You're not going to toss those are you?

I am a pretty frugal guy when it comes to food.  I am not quick to throw things away.  You know those "sell by" dates on dairy containers?  I largely ignore them and rely on my nose to tell me if my milk is still good to drink or not.  With cheese, I will cut off the mold, and use it.  However, when it comes to produce, I am a bit less frugal.  Who wants to eat a brown wilted piece of lettuce or a mushy old strawberry?  Life's too short for that.  However, there is one type of produce, that I will almost never chuck, no matter how nasty it looks, and that is bananas.

Although I hate eating over-ripe bananas out of hand, they are fantastic in baked goods.  When they are really ripe, their flavor comes through much more in breads and cakes.  My favorite use for them is as the base for a tasty muffin.

The recipe I use evolved from a recipe that appears in Beth Hensperger's book The Bread Bible.  Her version is a delicious, sweet muffin, with a slight kick of cinnamon, and a nice crunchy streusel topping.   I have made a few, very small, tweaks which change up the flavor a bit making a more unusual tasting end product.  To the streusel, I add about a 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, which gives the topping a slight salty taste, sort of reminiscent of a salted caramel.  To the batter, I nix the cinnamon, and add some ground cardamom instead.  If you are not familiar with it, cardamom is a spice that is quite popular in Indian cooking.  I love what it does to sweets.

I baked up a batch this evening using some bananas that were a day or two past their prime, having lost their ability to hold their shape.  The recipe is pretty simple.  I made them with the help of my five year old daughter, which turned a 30 minute process into something closer to an hour, but cooking with your kids is important.

The first thing you need to do is make a streusel topping, which is just some flour, sugar, butter, and the  kosher salt, which are combined with a pastry blender, until the butter is completely incorporated and the mixture resembles moist sand.

Next you mash up your bananas, which with bananas as old as these, goes pretty quick.  Don't mash them down too far.  You should still see a few small chunks of banana.

Next you combine some eggs, oil, and sugar with a whisk, until the mixture is pale yellow in color.  You want to take some time with this step, to work some air into the mixture, which makes for a nice puffy muffin.

Then you add in your bananas, and your dry ingredients.

Scoop the batter into a greased muffin pan (an ice cream scooper works really well for that task), top the muffins with the streusel topping, and they are ready for the oven.

Bake until golden brown and a cake tester (who has one of those?) or a toothpick comes out clean.

Banana Muffins

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I like peanut)

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups (3 medium) mashed very ripe bananas

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. table salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional but tasty)

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour

4 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter

1/4 - 1/3 tsp. kosher salt (I just add a hefty pinch, but for the recipe I've measured how much I pick up in a pinch, and it is a bit over 1/4 tsp.)

1. Prepare the streusel:  Combine the sugar, salt, and flour, then using a pastry blender or your fingers, work in the butter until coarse crumbs are formed.  Set aside.
2. Using a whisk, beat the sugar, oil, and eggs until light and foamy.  Add the mashed bananas and mix until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients, and the nuts.  Add the banana mixture, an stir with a spatula until just moistened.
4. Spoon into greased muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 of the way to the top.  Top each with a tablespoon or so of the streusel topping.  Be generous, but you may still have extra topping.  If you do, wad what is left into a ball and eat that now.
5. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a rack to cool.  

Makes 10 - 12 muffins.

Bella helping with cleanup.

Enjoy.

Lengua Ranchera - Beef Tongue in Spicy Tomato Sauce

I've been meaning to write about preparing beef tongue for a few months now.  Since the process of preparing it is not for the squeamish, Halloween seems like a perfect time for the post.

For those who haven't tried it, it may sound gross, but it's actually quite tasty.  I am not huge on offal, but tongue is on my good offal list.  When properly prepared it is tender and beefy, sort of like a really well cooked pot roast, only finer textured.  Which makes sense, since it's really just another muscle, glands and taste buds aside.

Whatever you want to make with your tongue, 9 times out of 10, the first step is to simmer it in water to tenderize it, and to make it easier to clean.  What I normally do, is take a good sized tongue, simmer it, clean it, divide it up in to several portions, then stash them in the freezer for quick meals.   Here's the basic process.

Rinse the tongue thoroughly under cold running water to remove any excess blood.  Place the tongue in a large stock pot with an onion quartered, a few cloves of peeled garlic, a couple of bay leaves, a tablespoon of kosher salt, a half dozen pepper corns, and enough water to cover the tongue by about an inch or so.  bring to a boil, then reduce to low, and simmer, adding water as necessary to keep the tongue covered, until the tongue is quite tender, but not falling apart.  This will take anywhere from 2 - 3 hours.

Once the tongue is tender remove it from the stock and set it on a cutting board to cool for about 10 minutes.

Now you need to peel the skin from the tongue.  This is really pretty simple to do, just grab a corner and start peeling.

Once peeled, you need to do a little trimming,  The underside of the tongue has a lot of fat, and what I'll call plumbing, that has to be removed.  Just start cutting it away.  Don't remove more meat than you have to, it's all tasty stuff.

The tongue is now ready to go.  Next what I do, is slice it into half inch thick slabs, and store it in vacuum bags in the freezer.

You may be thinking that's all well and good, but how do you use it.  Well you could just cut some up into bite sized pieces, and saute it up in a little oil, or better yet bacon fat, until hot and a little crispy around the edges, and make tacos.

My favorite way to use it is to simmer it in tomato sauce with a few peas the way my momma used to.  I have replaced the mild tomato sauce she used for a spicy jalapeno sauce, and like to refer to my version as Lengua Ranchera.

Quick Jalapeno Sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, fire roasted if possible
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno slices
2 tablespoons jalapeno pickle juice
1/4 cup cilantro stems and all
1/2 tsp kosher salt
juice of 1 lime.

Put all the ingredients into a blender, and puree until blended but not completely smooth, just about 10 seconds or so.  A stick blender works great for this and is my personal weapon of choice.  Taste and adjust the seasoning adding a bit more lime juice or salt if needed.

Lengua Ranchera

1 tbsp bacon fat or vegetable oil
1 cup quick Jalapeno sauce
12 oz pre-cooked tongue cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
water or chicken broth as needed

Heat the fat in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds.  Pour in the jalapeno sauce.  Cook stirring almost constantly for about 1 minute.  Add the tongue, and if necessary a bit of water or chicken broth to barely cover the meat.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the peas, stir, adding a little more water or broth if the mixture seems a little dry, cover again, and simmer until the peas are tender, about 5 minutes more.  Serve with hot tortillas and a bit of sliced avocado or guacamole.

We have vinegar.

Well it's finally done.  Today I strained my pineapple vinegar into a clean mason jar and gave it a taste.  It tastes...well, like vinegar.  It is milder than apple cider vinegar, but perhaps slightly stronger than rice vinegar.  It has a flavor that is similar to the previously mentioned tepache, but much tarter and much less beery.  I'll have to post a follow-up after I've had a chance to try it in a few recipes.

Are we there yet?

Not quite yet.  It's been about 10 days since my little pineapple vinegar experiment began.  Four days ago, I pulled out the last pieces of pineapple rind.  The color has definitely changed.  It's noticeably lighter.  However, it still smells quite beery.  Not so much like a vinegar yet.  I'm going to give it another week or so then give it a taste and see where we are.

We have arrived at Tepache

My mother pointed out that the procedure I was following to make pineapple vinegar, was in fact very similar to what she used to do to make tepache.  Tepache is a fermented beverage made from pineapple rinds and sugar.  It is slightly alcoholic, perhaps 2% - 3% by volume, and it is relatively common in Mexico.  I remember drinking it in the summer time as a kid.  It's an acquired taste.  Sort of like a fruity beer gone wrong.

Mom said, she did the same thing, but she'd not add sugar until after the second day of fermentation.  By day three, the tepache was strained and ready for drinking.  Most recipes I found for it, call for some spices, usually cinnamon, sometimes cloves, to be added to the mix at the beginning of the process.

This makes perfect sense if you think about it.

Apples -> Apple Cider -> Apple Cider Vinegar
Grapes -> Wine -> Wine Vinegar
Pineapples -> Tepache -> Pineapple Vinegar

Here's what my batch of pineapple vinegar looks like today.  It has the aroma I remember from my childhood, but I'm not going to drink any of it, as I don't want to screw up my batch of vinegar.  Perhaps I'll make a batch of true tepache in a week or so and see how that turns out.

Wild Bacteria Experiment 1 - Pineapple Vinegar

Wild Yeast Experiment 2 - Pineapple Vinegar

Wild Bacteria Experiment 1 - Pineapple Vinegar

I did a bit more reading, and apparently bacteria is responsible for the process of turning sugars to vinegar not yeast.

I was perusing Diana Kennedy's The Cuisines of Mexico the other day and ran across her recipe for pineapple vinegar.  I was cutting up a fresh pineapple for breakfast this morning, and decided to give it a shot.

All you have to do, is take the skin from a half a pineapple, a few chunks of the fruit, some brown sugar, and water, throw it all in a jar, cover it with plastic, set it on the counter, and wait.  The process is supposed to take about 3 weeks.  Wish me luck.

Summer Food Files - Case 2: Pork and Peaches

During the dog days of summer, to avoid heating up the house, I do a lot of cooking outdoors.  One of my favorite things to grill is pork chops.  Now that I have the option of buying pork at the farmers market, I pretty much never buy it at supermarkets anymore.  Regional family farms are producing piggies that taste like piggies once again, and have plenty of fat on them.  My favorite vendor is Full Quiver Farm.  They are primarily in the cheese making business, and make some fine cheeses, but being good frugal farmers, they had to find something useful to do with all the whey leftover from the cheese making process, so they started feeding it to their hogs.  The resulting pork is really, really, tasty.    Supermarket pork pales by comparison.

My usual technique for grilling pork chops is easy, but requires a little advance planning, because the pork chops are cured in a brine for three or four days prior to cooking.   I really like applesauce with my chops, but in the summer I like to grill fruit to serve with the pork instead.

Brine
1/4 cup Kosher salt or 2 tablespoons table salt
1/4 cup brown sugar (You can actually use granulated sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, or a combination)
5 cups water

Combine the ingredients, and stir until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.

You can add some spices to the brine if you like, but you will only notice them if you use very punchy things.  Bay leaves, crushed red chili flakes (about a teaspoon), and a cinnamon stick all work well.  If you are using spices, you can really bring out their flavor by steeping them in a few cups of hot water before mixing adding the rest of the ingredients for the brine...be sure to cool the mixture to room temp before adding your pork.

This is enough brine for about four to six good sized pork chops.  I prefer center cut, bone in chops, about a half inch thick.

Brine the chops in the fridge, at least for 24 hours, but preferably for three to five days.  The longer brining time really enhances the texture and flavor of the chops.  This isn't a recipe for anyone on a low sodium diet.  The resulting pork as a pleasantly salty sweet taste, almost ham-like.

Rinse the chops thoroughly under cold water to remove the excess brine, then pat them dry with paper towels.  To prevent the chops from curling while cooking, make a series of slits through the fat along the side of the chop.  This will also help the fat render, giving a nice crispy edge to the chops.

Rub the chops with just a few drops of olive oil, then season with freshly ground black pepper.  Remember NOT to add any additional salt at this point.  They are plenty salty.

Split your peaches in half, and remove the pits.  Drizzle the peaches with a little olive oil and season them with a little kosher salt and black pepper.

I always do this recipe on a gas grill.  You can certainly do this over charcoal if you want, but I'm always preparing it on a weeknight after work, and like to keep it quick and easy.

Heat your grill up on high until it is rocket hot, about 10 minutes at full blast.  Mine has a thermometer on it, and I take it all the way up to about 550 - 600 degrees before cooking.   Turn the burners down to medium high, lubricate the grill with a rolled up paper towel soaked in vegetable oil, then toss on the pork.

Stay close by.  At these temperatures, the fat that starts to render can quickly flare up, and if you aren't there to move things to safety, you will have a porcine bonfire on your hands.  Cook the chops for about six minutes on the first side.  Turn them a quarter turn after about three minutes to make some fancy grill marks if you like.  I cook them covered for most of the time, but I open the lid frequently to check for flare ups.  Flip the chops over, and cook another three to five minutes, until the chops are cooked through.  This recipe is for 1/2 inch thick chops.  If you are using thick pork chops, you will need to increase the cooking time.

Transfer the pork to a serving platter, and tent with foil to keep them warm while they rest.  Crank the grill back up to high, let it heat up for a minute or two covered, then place the peaches cut side down on the grill.  Grill the peaches for about three minutes, then flip them over, and continue grilling for another two minutes.  Your cooking time may vary depending on the size and ripeness of your peaches.  In the end, you want the peaches to be tender, but not mushy.

Prepared this way the peaches actually taste quite savory.  To my palate, they taste tarter than they do raw, and the char from the grill adds a slight bitterness that works really well with the sweet-salty pork.

If you like you can drizzle the grilled fruit with a little aged balsamic vinegar, but only if you have the real (expensive) stuff.  If all you have is supermarket balsamic, then don't bother, you'll ruin them.

This recipe also works quite well with other stone fruits or even figs.

Enjoy.