill

Mmmmmmmm, S-T-E-A-K

We used the recipe below, but this recipe (found after the fact) is a little more complete.

Salt Steak (Serves 4)
1 T-Bone 1 1/2-2 inches thick
2 jars lemon pepper seasoning
2 jars peppercorn
2 jars grey poupon
A roll of masking take 1/2 inch thick
5 sheets (whole) newspaper (black & white)
Bag of Rock Salt (8.82 oz. Tidman Natural)

Mix dry ingredients together. Take steak and lay on paper. Rub entire jar of Grey Poupon on one side of steak. Take handful of dry ingred. and place on Grey Poupon side. Take steak and flip to other side (so Mustard side on paper). Repeat on other side with mustard and dry ingred. Fold like a present. Tape entirely with tape and soak (submerge) in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes. Place directly on med. hot coals until paper catches fire - flip over so other side catches fire. Take off coals. Remove paper and all salt and mustard off steak. Place steak on grill rack until done. Approx. 8-10 minutes. It sounds bizarre but this steak is great!

NOTES: Taping the entire steak in tape is unnecessary. The second recipe I found stated to use the tape more like "ribbon on a Xmas present". I think wrapping the entire thing is more for effect then anything else. Next time I try this I may just use chicken wire and/or butcher's twine. I'm sure you could just use aluminum foil too, but where's the fun in that? Hmmm, maybe cardboard....

As for the taste, it was delicious. One of the better steaks I've had. Very succulent and tender. Personally I thought the mustard was understated and the salt was a tad overpowering, but overall, very good. A slight mustard crust would have been tasty. I might have been too zealous on scraping the toppings off before the final grilling, but I think scraping everything off and actually basting a little mustard back on is the way to go.

Some garlic (fresh, dehydrated, or garlic salt) would have been a nice addition, though I'd probably omit it if I added Worcestershire sauce as the second recipe did. And I'd put rosemary on anything.

When it comes to procuring the ingredients, give yourself some lead time. Food grade rock salt is not easy to come by. We actually used granular sea salt which is a much smaller grain the rock salt. As for the steak, a T-Bone is too small, even at 2" think. A porterhouse, maybe - the point being that a larger diameter is certainly needed such as a sirloin or ribeye. Anything that is 0.5 lb per person (or more) should sufice.

Happy Grilling :-D